to not want your dog to "kiss" my dc face

[m0therofdragons]

Sorry for grumpy old lady rant but we spent a few hours in our local country park and had a picnic - me and my 3 young dds.
While sitting and eating 6 dogs came over at the same time circling us after scraps of food (don't think they were too impressed by all dc eating blueberries). Anyway, there were 3 owners walking over slowly while I shielded dc. When the owners eventually made it over my two youngest (2yo twins) were scared and crying. They didn't apologise and just commented how friendly their dogs are and how they Love to lick and kiss people but would never bite. Now I find it naive that people would be so confident their dog won't bite but that aside... I do not want my children's faces licked by a tongue that moments ago had probably been licking its own bottom or eating poo. Dog owners seem to think I would find this cute. I love dogs but I do not find it cute!

We have a picnic basket and blanket, and lots of lovely food. (Too much Wind in the Willows when a child, too many punt picnics as a student)
But I also have a huge, shouty DS; so if we do have an invader, his roar of 'CONTROL YOUR DOG RIGHT NOW!' tends to have owners scuttling over in fear for their animal.

Bit difficult to enjoy a picnic after an invasion though, you have to reassemble the goods and check everything to see what's edible. What has dog hair and mud in it, or pawprints.

'Dog owners are also entitled to enjoy lovely free parks and beaches.'

Yup. With your dog under control.

'World not set up exactly how you like it? It's a bit tough shit, really.'

I know, when I am Empress, that will all change.

Goblin, that's what's happened here (in Ireland).

The bad owners let their dogs run wild, so all spaces have been restricted - no dogs are allowed off leads anywhere near me at all.

The result is interesting - there are actually more unaccompanied dogs than ever there were, because it's no longer possible to take your dog out for a run - they are simply let loose on the street. And as there are no owners with them, there is dogshit everywhere.

Responsible dog owners have effectively been punished, and their dogs are unnecessarily restricted.

I would like to see parks/beaches allow dogs off leads before 10 am and after, say 6 pm (later and earlier in winter). With very close supervision and heavy fines for dogs let loose between those times (never going to happen here).

And some parks/beaches that are big enough being divided down the middle into dogs allowed/no dogs allowed/dogs on lead only areas so people who don't like dogs can avoid them completely.

I would just like to add that as a dog lover myself [who adored being licked by my dog....!] I now have a DS who is SERIOUSLY anaphylactic to dogs - what that means is that he can die if licked by one not that he will just be sneezing etc ...

I have had to administer an epipen to him after he was going unconscious after having been licked on the face by a puppy [which in fact I was taking for a walk - not at that stage understanding just how allergic DS is ]. His face was the size of a balloon and there was a red raw stripe of hives in the place the dog had been licking. He could not walk as he was losing consciousness and had to be carried into hospital.

When he now sees dogs, obviously he runs a mile, to which we always get told "don't worry, he is very friendly" - well as we always say it is the friendly ones that cause the problem as they are the licky ones - frankly in terms of allergic reactions, a bite would probably be less serious

I appreciate that there are not many people around who would have this type of allergic reaction but dog owners are not going to know who they are - we do not wear big badges - so please, please do stop your very nice and friendly dogs from licking our cute and healthy looking DC, as it may just be that it will kill them ....

'The result is interesting - there are actually more unaccompanied dogs than ever there were, because it's no longer possible to take your dog out for a run - they are simply let loose on the street. And as there are no owners with them, there is dogshit everywhere.'

Don't Ireland have a high number of pounds that kill the dogs if they aren't reclaimed? So perhaps it's the whole concept of dog ownership that needs to be looked at, or more strays PTS to solve the problem.

Yes, that's true.

But by making no arrangements to encourage responsible dog owners (dog runs, accessible parks etc) and no enforcement of laws for irresponsible ones, the entire thing is getting worse and worse.

I've had dogs and small children.

None of them are allowed to sniff human genitals, beg food from strangers, lick anyone, or shit in the park.

YANBU

I have a dog and there are no dog parks within a 10 mile radius of my home.

Oh and that was an insipid update, 'case you were wondering, angry people.

We have dog parks, dog friendly parks and dog free parks where I live. It's all very obvious and well controlled. You still get some humans in the dog parks shouting for dogs to be put on leads, but they get ignored. All bar one of the kids playgrounds are in dog free areas, the other is in a dog friendly for those of us with both dogs and kids.

I'm lucky in that I also have acres of MOD land that I can run the dogs in, fields, streams and woods. It's bliss.

There is one fenced area that I have permission to use to recall train the rescue dogs I look after, it's made my life much easier and the dogs better trained. I've had minor issues with other people (without permission) trying to use it but I can just point to the signs and people tend to go pale and move on pretty quickly! I'm going to miss it when I move.

The country park is one where I do expect to see dogs but we sat away from where they usually walk and it was really the owner's attitude that annoyed me.
Yes I have tried to get dtds over their fear but a Jack Russell pup jumped up at one of them a year ago and I was unable to pick them both up quickly enough.his claw caught dd2 and drew blood on her knee (owner insisted he was just being "friendly" then too).it is actually dd3 who is most scared after seeing the pup jump on her sister. I have introduced them to calm dogs but they are scared and I'm not going to force the issue. I'm sure it will improve as they get taller and dogs are less intimidating but it's not going to happen over night!

This really annoys me! I saw a young mom shield her screaming terrified toddler as a dog jumped all over him. The old woman then sauntered over proclaiming how wonderful her dog is and wouldn't hurt anyone! How selfish and ignorant!