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.

Muzzle all dogs of leads ! That will make them less scary for small people, seriously it worked with hannibal lecter.

it's a toy poodle. One good stamp and the job is done if it attacks. But the child won't know this.

I had somebody on another thread tonight throwing a hissy fit because I dared to suggest that dogs are less important than people. Apparently that makes me a dog hater.

quite like the things, although less so now I have to keep clearing their crap off my garden.

The 'high profile' dog attacks have resulted in 6 people being killed since 2007.

Another 210,000 people are attacked each year in a 'lower profile' way.

Is your ds likely to bite?

I have no idea why people think a well trained dog should be on a lead on an old airfield?!? Surely in the normal real world all large open spaces are full of unleashed dogs?! God we have the hunt round here - i can remeber hounds coming through the playground!
I live opposite a green which has a few swings on but the purpose of the green in the byelaws and tenancy agreements is exercise of animals - most mornings and nights there's about 20 or so unleashed dogs on the there no problems. There is one man locally whose child hates dogs and sees fit to deliberately walk through the middle of the park when the dogs are out (not round the path or in the swing area) and then start screaming about dog owners when a puppy went towards his child but after several incidences of this the police had a word with him as he'd become threatening.

The worlds gone mad if you can't let a well trained dog run around! What would the point of the dogs life be??

My ds? Unlikely but he does lick you..

Hannibal letter is not a dog last time I looked. And a fictional character.

I'm baffled by this, OP. What do you actually want the parents of a frightened child to do ? If the parents were saying to their DC "OH MY GOD, LOOK, THERE'S A DOG OFF IT'S LEASH, QUICK, SCREAM AS LOUDLY AS YOU CAN, THAT WILL GET RID OF IT!!!", you'd have a point. But as all that happened is that a frightened child reacted as frightened children do (quite possibly despite their parents best efforts), what do you think should have happened in this little scenario?

Well said Felty

Lecter. Bloody auto correct. Maybe it will correct my opinions to be pro dog!

I have a collie and his life wouldn't be worth living if we had to leash him and walk him on pavements. He'd go stir crazy!

I was replying to MrsMook.

I wouldn't want your ds licking me any more than a dog though, although I suspect that you wouldn't let him.

Felty you have said what my mind was trying to get my hands to type..

Christ... I wouldn't have much choice in the matter I'm afraid.. He can run quicker than me

In all honest the licking was a guise.. He did go through a bitey stage and my dear but daft brother said 'don't bite, lick instead...' So that is what he does!

*honesty

I don't think dogs need to be on leads, but I do get annoyed if dog owners get upset by children being frightened of them.

My DS also gets upset by flies, sometimes, although not so much by dogs these days. And he screams when our cat jumps at him (cat that he asked for, btw).
I would have very much liked him not to scream in fright.
So, still waiting for tips on how to encourage children not to scream in fright.

OP???

children being frightened of them.
The dogs, not the owners, of course. Although some owners can, apparently, be frightening.

I can too, if a dog frightens my child and the owner does nothing about it...

And will you clean up their shit too, or is that from the irresponsible dog owners? Cause if you are all responsible owners whose dogs are shitting everywhere? Oh, the irresponsible ones that are off leads......back to the bloody start.
Let's get one thing straight. Dogs are animals. Not people, no matter how many times you talk to them in stupid baby voices.

I think that if your dog would react badly to a child screaming (as many do) then that dog should not be out of their lead in a public area, quite simply. However, your dog appears safe. I treat my dogs like kids, if they're at the toddler stage, then always with me apart from the garden/house, attached firmly, because it only takes one slip for disasters to occur. When they are 'older' (whether more experienced, better behaved or literally older) then they have more freedom. In grabbing distance (so for dogs, where grabbing probably won't work as well, this means close by so you can get to them quickly, in a few strides) but free.

Oh course I clean up his shit.. Like I said I am not an irresponsible dog owner.

*of

I exercise in the park twice a week and in my experience dog owners have very little control over their unleashed dogs....

You have a lot of experience of irresponsible dog owners then...

What would the point of the dogs life be??
I've often wondered that myself.

Oh I despair of some of these replies. A well trained dog can be suitably under control off lead, and parents should try to discourage their kids from screaming and flailing their arms about if they see one in the distance. Yes, if the child is scared, it may scream regardless of parental discouragement, and yes, if the dog is likely to react to the child, it should be under closer control, probaby leashed. And yes, often kids who are scared, are afraid because of a feckless dog walker allowing their out of control mutt to hound the child. But that isn't the fault of every other dog walker who does control their animal, is it?

It's very frustrating to be walking a well trained dog off lead and under control and have kids screaming at you for daring to be within half a mile of them, when your dog couldn't give a flying fuck what the child does. So yea, I sympathise, OP.

Not every dog owner is responsible - fact.
Not every irresponsible dog owner has a friendly dog - fact.
Therefore I believe we do need to try our upmost to teach all children whether they are frightened or not how to behave appropriately around dogs.
You can argue till you turn blue in the face that dogs should be leashed but as it is not law it is not going to happen. I know it's not always possible and some children are very scared but a screaming child is a lot more likely to get bitten than a calm non reactive one.
I have a dog and he is let off the lead and is very well behaved but I do not let approach children as it may well result in a negative experience for both.
I have a toddler who is also let off the lead and I again am cautious of dogs approaching as he's 2 and a lot more unpredictable than the dog.