I'm not the GP but I'd like to comment on this because it's an interesting question. Some people are afraid of dogs. Others come from cultures where dogs are c

I'm not the GP but I'd like to comment on this because it's an interesting question. Some people are afraid of dogs. Others come from cultures where dogs are considered ritually unclean. And no stranger can verify just by a glance that your dogs will behave themselves. To take the third point to its logical extreme, imagine a town where police wear street clothes and openly carry firearms. You, a visitor, cannot determine by observation alone that they are all highly trained officers of the law. You simply see people with firearms. That could be unsettling, despite the fact that the presence of those people actually makes you safer. I suppose that if everyone is walking their dogs without a leash, it's not really an issue because the culture has adapted to that practice.