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.

I don't think 'Pets As Therapy' is a strong argument for anything. Except as as a cautionary tale. "if you don't learn to make human friends..."

How patronising to all those who have benefitted from PAT, to say nothing of those who give up their spare time to make it such a successful, worthwhile and helpful charity.

PAT get my vote, I think they have done amazing things at a cost that even an accountant couldn't grumble about.
Beautifully-mannered animals too.

Well, Andrew, there you go. You prefer your own species. I don't. I find most humans boorish, unpleasant and tiresome. I have a mental disability which means I find it harder to interact with and interpret my fellow man than most. I have had infinitely more trouble in my life caused by other humans than by any other animal. My dogs don't judge me, are incapable of holding grudges and provide unconditional affection.

I run with my dogs (Cani-X), I race them on sleds, I compete in agility. I've never been fitter or mentally healthier than when I've had to be out and about in all weathers; yeah, you can walk without a dog but there's not many who'd be out walking for three hours a day rain or shine without one. An hour's yomp cross country on a beautiful crisp autumn day does wonders for the spirit and I get to have that every single day.

I have many other ways in which to find self-fulfilment but that doesn't make the successes with the dogs any less. Something as daft as teaching them to jump through hoops and negotiate a see-saw gives us weekly goals, an excuse to meet up with like-minded people, to train, to develop skills, to compete and win prizes and feel justifiably proud. I get the same sort of swell of pride when my dogs win a race as I imagine any parent does watching their child win a race on sports day.

Today my dogs were approached by the DS of my neighbour (a dog owner) who always makes a beeline for them to pat their heads and be licked while me and his mum have a chat. Apart from him, for whom contact has always been supervised and encouraged by his mum, I can't remember the last time the dogs were anywhere near a child. I don't walk them in public parks. My dogs are on a lead at all times (honestly) except in the fenced confines of their training classes. We seldom meet anyone out walking who isn't another dog owner. I don't even take them to the pub garden any more (specifically advertised as welcoming dogs) since a child deliberately snuck up on one of them, sleeping under my chair, and slapped her hard on the flank. Parents nowhere to be seen. Dog leapt a mile but ignored child (I didn't).

There are plenty of ways of keeping dogs that doesn't impinge a bit on anyone else. Take it up with the idiots who can't seem to manage it. Keep your kids away from me; I'll continue to keep my dogs away from you.

I have to add that I find it peculiar that there should be criticism of PAT, a charity which promotes responsible ownership and training and which has strict criteria, on a thread where the topic is bad owner behaviour.

Odd. Decidedly odd.

Before anyone thinks I am the crazy dog lady (I am, OK, but still) everything I've just said also applies to my pet horse. With the exception of the odd thread about horse crap on roads they don't seem to attract nearly as much frothing at the mouth as dogs. They're just as capable of injuring a child, are large and unpredictable, crap everywhere and are exercised in public spaces.

we dont let them off the leads, they are big dogs

thats really sad

i have big dogs too, they need to be let off the lead, to sniff and explore and run and chase balls. I always choose my walking area very carefully with very few other people

'downbytheriversides post sums it up.

I wont run at you, shout at you, dribble over 'you, jump up at you or force any physical contact with 'you which you don't want.

So keep your dog from doing that to me or mine

Horses don't tend to rush up to you, make a lot of noise or try and snap at you. They also tend to be on bridle paths and roads rather than in the local parks. Usually with an owner on their back.
To get a dangerous reaction from a horse, someone usually needs to have done something significant to frighten it. They don't tend to be territorial about their space or their people and rarely attack other horses for being in the same locality.

My dog is off lead only on the beach. I am vigilant for other dogs and people so I can call him back - he does come back immediately, sit patiently and wait for me to put his lead on.

My pet hate is people letting their dogs run off lead and when they make a beeline for mine ignoring my call for them to call their dog back. Often people say "oh he is ok he wont hurt a fly" my response is normally "yeah well mine will, he will bite him if he comes close enough" He has been attacked by three dogs all whilst he was on lead, the other dogs weren't. As a result he will growl at dogs. One women refused to call back her stupid yappy thing as it sniffed round my dog until my dog lunged. I managed to pull him back and reprimanded him (unfairly really as this dog was to blame) The women came over and said "if he had bit him Id have made you get him put down!" I not so politely explained to her that my dog was on a lead and I was in control of him however her dog wasn't and she shouldn't have her dog off a lead if it doesn't have a good recall.

I never allow my dog to run up to children simply because he is an animal, he may be my puppy and gentle with children in my family but I couldn't hand on heart say he wouldn't bite if he was anxious. If children ask me if they can stroke him (depending on his body language) Ill get him to sit, and then stroke him so the children can stroke him with me and he is ok with this.

