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?

The danger lies with incompetent scare mongering idiots who chose to ignore the risks or take responsibility for their actions or those they are responsible for regardless of whether that is the dog owner or the parent.

And your statements are that it is the dog owner who is wholly responsible, you are responsible for your child deal with it

Does he lift his arms who knows? Ds2 used to sort of leap & raise his arms which would make the dogs all leapy then he used to run which was worse. But raising arms seems to say "play with me" to many dogs. He was every dog's best friend because of the way he acted even though he was terrified. I do know how hard it is. Really I needed to get to ds2 & down on his level with the dog but it wasn't always possible. In his case though the dog reactions were from his own behaviour - they were nice friendly dogs who would have completely ignored him had he ignored them. And it did escalate into a massive problem (if you count being not invited to friend's houses as a massive problem which I guess it is when you're 8). The good news though is that he did get over it, loves dogs now & has had to be taught not to assume all dogs want to be approached by him. So it can be fixed even when the fear is extreme.

Although I agree children need to learn dog safety, I see it as my control too. Children are unpredictable and not all will have good parents. Therefore, as a good owner, I should make sure that if I have a dog who would snap after being pulled at, shouted at etc; then I can stop the child from doing that, either by attempting to remove myself and the dog from the situation, attempting to get the child to go away, but as that's not often possible, by making sure my dog either has a muzzle if not a total softie, or by giving her treats or reassurance whilst trying to get out of the situation. If she snaps, it's partially the children's fault, but I blame myself for not controlling my dog, who is infinitely more dangerous than those children, by stopping her- whether making her feel better or avoiding it or by using protection, like a muzzle.

Lazetjaney - do you honestly believe that if a child runs up to a dog on a lead and inserts its hand into the dog's mouth that the law will find the dog owner guilty if the dog bites down?

Tabula yep I think she thinks that, you are wasting your breath with that one.

I agree with LazyJaney.

tabula as donna says she does think this. Myself and others have pointed out in that situation her and her child are at fault but she refuses to accept her parental responsibility. She has also failed to answer my question about her child hitting another and being hit back which says an awful lot IMO

As I said before on this thread, my 12 yr old neice needed emergency facial surgery after a totally unprovoked attack from a friends 'totally placid' family dog.

I know some people will find it almost impossible to believe it was unprovoked, but it was.

harry what happened to your niece is awful, but in reality is very rare. The owners of the dog should never have allowed so many kids around a dog, if they are overcrowded then natural instinct will kick in. Fight or flight exists in all living things

do you honestly believe that if a child runs up to a dog on a lead and inserts its hand into the dog's mouth that the law will find the dog owner guilty if the dog bites down?

Bollocks, if the child was injured the dog owner would be on a hiding to nothing, and you know it

Or at least I hope you do....if not, then I think you are going to get a rude awakening one day.

May come as a shock to those of you in the reality distortion field that is this thread, but there are no Dangerous Children Acts, and the newspapers by and large are not reporting on the rapid rise of children biting dogs.

No they wouldn't lazyjaney you seem to be ignoring the fact that your child is your problem

Lazyjaney, it is your job to look after your children and the law will not stop them getting hurt, the dog owner getting into trouble after your child has provoked an attack will not magically make them better wll it?

Do you also teach your children not to look both ways at the traffic lights because its the law that cars stop so it would be the drivers fault if your child got run over?

The point was about dogs under control and on a lead though. I do not leave my dog with other peoples' children. But parents must take some responsibility for controlling young children around dogs on leads. A couple of years ago (I think) I started a thread on here whilst quite upset about being sworn at by a mother because her child bounded over and stroked my dog. At the time he was on a lead and walking to heel as I took my DSs to school. He didn't snap, growl or react to her child in any way. He clearly did nothing wrong.

Despite this, she clearly felt it her right to swear at me for walking my dog near a nursery. I live just along the road, and the zebra crossing is beyond the nursery! Yet apparently it is all my fault, not hers, that her daughter was not under control and touched my dog without asking. If she was so worried (as she should be about her daughter fussing animals without checking first) then she should be teaching or controlling her child, as I have taught and controlled my dog.

Lazeyjaney, if your child runs up to my dogs, it won't be the dogs you have to worry about. My bark is a lot worse than their bite.

Mine too midnite and has been.on several occasions lately with idiot adukts

Arf at not wanting a random child to run up to and grab my dog making me the same as pro gun

My dog looks like a cross between a lamb and a teddy bear. He is small and very friendly and children adore him. Fortunately, he adores children back and he's super gentle. When he went to puppy school, we were taught to touch our dogs all over to get them used it, especially gently holding their tails so they would not be shocked if someone did that to them.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't extremely anxious when a random child runs up to my dog and tries to pick him up or yank his ears. He'd just roll over but so many dogs would not and as much as I do trust him, he's an animal and I'd never be 100%. If I see a child approaching, I will bring him closer to me and speak to the child first. I owe it to my dog and to the child. As much as I adore my dog, I know the value of a child too, so I do everything in my power to prevent an incident.

I do wish parents would teach their children how to approach and stroke animals. It doesn't take away from my responsibility as a dog owner. I know what I need to do, some parents seemingly do not. A mother laughed as her child yesterday tried to grab my dog and pick him up at the vets! He was already anxious and whingeing and sore from his injury. I showed the very sweet little girl how to approach animals and she was lovely and gentle. The bottom line is I would have been responsible if my dog had attacked that little girl. That's scary!

When my dog was a few months old (& being walked under control on a short lead) a toddler came from nowhere, arms waving & flung himself at the dog. I then had to spend the next couple of years being pulled to cross roads & go out of my way so she could avoid blond toddlers/young boys. The kid terrified her. She didn't react at the time as she is a good natured dog but thanks to that 'out of control' child I had to cope with A scared dog. Now I've got 2 blondish boys of my own she has got over it thankfully.

To summarise why it is a good idea to teach your child how to behave around dogs:

1. It makes them safer. When US elelementary schools in one district taught all young children how to behave around dogs, the incidence of dog bites fell.

1. Empathising with animals and treating them with compassion is an important part of children's moral development.

1. Knowing how to behave around animals is an essential life skill that increases confidence.

1. It teaches tolerance, as it helps children understand that many people participate in a wide variety of hobbies that benefit them but create a small risk and inconvenience to others, and that is part of using shared social spaces.

Arf at not wanting a random child to run up to and grab my dog making me the same as pro gun

What people on this thread are in essence proposing is that they want to take a thing that is known to injure, maim and kill children into a public space, and that the very children who are most at risk must be trained to handle them and their dangerous possession, not the other way round.

Outside of the reality distortion field of the posters on here it is clearly an absurd argument, and pretty much amounts to the same logic bypass of the pro Gun lobby.

The main difference is that in the UK the law is on the side of the injured child, always and unequivocally.

To give you your due Crashdoll, you do understand where the ultimate responsibility lies, unlike most people on here, who seem to want to bury their heads in the dogshit sand and attack the messenger

So lazeyjaney, to use your ridiculous gun analogy, would you allow your child to run up to someone who hand a gun in their hand? If you are so sure that every on lead dogis just plotting to take a bite out of your child, why do you let your child go near them?

Lazy Janet, are you really saying that children never injure dogs?
That's rubbish, as you must realise.

Just in my own experience I know someone whose little boy bit a cat's ear off.