To think parents should teach their children how to behave round dogs

[Xihha]

There have been a few posts lately about people needing to control their dogs more (and I agree, if you cant control our dog and clean up after it then you shouldn't have a dog imo), but is it unreasonable to expect parents to teach children to be a bit more careful round dogs?

Whilst walking my dog (on his lead) a child who looked about 10 ran up and stuck his head in my dogs face to make a fuss of him whilst i was picking up doggys poo, without checking if it was ok, there have been other times kids have just walked up and started pulling doggy around, this sort of thing happens a lot, especially in the summer when there are more kids out playing and the parents rarely say anything about it.

It's not really an issue with my great soppy lump of a dog because he loves kids and will put up with anything for a bit of fuss but shouldn't these kids know that you should check with the owners before approaching strange dogs and that even a nice dog can get pissed of if you start pulling it around?

baby I think it was actually you who said 'natural instincts will kick in' in reference to a dog biting because they were too many children around (not that the kids were doing anything wrong other than existing).

So I agree with you specifically. dogs natural instincts will kick in. So why keep something with natural instincts to bite when nervous around you, your kids, or anyone elses?

I also thought the analogy to gun ownership was pretty apt.

In a society with high levels of gun ownership, EVERYONE has to teach kids to be careful around guns. (an still some children are killed in accidents every year).

In a society with no gun ownership, you don't have to worry.

In a society with high dog ownership, EVERYONE has to teach kids to be careful around dogs. (and still some children are killed in accidents every year).

In a society with no dog ownership, you don't have to worry.

So what is the massive benefit of keeping dogs as pets that outweighs the inconvenience to EVERYONE of having to be careful everywhere they go not to mention the risks of deaths every year?

At least guns don't crap everywhere on top of it all...

Oh stop talking out of your arse.

To those who are of the opinion that dogs are evil and those who have them are crazy, what are your views of service dogs?

Actually biting a person goes against every instinct a normally socialised dog has. It is literally their last line of defense and they hate to go there.

They have thousands of ways to communicate to us that they are worried or in pain, ranging from subtle body language to more vocal snarling and growling. Problems occur because people are all too often unwilling to spend a few hours of their time reading up on these subtle cues.

A dog afraid of children will show eleventy million different signals indicating that he does not want the child to come into his space before the child has so much as broken into a run. If the parent bothered teaching the child even a few of those, then children would much less likely to be bitten.

A dog, even a non socialised one, will only bite as a last resort of they believe their safety is at risk.

Doin But aren't all dogs different? Presumably it is obvious to you when your own dog needs some quiet time...but why should I need to have a crash course in your dogs psychology before it is safe for me to take a walk in the park with my toddler?

I think that many human beings would attack if they were threatened too.
Oh why do we keep the horrid humans?
Not to mention polluting the environment in a serious way.

can working dogs seem a different and more pointful thing than pet dogs. A proper symbiosis.

Pet dogs is asking for all sorts of trouble...as it regularly seen in the news.

Seriously what is so good about having a dog that it outweighs the inconvenience/risks to non dog owners?

kittens you are so totally winning me over with your eloquent arguments.

Where are these places?

are they mostly inside places?

like cinemas?

A dog who is over crowded and frightened will naturally protect itself same as a human. Doesn't make it dangerous or evil.

alis careful hun, for making similar remarks to another ill informed poster mntowers has threatened to permanently suspend me...appears certain people don't like having their failings pointed out to them

Most humans aren't expected to lose it when the number of unfamiliar children in the room exceeds 3. (although soft play may be an exception). Similarly it is safe to approach a human even while they are eating! According to people on here is is reasonable to expect a dog to bite in response to these things, and one should therefore spend time and effort teaching all the toddlers in the country to avoid these situations, and how to act if they get in one by mistake (for instance due to the dog owner inviting them in). And then care for them when they get maimed anyway in spite of being dog 'confident' or whatever...

Or we could not keep dogs....

Alis I can't even hear you, you sound so ridiculous...

Besides, this misses the point. We are the human race. Making more humans is our main role in life.

Dogs don't actually factor into this...unless they are actually helping in some way.

Hence working dogs are bearable. Pet dogs are nothing but a shit producing drain on resources, that incidentally threatens our actual children.

Can't see the need.....

You do realise that people are also killed/hurt by thousands of other animals? Elephants kill 500+ people a year! Lets kill them all!

I have been around dogs all my life. I currantly have two. I have been to hundreds of obedience classes and agilty. Have been at and entered in many dog shows and have been involved in charity dog walks where as many as 20 dogs all ran around off lead. I did work experience at a vets and go out of my way to be around dogs and dog people. Guess what? I love dogs!

And as for making humans being our main role in life? Better get rid of those childfree or people who can't have children. They are a drain on the resources that your little darlings need!

Icbineg - you asked what was good about having a dog. I doubt you'll give the remotest shit, but having a dog has helped my severely autistic son enormously (we don't have a working dog, although some families of kids with autism do). He interacts with the dog & insists on walking him every day. Many teens with severe autism are obese (haven't got the figure but it's a recognised problem- higher than the typical percentage). This is thought to be because on the whole they can't okay team sports, and are less active. Many refuse to leave the house except for school. So having a dog that needs walking every day is a big health benefit for my son as well as being therapeutic & helping him with his anxieties (which tend to go with severe autism). His fur has also made ds1 far more tolerant of different textures which makes sitting on different seats, wearing clothes eyed easier for him.

so if service dogs are acceptable to you do you teach your child not to approach or touch them? As to do so would distract them from their very important job

The body language between dogs is fairly universal, actually, there are subtle differences between breeds, such as Collie will use more subtle body language than a lab, the labs ear movements will huge and very distinct, the collie might merely flick it's ear and then become annoyed when the other dog has not listened, Collies are very observant dogs and so don't tend to exaggerate the body language like an excitable lab would, but the basics are still the same.

It hardly takes any time at all to read up and relate to your children a few of the key dog langauge cues eg. lip licking and tongue flicking = nervous dog, open, relaxed mouth and a tail wagging steadily neither raised nor tucked under = happy relaxed dog etc.

And I keep my dog away from toddlers, FYI, all I ask for parents to extend the same curtsey to me regarding their toddlers. Just because I have a dog with me does not mean I happy to stop and entertain your child for you for a while, while you finish your mobile phone conversation. I do not want to know that Uncle Ronnie has a dog the same as mine, except it's a boy and it's bigger and a different color with different hair and a big willy but apart from that it's exactly the same as mine

Ha ha ha D0in

Yes, Uncle Ronnies little Whippet cross sounded suspiciously like one of the northern breeds to me, but apart from the fact that it was clearly an entirely different breed of dog, it was exacterly the same as my WhippetX, as told to me by Jemma with a Juh, last week in the park, while Jemma with a Juh's mum was busy arranging her friend's hen night and was did not seem bothered that I was trying to extract myself and my dog from Jemma with Juh's clutches.

Pedant alert: 'the human race' has no aim 'to make more humans' because selection doesn't act at that level. It acts at an individual level.