Auckland Council will debate a proposal to make all dog parks on-leash by default.

Where and when dogs can be let off the lead in Auckland could be set to change.

Dogs roaming off-leash in parks will become the exception rather than the rule if Auckland Council's proposed new bylaw goes ahead next year.

Currently half of Auckland's local board areas allow dogs off-leash in parks, with some exceptions around playgrounds, sports fields and environmentally sensitive areas, while the other half require dogs to be on a lead at all times.

FELICITY REID/STUFF John Davis with his dogs Jasper and Jingo at the on-leash Shepherds Park.

The council is proposing a region-wide default rule of dogs needing to be on-leash in all parks.

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Kaipātiki Local Board chairman John Gillon said the bylaw change would have a big impact on the North Shore, where the majority of parks were off-leash.

Under the proposed bylaw, local boards would need to specifically designate a park as off-leash or it would fall under the council's blanket rule.

Gillon, who advocated for the North Shore's first dedicated dog park at Mānuka Reserve, said the change would have an effect on dog wellbeing if they could not run around at their local pocket park.

"While there are definitely areas that should be considered for changing from off-leash to on-leash, particularly some of our bush reserves, I'm very concerned at what could effectively be a sudden restriction on dogs from being able to catch a ball or exercise off-leash in every neighbourhood park across the North Shore," Gillon said.

FELICITY REID/STUFF Jo Lear walking her dog Suzy off-leash at Mānuka Reserve Dog Park.

"There will also be an added cost in updating signage, and providing more designated off-leash dog parks."

Glenfield's Jo Lear takes her dogs, Suzy and Sammy, to use the Mānuka Reserve dog park regularly.

She said her dogs did not use the exercise equipment provided, but she and other dog owners appreciated the opportunity to let their dogs run around off-leash in the open space.

John Davis and his dogs, Jasper and Jingo, are regulars at one the North Shore's few on-leash parks, Shepherds Park.

Davis said although the park was popular with dog owners, most understood and obeyed the rules of no dogs off-leash on the sports fields or by the playground.

The council was in the process of workshopping dog management with local boards.

FELICITY REID/STUFF Auckland Council signage for dog rules in Birkenhead's Shepherds Park.

Other areas up for review included licensing for multiple dog ownership as well as the times when dogs were allowed on beaches.

At most beaches, dogs are required to be on-leash from 10am-5pm between Labour weekend to March 1.

The proposed change would extend the hours from 10am-7pm and the duration until March 31.

Council information showed a hearings panel would deliberate on the proposed changes in February 2019.