...to expect dog owners to use leads in a park - I got bitten today and am fuming!!!

er, ladyoftheflowers, if you can't exercise a large dog without it running about then get a small one. the rest of the world shouldn't have to pay for dog-owners' vanity and laziness. but then i think it's cruel to keep anything other than small dogs in the city anyway. dogs need space, they shoudl be in the coutnry. muzzled if not on their own grounds, but in the country.

Just remembered, as well. MIL went to the assistance of a woman who had collapsed in a garden, whilst on the way back from a dog walk. She called the paramedics. Whilst they were dealing with the patient the dog bit the female paramedic. When my MIL relayed the story to me she said. She made such a fuss, especially for a paramedic.

FFS!!!!

currantbunmum- the point about socializing dogs was because most aggressive dogs are aggressive because they haven't been socialised properly so of course it is important.
I also have children (obviously being on here!) and would never put them at risk but I think passing on a hatred of dogs and letting them become hysterical around dogs puts them at much more risk of getting bitten than teaching them how to act calmly and responsibly around any animals and shock horror that involves letting them go near dogs!!!
shame few of you can appreciate the benefits of dogs...yes there are some!!

I am a dog lover, by the way. Just don't think there is a place for dogs that bite. Don't trust them once the have.

My 3 DD's have gone to their grandmothers for the night, with their father. She has a dog that she got from a rescue home. She had her for one week and we went to visit. From the entrance porch, up one flight of stairs, she had nipped everyone on the ankle by the time we got to the front door. In the living room she bit my mother on the foot and my children were terrified about putting their feet down. I was supposed to leave the children there for a week, but said that I couldn't and left. MIL kept saying, well she hasn't bit me. A few months later husband took DD's to visit and he got badly bitten on the back. MIL said, well you must have done something to upset her. You moved too quickly or you made too much noise. I HATE THAT DOG. Whenever I visit I keep throwing it a ball cos I think if its got something in its mouth, it can't bite me.

Separated from husband now and hate it when he takes children there. I swear to god if any of my children get hurt by it I will kill it myself. (Actually I know my husband will too). He hates her as well. I just hope to god he makes her put it in another room whilst the children are up.

the point of dogs?
guiding the blind?
sniffing out bombs?
sniffing out drugs?
guiding the deaf?
not very useful eh?

i agree it is terrible the op was bitten and agree that the dog should of been on a lead. in most cases the dog has done it before.

i think there should be areas in parks, as there are on many beaches, where dogs are allowed to run free and you only go into that area if you want to.
alternatively, dogs off leads could be made to waer a muzzle instead.
in order to tire a large dog on a lead would take about 10 miles of walking. dogs being allowed to run free somewhere is a necessity.

mrsgumby report it.

I got bitten by my friends dog when I was 10. He was a hunting dog though, her dad used to take him with him to shoot rabbits.

The dog broke out of his kennel one day & trapped me on the cattle grid. Sunk his teeth into my calf, as my friend & her 2 sisters jumped into their unlocked car so as not to get bitten.

Her mum came walking up the road with a friend & we shouted that the dog was loose, she went & got her dh from the fields & he had the dog put down that night I felt awful, but her dad insisted that once the dog had tasted human blood it would want more.

My friends brother didn't speak to me for 2 years after that

If anybodies dog bit my child I'd have to be pulled off the owner. Once I'd made sure ds was safe from the dog. Marymay I admire your self control because I would have decked the owner. What did you do and is your ds ok aside from the pyschological scars.

my ds got bitten by a dog four weeks ago as he and dd were running on the common after school.the owner quickly started to run off .i ran after her like a crazy woman and when i finally caught up with her she said the same crap .oh its never done that before and well your child was running.
im not a violent person but how i didnt knock her out i dont know.
my son is now petrifed to walk anywere.

I'd deffo report. God I bloody hate dogs. What is the point of them? THey are just a fecking nuisance and since being literally knocked over in the park by one particularly shitty little pit bull and launched at by anotehr one that trespassed our garden - ds2 is absolutely terrified of them and it can make park visits quite stressful as he can't run off too far in case one comes near him.

So bloody sick of simpery owners gonig 'ooooh, he/she is very friendly, she won't hurt you' while doing feck all to remove it from my child who is practically hysterical. Er, when you are 4 and the dog is the same height as you, it's pretty frightening!

Feckers.

But would that stop the owners who don't care about training their animalsRound here they'd just ignore it in the same way they do poo collecting.

It should absolutely be reported to the dog warden/community polce. I'm not sure what, if anything, they can do about it, but it can't go unreported. In a park where children are running around it should be that all dogs are kept on a leash, it's common sense. And no, I'm not a dog hater, I just put my childrens and my own safety above that of a dogs social circle.

AitchTwoOh thanks so much. We keep hearing claws on the wooden floor and expect her to appear. So we've got a virtual dog now called Rover . He's great and keeps ups all company. Amazing how resilient little boys can be. The Vet sent me a beautiful Angel Dog brooch which I wear. She had a great life.

Right sorry for the hijack.

A friends dog bit me on the nose once.

Little fecker

MrsG - I got bitten a year ago this week, on my calf, through my jeans (luckily or ir would have been worse) I still have the scar. Keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn't get infected.

Abd agree about calling the dog warden. Maybe he'll have a wander around the park and round up the unruly owners.

I'd have kicked it!

Thats awful you getting bitten. My mum has a small dog and she always picks up it poo and puts it in the bin. The only time the dog is off the lead when out walking is in the forest, its always on a lead when children are about. I think dog owners need to be responsible, my partners dad and step mum had dog poo in their front garden from a passer by dog, its discusting!

Thats true there should be a record in case the dog is a repeat offender

I think you ought to phone your local dog warden ( see council web site ) to report - they would be interested. This dog also may have done this before and the people are covering up the fact. They comitted an offence to allow it to be out of control in a public place.

oh that is sad, alipiggie, i'm sorry to hear that...

I was a dog owner until my beloved dog died sadly three weeks ago. I thought that most public parks had a "Dogs have to be on the leash" policy anyway. Would be worth checking into. Sorry this happened to you.

oh lawks. actually if all dogs were required to be on a lead everywhere that wasn't a gated dog park it would penalise many responsible dogs. however, tough tits i'm afraid. it would also protect people from irresponsible dog owners and i know who i consider to be higher up the food chain, as it were. until they bring back an enforceable dog licenece and mandatory training (ie, never) then the children should come first.

just because you have had one bad experience doesn't mean all dogs should be on leads in parks. There are plenty of responsible dog owners out here thank you who have put in time and money at training classes and who also see the benefit of letting their dogs socialise with other dogs (ie NOT taking them to a far off field or the gobi desert!).
It is attitudes like this that end up with kids being terrified of any dog which is such a shame in my opinion.

Please don't tarnish us all with the same brush as long as my dog is trained and friendly and I pick up mess after her then there is no way she will be on a lead in a park....the park is there for ALL to enjoy.

PPB, maybe we could put down people who punch or hit other people as well?