German Dog Law

 From the BBC:

“Walkies could become the law for German dog owners”

Taking your dog for walks twice a day for at least an hour in total could soon become the law in Germany. There could also be a ban on keeping dogs chained for long periods. Rules are also being devised to crack down on "puppy farms" by banning breeders from looking after more than three litters at any one time. "Pets are not cuddly toys, their needs have to be taken into account," Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner said about the planned changes.

Under the planned rules, dog owners: 

will have to take their dogs for walks twice a day for a minimum of one hour in total

will not be allowed to keep their dogs chained for long periods of time

will not be allowed to leave dogs alone the whole day

Breeders will be restricted to looking after a maximum of three litters and puppies will have to spend a minimum of four hours a day in human company to ensure they get socialised.

Ms Klöckner said the changes were based on expert advice to ensure animal protection and welfare. A draft of the new regulations has already been drawn up and could become law early next year. If passed, it will be up to the German states to enforce it. A spokeswoman for the agriculture ministry said it was very unlikely private dog owners would receive police visits to check whether they had taken their pooch for a walk. She said the emphasis would be on ensuring that dogs kept in kennels were treated well. A ban is also planned on showing dogs which have had their ears or tail docked in contravention of animal protection rules. Dogs whose behaviour is not "species appropriate" could also be banned from dog shows. Ms Klöckner's plans also include new rules on transporting cattle with time spent in transit limited to four-and-a-half hours.

^ While I believe there should ne more done to make sure that dogs (and other pets) are protected from abuse I don’t think these new German rules will be effective or enforceable. I am a dog owner and have been since I was a kid. The vast majority of the dogs we got/get are rescued dogs so I do have some experience with seeing what dog abuse it. As for these specific German rules: I don’t believe it is realistic to expect anyone to walk their dog for 1 hour twice a day. I believe dogs should be walked (if they don’t live in a house with a fenced yard) often throughout the day, but for at least 1 hour each time doesn’t seem doable. I have had dogs that only wanted to run outside and do their business and then run back inside – so an hour each time didn’t happen. Also who is going to time each walk to make sure it was an hour long? I agree with the rule of not chaining your dog for long periods of time (whether it’s inside or outside.) I have known people who leave their dog inside in a crate all day when they go to work or chain them up outside all day (in the extreme heat and the extreme cold.) Both of those examples are not right to do. As for leaving dogs alone all day. I don’t see an issue with that. If the dog is inside with air condition in the Summer and Heat in the Winter, not in a crate and they have ample access to food and water then it is okay to leave a dog unattended while you are at work or school. I am lucky that for over a decade now I spend most of my day at home, but that hasn’t always been the case and even now when do I leave the house to do errands I may be gone for an hour or two, but I still have a ready supply of water and dog food where my dog can get to. I have water bowls on different levels of my house including an automatically-filling water bowl that fills itself back up when it is low. I also have two food bowls (my dog’s regular food bowl that he uses at every meal time and an automatically-refilling one that fills itself back up when it is low.) I do that in case there is an emergency. I also have a system in place to have other people check-in everyday and if I don’t respond to them then they have a local person to call to come to my house and check on my dog. With all of this said. I think these German dog rules are too general and not very realistic. Also there’s nothing about who will ensure these rules are enforced and what the penalties are for not following them. ^

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53839286