Dog off lead running at DD in park

[megcleary]

AIBU to have roared at man who said oh he won't hurt her.

My comments on his dog owning skills included the fact there is no sign on the dog to say he won't attack DD, the dog should be on a lead, sign as you enter park and the dog did not return/ respond when he called it.

His response was to tell me to shut up.

I hate dogs on the loose in the park.

especially when there's a screaming little human attracting their attention.

There wouldn't have been a screaming little human if the dog hadn't run at the child? My sister (34) has a severe phobia of dogs and would panic if one ran at her "friendly" or not. In her panic she has been known to run into roads to avoid dogs and jump in taxis to get away. Should she just stay at home forever so dog owners can let their animals run loose? If I wanted a dog I would get one since I don't, why do people think I want theirs near me? I work with the blind and have contact with many guide dogs which are highly trained and therefore not a problem to anyone.

I dont think that many people who have vicious dogs would walk them in the park where kids play. I get this all the time as i have a staffie. I dont take it in the park but to the local field where the other dog walkers go. They scream at me to put it on a lead when it doesnt do anything. Mine has been attacked.

i have no problem with people walking dogs off lead as long as if the dog ran at my child it would come back when you called it. mmost dogs are fine as are most dog owners, but its the odd ones that cause the problem.

i will do my bit by ensuring my children dont go up to a dog they dont know or try and pet it, but i expect dog owners to do their bit and make sure their dog will come away from my children when called, especially if its clear that the children are scared (which is likely to be ds4 having been knocked over by large dogs, he is getting better and fine with dogs he knows, but big dogs running around/about him scares him when we are out)

I'm training my dd (age 3) who seems to be a bit scared of dogs in the backing-away-and-looking-nervous but not screaming-and-flapping kind of way. Since I can't train everyone else's dog and we get a lot of the "just trying to be friendly" types.

I don't think that some dog owners realise that although their pooch might be the nicest, friendliest dog in the world, the next one along might not be and I want dd to treat them all with caution because she's not going to be able to tell in advance.

We're going with "most dogs are friendly, but some aren't and you mustn't touch a dog you don't know, especially if the owner isn't there."

Yesterday we were at the vets (with rabbit) and there were some large, elderly dogs there. I told dd to be careful not to stand on their paws as they were lying on the floor and that they might be scared of being at the vets so a bit unpredictable.

It's difficult when dogs and children have to share a public space when both of them can be unpredictable and uncontrollable.

I don't think any of the dog owners on this thread have agreed with the 'he's friendly' or 'he just wants to play' school of dog walking. Everyone has agreed that dogs shouldn't be allowed to just run up to people, adult or child, uninvited and that the man in the OP was being unreasonable to have his dog off lead in a public place.

Nobody here, dog owner or otherwise, wants to see a child frightened or having an allergic reaction. I think, fundamentally, we are all agreeing - albeit in different ways and in some cases to wildly different extremes.

My friend's "lovely" old English sheep dog, family pet, grew up with children who are now 8 and 10 etc, a year ago bit the face off a 6yo girl. She was on a lead but my friend was in the loo at the country park and the dog was outside with her 2 kids. No idea how or why it happened and girl was air lifted to hospital, dog put down (friend chose to do this).

Dogs are animals and unpredictable so yanbu to be unhappy about dog running at your dc but I'm not sure roaring was the best way to go (sounds amusing though).

babybarister That is awful, what a worry it must be with so many people thinking it's fine to let their dogs run up to random children.

PrincessScrumpy, a man I knew for years, beautifully well educated, polite beyond all need and respectful of women, generous, charming, funny and friendly... shot and killed someone at point blank range.

Humans are unpredictable...

YANBU (coming from a dog owner). However this is not an unusual situation and is bound to happen again and again so long as you live in a country where people keep pet dogs.

IMO you would do your daughter a service to teach her how to respond if this happened again, and more generally teach her how to be confident and assured around dogs.

Dogs will always sense someone's fear, and I would make sure she doesn't grow up scared of them.

Well done DBF :)

My dogs are better behaved than my children most days, always drives me mad when they ban dogs from so many places and yet it's the children that often are the worst.

They have recently banned dogs from our local park due to a few idiot owners not cleaning up after them but the broken glass bottles / crisp wrappers etc. well that's just kids

So nobody needs a dog, Andrew?

How about blind/deaf/epileptics needing assistance dogs? Do you make an exception for these people and there dogs, or are guide/hearing/medical assistance dogs all worthless to since because like all other mammals (yourself included, I should imagine), they shit on a daily basis and some people misunderstand/dislike the look and smell of them?

And yes, nice post, DBF,

Oh, and yes, OP that was really bad manners from the man in the park to let his dog leap at your DD - but there are pleny of other threads about this on MN all ready...

Did he attack her? What does 'running at her' actually mean?

No, Tchootnika, I was referring only to pet dogs.

