To have been annoyed by this

[NittyNuttyNoo]

Just got back from walking my dogs in my local park and saw two pieces of paper stuck on two trees up there. They were both posters done by a child and the first one said "Please clean up after your dog" which is fair enough. The second however said "Please keep your dog on a lead". Having walked my dogs in this park off lead for the last 16 years I have never seen a sign or been told they must be on lead. I understand people let their dogs act like complete hooligans and these people should keep their dogs on a lead but mine are both well behaved and do as they are told. I have as much right to use the park as a child and yet I don't go round telling kids what to do! Just annoyed me quite a bit.

Of course toddlers are allowed in parks

But there is no more of a problem with dogs going up to toddlers than there is toddlers going up to dogs.

When I got my puppy, (small breed so small puppy, and very cute) I was honestly flabbergasted at how many parents would allow their small child to touch my puppy without asking. There would be times when he was on a lead and I was looking in the other direction, and many times when we were in a pub beer garden with the dog secured to us or the table that we would turn around and see a small child playing with our dog. This wouldn't worry me much now, as our dog is very gentle and would be very likely to bark before biting, but at the time, he was a puppy and still nippy. I couldn't believe that people thought it was ok to do it, but SO many of them did.

Dog owners are no worse than parents.

I agree that people should not allow their children to approach dogs - I know a lot of dogs love attention but some hate it especially when it's from a grabby toddler. That said, dogs unlike toddlers are actually dangerous, and that's where my objection comes from. If an owner has a dog on a lead and a parent allows a child to harass it, resulting in a bite, then that's not the poor dog's fault. It's a different kettle of fish if a lively dog is bounding around without a lead and approaches a toddler who then either gets knocked over or bitten. Even if nothing bad happens, I absolutely hate it when a dog I don't know comes and sniffs me, puts its paws up on me etc, and I don't like it when a dog licks my DS in his buggy. And I really feel like punching the stupid owner when they say "Oh he won't hurt you." THAT'S NOT THE ISSUE, GET YOUR FILTHY DOG AWAY FROM ME!!

What a load of nonsense Nancy66 - did you even read my post. How many children or parents want to go to the park first thing in the morning (before school or work), when it is dark, or when it is chucking it down with rain! As I said, parents and children are fair weather users of the park.

Dog owners use the park to exercise their dogs come rain or shine and even in winter when it is dark at 3pm and no one else in their right mind would be anywhere near the park! Don't even try to pretend that more people would be using the park at these times and in awful weather if it wasn't for those pesky dogs.

I really do worry for our future generations when people consider a dog coming into contact with a child is the same as a child coming into contact with a deadly virus! I'm actually amazed that anyone dare let their child go to the park in the first place, for fear that it might, heaven's forbid, come into contact with a germ!

Disclaimer - this is not directed to the people who worry their child will be attacked but to the hysterical people who refer to 'dirty dog' or 'disgusting dog' or the woman who threw her pushchair away because a dog licked it!

I stopped running in my local park because of the dogs and, yes, that does include early morning and bad weather.

I know other runners who have done the same.

So it's not nonsense.

Runners that are people tend to have more options of places to go than runners who are dogs.

Presumably you didn't give up running altogether because of dogs, you just stopped running in a particular place. Whereas if you stop a dog running in a park, they wouldn't get to run at all.

..yes, i know run on roads - dodging pile after pile of dog shit as I go

parents and children are fair weather users of the park.

That is sadly all too true.
I am enthusiastic about DC saying hello to other people's dogs at most opportunities (no interest in having our own dog). But I wouldn't take umbrage at the sign OP saw. It's just a request to be considerate. Nothing more.

It's nothing to do with germs on my part Dreaming - I just don't like dogs. I wouldn't expect someone who doesn't like cats to put up with my cats harassing them, so why should I have to put up with other people's dogs?

"Parents and children are fair weather users of the park" - this is "sadly" all too true??? WTF?? Does the park weep and get lonely because no one is there when it rains? Who cares if parents and children only go there in good weather?

Piles of dog shit is a separate issue, and one that annoys non dog owners and dog owners in equal measure.

Your post about cats is laughable!

You are talking about cats, that species that more often than not wont stay in their own homes and actively seek out other people's gardens to shit in right?

The shitting issues are equally bad with both cats and dogs IMO. At least cats bury their shit. What we're talking about is expecting people to put up with dogs approaching them.

Not all cats bury their shit, and not all dog owners leave their pets shit where it landed.

A harmless dog approaching someone is no worse than a harmless cat sitting on someone's doorstep, or on their car.

Both are equally as annoying. If you are going to get sanctimonious about one but promote the other, then you are being hypocritical.

