To wonder why dog owners get offended because mychild is scared of their dog?

[hoovercraft]

My ds is really really scared of strange dogs. Its something thats quite upsetting and we dont know where it has come from. We are trying our best to work with it.

Went out yesterday to a local park/woods and there were many dogs. Ds was almost crippled with fear when he saw a dog approaching...we held his hands and reassured him.One barked and he cried. We hadnt realised he would be so scared tbh but the barking dog set us up for a looooong walk back to the car that day.

What I dont understand is why dog owners get so angry because my child is scared. We made no comment about them...heck, its a park, they are allowed to walk their dogs ffs. I even went overboard telling him not to worry when most dogs went past.....it was a lovely dog, a happy tail wagging dog, it wont hurt you etc and all we got were glares and rather nasty "it wont HURT you know!".
Whats that all about then?

YANBU at all OP I have the same situation with my son. He is terrified of dogs and I have no idea where it's come from as we are a 'doggy' family.

There was an occasion in a park recently when a very large dog lept up at him from behind and gave us ALL a hell of a fright. DS was almost paralysed with fear and the owner did not give a toss, told him 'Don't be so ridiculous, if he was the kind of dog to hurt a kid I would have him on a lead'. Won't tell you what I said back but I'm sure you can imagine.

Most dog owners are pretty considerate but I do agree there are some who just cannot understand why anyone would be afraid of their precious pooch.

I have a 'rat' dog.

If adults refer to him as such I just assume they are being a bit attention seeking. They usually do it with a smirk and a little look round to see who is listening to their incredible wit. Why would you refer to anything that someone else cares for in such a way? Of course its rude.

I do not allow my dog to run up to people because I think that is rude as well. I do reassure people he wont hurt them because I think it may well, reassure them.

I dont care if they dont like my dog though. I like him.

Some people are rude and stupid, some of them have dogs, some of them dont.

BeerTricksPotter - you think you have perfect control over them until instinct takes over. You absolutely cannot guarantee that that training will always overcome instincts no matter what the circumstances. You might think you have met loads, but given the right set of circumstances, any dog will bite.

The one that bit me was not being walked by its owner and would not therefore have been off the leash near people. However it was in a feild across a valley 100s of yards from me and saw another dog and ran over. The old lady who owned the other dog was terrified. She has a clotting disorder and so cannot be bitten even by accident and was therefore hysterical - flapping and screaming. I stepped between her and the dog and the beautifully trained dog bit me. I am sure that in other circumstances it would not have happened, but it did.

My recent experience has led me to believe that you cannot be too wary of dogs.

YANBU. I am scared of dogs, having been bitten, but trying to train my toddler DS not to be. However, I am also trying to teach him that they are animals and that there are safety rules when dealing with animals. The list includes "Don't approach a dog unless Mummy or Daddy says it's okay, if it's okay to touch a dog, stroke its back gently and never, ever grab it or poke it. Oh, and if you don't want to stroke a dog, don't."

I know that people are very fond of their dogs but dogs are not amenable to reason and can react unpredictably, just like a toddler. However, children don't have such large teeth and are generally more fragile than your average dog.

At 6, he is a small boy and dogs are often large, noisy and bouncy with pointy sharp teeth. It's not an irrational fear. Take it gently. And don't worry about offending the owners: deal with his fear before you tackle the social niceties.

As a dog owner I think it's a bit odd to be offended and they are being unreasonable. And while being scared is not good obviously, I think it is right that children should be wary of dogs that they don't know. I always really appreciate it when parents have taught their DCs to ask if it's ok before coming to make a fuss of the dog

However, I do feel a bit when the parents seem to be doing their best to install life-long fear in their DCs by freaking out, grabbing DCs, hiding them behind etc when we walk past them in the park with our well-behaved dog on a lead

Sonic dog repellent - is that legal?

GooseyLoosey, had the dog you mention been beautiflly trained it would not have ran over to the other dog, beautifully trained dogs do not do this, nor do they run off after rabbits, deer etc.

You cannot overcome a dog's natural instincts with training. What you can do is teach the dog that doing what you want it to is more rewarding than what it's instinct tells it to do or that no matter how much it wants to run after that rabbit or other dog, it's not going ot be able to get access to it unless it comes back to you first.

I agree that any dog will bite given the right set of circumstances. That is why responsible dog owners socialise their dogs properly (nothing to do with training as such) to ensure that bite threshold is as high as possible. One of my dog's is a rescue and I cannot guarantee he wouldn't bite yet if the right situation arose, but he is managed in such a way that I know he could never bite someone. I cannot imagine the point at which my other dogs would bite. That's not to say they aren't capable of it, of course they are, but I find it impossible to imagine a set of realistic circumstances in which they would feel the need to bite.

YANBU but...

As a dog owner with 3 dogs ranging in size from a cairn terrier to a labrador i do get annoyed with people who pass their own fears onto their children.

I try very hard to judge whether people are comfortable with my dogs waaaaay before we actually pass them and will put them on leads, make them sit, go a different way etc as appropriate. I was terrified of dogs myself in my teens after a couple of nasty experiences.

My Aunt is terrified of dogs and we always keep ours shut away when she visits and don't take them to family gatherings - however her daughter who is now 12 wasn't afraid of dogs as a toddler but began to feed off her mothers fear to the extent that she is now terrified too. I have seen many parents pull their children away with scared faces when the child in question doesn't appear concerned at all.

Also, I think dogs that jump up are embarrassing and poorly trained. However, my puppy has been kicked whilst on a lead by a parent for being over-excited around children (we have 4 children plus a toddler niece who visits regularly and the dog adores children) and this is totally unacceptable too.

