Dog ate my picnic

grapes and chocolate are both poisonous to dog. I feel bad for the dog as it's the owners fault for having it off lead. The dog will be very unwell or possibly die

I’m nervous of dogs, so I wouldn’t take my daughter to a public park for a picnic.
Kids play area with a few benches sure, but not a park.
You can’t trust dogs and their owners these days and there’s shit tons of the things.
My SIL tells dog owners to move away from her and her child, I can’t be doing with the hassle as dog owners don’t seem to understand why some other people don’t like dogs.

You have done nothing wrong though. Hope you and your son manage to do something else fun this weekend.

(Hope the dog is ok apart from being sick on its owners carpet).

🤔you could be on to something there

sarcasm 🤣

Edited because someone already said what I mentioned.

Exactly, it’s something that is hard to quantify. I’m assuming my dog isn’t sensitive to the toxin but I absolutely still do my best to ensure they don’t eat any more.

All I meant initially is that not all dogs will die if they eat some grapes. But you won’t know if that is the case until it is too late. And it was suggested that there could be an amount that is absolutely fatal but again, it’s not a given.

Are you saying some people should not take their children to use parks?
I think people should expect dogs to be under control. I am scared of dogs. I won’t have my life restricted by inconsiderate dog owners.

@Gardeninrags

it definitely won’t be ok

Entirely the owner's fault. And she should have recompensed you. Even the most reliable dog can lose it near food, so my ravenous hound is straight on the lead near the picnic and barbecue areas at my local park.

On a lighter note, years ago the TV show "One Man and his Dog" featured agility, herding and obedience trials. An occasional trial was hurdles and tunnels where the dog had to complete the round with a sausage in its mouth, and NOT eat the sausage.

It was always amusing when it was the police dog that lost it and scoffed the sausage.

Lesson: no dog is ever completely reliable so the onus is on the owner.

Well, duh. But that wasn't the situation the OP was faced with, was it?

I wouldn’t worry.

Dog owners spend ££££ taking their dog to the vet if they eat grapes or chocolate but the reality is I don’t know a single dog that has actually died from it.

When I was a child dogs ate all sorts of shit and were miraculously fine.

Also, complete solidarity with you for the eaten picnic. It happened to us once and the owner just shouted “Oh yeah, he’ll do that.” As if it couldn’t be helped. Rude rude rude.

There should be dog parks and parks for people and dogs should not allowed in the people parks.

Are you on drugs?

🤣 (bring back the laughing emoji)

With grapes, I don’t think it is a question of how hardy the dog is, rather how much of the toxin is in the grapes. Your dog may have been lucky and eaten some without a lot of toxin in.

Does it hurt to be this stupid?

Oh hang on..if you are so nervous of dogs why are you picnicking somewhere people walk dogs off leads? I take my kids to the park and have a picnic quite often. Usually at least once a dog will come sniffing up and the owner will call them away. We just sit there and the kids will talk to the dog - no dog has ever actually lunged for the picnic while we are sat there! Of course if we ran away the dog would tuck in.

@givingitupok It’s entirely the owner’s fault…my dog is a natural scavenger so we don’t let him off leash in parks because he’d definitely go for any picnics. Your poor son, I hope this hasn’t frightened him too much. 💐

As a dog owner myself, as soon as you see people with food I would have put my dog straight away on the lead. I respect not every one likes dogs. In the event it did get to you I would have defo covered the costs. My dog my problem. Unfortunately there’s a good chunk of dog owners that scream entitlement. Another chunk that are unbothered about other people’s feelings. They are dangerous breed (dog owners) when they are both

That’s kind of my point though, mine didn’t die, your friends did. It’s the unknown that makes it so tricky.

What I meant about breeds was that if some are particularly susceptible to kidney issues, they could be at higher risk. Labradors are rightly or wrongly known for having cast iron stomachs.

Sounds like a good idea to me. You're couching it in terms of being a caring member of the community.

I think this lady may have learned a valuable lesson today OP.

I'm sorry your picnic got ruined. Some dog owners give the rest of us a bad name.

Owner was shit and has probably killed her dog through her inability to control it. At least it's looking at kidney failure.

How exactly is it OPs fault that this woman has zero control and not watching her dog? It shouldn't be loose if it isn't trained with at least reasonable recall. No such thing as perfect recall but if your dog won't come 8 times out of 10 then it should be on a long line.

Yes, I'd have grabbed the dog, not stood there like a lemon, watching it eat my lunch but not everyone is confident handling animals. Its not her job to handle this dog! That's down to the owner.

This happened to me in a children’s playground the other day. My picnic was on the floor of the park and I was watching my mum playing with my DD when a big lab ran over to me on a lead held by a 4(ish) year old boy. It had its face in my food even as I tried to gather it up, slobbering all over it and eventually ate a banana right out of my hand. The owner nearby just shouted ‘pull him away’ and walked off. She didn’t rush over to help or apologise and just expected her young child to be able to control this massive dog which shouldn’t have even been in a playground in the first place. I was seething!

Public parks allow unleashed dogs?

Is there a shame page for dog owners who are not in control of their dogs? Post that pic. He could have eaten something toxic to him and she obviously didn't have control over him.

I'm really sorry you lost your picnic. Your son put a lot of effort into that, what a sweetie.