Here's my $0.02 as a longtime pattern competitor and dog owner...

I'd respectfully suggest that you consider keeping your dog on a leash when you have your pet with you at contests and at the flying field. Mostly for the safety of your pet and also for everyones peace of mind. When we as modelers make a mistake around rotating propellers, we tend to get our fingers and hands in the way, for animals it's their faces and tails that are generally at risk. As a past pet owner I wouldn't want to expose my beloved pets to that risk when there's simply NO justifiable reason to do so. As a club member I wouldn't want my club to be unnecessarily exposed to the potential liability to the club caused by allowing an animal to wander around uncontrolled off leash. And as a pilot I don't want to be exposed to the liability caused by an animal running around, or into my airplane, whether the propellor is turning or not. Nothing good can come from it. That's why most clubs have rules requiring pets at the flying field be kept on leashes, both to protect the pets from harm and also to limit the liability of all parties in the unfortunate event of a mishap. You have to ask yourself: Is it worth the medical/emotional/legal risk just so that your pet can run around unattended?

A few years ago Geoff Combs told me the story of how his new prototype SL-1 was damaged just before the Nats while he was practicing with it at a flying field near his home in Columbus, OH. He was the only one at the field and was in the air when a neighbors dog (a golden retriever) quietly walked up and laid down near his feet. Goeff said that he didn't anticipate any problem as the dog seemed very calm and reserved so he continued his flight. However, when he landed and the plane rolled past him the dog suddenly took off after it and "caught" the plane, jumping on top of it and breaking the fuselage in half in the process. Granted, there was almost nothing Geoff could have done to prevent the mishap, it wasn't the dog's fault as it was just "doing what dogs do", and the dog's owner was nowhere to be found. The point is that animals can be unpredictable at times, especially around loud noises, and shiny, moving objects (squirrel?!). This scenario would have been entirely preventable in a contest setting where the dog would likely have been brought to the event by it's owner.

There's also the social issue of having your pet roaming around by itself at a modeling event. There's no way that you can keep track of your pet while you're flying or judging, do you think that everyone wants to do that for you when you're busy? Have you asked them? Some have no issue with doing so, and others will likely not say anything but not be all that happy about it. Then there's also the issue of your pets behavior when it's not under your direct control (e.g. on a leash). At a contest in D7 earlier this year a pilots dog was running around peeing on some of the competitor's planes (I didn't see it but was told about it after the fact by another pilot's friend who had witnessed it). It was an awkward situation where no-one wanted to tell the dogs owner what had happened (I won't go into why that was here but I don't believe they were ever told about it). It was entirely preventable, and could have easily erupted into an uncomfortable confrontation with the dog's owner. If your pet's off leash there's no way you can prevent it from doing the same, and I can assure you that the pilots who had their planes pee'd on won't be forgetting it anytime soon. Would you want to be that pet's owner?

In polite society it's considered a courtesy for pet owners to have their pets on leashes when out in public, and in some areas it's a legal requirement, both to protect the pet and the public. Seems like that courtesy should be extend to locations where there's an obvious safety risk to the pet, the planes, and the public. Just common sense (which isn't so common these days).

Now if you bring your pet to the field/contest on a leash (and it doesn't bark excessively), I'll be one of the first people to come over and pet it (right behind my girlfriend!), assuming it's ok to do so?

Have a nice weekend everybody!

Thx, Jerry