to think dogs should be banned from beaches from April to September

[tryingtobemarypoppins2]

Two words: DOGS MESS!!

I do not like dogs. Some people do not like kids. As a responsible parent I do not let my children annoy those who clearly do not find their playing adorable. I wish that all dog owners would pay me the same courtesy.

Mudwiggle, but this is exactly the point. Most dog-owners will not let their dogs annoy people who don't like dogs. Some child-owners, I mean parents, will indeed let their kids annoy people who don't like kids. We are not discussing banning kids from all beaches though just because of those few parents. But it seems reasonable to ban dogs? (no I'm not saying kids and dogs are the same, just an example).

And as said earlier, the considerate responsible dog owners are not the problem even now and unconsiderate ones would ignore the ban anyway, so it would not solve anything.

Children don't generally crap all over the ground and bite people though.

Dogs aren't as hopeless as human babies and infants, they are born with more wherewithall.

I suppose you could ban children from beaches if you wanted to though.

Personally, I am scared of dogs, I have been bitten. I try not to allow the DCs to see this fear, DD1 has already been knocked over in the park by a large puppy when she was about 2 though, it just ran up and put its feet on her chest and knocked her over.

We go to the seaside a lot, the beach we go to has a no dog section in the summer. The beach does generally have dog poo on it which is a shame although the no dogs bit isn't so bad.

i suppose you could cancel the no dogs bit that would be alright there is no reason to think that people should have a place with less hit and dogs running around, I guess people are right that is their problem. If they don't like it they shouldn't go.

You could also have a no children section on the beach I don't see a problem with that. if there is call for it.

I'm not a dog fan by any stretch of the imagination, but the beaches that we go to are clearly marked no dogs from May-September, and with a very few exceptions, people abide by that. Of course, then you are going to get the "dogs allowed" beaches choca bloc full of dogs cos those are the only beaches available to them. My inlaws have a dog, so if we go to the beach with them we go to the dog beach. I don't like it, I'd rather go to a non-dog one, which I would do if I wasn't with them. However, the minority of people who let their dogs crap on the beach and then don't clean up do ruin it for everyone else, including other dog owners. But, really, if you don't want to encounter dogs on the beach, don't go to a doggy friendly one!

I don't get dog hating, just don't understand it at all. Teach your children to overcome their fears of dogs, because you cannot control every dog owner out there. They will encounter dogs, and seriously need to know that not all dogs are 'bad' or aggressive. A dog sniffing your picnic should not terrify anyone. I am horrified at how many children will squeal and avoid my puppy happily walking along the pavement. Seriously- it's a very small puppy- could not be less threatening if she tried. Get them to a pets as therapy dog pronto so they can see how lovely dogs can be.

With regards to the original point of the post, I take my dogs to the beaches here all the time. It's fine here because the water quality is so bad that no families want to go on the beach anyway.

to the muzzles in public idea

I've been bitten by two dogs and had the living shit scared out of me by a large alsation when I was about 6, which I later found out had bitten its owner and various other people.

I'm scared of dogs, I think I am within my rights there. I don't like them coming up to me or jumping at me or anything. Not a lot I can do about it though.

DD has already been knocked down by a dog, she's not even 4 yet.

If you want to teach a child not to be afraid of dogs though - which I agree would be a good thing to do - then you should be allowed to do it on your own terms, in a way you chose, such as taking them to visit friends with dogs, or chatting to dog owners who are happy to do that, or if it's really serious, therapy.

but the teaching shouldn't take the form of non-elective immersion therapy: ie., you will have to put up with some big uninvited dog sniffing/barking/running up at you when you weren't expecting it, weren't ready, and didn't want it to. That's just dog owners deciding for me when I have to get over myself (or that a child has to), and that's not right.

If your child was afraid of water, yes I'd suggest you deal with it in whatever way you think best. I wouldn't come along and throw your child in a river.

It is wrong to ban dogs, I have just spent 5 amazing days with my family plus dog on a beautiful scottish beach, we went complete with dog poo bags! In my experience it is likely to be the same scruffs, that leave fag ends and rubbish on the beaches that would also leave dog mess!
If anything my complaint is there are never enough bins! Those that are "law abiding" should not be punished for those that aren't, we seem to be very good in this country at not doing that!

But sometimes I go into town and there aren't enough toilets - it's still not ok for me to shit on the floor, is it?

And also obviously I wouldn't do that anyway because I'm not a bloody animal, and as such would not crap on the floor, bark at small children (except my own , drool all over the place and bare my teeth, charge into someone's picnic, or bite anyone.

