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.

Ok, I am going to say this and then duck for cover.

If your dogs can't understand other dogs body language or approach other dogs cautiously, well then have probably not been socialised too well.

Dogs growl at each other and do bite each other as a warning, but in my experience, there has been no lasting damage done in these situations. My neighbour's dog bit another village dog...but just once, and now both are pretty good buddies. Really, it was more like kids scratching and biting each other to establish top dog, not a battle for life and death.

The ones who are saying that their dog will eat mine, has your dog actually killed another dog yet on his/her constitutional stroll?

My dog has not been socialised properly, no. He is an ex poundie. He would have been socialised by now had it not been for all the numptys letting their unleashed dogs set back his training.

I've managed to get to accept and even like other dogs sharing his house because that is an enviroment I have total control over and can avoid letting numptys in.

Has my dog killed another dog? Not while he has been with me. I would never allow him to and I have the strength to drag him away when needed. Would he kill another dog given the chance? Yes, without a doubt, if he felt the need to he would.

"well then have probably not been socialised too well. "

No shit sherlock.

The point is that you do not know if other dogs have been socialised, and allowing your dog to run up to strange dogs without knowing it is safe to do so is irresponsible and is putting your dog (and another dog) at risk. Which is beyond stupid.

"The ones who are saying that their dog will eat mine, has your dog actually killed another dog yet on his/her constitutional stroll?"

Funnily enough, I've fought with every bit of my strength to stop him even getting close to doing that, seeing as I knew he'd suffer as a consequence.

Downbytheriver,

Obviously I keep a close eye on my dog and clip her to the leash when there is a yum picnic feast close by or someone elderly is doddering on a Zimmer frame or a cyclist is around.

The recall thing is pretty good, but I cannot take a risk in these situations. But I don't call her back every time we see a fairly grown up child, she usually avoids kids anyway and makes a beeline for hunky men who resemble my dh.

But it could happen that I don't notice a picnic and my dog does a sandwich nick. I would apologize profusely, but would expect a gracious response in return, not a bollocking. I grinned and said it was no big deal when the kid next to me in the flight puked her milk over me. I mean, why make a bad situation even worse? People generally do not want to discomfort others, but sometimes mistakes happen and if the consequence is not that serious, then why make a big deal of it?

Ok, vampire, no one has had to pull their dog off mine or obviously she does know which dog to approach and whom to steer clear off. I will happily accept that she has above canine intelligence then.

If I had a male dog who likes to show dominance, I would have him on a lead or very close to heel.

I don't think my girl has traumatized another dog or being traumatised by one (except for the one time she peed when a lab growled at her when she was still a little pup). So live and let live, ok?

I think you've just been lucky tbh.

flatbread, I don't much like dogs. I'm not inordinately terrified of them but I've been bitten, which puts me off, & I'm not keen on the whole smelly, slobbery, jumping up thing.

As such, ds (who would love a dog, as would dh) won't be getting one until he's old enough to be responsible for it, or until dh is working away less - obviously I'd feed or walk any animal that needed it, but I wouldn't have the patience to train a dog - I'm not someone who should have one.

This is why I appreciate dog owners who do train their dogs, use a leash as appropriate & understand that their dogs shouldn't be out of control in public places.

I do not want your dog to come near me or my children, with a view to making friends or otherwise, or to steal sandwiches ffs. I don't know whether she's 'safe', ie. she's not about to bite one of us, or not, & I'm pretty sure you don't either.

My kids have been taught to approach strange dogs cautiously & always to check with the owner if it's OK to pat them. They've also been taught to stand still, keep quiet & not fuss if a dog runs/jumps at them, because chances are the dog's harmless & just unfortunate enough to have an inept owner.

It would probably be better, though, if you trained her rather than relying on other people's dogs & children to react in the way you'd like to your untrained dog.

Lots of sensible posts here, and a few not so sensible. I appreciate that the majority of dog owners on here are careful and considerate. Thankyou to them, really.

When I was a toddler, I was playing in a park when a large dog knocked me over and licked my face. The owner just said blithely to my Mum, "Don't worry, he won't hurt her, he's only a puppy." Well, he did hurt me, not physically, but I was scared of dogs all my childhood and am still not comfortable with dogs in general, though I can make friends with individual dogs now.

That is my problem with the "He won't bite / only trying to play" type comments, when I've heard them, they usually come across as being more dismissive than reassuring. The owner doesn't know the other dog or child. The fact is a dog doesn't need to touch to scare a child who is afraid, or as someone said, to put back the training of another dog.

Vampire - I live in the country (yes some of us do live out here) and never need to walk my dog in the park. Most of us walk our dogs off the lead out here and 'lead-walkers' are a giant red flag that a dog is poorly socialised. So no I won't put my 'damn dog' on a lead as he can spot one a mile away and trots by a hell of a lot quicker without me dragging along behind him.

I have to say i kind of agree (awaits flaming) my ASD child is terrified of dogs and I try to help him get over his fear. He was getting there this summer and wouldn't launch his scooter and innocent passing dogs but just stop and let them pass.

All this hard work, however was undone when my son was rolling on the grass and a dog ran over to sniff him, the owner standing smiling. My DS jumped up and tried to run (with his little dodgy flat feet) went flying and broke his nose.

I don't let my child go near strange dogs so I expect people not to let their dogs near strange children (this time DS came off worse but if he had a scooter to launch I'm sure the dog wouldn't be too happy)

I love dogs and know they should be allowed off the lead and don't mind so much when the owner is screeching 'come back' while the dog totally ignores them as we all have days like that. If that happens and dog owner apologises I tend to say 'don't worry DS is a big soft pudding' but to stand smiling like it's fine for a dog to come slobbering all over someone else's child makes me a little .

