Leash rules in the Netherlands: who sets them and how to check

Who decides where your dog must be on a leash?

Your municipality, for streets, parks and beaches. Every Dutch municipality has a local bylaw, the Algemene Plaatselijke Verordening (APV), with rules for public space, and it says when your dog must be leashed. In woods, dunes and heath, the land manager's rules come on top, from organisations such as Staatsbosbeheer, Natuurmonumenten or a water company.

The LICG, the Dutch national information centre for companion animals, sums up the main rule: dogs generally have to be leashed inside the built-up area, except on off-leash grounds designated for it. You can ask your municipality where those grounds are.

So several sets of rules are in play, and they can apply at the same time:

• The APV of your municipality: the basic rule, for example a leash inside the built-up area.
• A designation decision by the municipal executive: the list of places where your dog may run free, or may not go at all. The APV gives the executive that power.
• The land manager's rules in nature areas, which are stricter in spring in many places.
• The national hunting rules: in open country your dog must not chase wildlife, and according to the LICG you are better off not letting a sighthound run free there.
• A leash order for one dog. If the mayor considers a dog dangerous or a nuisance, the mayor can require the owner to keep that dog on a leash, or on a leash and muzzled.

That last power is in both the Wassenaar and The Hague bylaws. Under such a leash order, the leash may be no longer than 1.50 metres, measured from hand to collar.

What does the APV say about off-leash dogs?

What the APV contains is a ban with exceptions. The APV forbids letting your dog run unleashed in certain places, keeps dogs off playgrounds, and lets the municipal executive designate places where the ban does not apply. In Wassenaar and The Hague this is article 2:57, Loslopende honden (off-leash dogs). The wording differs per municipality, so read the definitions too.

Two neighbouring municipalities show this well. In The Hague your dog must be leashed inside the built-up area on the public road (op de weg); in Wassenaar, in any public place inside the built-up area (op een openbare plaats). That sounds like a big difference, but The Hague's bylaw counts squares, parks, green spaces, play lawns, woods and other nature areas as part of the 'weg'. Inside the built-up area, the leash rule therefore covers almost all public space in both towns. The real difference lies outside it: Wassenaar's rule also covers places outside the built-up area that the executive designates.

Wassenaar also requires a dog on the road to wear a collar or another identification tag that clearly identifies the owner. In both municipalities dogs are not allowed on children's playgrounds, in sandpits or on play lawns, not even on a leash.

The exceptions differ too. Anyone accompanied by a guide dog or assistance dog because of a disability is exempt from the playground ban in both municipalities. In Wassenaar that exemption also covers the leash requirement, and it extends to people demonstrably training such a dog in a qualified way.

How do the leash rules in Wassenaar and The Hague differ?

In broad terms they look alike: a leash in the built-up area, no dogs on playgrounds, and off-leash spots designated by the executive. The differences are in the details, and above all on the beach. Walk along The Hague's Noorderstrand into Wassenaar in summer, and different rules apply once you cross the municipal border.

The two beach systems mirror each other. In Wassenaar the beach is an off-leash area all year, with one marked stretch that is closed to dogs on summer days. In The Hague the Noordzeestrand is off limits in summer, apart from a few designated stretches.

The Hague adds an unusual rule. On two stretches of the Zuiderstrand your dog may also run free in summer between 21:00 and 07:00, and during the day when the forecast temperature for 12:00 is lower than 18 degrees, according to the weather forecast on the municipality's website.

At Landgoed Backershagen in Wassenaar, your dog must also be leashed during the breeding season from 1 March to 1 August. Which spots, and how to get there, is in our guide to off-leash dog areas in Wassenaar. For the beach, see dog beach Wassenaar.

Which leash rules apply in woods, dunes and heath?

There the land manager decides, and usually wants your dog on a leash. Staatsbosbeheer, the state forestry service, welcomes dogs in almost all its nature areas, but on a leash. Natuurmonumenten asks the same in most of its areas. Always check the sign at the entrance: it shows what applies right now, including in the breeding season.

Staatsbosbeheer

Staatsbosbeheer explains why: leashed dogs stay on the path, which is better for birds, wildlife and other visitors. On some routes and spots your dog may run free, but under voice control (onder appèl). That means he stays close to you and comes when called, and you can step in at any moment. Where grazing animals roam, dogs are not allowed.

