To think that parents should educate their children about animals?

[Alisvolatpropiis]

In this case I refer to dogs.

Today I spent the afternoon at a friends. She has two young and lovely children. It was her birthday,various friends and their children were also present. I took along my very small Jack Russell,she's very sweet natured. Before I get jumped on - I am always very careful about introducing her to children,both dogs and children are unpredictable. So of course she was on her lead.

A family arrived the same time I did with three children in tow. One of the children showed an obvious aversion straight away, so I made sure she wasn't near him. The mum said "don't worry X, the dog is on it's lead". That's fine.

However everybody was in the garden and she deliberately sat her children as far away as possible. The three children were all obviously very nervous about the dog. Another mum commented that the three of them had never had much contact with dogs before. Of course my dog was on her lead, I had already noticed the children's discomfort.

But other children were petting her and enjoying it. She is ideal child size in terms of dogs. Am I being unreasonable to think that an opportunity was missed to introduce these children to what is a very common house pet in the UK?

I appreciate that some children/adults are simply frightened of dogs. It's a phobia for some on the same way spiders are for me. Or have had a terrible experience which has left them frightened.

But surely showing children how to behave around animals is a positive thing? The two things I was taught as a child about dogs were 1) don't touch unless invited 2) if a dog runs towards you - stand still. Training is obviously an absolute imperative if one is to a responsible dog owner. I just think educating children is also important.

I agree with you. DS2 was so petrified of cats and dogs that he would just scream and shake on seeing one and climb up my leg. We had the opportunity to dog sit 2 dogs in quick succession for friends. (Beagle and lab) He was wary at first then got used to them and fell in love! Every dog he sees now on walks, he goes toward for a pat. We always ask the owner first of course. I have no idea why he was so scared, but exposure in a known environment has cured him.

I do agree op. when I was a child, back in the seventies, it was the norm that children had dogs or at least loved dogs if they didn't have one of their own. It was only when I went to university that I started to bump into people who really didn't like dogs at all. This accounted for at least 50 percent of the people I met. Now that I have small children, and know quite a lot of small children because of that, I have found that the majority of small children that I know dont like dogs at all.
I think its good for children to have dogs or other animals in their life. It teaches them a lot. But these days it seems to be the norm not to like or be interested in dogs, at least where I live. Its sad. As a child, my dog meant everything to me. Bestfriend, playmate, she taught she a lot about caring and looking after others.

• me, not she

YABU

I have two DDs the older one is very nervous of dogs and the younger one would love to own one. No difference in upbringing.

A jack Russel, DD1 would avoid like the plague, both the ones she has known are old and grumpy. DD2 would do the sensible thing and wait to be invited to stroke your dog as she also knows my DFs rescue rescue JR isn't very reliable.

*so many typos in my last post. Autocorrects fault obviously

I am a child of the 70's and i have never liked dogs and none of my friends had dogs as pets either so i dont think it was more normal to be dog loving then.

As a none dog lover my children were just taught to ignore dogs. They are now teens and not scared of dogs and have friends with dogs but they dont really engage with the animal.

I can't disagree about dogs being unclean given the amount of hair DDog's shedding over my lovely hoovered/mopped floors

She's had a bloody bath today an' all.

Your brain releases happy chemicals when you're stroking a pet doesn't it? I like it when they take cats and dogs into care homes so the residents can have a fuss, especially if they weren't able to take their own pet with them when they moved in.

star I totally understand why a grumpy unfriendly dog would put a child off. As I've said,these children had never had any real contact with any type of dog. But this thread is more - dogs absolutely be trained properly, without a doubt. Allowing ones dog to run up to strangers is not ok. But I was just wondering if positive education for children in how to handle dog related situations would be a good thing.

I've said before that I would never force my dog on a stranger,be they child or adult. That would be very irresponsible of me.

My DD has a genuine fear of dogs due to being exposed to my sister's very bouncy and noisy springer.

Another sister recently got a poodle cross and DD really wants to be able to pet him, which she has on occasion, but you can see the fear in her eyes.

Dog owners who dismiss her fear with "oh, this one would lick you to death/is a family pet/ won't hurt a fly" wind me up a treat. I don't care how kind your dog is, I've explained her fear, kindly remove your pet from her vicinity.

My dad's the worst for it. He's afraid of spiders. I've told him that if he carries on I'm going to make him hold a tarantula.

Apart from Salukis, cantspel.

Kit do it.

As I said in my initial post I appreciate that people, adults and children may have phobias/horrid experiences. I'm in no position to knock either given my childhood phobia/accidental shower with a wolf spider.

When I started this thread I genuinely only has children who haven't had experience of dogs.

Equally I could state,lots of children want to pet dogs but don't know how. So they become wary because they are unsure of how to deal with being around dogs.

*genuinely only meant children who have had...

Dog thread + AIBU = bun explosion

Trying to get across how reasonable you are (and I believe you are Alis) is like trying to stop the Thames with a tea strainer.

Saluki date back to ancient egypt and predate islam by a good few thousand years. Later nomadic tribes used them as hunting dogs as did the ruling elite.

Even a non dog lover i must admit they are a beautiful looking animal.

I suspect this thread may have fared better had I posted it in Chat,in hindsight Agent.

I will continue to be reasonable because it really was just more of general thought than me chucking buns at fellow MNetters.

Sure can'tspell. I guess we lived in different places and had different experiences of that time.

why take a pet to a friends house I do not take my cat along this bugs me about some dog owners take them to the park fine put to the pub, shopping, friends really not everyone wants to be around animals that are not their own

only thing I teach ds is do not go near dogs he does not know or stroke them until owner says it is ok to

Oh salukis are a bit special. We had one back in the seventies.

I can't teach my children how to behave around animals as I have always had bad allergies so have no experience myself. I am terrified of dogs, hate cats and will avoid the hamster type animals.

YABU to assume that it is just that simple.

I took her because my friend said the dog was welcome,unprompted may I add. Her own small daughter is animal mad and my friend wanted her to meet a dog that was child friendly,as they don't own their own dog Freudian

But Bogey surely passing on phobias re dogs is not good? I've always said I won't pass on my spider phobia?

You in yourself as a parent don't have to do anything re the dogs, if one trusts the owners judgement. Granted there are utter fools who own dogs.

Allergies are something nobody can do anything about of course.

that may be the case I still not get why dog owners drag their pets around and think others should be delighted to meet them

Generally speaking neither do I Freudian. I have just explained why my own dog was present.

Brian I have seen a relief in the cairo museum believed to date from around 2300 bc depicting saluki dogs and i believe they even have a mummified saluki there.

YABU.

I have no interest whatsoever in your dog or anyone else's. Don't be so patronising.