Dog ate my picnic

Are you serious? I am dog phobic but it's nothing to do with when I was a child, it happened later on. If a dog was running towards me I would probably freeze but if I had a child with me I would likely run away to protect them. You might not like dogs but you're clearly not afraid of them.

4th brandish of the shitty stick. Most people have rumbled you now, off you pop.

It may be ‘fair game’ but if a dog is on a lead it’s irrelevant as a well-trained dog won’t be able to eat the food.

Anyway I am not scared of most dogs. But have still had a picnic ruined by an out of control dog who rampaged through and nuzzled all the food we were sitting down eating. We did not run but it still ate the food or slobbered over it.

If the dog was going to bite them, it wouldn't have stopped to eat the picnic.

@Gardeninrags why the hell should the OP pay the vet bill. If the idiot of an owner had had it on a lead the dog couldn’t have ate the grapes
if you know your dogs liable nick peoples food, put it on a lead

OP I’ve only read your posts and the first few responses which seemed mostly sensible but it was totally not your fault. I’m sorry the dog owner ruined your son’s hard work and upset the day.

It made sense you picking up the kid and moving away, if you had been bit or your child reacted badly to the dog no doubt the critics would say you should have moved away. From your responses I am guessing the irresponsible entitled type of dog owners have found your thread.

FWIW a few years ago we had a work picnic, there were about 8 adults all sitting around food. No one ran when the dog came up so it wasn’t left unattended but it still quickly stuck its head inside a share bag of crisps - gross!

The owner was standing around looking on no apology -my manager noticed I was looking tense and told the owner very assertively to take its dog away immediately .

It also happened to be a pitbull looking type of dog. Small-ish but very muscular. I was very uneasy even though I didn’t shout or move etc.

It really frustrated me so many public spaces are impacted by dogs. I don’t want to have a picnic and have to watch out for dogs or watch where I walk because of dog
shit or sit somewhere and smell dog piss everywhere.

I honestly feel we need more dog free spaces. It’s no use saying keep them on the lead or pick up after them because while most owners will comply - many won’t and it ruins things for everyone.

We need some parks that are dog friendly- but some parks that are dog free. Same goes for coffee shops etc

The only irresponsible person here is the dog owner who didn’t have their dog under control.

If the dog had been under control then it wouldn’t have been anywhere near the food.

It is not for the general public to make sure that everywhere is safe for dogs. It is down to the dog owners to make sure dogs don’t get into anything they shouldn’t.

A-star trolling.

Our Ddog is always on the lead in public so he wouldn't have have been able to approach you. However as far as he would be concerned that was unattended food so fair game.
I appreciate that not everyone likes dogs and one running towards you was probably scary if you aren't used to them but hiding behind a tree seems a bit extreme. It probably would have buggered off if you had shouted at it and you could have enjoyed your picnic.
Owner should have appologised though

Oh no! The original middle class sin! Never write of an experience that has been reported in the Daily Fail.

i did criticise the dog owner
but i also criticised the shitty attitude of photographing people and shaming them on facebook

And mums and neurodivergent kids unused to dogs should stay at home for their "picnics". How dare they complain about shitty dog owners and their annoying, sometimes deadly, furbabies.

Lucky for the OP that the dog owner doesn’t know who she is as she could be reported to the RSPCA for cruelty to the poor dog. Very irresponsible to leave your food and run off

But many of us have had dogs ruin picnics. There are lots of posters here. Why is it so unusual to have the same incident happen a few months ago to somebody else?

Its like this: many people have no common sense to do the right thing. Dog owner was simply out of order. If you own a big dog you either take him in the fields or put him on a little ng lead if you walk him in the park. As simple as that. Also the dog owner absolutely should have offered to pay for the food eaten by her dog!! Your dog = your responsibility! The dog doesn’t understand the situation, he simply needs lots of training and as usual the owner is clueless as she is shouting at the him instead 🙄. On top of that this is a special breed that needs lot of training and care🤷‍♂️. I’m really sorry OP had to have this experience, particularly with a child that have SEN as I know how difficult that can be.

You did nothing wrong.

I would have done the same as you.

There were signs saying leads were required.

The dog owner was irresponsible.

I hope the dog stays well and the owner learns from this upsetting incident.

Yes, central south coast, very nice. 😊

The thing is...it is incredibly similar to a Post a few months ago. You can't people for spotting the similarities.

Nowhere has @CoubousAndTourmalet given any indication she's not a decent dog owner. All she has said is the original reeks of an attempt to secure a Daily Mail headline. Which, to be fair, it does.

My dog has eaten more chocolate in his lifetime than I have in mine! He seems to make a beeline for it. Goes down bags, nicks it off the kids. He can’t get enough of it. And no, he isn’t dead either!

Sorry OP, although I suspect you've walked away and got on with your life now ... some of the posts here are ridiculous, and I suspect just out for attention.

I'm a dog owner, multiple dogs over the years. I'm very confident around dogs but am scared of spiders. I've said to people who don't understand a fear of dogs, imagine a spider the size of a dog running at you, you don't know what it's intentions are, will it bite, which way will it run etc.

Irresponsible dog owner, deeply upsetting for your son and for you, the food prep and the premise of an enjoyable picnic and afternoon together spoiled by someone who simply gave you no thought. Horrid experience.

What "type of attitude"? Normal people would be criticising the irresponsible dog-owner and defending OP, but not you, apparently. 🙄

Your comments are not the ones from a decent dog owner who advocates for responsible ownership or who shows understanding for others affected by poor ownership. Other owners here have been reflective, understanding and compassionate.

‘Yup. I noticed that. Interesting, isn't it? I wondered if I'd come across this poster before. It all seems remarkably similar to something on another thread a few months back.’

‘Because chucking it a bit of sandwich to distract wouldn't create a dramatic enough thread to make The Daily Fail. Whereas the absurdity of a "huge" Shar-Pei terrorising a small child for a punnet of unwashed grapes has it all.’

I couldn't agree with you more. It's precisely why I would never start a thread on here and, I suspect, why others wouldn't either, which is a shame as it's kind of the whole point of MN.
There's been a particularly high number of perverse loons posting this weekend - I'm blaming the hot weather! 😂

Absolutely ridiculous. Clearly the dog owner has no control over her dog, or sense of shame for the people losing their lunch.

Seriously considering starting a thread on here titled Turn Me Into The Bad Guy
where posters describe a perfectly normal reasonable situation and others have to find a way to make the person posting the situation in the wrong. Eg I picked a flower in my garden = bees will now starve, what about if a child saw and decided to pick other people's flowers etc.
Im starting to think there's not a scenario out there that couldn't be turned round on a poster.