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?

Then as parents you have an obligation to keep them away from dogs who are being walked on a lead away from them.

No max no
Read the thread in full

I have always taught my children to ask before touching or even approaching a dog. I think dog owners should do the same about their dogs touching or even approaching a child.

Just keep control of your kids and ill keep control of my dog and my kids
How hard is that to understand?
And your kid can not do what it likes to my dog
No it fuckin can't !!

My dog never goes near people she is terrified of them! Which is why she is walked on a lead unless the park is empty. But that doesn't stop people running up to fuss her be side she is small and they don't see her as a threat

It's not about a toddler tripping up its about children running over and behaving inappropriatly around dogs.How can you not see that?

So what age do you suggest the child to be when it is responsible for it's being bitten by your dog in a public place? 4? 6? 9?

This thread's die hards have such a screwed up morality it is hard to believe, except here it is in black and white.

"Curlew I think everyone will agree with you on that"

I don't think they will, you know!

A lady up thread said that a six year olds parents were successfully prosecuted for him jabbing her dog in the eye with a stick.

It's not about blame, it's about teaching the child that certain actions may provoke certain reactions.

And blinding it!!

DS1 has developmental delay and other issues. He adores dogs and always wants to fuss them. I have drummed it in to him that he must ask the owner for permission before stroking them and always stand behind him constantly reassuring him to be gentle which he usually is. However he is unpredictable at times and if we are walking to school, him in front as I am holding all the bags and the hand of DS2 and he spots a dog, he is off and sometimes forgets to ask. As I am shouting not to forget to ask and picking up DS2 to run after him, I am occasionally too late. All the dogs he has come across have been ok but although I agree they need to learn, dog owners should also be vigilant with these situations too.

I'm sorry, I just realised I'm talking to someone whose first comment on this thread was say the best way to be safe around a dog is to hit it with a big stick.

So the thread was started to ask if it's unreasonable to expect parents to teach their children not to approach strange dogs on leads without permission from the owner.

And the replies were fairly typically "no that's not unreasonable" until one posters first comment went straight from "dog on lead" to "dog ripping faces off" and another posters first comment decided that beating dogs with sticks is the best way to train them.

And yet these same posters are saying the dog owners are in full froth?

Seriously? I have to agree that you seem to be totally ignoring the topic of the thread and goading for the sake of a bunfight if you seriously think that talk of ripping off faces and beating dogs with sticks is in keeping with the thread topic or a reasonable, rational, sane response to it.

You are deliberately ignoring the scenario posed in the op and repeated throughout. Goading and troll hunting must be a fav pass time for you cos rationality clearly isn't

Actually, Ive been protesting against the OP and her coteries' proposition and scenarios for 16 pages now. I have said repeatedly that a view where other parents are responsible for ensuring your dog doesn't bite their kids in public places is daft, and I have pointed out repeatedly that the law doesn't work that way, and this erroneous belief will leave them liable to prosecution if their dog does bite and injure a child

I think I have been arguing fairly rationally, using facts and that, under some fairly extreme provocation and abuse.

You, on the other hand, have basically spent 15 pages insulting me and calling me a troll for daring to disagree.

MrsWolowitz, you missed what I was saying. With the best supervision in the world a small child can tick off a dog just as they can knock over a display in a supermarket or rip a magazine in a doctor's waiting room or throw a tantrum. Even a child in a buggy can reach out an arm and grab a passing dog. They are unpredictable. Nobody can say for certain that their children will be supervised 100% of the time even with a parent present and sober and wide awake and with every intention of supervising closely.

Unless your dog is completely predictable in every situation you anticipate encountering then you need to watch out closely and anticipate the actions of small children just as much as you expect parents to. The price of your freedom to be out enjoying your pet and getting some exercise shouldn't be the possibility of damage or disfigurement of someone else's child. I don't think any responsible dog owners would seriously want that.

