Whats the legal age for children to be responsible for a dog ??
No 1 Son has been walking the dog with OH for  a while and wants to go it alone -he's 14 ( all hairgel and hormones  ! )
Is there an age restriction ??

under the dangerous dogs act dogs are to be with someone of 16 or older,if anything was to happen while your son was alone with the dog then you could be liable for having dog out of control (correct me if im wrong) also to buy any animal you have to be over 16
tanya

AAhhaa - thanks ! I thought there was an age thing
thanks again :)

I think Daisy's right with it being only the breeds listed under the DDA that can only be handled by someone over the age of 16. As it is legal to babysit for someone else's child from the age of 12, I wouls have thought walking a dog at that age (providing of course that the dog is of a suitable size) would be perfectly okay. I know primary-school children in this village walk dogs like Staffies!

I think that the age is over 14. The 'dangerous' dogs listed in the 'Dangerous Dogs Act' have to be handled by someone over 16. I think :)

Daisy

Hi
The police would be able to tell you. If you ask them then you would know for sure. :)

Debbie

There is NO legal age for one young person to be held old enough to babysit or be responsible for another child, so I'd be VERY surprised if there was any age limit on dog walking, over and above the requirements of the DDA

There used to be a legal minimum age for babysitting in Scotland - has it been repealed?

i agree with digger there is no age limit or restrictions.i was told if individual cases of child neglect go to court they take into account all information ie parent left child with older child while parent was a mile up the road (ie popped  out, versus left for a whole day or night)i think the law in scotland is different as told to me by my mother in law(whose scottish).may be it`s similiar with dogs that u have to use your judgement meaning is the dog normally controllable and kept on the lead and the person in charge acting sensibly.i would check with police first!s baxter

I don't know JEangenie - but as far as I know the situation re the legal position hasn't changed in England in the last 12 years since I last enquired of both the Police and the NSPCC..

Our local Dogs Trust told us it was illegal for a child under 16 to walk any dog, which I thought was odd. Gothboy walks Manic Morse and hes 15 years 8 months. However they have always had an understanding and Gothboy is big enough at 6ft to deal with other peoples dogs runnning over, possible canine disagreements etc. Teenagers walking dogs here means they gloom down the swing park in a posse then sit on grass with dogs trotting from teen to teen, or hunch around the scheme in a bunch with the dogs slouching alongside. :D

There is no age restriction for a child to walk a dog - at least in England.

The Dangerous Dog Act (spit!) could in theory apply to anyone walking a dog - if that dog is not under control and upsets someone else.

I was walking my gran's dog on my own aged 6 - but that was over 30 years ago.  I was the main dog walker for our pup aged 13, 14, etc., etc.   We walked everywhere - both me and the dog were better for our long walks. 

It is so sad that children can no longer walk their dogs, nor, it seems, walk anywhere.  Why??

To a certain extent I agree with you - I walked the family dogs from aged about 11 onwards, and dog walked for neighbours from aged 14. BUT I wouldn't let a 14 year old walk my dogs today, nor would I allow my 11 year old out with them - why?  Because there are more risks around today - more traffic, I know my children are more easily distracted, other people don't seem to have such good control of their dogs.....

Hello all,

Just thought I'd add my thoughts :)

As far as I'm aware, although there is no 'legal' age limit to dog walking, anyone under the age of 16 is not liable for any accident that may happen, (eg dog running into the road, dog injuring other dog etc). Therefore, if a next door neighbours 15 year old takes your dog out for a walk and there is an 'incident'  YOU are still liable for any cost/damage/ prosecution incurred. I've been on the receiving end of this quite recently as my bitch was nearly attacked by a very large GSD that had escaped from its 11 year old walker.  It was alright in the end because Isla is so steady but if it had been Kester out with me instead, it could have ended rather differently!
I have nothing against teenagers/ older children walking dogs, we have quite a few that come training, I think that it is great that they show the commitment, BUT  i have reservations about younger kids walking dogs out in public. If the GSD that I met had seen a dog over the other side of the road, the boy would have ended up under a car.
Ali :)

i know this may be different as  i am in ireland but i used to walk my dobermann puppy starr when i was a least 8 years ......
also i handled a pyrenesses mountain dog when i was 6 at a few shows .(spelling)

The problem with very young children walking dogs is (taking all the other risks to children out on their own out of the equation) is that not only do they very often not have the physical strength which may sometimes be necessary in certain situations but they do not have the experience or judgement on which to draw in order to avoid potentially difficult situations from arising and preventing trouble from occurring.

Very young kids to me is under 10 and I agree with you there. However I wonder if kids brought up with dogs and accompanying adults on walk/training duty actually absorb the skills/experience (eg watching dogs communicate with each other) needed to keep everyone safe? Dealing with difficult adults though thats a challenge for all kids whatever theyre doing.

I sometimes think that a lot of children, brought up with dogs, are more suited to walking their pets than some adult first time owners.
I agree that the dog a child walks should be 'size related' so that the 'walker' can handle the dog but I've seen some small adults have great difficulty with big dogs.
This is the reason I only walk one of my dogs at a time. Not that they don't behave it's just if an incident were to occur I probably wouldn't be able to hold both of the bigger dogs at once.
I walk both Jrt's as they are easily restrained.
I am only 5ft tall so my Mastiff and Bullmastiff are both heavier than me and could easily pull me over if they so wished.
In our village there is a yong boy, about 12-13yrs old, who walks a very large GSD.
There is also a grown man who walks a Westie. The Westie drags the bloke all over but the GSD is very wellbehaved for his young owner.
Even to the point where the Westie went for the GSD and the GSD didn't even react when the boy told him to 'leave'. It just stood at the end of the lead until the bloke dragged his dog off. The boy had the sense not to get his hands involved or he would have been bitten by the Westie.
A very sensible child and a very stupid adult.