Why My Perfect Dog Will Aways Wear A Lead. Last night I was taking the dogs out for their last toilet break, something which we do every night before lights out. As we did so, I turned around to find 2 large Staffordshire Bull Terriers squaring up to our smaller dog. They were off lead but my pooches were on a lead. When I requested to the stranger handler, put his dogs on a lead, he replied, "it's okay, they're friendly." Now, my dogs are far from perfect and there's no point pretending, but even if I had the worlds best behaved dog, they would be on lead unless I could see the coast was completely clear. These are the reasons why. 1. My dog is friendly, yours may not be. Now I'm not saying there are lots of aggressive dogs out there, but there are definitely some. My dog may be off lead and friendly and intending to greet or play with the new dog. That dog may misinterpret signs or be aggressive naturally in nature. Without a lead, it would be difficult to control this situation as intervention becomes difficult and more dangerous. 2. My dog is friendly, most of the time. Even the "best" dogs, as with the "best" humans, respond to changes in biochemistry and their environment. They might be overheated, dehydrated, coming into season, or just plain irritated. In this I stance it is quite possible that either dog in an encounter may respond with aggression in a social situation. 3. My dog is friendly, but I'm not. Now lets assume there is little wrong behaviourally in the approached dog, there is always a chance that the owner may misinterpret the signals and play behaviour and step in to "protect" their dog. I'm not saying its likely, just a possibility. So when I have my own perfect, crufts-winning dog, I'll be sure to keep it on lead in public spaces. And hopefully, you'll consider it too.