To think that if your child is scared of dogs you should encourage them not to scre and wail if my dog is 300 ft away...

[Beccadugs]

Walking my dog today, she was of lead, about 10ft ahea of me waiting for me to chuck the ball. A child cycled towards us, saw my dog (who is half toy poodle so tiny) and started screaming. My dog just looked at her and then carried on our walk, if she was the type to run up to strangers/kids she wouldn't be off the lead. However, when she was a puppy and less well trained this screaming was an invitation (in her mind) to investigate.

While I accept that some children are scared of dogs, and that is fine. I would have thought that if there is a dog in the general vicinity encouraging your DC not to scream is probably for the best when the dog is ignoring you completely. AIBU, we all want to use the local facilities happily.

I could live with muzzling. Considered it when my dog was still alive. Not because she was at all dangerous, but because it would have stopped her eating shit. But she had arthritis, and I was worried it might hurt her.

Both my DDs get upset when dogs are near us at the park. Probably because dogs do like to 'investigate' as you put it. If your dog came to 'investigate' me and my children I'd be so annoyed. I don't care how small your dog is or how much you think it's under control.

Dog owner: "oh she's just being friendly and wants to say hello"
Me: "I DON'T WANT TO SAY HELLO TO YOUR WET SMELLY ANIMAL PLEASE COULD YOU GET IT'S PAWS OFF ME AND GET ITS NOSE OUT OF MY CROTCH"

Animals ARE less important than people. If you could only save one thing from a burning building, a stranger or your cat, you'd choose the person. It doesn't mean you won't be gutted that your pet is dead, as it doesn't mean you can neglect them in life. Their needs just don't come before a persons needs, though they may come before a persons wants.

It really is a 50/50 responsibility. Dog owners should do their best to train, control & clean up after their dogs, parents & adults in general ought to familiarise themselves & their children with 'dog safety/awareness'. In much the same way they do with road safety. There are far more road accidents leading to injury & death than dog attacks. Shall we ban cars, lorries & trucks? Yes, licences & regulations are insisted on for automobiles..... there's still a lot going wrong though, partly down to downright negligence on the drivers part & on the pedestrians part. Which is why there are educational ads & talks in schools. We cannot get rid of risk in life. Dogs are great when properly looked after & respected by others. Phobias really should be treated before they become debilitating & this is no reason to behave in a way that causes harm to another.... animal or human. If I had a phobia of cars should they be banned? If I had a phobia of balloons should these be banned?

Sorry, just read the post above, if it were my dog or a stranger, I would choose my dog.

spider7 I am glad you said that first because i also thought that in a choice between my dog or a stranger my dog would win hands down. Not because i think an animal has more right to live than a person but because i have an emotional connection with my dog and instinctively i would save her.

But I feel that, having chosen to take responsibility for a living, feeling animal, that dog's needs and overall wellbeing is as important as any other consideration in your household. And by that, I actually mean that if you're not prepared to exercise it sufficiently, train it, or ensure your child doesn't torment it or whatever, you should have it humanely destroyed.

I completely agree. Hands up, I'm not a dog lover. But I understand that they are living creatures which deserve to be treated with respect and care. Unfortunately truly responsible dog ownership seems to be rare. I'll give you an example: I have a very bouncy, energetic and quite loud 2yr old boy. He thinks dogs are great fun and he likes to pet them and then roar in their faces :(. He roars at everything by the way. So, I hold his hand when we see a dog nearby and we don't approach. If the dog comes up to us then I ask the owner if the dog is okay to stroke, then show DS how to offer the back of the hand for the dog to sniff, then stroke the dog's back. I keep hold of DS and make sure that if he looks likely to start shrieking we move off. BUT so many dog owners have told me 'oh my dog's fine, you don't need to worry'. Every time I've done this 'ask, sniff, stroke' approach I've received bemused looks from the dog owner, as if I am being crazily anxious. Maybe what I'm doing is wrong, I don't know. But if so they should tell me!

