Dog ate my picnic

Wouldn't necessarily stop the dog from running over & trying though.

Also some people see a dog with a muzzle & assume that it's vicious & avoid it.

I have a friend who fosters rescue greyhounds - lovely dogs wouldn't hurt anyone, but they wear muzzles as they've been bred to chase small furries & are fast enough to catch them. They could hurt someone's cat if they chased it & best to be safe.

I’d boot you and your dog into the sun then, since we are just talking nonsense.

No. A child's welfare trumps your dog, every single time. You have an air of arrogance that a lot of dog owners defending poor dog behaviour and dangerous dogs have. Dogs are animals. Not humans. Not furbabies. 🙄 The fact that you openly discuss your child eating someone's child on a mothers' forum is disgusting. You shouldn't be allowed to keep any animal or child. Your behaviour is repulsive.

Not all dogs. My dog loves grapes and always eats them. He’s an old boy now and can eat anything and everything without any trips to the vets needed. Don’t worry.

@givingitupok I know you probably won’t see this now but my God I hope you got a hug off someone. Ignore anyone having a go. You saw a lone dog running towards you knew it was a Shar Pei and quite rightly moved away. You’d no idea whether it was coming for the food, you or your child and I’ve seen one of them pin someone against a wall being aggressive (same dog used to sit on me for strokes). I think that was a totally understandable reaction as was expecting the owner to apologise and pay for the eaten food. You then made the effort to make the owner aware of the food this dog ate and I’m surprised nobody seems to be pointing out that surely an owner who gives a shit would’ve been checking what their dog ate in case a vet trip was needed? I’m also surprised how many ppl are missing the point dogs are supposed to be on lead in the park, like you’re supposed to have foreseen this but not the actual owner!

This happened to me many years ago when my Cocker Spaniel was a pup.

Some students had fallen asleep in our local park leaving the remains of pizza around them. My dog ran over & started gobbling their pizzas. I chased after her & dragged dog away. I woke them up, told them what my dog had done & profusely apologised. I pointed out that they could've been robbed blind as there were wallets & expensive phones lying on the ground. Frankly they were rather amused & grateful that I'd pointed out that falling asleep with phones & wallets on display wasn't a good idea & they said that it was no problem as they'd finished eating anyway.

However I gave them £20 to pay for more pizzas as they may have wanted to take the remains home to eat later - it's only polite.

I think it's the dog owner's responsibility to keep their dog under control which I can do now, but at the time she was only a pup & the temptation was too much for her.

That is horrible but now you know that if a dog is running towards you when you’re having a picnic, it’s the food they’re after, not you or your child. Unfortunately my dog has done this and it is mortifying but I have always replaced the food.

If it’s now ill then it’s its owners fault.

Only if it was an irritating little shit and I gave the command for my dog to do that. So my dog is actually very well trained.

I am a dog owner.

YANBU the dog was not in control.

Some people with dogs that scavenge keep them in muzzles to stop them eating things that might poison them.

Another shining example of a feckless, useless, irritating, pathetic, rude, irresponsible, entitled (insert more insults) dog owner.

Of course she should be expected pay for your food and she should have been apologising to you profusely about her and her dog ruining your picnic. But these types of dog owners think it’s no biggie because they’re just dogs and it happens and we should all be laughing our socks off at how cheeky her fur baby is.

Apparently it’s on you to pick up all your picnic quickly rather than her be on it controlling her dog. WTF?

I’m angry for you and your DS. You did something lovely for you both and not only was it ruined, she didn’t even acknowledge that it was her fault.

Yet you seem to expect the whole world to revolve around dogs.

No. They are dogs. They do not trump the needs and wants of people minding their own business in a public park, where dogs should be kept on leads.

@givingitupok if it helps you feel better, grapes are not automatically toxic to all dogs (or cats), so it might not have harmed the dog.

Grapes (and raisins) are acutely toxic to some dogs and cats, but you cannot tell which animals will be affected and by the time they show symptoms of poisoning they are very ill. Whereas some can eat grapes and be fine - but no-one yet knows why some are badly affected and others are not.

Since it is impossible to tell which dogs will be affected it is safest to assume they are highly toxic to all dogs. I had to take both of mine to the vet for induced vomiting as one of the two managed to snaffle a little bit of malt load when my back was turned. Felt very sorry for the non-guilty dog!

You said your dog would eat the child as well

@givingitupok Personally I think you did the right thing. You were not responsible for the dog and neither would you know if it becomes aggressive around food. I have to keep an eye out for picnics as I know my dog forgets all his training around food! If I see people sitting on the ground, I'd always put him on the lead just in case as he's my responsibility (he would never do harm, but he is my responsibility and I always keep in mind that some people are nervous of dogs). It's a shame to hear of the dog owners reaction. I hope she rethinks things and the dog survives.

The OP can’t expect the whole world to revolve around her. There are always going to be lots of dogs around in public places so the best the OP can do is to work on her own anxiety about dogs. Otherwise her DC will likely pick up the same fears. She can wait for the whole of society to train their dogs if she prefers but it is her and her children who will suffer in the meantime if they are scared of dogs.

I just Googled. They were originally bred as 'house guardians'? Too right...I'd have run.

Do out of control dogs with sights set on food usually respond to shooing from strangers?

Seriously?

Jesus.

I’m a big strong girl. If I’d seen a bloody Shar Pei running at my kids, I’d have picked them up and ran, too!

Idk why you ran away from the dog instead of just shooing it away, but yes dog owner is the AH for not having her dog under control and allowing it to eat somebody’s picnic. Least she should’ve done is pay for the food.

Hopefully this is another joke post.

Absolutely, I would have. My dog, my responsibility.

When you say the dog appeared and ran over to you, do you just mean it was in the vicinity? Then you picked up your child and ran off, leaving unattended poisonous food for the dog to eat? Perhaps you should be checking if there's a vet bill you should be contributing to