I’ve sat with the parkrun decision about Waist harnesses for dogs being banned at parkrun events for a few days now. I want to get my thoughts down. Please be clear that these are my words, they’re not said on behalf of Heaton parkrun or parkrun HQ (HQ for the rest of the post). This is solely my opinion.
I can see this from many angles having been a runner, worked in health and safety, dealt with many incidents, been an ambassador and also part of the core team at Heaton. I've spoken to people at HQ a few times and they're passionate people who work more than the normal amount of hours to ensure that people all over the world can be at an event on a Saturday (and Sundays for Juniors)
From a runner's perspective, all dogs are different, it depends how well you’ve trained them how well they run (no matter the lead/harness arrangement) There will be great and sensible runners such as Anna McEnteggart and Alan McEnteggart who will likely rarely if ever have problems. There will also be the people who bought a waist harness one week and then rumbled down to a parkrun to see how great it was without practicing properly.
I know I always hung to the back with Luna because as a Springer, she doesn’t do straight lines, she weaves a bit. I love running with Luna on a waist belt, it makes running better and easier for the runner. But I know that I have better control when she's on a lead in my hand.
Any dog owner knows that no matter how well trained, dogs can suddenly decide they want to over THERE, whether there’s a bird or they get spooked by something.
From their latest post, HQ have said that there have been a significant number of incidents with dogs on waist belts. HQ don't take these sorts of decisions lightly and certainly don't make knee jerk changes to policy. This will all be down to the data HQ receive every week. if people are being injured or nearly injured on a regular basis, they HAVE to make a change to protect people. The crucial bit people are missing is that as reported by HQ many of these incidents involve waist harnesses.
What you may not know is that if there's an incident during a parkrun, the Core Team MUST report it to HQ. This is a sensible thing to do for both parties. it means that HQ have all of the information they need in case someone contacts them and it means that the local event can get support from HQ.
HQ always look to make their events as reasonably safe as they can WITHOUT over engineering things, I don't think it's anything to do with litigation, I think that this decision has been taken to keep people safe.
I trust the people at HQ to do the right thing by people, they've rarely if ever done anything I consider to be over-reactive or to spoil anyone's fun.
So while I feel for those who LOVE running at a parkrun with their dog on a harness as this will significantly change their experience or cause them to step away, I KNOW that HQ have made the best decision they could with the data at hand.
So in the future, my parkrun mad Luna will be on a short lead both when I volunteer, walk or run. we'll both enjoy the exercise a bit less, BUT we'll still get to go and see our friends and be part of a wonderful community.
Photo by Paul Taylor - Our Photo Ninja at Heaton parkrun
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