Dog ate my picnic

Exactly this. There are responsible dog-owners and irresponsible dog-owners and, sadly, OP encountered the latter (and the latter give the former a bad name).

@Zanatdy but how do you know if OP had an ‘over reaction’ if you don’t personally know her or her SEN child? This is part of the problem, a certain type of entitled dog owner just refuses to accept there’s anything wrong with their dog being off lead particularly in non dog parks. Just because you adore dogs doesn’t mean there’s not people with a genuine fear or those with dogs on lead (like my ex whose dog had been attacked before and poor thing was always terrified when off leash dogs run up sniffing and she’s cowering trying to crawl up our legs). But of course those types don’t really adore dogs only their own and the majority in my experience have no clue and control is laughable. Dog almost always have to be dragged away by the collar and in the rare occasions the owner does apologise - it’s laughable! They apologise for the dogs behaviour but I’m just thinking you should be embarrassed by your lack of control and should apologise for that! Don’t blame it on the dog apologise that you’re too lazy to properly do recall training and too entitled to put a leash on your dog even when the signs tell you to 🙄.

i am not asleep, far from it,
i hate this type of attitude, it is ugly

We shouldn’t eat in public at all really in case a dog comes along and sees. It might try and get the food or it might feel sad that we’re got food that it hasn’t

So what point were you making with your "flippant" comment then? I don't get it. If you're such a responsible dog-owner, surely you would be totally understanding of OP's experience and totally damning of the dog-owner and post in that vein? Please make it make sense.

So, according to you, OP was being a "vigilante" (by taking a photo? 😂 ) even though the dog-owner was breaking the law and not taking responsibility for her actions. Ok then. 🙄
And if you haven't noticed the number of people whose first instinct is to film something happening in public then you must have been asleep for the last 25 years! 😂

I rest my case - fur babies can do no wrong. Owners who cannot stop their dogs being a pest to others should have them removed.

I am pretty sure if I invaded a dog owners picnic & helped myself they would not be happy about it.

Stupid, irresponsible dog owners everywhere. Dog should be on a lead if owner is not close by and is
is a park frequented by lots of people inc children. It’s just common sense. Yes she should have compensated you for your food that was stolen.

These are the same dog owners who leave their dogs shit all over the place because they miraculously don’t see it coming out their dogs arse (because they’re ages behind, walk ahead, are in cloud cookoo land or have their eyes on their phone). I call them out every time I witness it.

I'd genuinely never heard of cutting up grapes until I joined Mumsnet. (I'm in my 60s.) No children of my own, so I've never been in charge of infants.

However, I can't once remember a family member cutting up grapes for their children. I'm assuming that cutting up grapes for safety is something that's been happening in recent times? (I'm not arguing - just saying that not everyone does this.)

ETA It's just dawned on me - I've cared for stroke victims and I can't ever remember the Speech and Language Team (incorporating the swallow team)suggesting that grapes needed to be cut up.

Again - I'm not being argumentative. Just admitting my lack of knowledge.

No, you come on. You literally wrote '... and if it’s off lead in a public place it’s not going to a threat." So your assertion is that if a dog is off the lead it's trust-worthy. This comment is beyond ignorant and it's plainly wrong. 🙄

Why would you need to know there is a picnic? If your dog doesn't behave all the time, they need to be on a lead all the time. Your dog shouldn't have the opportunity to eat someone else's food. No excuse.

I'm sorry, OP. I don't know what's wrong with people blaming you for yet another a shitty dog owner's behaviour.

The dog owner should be ashamed of herself and should have apologised profusely and paid to replace your food. With more apologies. And if she'd stuck around to do so, perhaps she would have realised then that her dog probably needed to see a vet right away.

As I said, I didn’t know there was a picnic. She did come back, with sausage roll. If I had no control, she would have stayed and eaten more.

I think maybe some dog owners come on these threads to see what daft story is on here this time. Weekly, it seems, there’s someone who likes to post a badly behaved dog story. Usually they get more and more silly, because they’re running out of ideas, and usually the same posters from the other dog posts, piling on to sympathise with the horrific experiences. I think some must have an alert on their profiles to any post subjects with ‘dog’ in them. They probably jump on them with gleeful anticipation….hence some dog owners also coming on to these posts to wind up, as it’s so difficult to know which stories are true, and which aren’t.

Feeling all powerful? Get a grip. It wasn’t a dangerous situation. I mean running away from a dog you fear is dangerous is the worse thing you can do anyway. Shall we all start going out in bubble wrap?

And the chocolate wont help

It really ate all the chocolate? Chocolate, even in minuscule amounts can actually kill dogs…

Even though you say you were mortified 'BeakyFlinders', you clearly have no control over your dog, which is the reason why so many people are frightened of dogs being off lead. If your dog doesn't come to you, EVERY time you call it, even if there is food around, it is not under your control, and should be put on a lead when you're out and about.

The food wasn't dangerous... to humans.

And neither dogs nor teddy bears were invited to the OP's picnic.

FFS furbaby 🙄

Indeed. An equivalence (false imo) is often drawn between dogs and small children.

Is there any world in which it would be acceptable for a small child to barge through a stranger's picnic, upset all the food and stick it in their mouth? Absolutely not!

I'm flabbergasted that anyone is trying to defend this.

Training is the key and it should be mandatory. As a first time dog owner I took my adorable Westie to formal training classes every week from 12 weeks old (he won the trophy for "most improved dog"! 😂) and it was invaluable in teaching me how to communicate with him. The trainers were very honest that they weren't actually training the dogs, but us owners - which became so apparent as the weeks went on.
I agree with everything you've written, but please don't paint all "the fur baby brigade" with the same brush - some of us take our responsibilities seriously and don't want an anti-social dog that bothers other people.

Stop being such a ridiculous stirring troll!

That is awful, as a dog owner myself 2 of our dogs stay on leads because despite training under certain circumstances their recall goes out the window (usually around squirrels and birds) but all three are put on leads around picnic areas.
As someone else has pointed out standing still instead of running is much safer if you are unsure about any dogs and I’ve taught all my children to stand still, turn their backs and stay quiet if approached.
It’s also worth mentioning that any dog has the potential to be dangerous regardless of breeds, you said you don’t know which ones might be.
I wouldn’t post her picture but Shar-peis are fairly unusual so on your local page if you have one I would say something along the lines of
”To the female owner of the fawn shar-pei that was off lead and not under your control when he ate our picnic in (area) at (time) just to advise you that your dog consumed our punnet of grapes and some chocolate, you should seek veterinary advise immediately and perhaps keep your dog safe in future by keeping on a lead.
Edited as I see you’ve tracked her down, Shar-pei are pretty rare so I’m not surprised she found quickly.

I don't understand why you are even giving the time of day to keyboard warriors, who I'm quite sure wouldn't dare say what they type to a person's face.

Some people just get a kick out of anonymously being rude to others. Please don't even both responding as you're giving them what they want - a reaction.

Your reaction was perfectly valid. Lots of people hate dogs. A dog should not be off lead if they're not under full control. I walk my dog off lead as all she wants is the tennis ball. Not interested in other dogs, people or food.

I hope this dog owner comes forward and pays for the food her dog ate. I personally would have left the post up a bit longer until the money had been paid.