I supervised all of mine til I was blue in the face, and even when they were teenagers I still spent my time out with them all doing mental headcounts to five, and constantly checking what they were doing. It becomes second nature. But it takes a split second while you perhaps blow your nose or retrieve a hat dropped onto the ground for a small child to bolt into the road or off to investigate some shiny object or a dog that takes their fancy. A split second.

There are many things I thought I taught them over the years but it turned out that when the situation arose in .001% of the situations they found themselves in they made the wrong decision. DD2 looked the wrong way when crossing the road at age 8 -- a bright girl who lost her head for one moment and could have been killed if a driver hadn't been alert. DS set off a car alarm thinking the car he tried to open was mine. DD1 ran out on the street after a ball that wasn't even hers and nearly got killed.

The split second it takes for a child to make the wrong decision is the time when other adults need to be looking out and dog owners are no exception. You would look out for the safety of small children if you saw them playing near a busy road or dashing out from behind parked cars in a car park -- responsible adults would intervene and try to get them out of danger or back into the care of their caregiver. When you are out with your dog you should be equally watchful.

There is a first time for everything.

Yep mathanxiety everything you've said is fair doos
But this thread has been excalated to children doing what the hell they like to dogs because ha ha they can be PTS

sarah and therein lies the issue. She is refusing to actually discuss the issue posed and instead is goading and then getting arsey when people lose their temper about the utter rubbish she is posting!

Yep mathanxiety everything you've said is fair doos. But this thread has been excalated to children doing what the hell they like to dogs because ha ha they can be PTS

That's crap and you know it.

I have been pointing out till I'm blue in the face, for 16 pages, against some extreme abuse from you and others it must be said, that ultimately it doesn't matter - a dog owner whose dog bites a child in a public place is always liable and that expecting other parents to be able to train their kids to ensure your dog wont bite them is just not credible.

It's not ha ha they can be PTS, it's that you have to take responsibility for your dog in public, because you will be liable.

Summerblaze - shouting at your DS to remember to ask would count just as much as your DS asking for me.

With a friendly well socialised dog it's just about having enough time to know that someone's about to stroke your dog so that you can make them sit in my case or make sure that you're paying attention so that no-one gets licked who might not appreciate or accidentally shoved as the dog turns round.

It's not just the children though, I have full grown adults approach my dog and start patting her without asking first, which is fine as she is harmless, but she has some bad habits (licking and jumping) and when she does this to people and we tell her off they always pipe in "oh that's fine I don't mind." Sorry but I don't give a shit that you don't mind the slobber all over you, I mind very much so that you are undermining my training as not everyone wants to be licked, and the dog does not understand "you may not lick anyone except for this person".

Our neighbours have children that love our dog, so we went over and let them have a pat and a play while I taught them a bit about doggy body language, how to approach strange dogs, and what to do if you feel threatened or are attacked by a dog. I have always wished this was covered in the school curriculum, it would only take an hour to teach.

You are wrong, Lazyjaney, provocation is taken into account.

No-one is claiming that dog owners do have a responsibility to control and train our dogs. All we are trying to point out is that it is not our responsibility to stop your child from approaching our dogs. It is your child, your responsibility. It this really that hard to understand? Do you have issues understanding a lot of basic concepts or just when it comes to taking responsibility for your own children. Is it for example up to shop keepers to teach your child not steal? Is the responsibility of the council to supervise your child in the council run pool?

Of course, if a dog is aggressive with children and an univited child walks up to the dog the dog owner should make every effort to avoid and forewarn the child, but this thread is not about aggressive dogs.

It is basic manners to teach your child to ask before petting a dog, or not allow it to happen at all. It is sensible, if you are going to let your child stroke a dog, to teach them how to do it gently or warn the owner before they let your child touch their dog that he/she is not always gentle.

This thread is, or rather was, until you popped, about under control, leashed dogs being given unwanted attentions from children who were not under the supervision of their carer. OP and others are perfectly within their rights to not want this to happen and wish that the parents would teach their children some manners and basic common sense around themselves and their pets.

this thread has been excalated to children doing what the hell they like to dogs because ha ha they can be PTS

Only in your head, Donnadoon.