Because essentially, humans are more civilised and BETTER than dogs, and they shouldn't have to put up with dogs they don't know, don't like and don't want near them.

Is Valhalla on holiday?

I totally agree but my dog is trained, it turns on the spot when called, she has never bitten anyone, and if she had "tendancies to biting, I would not have her with my 4,7,9 year olds. She is part of my family and therefore a beach/countryside, are now the only placed that dogs are allowed.
I understand if you are not a dog person, but would how annoying is it when a restaurant tells you that you are not allowed children in etc, as they will disturb other customers who dont have children...especially when you know your children are better behaved and have better table manners that some adults? Should you spend you life forced to eat at pizza hut or macdonalds, for the few who cant train their children?

joan - beg to differ, my dog is a lot more civilised than many of the human's I meet. She's never bared her teeth or bitten anyone and is definately more chearful than most humans.

she is also very patient when people continuously interupt whats she's doing to pat her on the head and stroke her without checking its OK. She may not want them near her but no-one ever asks!!

we have to put up with tourists - we'd much prefer to have the beaches nice and quiet as they are in the winter. Its about time some of the people on this thread learnt some tollerance.

though i do agree that dog poo should be picked up; dogs wormed and any that are prone to biting muzzled (which they objected to on another thread, as they said my dog shouldn't go near other dogs on leads)

Dogs banned from beaches May to September works for me (I am a dog owner by the way and I accept that they don't mix well with crowded beaches of sunbathers...mine would be forever nicking sandwiches and marauding through picnics and the best behaved dogs have issues with this ime) - no reason why they shouldn't be allowed to frequent beaches at other times

I am on the North Norfolk coast and we have some beaches that are dog free during the summer months but otherwise dogs welcome all year. There are so many beaches, though, that it's not much of a hardship to leave some free of dog poo during the summer. Everyone has a dog round here and no-one I know minds at all.

Op - I can sympathise. Having just returned from a beach holiday with a small child, I found dog mess on "no dogs beaches". People either don't see the signs or choose to ignore it. It's the same with other outdoor places. Why do some dog owners think it's acceptable to leave their dog mess around for other people to "enjoy"?
I know there are a lot of responsible dog owners out there who do clean up after their dog but also lots who don't.
I appreciate that dog owners have an equal right to enjoy the outdoors as children but generally kids don't leave poo behind which is a serious health hazard to dogs. So we should all be able to enjoy the outdoors if all dog owners were responsible.
Also I think this problem is particularly worse in Britain compared to some countries.

Said

Dogs are usually banned May-Sept, from all except the most crap beaches.

That's simply not true!

We've just come back from cornwall and from looking at the website with details of dog friendly beaches, all 10 nearby beaches, bar one, are dog friendly AND all year round, not just September to May.

And they're lovely beaches too - stunning.

pooka - whereabouts in Cornwall? when i looked last year the only reasonable beach i could find that accepted dogs was perranporth and they were talking about banning them there

Have you walked round Paris? Dog mess EVERYWHERE on every pavement. I love my dogs to bits, but I don't love their poo lying around, and wouldn't expect anyone else to put up with it!! I really hate dog owners that don't pick up after their dogs- gives the ones who do a bad name!

POrthcothan, Treyarnon, Constantine, Boobys are the four closest to where we were staying. All very nice beaches. Constantine/Boobys in particular are spectacular.

constantine
treyarnon
of these, only Trevone bans dogs, I've heard because of some local WI campaign

Daymer, Harlyn, Mother Ivey's are all close by as well and they all allow dogs apparently.

Bedruthan is often listed in the world top 10 beach lists that travel sections of Times/Guardian do and it is also open to dogs in the summer - only problem being about 100 steep steps down, and very high cliffs. Absolutely gorgeous though.

bedruthan here, you can see might be tricky with dogs, but they're still allowed

Some of the newquay beaches have seasonal dog bans, and so does polzeath (but then david cameron holidays there ). But Daymer Bay and Rock are nearby and they DO allow dogs.

Cornwalls' so beautiful and I just love the place names there. Gets me all hot and steamy thinking about Ross Poldark on a blowy cliff top. ( someone slap me)

I reckon people are too keen to count dogs as family members. they are not family members they are animals, and frankly i think its bad enough people allow them to shit all over the pavement outside my kids primary school without putting up with them at the beach as well. And as for picking up after them do you pick up their piss as well? thought not.

NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
I love dogs!!!
I have a beautiful greyhound ..... Who loves the beach
I clean up on the actually rare times she "goes" on the beach
But she has ever right to enjoy the sea and sand like everyone else. :)

The place names are great, aren't they?

Though Boobys Bay always makes DH snigger