To think dogs should be on a lead at a sledging hill?

[PippiL]

Prepared that I might be BU.

The field is probably privately owned. It is The Sledging
Hill in the village. Loads of kids there today.

About 3 dogs, big bouncy ones, off leads chasing sledges, pissing in the snow where kids sledging, and crapping too (generally out of the way, but didn't see it picked up).

My dd is petrified of dogs, and stood about 5 minutes complaining loudly how they should be on a lead. Which was ignored by the owners.

We had to leave.

Aibu?

wrapping kids in cotton wool has nothing to do with it! my son is scared of dogs and it's very hard to deal with, i have started threads on here about it

there are also so many untrained dogs about and dogs that are bought to mostly be a status symbol - when i was younger they just weren't

it's so easy to look at it from a simplistic point of view but many children are scared of playing out because of dogs.

I feel awful now. DD2 and I were out early yesterday morning with 7 month old dog and the sledges. We all had a ball. He chased us down the slope and tried to pull our gloves off. Then did the same to anyone else who joined us. It never occurred to me that he might be a danger to anyone or that people might object, to be honest. But I'm a new dog owner and will keep him on a lead in those situations in the future. I very much doubt he'd hurt anyone at the moment but am well aware that seemingly placid dogs can turn. Added to which, I was terrified of dogs before I got one. Love them now, though, and can quite see myself turning into Dog Lady!

Here is a link a to why dogs need exercise

m.voices.yahoo.com/the-importance-exercise-dog-exercise-can-6166548.html

its just not worth posting here as people are just being patrionising

i work outside with children and really do see all sides to this but the bad owners really do outweight the good sadly

We have 3 dogs and pretty sure we wouldn't have taken then near where people were sledging... if we had they would most defiantly be on lead!

I had a child who was scared of dogs. I did my best to get him over it. For example a lot of children who are scared of dogs run (ds2 used to do this) which is crazy - dogs will run after you, or they hold their arms up so the dog thinks they are playing and leaps around after them. You can help a child with a dog phobia a lot by teaching them to stand still and not raise their arms up.

My used to be terrified of dogs until he was about 8 years old is now not scared of dogs. In fact the most common dog related comment he gets from me is 'fgs ds2 will you get your hands out of the dog's mouth'.

Dogs can't exercise properly off lead - and a lot of dogs are much better behaved off lead as well. I have no problems finding places where there is plenty of room for dogs and children (beach for example, or the park I go to which has dog and kid areas - I've never seen a child in the dog bit unless they're with a dog). If the dog gets too close to children - which actually never happens as all he's interested in at the beach or park is his ball then I grab him. The biggest problem I have is actually very small children who are NOT scared of dogs as they tend to come over to say hello, which is fine, but he's bouncy and big so I prefer to grab him so he doesn't accidentally swipe someone over.

Beer, you're right, no-one objected, there were other dogs, and we do live in a fairly "naice", dog-friendly area. But it never occurred to me that it might worry some people and I do want to be a good dog owner, so I think I'll try to be a bit more open to the views of others in future (just in case!).

Had to keep our highly intelligent but totally lacking in common sense collie on the lead yesterday when we went out sledging; DS 1 and 2 were the only children around, but she kept lying down and rolling around in the snow right in the middle of their sledge run, oblivious to their hurtling towards her at top speed... not helpful.

Do you know where dogs should be on leads without exception? No matter how well-trained or friendly you dog is. Vets waiting rooms. Grrrrh!

Been sat there for most of today with my little westie. He's poorly. That's why he's there. His bottom glands are infected, he's pooping blood (lots of it), he's vomiting poop, he's got a fever, he's in a lot pain (so much that he's tried to chew off his own tail to make it go away). He does not want to say hello to anyone else's pooch. And don't give me evils because he's just tried to savage your friendly, unleashed spaniel. If you felt like he did and someone tried to sniff your arse you'd probably go on the attack too.

Awww, poor little Westie. Hope he's on the mend soon. I can't imagine not having the dog on a lead in at the vet's actually - mine would be all over the place.

Klad - poor little chap, that sounds grim - hope your vet can sort him out. Our vets has a large sign on the door saying all dogs must been on a short lead. Its a no-brainer really - animals of various species, some in pain, in a confined space.

Snappy doesn't do him justice. It was full on savage beastie.:o Couldn't really blame him though. The vet has given him medicine that has made him sleepy. He's curled up next to radiator now. :(

The vet said that although it looks grim he'll be fine in a couple of days once the medicines kick in.

If you categorise a 'bad owner' as one who lets their dog off the lead then it's your perceptions that skew your own stats

I'm wondering instead whether a parent who tries to get dogs banned because PFB's are scared is a "bad parent". Surely a better solution IMO is to teach kids not to be scared of dogs.

To be honest, I find that the smaller the dog, the sharper the teeth look! So Jack Russells, no matter how well behaved, tend to worry me more than bigger, bouncier dogs. Which is silly, of course! As you say, it didn't do your DH any harm and they wanted the gloves, not his hands, but I'd be mortified if my dog stole or damaged someone else's property. Most dog-owners would be quite understanding, I think, wouldn't they? But he might do it to someone who doesn't like dogs or is frightened of them. And I'm a bit of a wuss and easily embarassed!

Might be difficult to teach your child not to be frightened if dogs if you yourself are scared witless. I was, but DH is a dog-lover and always had dogs as a child so fortunately my DCs had no problem with them. And having my own has definitely cured my fear! Can't think what we all did without him, now!

I would expect them to be on a lead within a recreational ground but ona privately owned field I think you are asking alot.

That said, i am a dog owner and I generally keep mine ona lead at all times when other people are about, it isn't a massive problem

by us some families were using dogs to pull them even faster down the slope. Two adults+ large sled pulled by three large dogs, sled began to go faster than dogs (as it would) dogs get scared pull away from lead, run into everyone else trying to go down the slope in a safer way. Much hilarity and then up the slope to do it again

Hmm on the fence with this one. Personally, if I usually walked my dog near a slopey field and there was snow and thus, lots of children on sledges, I'd put a lead on him. That said, you can't expect all people to do this just because some children are afraid of dogs.

Yesterday as I was ripping down the sledging hill on my bum I was launched at by a big salivating dog who tried to strangle me, first by tugging on my camera case, then by pulling my scarf. I was only trying to take a photo of this dog...