Once in the park we were sitting on the bench eating sandwiches, and TWO bloody black dobermans appeared out of nowhere and started trying to sniff our food. I was so pissed off, and the owners just stood about 20 feet away calling the little shits, but they wouldn't budge. I hate dogs. I hate cats. Any animal that poos like a human but happily on the grass/pavement is hated by me.

Any dog owner who utters the comment 'It won't hurt you' is not responsible enough to have a dog. Dogs have teeth, therefore they can bite, therefore they can hurt you or your child. How many times to you hear about a dog that has bitten/mauled a child and the owner said it was totaly out of charcter?

In my local park, there are signs all over the place, saying that dogs have to be on a lead, but I have lost count of the amount that are not and also in and around the childrens play area. There have been a few instances in our park where stupid dog owners have allowed their dogs to run about where they want and they have knocked children over, growled aggresively or bitten people.

I've known several horses that couldn't be turned out on fields crossed by footpaths as they made a sport of chasing away walkers! Plenty of people have been killed by cattle in the same circumstances. And fair enough they're not usually in the sort of parks with children's play areas but I'm thinking of places like Windsor Great Park, Dartmoor etc. Having an owner on their back wouldn't necessarily prevent them from kicking out should a child run behind them.

Have heard more than one credible account of numpties letting themselves onto private land containing horses and plonking children on their backs for a photo opportunity.

I'd prefer to take my chances with a horse. Even a shetland and they are crafty and snappy little beggars.

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.

Well, exactly.

TBH I find it quite odd that people living in cities can have such all or nothing views one way or the other.

If urban dog keeping is high on your list of pet hates of town life, you must live in a very, very quiet town - or have a very strange set of priorities.

Lucy, we have established that dogs can be unpredictable. We have also established that people, DC especially, can be unpredictable.

Moving on... ?

The OP has a fair point. The owner of the dog was out of order. So was the OP, for shouting as it could well exacerbate fear in her child.

Much has been said about dog aggression here. I see the other side, awful, wicked, heart-wrenching abuse of dogs by humans, something which appears to be far more common than many might realise, arguably far more common than pet dog aggression.

It is irritating to repeatedly read on MN, the popular press and elsewhere of folk tarring us all with the same brush. Some owners are a PITA. Some are irresponsible. So are some parents. And some Canadian people. And some Jewish people. And some artists. And some dustbinmen, some travellers, some grocers, some nurses...

Seems to me that it's far more okay for folk to generalise about dog owners than it is anyone else though.

It's because it's always dog walkers who find the bodies, DBF. They think we're up to something...

But be fair DBF, it is dog owners who dump their animals, and are responsible for the huge number of dogs you have to save each year. Those of us who are not enthusiastic about dogs are not part of the problem usually.

DownbytheRiverside - in that case maybe I'll take against anyone who eats chocolate because there are so many discarded wrappers around here.
Actually, I'll add to that anyone who eats chicken, pizza, sandwiches, anyone who drinks beer, anyone who reads a newspaper....

I don't think 'Pets As Therapy' is a strong argument for anything. Except as as a cautionary tale. "if you don't learn to make human friends..."

I don't understand. What cautionary tale would that be then?

No, just the irresponsible ones who don't stuff litter in the right place. Although if you never ate outside your home you could say that you weren't part of the problem and be correct I suppose.

All too often it's the people who are no longer enthusiastic about dogs, having bought a cute puppy but who are unwilling or incapable to deal with it as a teenager or adult, that contribute to the problem.

There's been a number of posts on here where people have bought family dogs but, having suddenly realised that the dogs don't disappear when they want to go on holiday/are ill/want to have a family day out/the kids lose interest/the sheer amount of work in looking after another dependent creature day in day out exceeds the amount of commitment they thought they were signing up for and they ask if they should rehome the dog. A great many of the dogs in rescue were once well-loved pets but became, by no fault of their own, too great an inconvenience.

I disagree, Down. Much of the dumping comes from ignorance and that can be caused just as much by non dog owners as those who do own.

You only have to look at the myths (such as "their jaws lock!" - no they don't you fool!), and similar hysteria, often fed to the public by the popular press, about the UKs most maligned and dumped breed, the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, to see that.

' In the owner's securely fenced garden. And if the owner has not got one then there should not be a dog in the first place.

Best tell my mate not to take the sheltered housing with his Guide Dog then

I agree that the dogs in rescue are entirely blameless, and that it is the thoughtless, selfish and ignorant dog owners that put them there.