Paws on paths: dog walking behaviour and behaviour change interventions to reduce dog disturbance of wildlife

This review describes the impacts of domestic dogs on wildlife, identifying various studies which suggest these impacts are reduced when dogs are on a lead. Although most people are supportive of dog controls, such as keeping dogs on leads, many owners are not, and this is reflected in the low rates of owners which use leads. A variety of methods have been used to encourage dog owners to change their behaviour, and reduce impacts on wildlife and nature, though most studies use multiple interventions, or focus on owner attitudes and opinions, rather than measuring the effectiveness of these interventions. As signage to ask dog owners to keep ‘paws on paths’ is one approach used to reduce disturbance of ground-nesting birds on UK lowland heaths, evidence about the effectiveness of signage is reviewed, identifying various studies which show signs have been able to effectively keep walkers on ‘main trails’ and reduce the use of unofficial trails.