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2016 Spring | Education & Outreach, Natural Science & Restoration

Off-Leash Dogs: A Study of Behavior, Threats to Health, and Public Perceptions

Student(s):

Celina Baker

Program or Department(s):

  • Program on the Environment
  • University of Washington

Site supervisor(s):

Dr. Sharon Baker

Partner(s):

  • Friends of Lincoln Park

Faculty advisor(s):

Tim Billo, Program on the Environment, University of Washington

I worked with the Friends of Lincoln Park for ten weeks during which I restored 2,000 square feet of Lincoln Park’s degraded forest and conducted research regarding off-leash dog activity in the form of surveying, observations, and a literature review. During my time I had two questions in mind: (1) What are the perceptions of dog owners regarding the impacts of off-leash dogs? And (2) What are solutions to reducing the negative impacts of off-leash dogs? I found that dog owners rarely see their own dogs as a threat and that spreading awareness of impacts can help reduce illegal off-leash dog activity.