Can I tell you my story about unofficial signs?
there is a common near me, it is and has always been a bridlepath. When I was younger there were signs up that a local resident had put up saying horse riding prohibited, we knew these werent eal as we did a lot of work with the bridleway people (I cant remember I was a kid). Anyway I was 13 and had gone to pony club with my friend, pony club had been cancelled so we went for a ride on the common and would have been home long before pony club should have ended. A man caught hold of mine and my friends horses and held onto us for about 2 hours giving us a lecture on horses being not allowed etc. it was 10pm when we got back to the stables, our parents were frantic and it wasnt even a real rule.
The next day my dad took the signs down and made me and my freind a jump out of them. As a parent now I can begin to understand how horrid those 2 hours must have been for my parents.

We weren't talking about shit. As I said, cats and dogs are equally problematic on that front.

A dog approaching a person is not the same as a cat sitting on a step. Cat's don't generally jump up on you, lick you or bite you. You can see the difference, can't you?

"Parents and children are fair weather users of the park" - this is "sadly" all too true??? WTF?? Does the park weep and get lonely because no one is there when it rains? Who cares if parents and children only go there in good weather?"

Lots of dog owners care; people say that dogs should be on leads in parks but they are the ones that use it all the time rather than only when the weather is good and when it is light. Why should people who only use the park when the weather is good, have a rule implemented which has such a significant impact on the main users of the park.

I firmly believe that people should not be pestered by dogs but the problem is not with all dogs but with those who have irresponsible dog owners. Perhaps dog wardens should be present at parks occasionally to warn dog owners of the law and to remind them that they have to keep their dog under control. Then perhaps people would spend time training their dog.

Also, they could speak to parents with children about the correct way to approach and interact with a dog. I have been training my dog (training down stays) when a young child has come up behind him and grabbed him. My dog is a big softy and just jumped when he grabbed him. This was an irresponsible parent who allowed her to do this but I'm sure if he had reacted badly and bitten her it would have been my dogs fault. Thankfully he is a softy and we spent some time letting the little girl stroke him while I kept him in a down stay - I knew he would have loved to get up and run round with her but she was too young. There are lots of us responsible dog owners and well behaved dogs out there!

YANBU and I love the suggestion of a counter-poster requesting children be kept on leads.

By the way, Cailin, cats are unpredictable. Dogs are unpredictable. They can BOTH suddenly jump, scratch or bite. They are both facts of life, better to come to terms with them than flap and instead of instilling fear into children teach them to ask the owner if the dog/cat is friendly, hold out a hand to be sniffed, touch gently, etc.

I never used to put my last dog on a lead. On the way to and from the park her nose was more or less welded to my left knee, then at the park she'd turn round every few seconds to make sure I was following her. Occasionally I'd turn round and walk off t'other way, she'd soon run up to me and glue herself back to my knee. :o She was great. Still miss her.

DublinMammy, cats DO NOT randomly approach children in parks. They will hiss and scratch if they are approached and cornered, which is understandable but unlike dogs they don't bound up to people. In fact, cats don't tend to hang around parks at all IME. Comparing the two as if they are equivalent doesn't make sense.

I have been walking my dog in the park when I have gone to walk past people with a child. I have called my dog to me to heel so that he doesn't approach them, so as not to scare the children, and the parents have frantically picked the child up - they obviously assumed that because I wanted him close as I walked past them, it was because he was vicious. Can't blinking win!

All they succeed in doing by behaving in this way is to transfer their fear to their child.

I would have been annoyed by that - I do keep my dog on a lead but that is only because he is a complete numpty with zero awareness of danger and no recall . I would love to be able to let him off but I'm working on it. I have no problems with dogs being off lead if they are well behaved. If you know that dogs ARE allowed off lead in this particular park, I'd ring the council and tell them that people are defacing the trees by sticking up posters.

I can see the difference in the actions of the animal, obviously. I can't see much difference in the consequences or the feelings of the possible people involved.

Dog jumps and gets mud on clothes, cat jumps and gets mud on car. Dog walks towards a person and person feels intimidated, cat sits on someone's front doorstep as they are trying to get in and person feels intimidated.

There's no difference. Cats freak me out equally as much as dogs freak other people out. The problem is as much about the people as it is about the animal. Just because I don't like cats near me, or on my property, I can't tell cat owners that they should never let their cats leave the house. And just because some people don't like dogs near them, doesn't mean they can tell dog owners that they are in the wrong for allowing their dog to excersise. It works both ways. Dog dislikers have o put up with dogs in exactly the same way as cat dislikers have to put up with cats.

YANBU.

I would be tempted to write a message of my own on them, back at the pretentious fecker who put them up and their child

But I am perhaps biased as I love dogs, children on the other hand...

Maybe you are right Cailin, you can't compare the two as if they are equivalent. Dogs in parks are in public which people aren't forced to be in, whereas cats go on to other people's private property where dislikers can't get away.