The problem is, toboldlygo, that while I have no doubt that your dogs are properly socialised and controlled most owners aren't like you, many dogs aren't like yours, and there is no magic way to tell the good from the bad.

Which is why the only way to keep urban streets free from dogshit is to stop the keeping of dogs in towns, or at least ban the from streets which would effectively ban them from the parks - and a good thing too.

One of these days we will do it and a few years later we will wonder why we ever tolerated anything so absurd as allowing people to let their dogs crap on the pavement and frighten children.

maybe ban humans from towns as well - the vile creatures who drop rubbish/bottles everywhere.....

at some point Andrew - we all have to live together - humans, animals, insects, plant life as we are not the only living thing on the planet

Indeed cricketballs but pet dogs are not exactly representative of what nature intended.

We wiped out the smallpox virus because it was a menace to us, and that was a living creature too!

I was slobbered over when pg leaving me with god knows what on my only pair of fitting trousers,the owner smiled and said "it will come out in the wash" I couldnt help wondering if id have said similar if my child had slobbered over her trousers when i wasnt controlling her. I also had a massive lion dog jump up at the pram when dd was a few days old.Scary-much but owner thought it was hilarious

Dogs are great but dont inflict them on everyone.

Raven, my dog is trained, but she is not a robot. She grew up in an environment where dogs are more welcome, and thank god for that.

Part of that training is getting her comfortable with strange people and dogs and if she doesn't listen, disciplining her without drama and shouting from either party. Last week we left her outside when we went to an Indian restuarant that didn't allow dogs. I was watching her through the window. A toddler came by with his mum and he went up to my dog and petted her and then hugged and crushed her in his arms. My dog enjoyed it and happily let the kid do his thing. This is because she is used to us and kids and strangers handling her and sometimes pulling her ears and tail, holding her tight and it doesn't make her nervous.

If we didn't let dogs go close to any stranger, they wouldn't learn how to be relaxed with unfamiliar situations and people. You are more likely to get a nervous bitey dog then.

The situation will improve I hope, either with German-style rules on leashing dogs and being responsible for their behaviour or possibly American-style litigation so that insurance for dog owners to compensate those who are distressed or attacked by the animals of bad owners.
Dog licenses, with a high premium may also limit ownership.
Or we could all be allowed to carry pepper spray.
British attitudes to pet ownership, and dogs in particular are not those universally held across the globe, and there must be other countries that have solved some of these problems.
Like Singapore and their solution to people that litter and drop chewing gum.

Andrew, you would be happy to know that Reykjavík banned dogs till 1988 or so. The city planners must have held views similar to yours:)

Andrew, my neighbours dump used nappies in the hedge across the road when their black bin is full. Dogs do not have the monopoly on littering and anti-social behaviour.

Probably more children have been frightened by the anti-social behaviour of the bullying little shits next door who swear, scream and spit in the street, swerving their bikes at passers by and laughing when they flinch than by any dog in this (small, rural) town.

Yes, never a bad dog owner on a forum but you never find a bad parent either, funny that.

...and I've just seen that dogs have been compared to smallpox. Wow. May as well just Godwin it now, dog/Nazi comparisons are clearly just around the corner.

toboldlygo it's quite obvious there are LOADS of bad dog owners on this forum. And in this thread.

DownbytheRiverside the scumbag owners of the dogs concerned would just not buy insurance and are not worth suing.

toboldlygo I know that people are often anti-social in other ways besides keeping dogs but we can't ban people and we can't stop all forms of anti-social behaviour. That's no reason not to stop what can be stopped.

As for a forum like this, we are self-selected as considerate and "pro-social" types - even if we sometimes disagree about what consitutes being pro- or anti-social.

so dogs arent allowed in towns, that does away with my dogs then, the ones that I got on the recommendation of my councellor to help me with depression. the ones who make my life so happy, the ones who since I got I havent had to take an anti depressent, the ones who give my life meaning. Because of this they seriously improve my dc's life, becuse it really is better for the dc's to not have a mother who is on pills, and avoids social situations, and is frightened of everything, and who goes out as little as possible, and who is seriously irratable. so by that my dogs improve the life of my children, who we are stating are the most important people in this equation. hmmm thats a conundrum.
also I dont think being approached by a dog should create a life long fear, my dc fall off swings, slides, trip over skipping ropes, fall down the stairs, fall off walls, all of these things have hurt them a lot more than any dog ever has but for some reason they are not afraid of them.

River, litigation because you are attacked, ok, I understand. But litigation because you are distressed by a dog? I feel distressed when my neighbour's dog slobbers over my newly washed floors, but really, he is just so happy to come by that he cannot help drooling with pleasure. Will I be able to sue my neighbours if I lived in Germany or US? And I was certainly very distressed when said neighbour's dog, who is like a food hoovering machine, ate the cake and stinky goats cheese that were meant for a special tea. I mentioned it to my neighbour and she was apologetic and offered to get replacements, but I said no and we both had a bit of a laugh and that was that. Perhaps I should have sued instead?

Let's get some perspective, ok. I mean an attack is one thing, but no one is entitled to a distress-free environment, ffs. We are becoming a paranoid group of softies with no tolerance for things outside our comfort zone.

Flatbread - you'd really expect my children to be gracious if your dog ate their sandwiches? I'd be pretty pissed off if you came and helped yourself to our picnic, why should a dog be allowed to do it?

ditavonteesed so you expect us to feel empathy for the fact that you claim to have been depressed but you have no sympathy at all for people who are scared of dogs? Your attitude demonstrates quite clearly that you shouldn't have dogs. Because you are quite clearly incredibly inconsiderate to the feelings of others.