As far as I can see these owners are being irresponsible by putting their dog in a stressful situation without any concern for how difficult it might be for them. When they say 'oh is bombproof etc etc' I now just say 'well DS isn't and he can be pretty unpredictable'. Lots of dog owners make it difficult to teach dog safety, because they're so keen to show how kid-friendly their dog is.

OMG Spider! Really??

So you would rescue your dog rather than another human being. So a small baby could burn to death as long as you get your precious dog...

I'm sorry but that is disgusting and everything you have to say on this matter in now null and void as far as I am concerned!

at you as well little, I really hope that someone's child's life doesn't ever rest in your hands!

Sorry I'd choose my pets too.

Oh and just to be clear I love animals, have grown up around all sorts. I currently have a cat (trying to talk dh in to agreeing to a dog) and I love my cat to pieces. However, if I had to chose between rescuing my animal and another human being (child, teen, adult whatever) I would rescue the human being first every time. I think it is pretty sick to think otherwise.

I would save a child first obviously. To me the post implied adult.

Tbh i can't see how a stranger and my dog would ever be in the same burning building unless it was a burglar who set fire to my house!

Also this is a very hypothetical question and actually no-one knows how they would react when faced with that particular scenario. That is a topic for a whole other thread!

So a child would be saved but not an adult...So at what point does a child become an adult and therefore become less worthy than your dog?

This is a ridiculous hypothetical discussion to be having but I am honestly quite shocked and disgusted at the decisions some of you would take.

Imagine if your relative was left to burn to death but an owner saved their dog. I presume you would be perfectly happy with their decision to let your relative die.

I love animals but I would save a person before my pets anytime. I am lucky enough to have well loved animals and beloved people in my life. I am guessing that those people who would save a dog or cat first are childless and don't fully understand the child/ adult relationship. Once you have had a child you would never put any animal before any child surely.

They are my family too. A stranger is not. It is a ridiculous discussion ti
to be having and how this have even come about is beyond me.

Gosh i love how quickly these threads can turn into a debate about something else entirely.

I value human life over animals, of course i do. But I gave an honest answer based on my immediate reaction while sitting in my unburning house with my dog. However there are so many variables in the hypothetical question that i might react in an entirely different way if faced with that reality. I also sincerely hope i never have to make that decision.

Well put little.

"Sorry, just read the post above, if it were my dog or a stranger, I would choose my dog."

I find the fact that anyone can even say this utterly outrageous. All I hope is that it's only being said for effect.

I'm disgusted too. A dog is not as important as a person and if you think so you are completely off your rocker.

Back to the original question, it is not unreasonable to expect a child to be told not to scream in front of a dog off a lead. The screaming is a gut reaction but the child should be taught how to manage their fear, and learn that if they are to scream in front of a dog it might mean the dog react and bite/ jump at them, and if they don't make a fuss the dog is more likely to go on its way.

DS1 is frightened of dogs and will walk deliberately out of their way, to the point where he has tripped me up before or tried to walk on the road instead of near dog. He had a family members dog jump up at him when he was 3, my teenage niece failed to control it and actually fucking laughed when it jumped at him and i think nipped him. He was on a trike and was trapped. Bless him. DS2 absolutely loves them though and is not fazed by them.

I think the difficulty is that adults can't predict a dogs reaction or guess at its behaviour or owners control / responsibility, so a child certainly can't.

I don't think you can criticise the child/adult in this situation as you don't the child's experience with dogs.

how are you going to teach a phobic child to 'manage their fear' it isn't remotely the same as 'ds1 was frightened of dogs'

frightened =/= phobia

Just asked about my office, 7 people and they all said that they would resuce their pets over a stranger too. Bar one woman who said it was silly as you wouldn't know if you would choose what until you were in that position. So there are a lot of people off their rocker, as you have just put.

If I hadn't read it I would never have believed anyone would say they'd save an animal before a human.

Just and sickening.

I do think all dogs should be on leads at all times or offlead only in designated areas only.

the faff might make unsuitable owners think twice before getting a dog, because it is the unsuitable owners tho are the problem