To think, that from a young age children should be taught to behave properly around dogs?

[webbygeek91]

We are expected to be responsible dog owners, pick up, train them and keep them under control/well cared for, why don't parents teach their kids not to run screaming around dogs or run over to them and start trying to tug their tails/ride on them?

Also, to expect that kids should not be walking dogs on their own or at a significant distance from their parents with a dog that is:

A) Heavier than them
B) Has serious behaviour issues
C) A & B combined means said child has no control over dog.

Now to me BSL means British Sign Language...

:o

Please don't encourage me to call people rude names, Goblin. I have work to do and no patience today! :o

Breed Specific Legislation/British Sign Language... the last one makes far more sense to me than the first and I can't even Sign! :)

YANBU. On your last point dd1 walks our Whippet, she is not heavier than her and walks brilliantly. I won't let her walk the terrier as he can be iffy with other dogs at times. But I never let her walk her alone or too far ahead of me because I don't trust other people and worry the dog could be stolen from her or attacked by another dog.

My parents used to allow me to walk our doberman when I was 11 and there was never an incident. She was a lovely dog. Even with a dog as reliable as her I wouldn't allow it now because of other people, had another dog attacked her I wouldn't have known what to do.

Yes staring at a dog especially young children because they are at eye level does stress some dogs, they see it as aggressive . And yes it is the responsibility of all groups in this discussion to ensure each others safety as much as possible. Always remember though dogs are animalsd and can be unpredictable

When I was a child we had (it seemed, to my vague memory) annual visits from the Police and Fire Service to explain their jobs and warn about the dangers of crime/fire respectively. We also had chats from Guide Dog owners, come to that, who would come into school with their dogs and talk to us about their disability, their dogs and so on. What's wrong with inviting in someone who is knowledgable about dogs and TEACHING children how to behave responsibly with and around them. We all know that this has a knock-on effect upon adults... the anti-smoking campaign is a great example of how kids go home and tell parents what they should and shouldn't be doing!

A rescue volunteer I know who is also a TA recently gave a talk to the whole of her primary school. She explained not only about responsible dog handling/approaching but responsible dog owning and gave some of the less distressing examples she's encountered in rescue to illustrate her point.

However, IME these days this sort of approach is very rare. My girls are teenagers and they have never experienced such a thing although they have educated staff and other pupils on the treatment of racing greyhounds, the thousands of unwanted but healthy dogs killed annually in pounds, on the need for neutering and on the correct way to handle, approach and respect a dog.

I honestly think that if schools could take an hour out of one of their ime and imho often ridiculously patronising and pointless PSHE lessons to educate children on these issues dogs, adults and children alike would really benefit from it. All I would ask is that the talk is not led by the effing RSPCA!

YANBU - it's important for their safety too, no matter how well-trained and socialised the dog is, if someone runs up and pushes their fingers in its eyes then it is likely to panic

Here (Switzerland) "Child-dog" courses are an obligatory part of Kindergarten. (The obligatory part might only be true for our town)

Children get to meet some dogs, learn some rules about not stroking while dog is sleeping or eating, to ask the owner anyway before approaching the dog, what to do if a dog starts to jump up for your sandwich. (There may be more to it than that - this is based on what I learned from my 5yr old ds).

Heh - all this talk of treats/clicker/poo bags in every pocket has reminded me of an incident.

I'd chopped some cheese into small cubes, for training, and I'd done quite a bit. Consequently, I'd got loads left over from a walk, so I put it in a small plastic tub in the fridge. Next walk, I took it out with me again, had some left over again and once more put the remainder back in the tub.

As you can imagine, after being out for 2 walks/in and out of my pocket/touched by none-too-clean, dog-walky hands, it had seen better days.

Next day, I go to the fridge to re-stock pockets and cheese is nowhere to be found.

After scratching my head for a bit, I questioned DP, only to find out he's had it with a salad the evening before {vomiting smiley}

Yes, of course I told him

As for the OP - YANBU.

That's all very well, but what about those of us who don't have dogs, never lived with one, and don't trust them an inch?
What should we be teaching the children to do if, say, a big dog bounds up and wants to be friends while we're out for a walk?

What IS safe behaviour around dogs?

We should teach our children how to behave around all animals, insects etc.

Especially the ones that have big sharp teeth and a meat-based diet.

Thanks BTP, that's helpful to know.

Goblin :)

Beer try teaching that to a terrified child.

My ds is terrified of dogs and even though 7 goes white with fear and just wants his mummy,stuff standing still thanks.

I hate dogs invading my children's space. Only last week we took our dc to a local lake and stream with plenty of notices saying dogs should be kept out of the water and on leads,not a single one was.

My dc couldn't play in the stream as huge dogs kept bounding over to them,terrifying them,my poor terrified boy later had a stick snatched out of his hand-and the owners laughed .

Sorry if a big dog bounds up to any of my dc ever again it'll be feeling the end of my shoe.

I've lost count of dog owners who let their dogs off leads thus simply letting them bound up to terrified children,thoroughly invading their space. Said owners 9 times out of 10 gaily sing,don't worry he won't bite .