CokeFan It's difficult when dogs and children have to share a public space when both of them can be unpredictable and uncontrollable.

It's not difficult in the least if you remember that children are people, are us, and pet dogs are pets.

PrincessScrumpy are we expected to admire your friend who had a dangerous dog destroyed? The phrase which comes to mind is I should bloody well think so too!.

ToBoldlygo: I dare you to tell any guide dog owner that dogs don't have an essential role to play in Western society. Or, y'know, us average joes who rely on them merely for companionship, exercise and self-fulfilment.

I think I have cleared out your guide-dog point in the first line. As for companionship: I prefer my own species. Exercise: you can walk without a dog in tow. Self-fulfilment: I admit that I cannot understand how anyone can be unable to find self-fulfilment without a dog. There must be a better wa.

People: I don't dislike dogs, I had one as a child and remember to this day my upset when it died. But I see no way of them being kept as pets in towns which is compatible with the welfare of people and especially of children.

The dog should have been under control and should have been on a lead if the owner didn't have control otherwise so YANBU to be upset OP (though maybe a bit unreasonable to roar, surely that would have just frightened your child more?) but as a dog owner I've had far more problems with children running up to my dog than the other way around!

My pet hate is young children who run up to my dog without asking my permission first, he is friendly but I would rather have him sitting next to me if a child wants to pet him rather than the child launching at him! Especially when he was recovering from an operation as he was still sore (and couldn't wear a collar or harness due to where the stitches were :()

The park I walk my dog in (off lead - he has excellent recall) is the only park in the local area where dogs are permitted to be off lead. The rest insist on leads so I am generally quite short tempered when some moron tells me to put the dog on a lead as their child is in the general vicinity (literally, he isn't that interested in strangers and I can't think of the last time he ran up to anyone other than me). I can only think of one time where my dog was actually looking at the child in question (and he wasn't moving towards him at all, just looking), the rest of the time he was sniffing in the hedge rows along the side. There is a playground where dogs are obviously not allowed in as well so I don't see why people are trying to take away the one convenient space left to walk the dogs off lead, there are plenty of other options for people who don't like dogs!

As for the woman that told me that my dog should be put down as he had obviously violent and had been fighting while my dog was walking nicely at my side (he was recovering an operation to have 9 tumours removed!), my response was definitely less than polite

I think some people just don't like dogs so automatically blame the dog/owner rather than thinking about their own behaviour (that is just in general, not directed at the OP).

I have said this before, but the analogy still appeals to me.
I have a huge and hairy teenager who is often out for walks. He isn't threatening or dangerous, and he only approaches people he knows.
However, how would you feel if he ran up to you, or your toddler and bounced and slobbered and hugged, picked you up and whirled you around whilst roaring 'This is such fun! I love to play!'
Would that be OK? Or would you prefer him to walk by politely ignoring you?
That is all I ask of any dog. Walk on by. Ignore me and mine.
And yes, I did teach my children how to behave around dogs and to always ask permission of the owner, and to listen to the answer.

If a dog can't be trusted not to run at children/people and upset or annoy them, and doesn't come to heel the minute it's called then it's not a dog to be off a lead.

Far too many dog owners are too quick to assure you that "it's only being friendly". I have human friends. I do not want dog friends. If I ever do, I'll get my own dog and train it better than you've trained yours.

I see no way of them being kept as pets in towns which is compatible with the welfare of people and especially of children.

Hmmmn... It's true that there are a lot of irresponsible dog owners.

But it's perfectly possible to keep domestic dogs in towns and cities without being dangerous/antisocial/unhygenic.

You train your dog, you keep it properly excercised, you clean up after it, you appreciate that not everyone loves dogs.

None of this is difficult.

Andrew, may I draw your attention to these pet dogs?

I never let my dog off the lead, he would run after other dogs to say hello. I took him for a walk tonight on the road and I saw a dog off a lead, I don't trust other dogs around him, he is only a Westie.

I don't take him to the park because of other dogs not on leads.

Agree tchoonika. We have just got a dog after 30 yrs of being dogless. He doesn't bark to annoy the neighbours, we always clear up his shit, he is always kept on a his lead when in a busy place and even in quite open spaces when other dogs or people appear (unless we know the dog and owner). It's not that difficult. It only becomes a prioblem IMO when dog owners think they are immune to these simple rules or when someone who dislikes dogs thinks they have the right to exist in a universe where dogs don't even exist.

Exactly DBF... or should these hospital patients just pull themselves together and stop being so needy and, well, human, Andrew?

(Tamagochis as Therapy, anyone? )

Dog should have been on lead but you might not be helping your dd by roaring at the owner. Of course she is going to be scared of dogs if that is your reaction.

I have a phobia of birds I learnt from my mother. She did her best not to overeact to them around me but found it difficult. I am trying to overvoid passing my fears onto my dd.

Overvoid ??? Meant avoid