I walk my dogs in the park most days and to be honest I'd rather keep them away from children, and certainly wouldn't be offended if someone was scared of them...

They're just small spaniels and totally soppy (adore my 3 month old DD) but even though I love them to death, there's always that 1% of doubt with any dog that they could just 'go for' a child. I could never forgive myself.

Sometimes people ask if children can stroke them and I always say no for this reason... Then they get offended.

You can't win :p

I'd like to add that I am not in any way trying to say that you are passing on your fears to your child - I was just adding to the general debate. Apols if it seemed that way!

Although, having said that, I do wish people would learn that a child screaming and running is like heaven for a dog and attracts them like bees to honey...

Lol

YANBU - my df has a dog (no idea what kind but it's the sort that looks illegal but isn't) and it's way over the top and ds who is only a tiny bit bigger than it is terrified. My step mum is really offended by this but can she not imagine being achild with a nasty dog face right in front of your face???? I can't stand this dog either but I just get on with it but I'm bigger than it so no issues - my ds cannot understand why a dog with a nasty face in his face and much heavier than him makes him scared. I understand . Wish my df and step mum did.

We went to the beach in the summer and there is an area where dogs are allowed and an area where they are not. It was good because as soon as someone tried to take their dog on to the non dog part, the lifeguards were tannoying to them and telling them to get off. We were quite close to one family and my god they started off fing &cing because they got told off. It was quite disgraceful actually and it is this type of attitude this pees me off no end and it seems to be getting worse.

thefirstMrsDeVere, I, a fully grown adult, do not describe any dogs as 'rat' dogs as my descriptive language is beyond that of a 3 year old! If you had read my post properly you would have observed that my 3 year old DS describes dogs with reference to other animals e.g a big shaggy black dog is referred to as a gorilla dog. A very small dog with rodent features, a rat dog, a small dog that he has thought was a cat, or that you could mix the two, a cat dog. For goodness sake he's saying it without sarcasm and with the innocence of a 3 year old. I would not tell him off for being 'rude' in such circumstances. If you are a dog lover one would assume you like all animals, so what is wrong with a dog looking like a rat?

If you are a dog lover one would assume you like all animals

ey?

Umm..I refer to my terrier x as the scabby badger dog (she has a bit of a skin condition) doesn't mean I don't love her and tbh I don't think she understands

doggytreats do we own the same dog? My Dad always calls mine the scabby rat dog. He also has a skin condition.

Owner here of three dogs, all large, all greyhounds. 2 are always muzzled and on the lead when in the local park, unless it is very early in the morning when we let them off for safe off lead play (still wearing muzzles). We've also done Kennel Club training classes with our third grey, who's gorgeous and adores other people, children and dogs.

We go out of our way to choose dog walking times and areas that mimimise exposure to children. Like Midori, I tend to regard them as a noisy, unpredictable nuisance. And on many, many occasions, usually as we are returning to the car, I've seen parents actively encouraging their DC to come over and stroke our dogs, even though they are on lead, walking quietly and muzzled. Sigh. What more must we do? When this happens, we always politely say to the child/ren, "No, sorry, please don't stroke our dog/s. It's not a good idea to stroke strange dogs unless you know them, and you should always ask first." Cue parents giving glare of death.

Children screaming hysterically, waving their arms and behaving like drama queens is not sensible. Any child can and should be taught how to behave around animals (not just dogs). As others have suggested, if the OP would like to, Pets as Therapy would be happy to help and introduce her son to a calm, placid well behaved dog.

Like most dog owners, I am just getting on with my day when I walk my dogs. I too hate the dogs that are out of control and bounce up off lead, and refuse to respond to their owners. There is no excuse for this, and it's dangerous, selfish and stupid.

For those who prefer dog free walking, then lobby your local authorities to introduce Dog Control Orders which can ban dogs and insisit on dogs on lead. And at the Country Park which had dogs in the playground, did you complain to the park management? Photograph the offenders? Phone a Councillor? Generally irresponsible and selfish dog owners get away with it, because most people don't bother to complain, so local authorities don't bother to use the powers they already have or the new ones they could have - this applies to dog fouling too. Responsible dog owners like myself would welcome this.

How odd scuttlebutter to refer to another human being as a 'nuisance'. What an incredibly intolerant attitude to have towards a whole group of people. I'm sorry but really, children approach your dogs regularly, in view of their parents and your dogs have muzzles on them??

Think I need to print up some tshirts - will make a killing come summer:

"Keep your Dog on a lead and away from me and my kid please. Thanks.

PS I don't care how harmless/lovely/friendly you think it is, I don't want to interact with strange dogs thanks"

I quite like dogs, DD is terrified of them (for no reason I know of). Most of the dogs around our way are fighting breeds & I don't want anything to do with them!

Goldenbear. why do you find it so easy to assume that some people who happen to be dog owners are less than considerate and not always all that sensible, but that some people who approach dog owners can't be a little less than sensible? Clearly you don't own a dog or you wouldn't find it so har dto believe that people behave like this.

And sorry, but I am giggling at random or planned attackes by guide dogs...

Findingstuff tbh you would probably also make a killing if you had some that said "Keep your dog away from me and out of my dog's face please". A badly trained dog with no recall annoys everyone, not just people with scared DCs. Similarly, DCs should always ask before going up to a dog (or any animal) - like people, some animals just happen to like their own space being left uninvaded.

Scuttlebutter- "Like Midori, I tend to regard them [children] as a noisy, unpredictable nuisance."

I'd much rather have those noisy, unpredictable nuisances running around, because I know that none of them will maul me, thanks.