Bit rich expecting children to behave round dogs when the vast majority of dogs we meet are allowed to do whatever they damn well please.

Can I kick up the arse the next child which bounds up to my perfectly well behaved dogs, MilaMae?

I've lost count of the number of kids who have gobe rushing up to my dogs to stroke without asking, who have stood and screamed at my dog instead of passing/letting us pass, who have deliberately tried to torment my dogs and so on.

The last experience was when I called my dog to me, walked to the side of a circa 18 foot wide footpath with him by now on lead and told him to sit and stay by my side when I saw an adult and child approaching in order that they could pass unbounced.

The child, aged about 7 or more, stood in the middle of the path screaming - not tearfully but sense-of-entitlementally (!), demanding that I took my bemused but extremely patient and tolerant dog away.

I soon learned where the child had learned it#s manners when the parent told me to "take the fucking dog back down the path" so it's PFB could have the entire path to walk down and didn't have to pass my sitting, leaded up, stationary dog who was so far off the footpath anyway to be nearly sitting on treestumps and nettles!

Now if ever an arse needed kicking, theirs did!

All dogs should be trained. And all children should be shown/told how to behave sensibly around them.

Most people do not have dogs so how exactly will the learning process be taught to a young child with no experience of them.

Older kids are fine by then they can understand reason and behave appropriately but young children will often behave as young children do regardless of what they were taught.

You can tell a young child not to touch fire however would you feel safe to put them near a flame I doubt it.

Oh, and what Vallhala said.

"Most people do not have dogs so how exactly will the learning process be taught to a young child with no experience of them."

I answered that at 13.14 this afternoon. :)

As parents I tink it would be in our interests and of course that of our children to go to the effort of approaching our respective headteachers and saying, "How about arranging a talk on responsible behaviour around dogs and responsible dog ownership this term?".

There are plenty of people who would be well placed to give such a talk, be that behaviouralists, rescue reps or an organisation like the Dogs Trust (though as I said, I wouldn't advocate the RSPCA).

Those of us who have dogs would benefit as would those who don't.

mila have you ever considered socialising your son with a dog you trust. i am pretty sure if you look around you can find someone who will be more than happy to met with you and your son regularly and allow your son to get used to beinga round dogs.

Another thing, parents... PLEASE watch your child just as you are passing by a dog in the street..

I have on numerous occasions gone past an approaching family with my dog on a lead, all seemingly fine. That is until mum has passed me, perhaps pushing a buggy or holding on to a little one, and a child has, as he passes me and unseen by mum, run his hands down my dog's back.

I've actually called parents back to me for this... it's not their fault as passing on a pavement like that means that the child's action will often go unseen by mum but it IS something to be alert to. All it would take is for the dog to be startled by the action and turn round with a growl, much less a snap, and you have the recipe for world war 3 in the high street.

I agree wholeheartedly that children need to be taught. DD2 is terrified of pretty much all animals, and dogs are the ones that she sees most often (and are often her height) and she is getting much better at being quiet and calm. BTW, it's not me - DD1 adores all animals, wants to be a vet and seems to instinctively know what to do. Very odd, some things are nature rather than nurture obviously.

But please - seeing as there are lots of dog owners about here - do keep your dogs on leads when out and about. I like dogs, but I do hate being bounded up to and leapt on whilst I'm out jogging - puts me off my rhythm totally. And when a dog, especially larger ones, come bounding up to DD2, it's so hard for her to keep calm and quiet. Do remember that you might know he's "only being friendly", but imagine if a 5 foot nine toothy animal came lollopping up to you, growling - would you not emit a high pitched squeak?

Thanks, rant over..!

I am fucking sick of 'responsible' dog owners saying "He's alright" when their mutt has bounded up to my (terrified) child, leapt up and started sniffing him in inappropriate places. It is NOT fucking all right thank you very much

Ds1 will never approach a dog. He's too scared. But it seems dogs/owners don't afford him the same courtesy. He has been told the stand still, no eye contact thing, and that is what he does. Takes a while for the dog to get bored/back off though. Rarely seem to be called away by their owners, we just hear the smiley chatty refrain above. Which I do NOT appreciate.

I am a dog person btw. When they're under proper control.

If you want to know what to teach children here is a good guide.

If you want to know why you should, and you think it's the dog owners responsibility, I totally see your point but it's a bit late when your child has been bitten because the way your child reacted has aggravated a dog. Absolutely, totally agree, dog owners should keep their animals under control and not let them pester children. Unfortunately you cannot rely on all dog owners to be responsible so you need to protect your children by teaching them the safe way to behave around dogs.

If your child is terrified of dogs and won't stay still then you need to work on that. Teach them about dog body language so they are better equipped to asses the situation. Then maybe they won't feel so scared by it. You might feel it's safer for them to run away but, despite being understandable, it truly honestly is not. It could make a bad situation worse. Attacking a dog in that situation will almost certainly end up in someone being bitten. It's a really bad idea!

I see children behaving totally inappropriately around my completely docile dog all the time. With him it's fine but I'm painfully aware that there are other dogs with whom it may not be!