Natuurmonumenten

In Natuurmonumenten's off-leash areas, each handler may bring at most three dogs. Under control there means your dog stays within a 10-metre radius and listens straight away. An enforcement officer (boa) of Natuurmonumenten can fine you if your dog runs loose where that is not allowed. In some areas that three-dog limit applies to the whole area, even on a leash.

Natuurmonumenten also explains why it asks for a leash. Deer, hares and other animals flee when they feel threatened by a dog, and sometimes literally run to their death against cars or barbed wire. Every year several roe deer are bitten to death by dogs.

Meijendel

In Meijendel, the dune area of the water company Dunea, dogs are welcome on a leash in most of the area. They are not allowed in the Kijfhoek and Bierlap, in parts of the Duintuin or in the Monkeybos. Dunea's breeding season runs from 1 March to 1 September, when some paths are closed to visitors. Dune wardens may issue an official report (proces-verbaal).

Wolf territory near the Leusderheide

Sometimes wolves add another reason. In the woods of Staatsbosbeheer and Utrechts Landschap bordering the Leusderheide, a periodic leash rule applies from 15 March to 15 September; it was introduced in 2025. The leash may be at most 10 metres long there. An approaching wolf then sees dog and owner as one unit, Staatsbosbeheer writes.

That seems to have an effect. According to a preliminary evaluation by the province of Utrecht, dozens of incidents between wolves and dogs were recorded in 2024, when there was only advice to leash dogs. In 2025 there was one. For the other woods in the province of Utrecht where dogs may run free, there is advice to keep them leashed.

Everywhere in open country: the hunting rules

One rule is national and plays a part everywhere in nature: the hunting rules in the Besluit activiteiten leefomgeving (the Dutch environmental activities decree). A dog counts as a means of hunting under those rules. If you are out in open country with your dog, you are presumed to be hunting unless you can prove you are not. With your dog on a leash, the presumption is strong that you are not hunting, the LICG explains.

Sighthounds are a forbidden means of hunting under the law. The LICG therefore advises against letting a sighthound run free on natural ground or outside the built-up area: you risk it being seen as hunting with a forbidden means.

How do you look up the leash rules for your municipality?

On lokaleregelgeving.overheid.nl, the government website where municipalities publish their rules. Search for your municipality's name and 'Algemene plaatselijke verordening', then open the article on off-leash dogs. Next, find the decision in which the executive designates the off-leash spots. That way you have the text itself, not someone else's summary.

1. 1Go to lokaleregelgeving.overheid.nl and search for 'Algemene plaatselijke verordening' plus your municipality's name. The site is in Dutch; a browser translation can help.
2. 2Check 'Geldend van' (in force from) at the top, so you know you are reading the current version.
3. 3Search the text for 'hond' (dog). You will find the article on off-leash dogs, and in Wassenaar and The Hague also rules on dog waste and dangerous dogs.
4. 4If you read 'door het college aangewezen' (designated by the executive), there is a separate decision listing the places. Search for it with your municipality's name and 'losloopgebieden', 'aanwijzingsbesluit' or 'uitvoeringsbesluit'.
5. 5Compare the decision with the dog map and the signs. The Hague's decision states that where the map and the description in the decision conflict, the description prevails.
6. 6Heading into nature? Also check the land manager's website and the sign at the entrance.

What should you watch when your dog may run off-leash?

Watch three things above all: your dog, the people around you and the wildlife. Even in an off-leash area you remain responsible. According to the LICG, as an owner you must make sure your dog causes no nuisance or damage and cannot escape from the area. Off the leash, he still has to be under control.

• Does he come when called? Practise somewhere quiet first and build it up step by step. Our post dog won't listen outdoors shows how.
• Is your dog aggressive towards other dogs or people? Then, the LICG says, do not let him off the leash in an off-leash area where others are present.
• Leash him on cycle paths. In Wassenaar that applies even where a cycle path runs through an off-leash area.
• Always carry a poo bag. In Wassenaar and The Hague you are required to carry something to clean up with and to show it when an enforcement officer asks.

Would you rather someone else did the walk? On a LuckyPaw group walk in Wassenaar, Dominic or Evika walk your dog themselves.

Frequently asked questions about leash rules