to pepper spray a dog?

[happydazed]

well not actual pepper spray, its intended specifically for dogs and tested and approved so I am hoping wont actually cause them any harm.
My ds has been bitten once, not badly just nipped, my friends little girl was bitten again not too badly but drew blood, my ds has also been knocked over twice, on one occasion he was only 18 months old, toddling along next to me and a dog ran over jumped up and knocked him backwards his head hitting a stone wall, he was dazed, very upset and had a big lump on his head. All this has happened in local parks, with owners saying oh dont worry the dogs friendly, and then oh dear he's not usually so boisterous...

Because of this I avoid parks with the kids, which is such a shame, I have a beautiful park at the end of my road and I haven't been in it for 3 months, today we ventured in to feed the ducks with 5 kids under 3 between us, a dog ran up knocked 2 of the kids over, it was a staffy type and very boisterous, the children were very upset, we picked them up but it kept jumping up at us, the owner said it was our fault because the children were playing with sticks and the dog wanted them.

I have tried to train the children how to behave around dogs, to keep calm, to keep their hands by their sides etc, I am used to dogs, but if a dog runs at any 3 year old I know especially one who has been hurt by a dog before they scream and run away, I really don't know what I can do about that, it s often suggested to me by dog owners that it is my fault for not having the children behave appropriately but if they keep their dogs with them it wouldn't be an issue!

Summer is coming up and I don't feel I can safely take my children to the park or the beach which is just as bad. I know there are plenty of lovely responsible dog owners out there but unfortunately not all are. over 6000 people were admitted to hospital because of dog attacks last year so I don't feel I am being paranoid. Am I unreasonable to pepper spay the next dog that runs towards me or should I just accept parks have been given over to the dogs and children should stay in the fenced in playground areas.

Years back, my DS was playing frizbee in the park with cousins and a dog joined in, grabbed the frizbee and ran off. So DS chased it angrily and tried to get his frizbee back, and the dog dropped it and squared up to DS, . By which time I'd intervened, and then we both got a gobful from the owner.
The sting in the tail is that his son came over and said 'Hello Mrs Goblin'
The dad stuttered to a halt when he realised that his DS was in my class the next year.

This part of your post; 'it s often suggested to me by dog owners that it is my fault for not having the children behave appropriately but if they keep their dogs with them it wouldn't be an issue!'

^^ I completely disagree with! It is their (dog owners) responsibility to ensure their dog is well trained and obedient enough to be trusted off the lead. I would be absolutely mortified if my dog knocked a child over or even growled, let alone bit a child .

My dog is large, boisterous and friendly but a breed that is known for being difficult to train. He towers above most toddlers and if he was allowed to run about as he pleased, he would frighten most even though they're only in danger of being sniffed and him sitting for fuss. It would be terrifying for a child to have my dog run at them purely because of his size.
I have managed to put in the work since he was a puppy to ensure that he comes back when called (rarely does he have selective deafness and when he does, it's been when there has been an in season bitch about) and has been trained to not jump up at people or chase them and trained not to randomly approach people or other dogs unless I say 'go on then'. Generally, he's not allowed to be a hooligan. It takes work but there's no excuse to have a badly behaved dog.

I wouldn't use pepper spray, I would take a sports bottle of water out with me and squirt that in the dogs face. It's a shock tactic and you will do no damage to the dog whereas with pepper spray, if you injure the dog you will be held responsible.

You could also try a mini air horn type thing (eBay would be the best place to look I imagine) or a dog whistle. Again, the shock will/should stop the dog in it's tracks.

Good luck.

Has anyone suggested coins in a small box? Get a mini tupperware box and half fill it with coppers - now shake it hard - horrible sound isn't it? Dogs hate it. Have it in your pocket and when one comes up and causes problems shake it really hard as close as possible.

ive lost count of the amount of times people have let their small kids coming running up behind my dog and grabbing her, they really need to learn to control their kids.

I'm quite sure that the parents and children who don't like dogs or have a fear of dogs and want to use deterrents / insist that dogs be muzzled and on leads are not the ones that go running up behind your dog grabbing it. People who don't like dogs generally try to keep well away from them but still have to put up with dogs running up to them barking, jumping on them etc.

I don't let my dogs off unless we are walking during school time and it's in the woods where no toddler can possibly walk. I can however be walking my dogs to the shops and a child will come running at my dogs (they are very cute) and start grabbing their ears and pulling on their tails and luckily my dogs don't mind but my youngest will probably want a cuddle and if you pepper sprayed my dog because of that I would punch you in the face! You've assaulted my dog for being friendly so I'll assault you for being a cunt!

And so it goes.
Who would spray a dog that hadn't rushed up and investigated/threatened a child? No one has said that, have they?

If you're the sort of fool who allows a child to randomly grab a passing dog, or pull ears and tails or generally behave unacceptably, then you wouldn't be bothered about the child being snapped at. It would be your fault.

People are talking about defending their children against unwelcome approaches, when the dog is the initiator.

exactly that goblinchild. how many times people have said they will punch me in the face in this thread!, I am only suggesting I spray something harmless to try and stop a dog hurting my child, and possibly your child if you use a childminder. I have not threatened any violence or planned to hurt anyone or their dog, I'm clearly not going to run up and spray a dog for no reason. some very aggressive responses.

coins in a box great idea, just tried that and put one in the change bag, thanks

'coins in a box great idea, just tried that and put one in the change bag, thanks'

Now you will have to work out how to beat the Chuggers who will hear your coins and swarm.

pepper spray the chuggers?!

I have never encountered this problem with every other dog knocking my DD over/frightening her when in the park. Most dogs are well behaved or ignore my DD totally. Genuinely baffled.

However, if this is a big problem, then I can understand the annoyance. Perhaps their should be "dog free" and "child free" areas of some parks.

That said, pepper spraying a dog doesn't seem the best idea to me.

Is it legal? If it is, is it legal to spray any dog you see at any time or does the dog have to be doing certain things before it can be used?

To be honest, I don't know anything about pepper spray for dogs - does it hurt the dog? If so, and the dog is not actually being aggressive, I think it unfair to punish the dog for the owners behaviour.

Also, do you not run the risk of turning an overly boisterous dog (which admittedly could scare or knock a child over) into an frightened, and thus potentially aggressive, one?

And I think it quite possible that doing this to a dog, especially one who hasn't been trained to understand what it has done to be punished, will simply cause it to become frightened of (and possibly aggressive around) children/strangers/parks in the future.

I also doubt it would make a truly aggressive dog back-down- may just antagonise them further.

If I'm right, I'm not sure how that improves your child's safety TBH. Seems more like a way to antagonise the owners of the dogs, than actually improving anyobodies safety or the dogs behaviour.