Halachot and Customs
Is It Permitted to Walk with a Dog on Shabbat?
Question
Hello,
Is it permitted to buy and bring into the house dog food, for example dried chicken snacks, when the chicken was apparently not slaughtered according to kosher slaughter? The same question applies to beef snacks.
Of course, this is only for the dog to eat.
Another question,
is it permitted to take a dog by the hand on Shabbat and walk with it to another house a few minutes away?
Is it permitted to pick up a dog in the house on Shabbat?
Thank you
Answer
Greetings,
1. It is permitted to feed a dog non-kosher food, unless it is food that is forbidden to benefit from, such as meat and milk cooked together.
2. It is permitted to walk with a dog on Shabbat, but one must be careful not to drag it by the leash, because all animals are muktzeh on Shabbat and are forbidden to be moved (see Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, siman 308, seif 39, Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 146, and Yabia Omer, part 5, Orach Chaim, siman 26).
And if there is no eruv in that place, one must also be careful that the end of the leash does not extend from under your hand by a tefach, that is, 8 cm, and one must also be careful that the leash does not hang down close to the ground by less than a tefach, meaning 8 cm (see Shulchan Aruch there, siman 305, seif 16).
3. One should avoid this, because a dog has the status of muktzeh on Shabbat, as noted.
With blessing,
Hillel Meirs
