Dog ban outside school

[stivesholiday]

Recently our primary school has closed its gates to cars as our new head teacher wants to encourage as many of us to walk to school as possible.

Additionally, the new head teacher has changed the drop off and pick up rules, so that parents don't need to wait in the playground, they can do a quick wave goodbye and kiss in the morning. At the end of the day, as long as the teacher sees the parent waiting, the child can walk out of school.

Concurrently, there are a lot of people since the New Year that have gotten dogs. These factors combined mean that many more dogs are being walked to school as dog owning parents realise that if they walk the 20 mins to school and back twice a day, that it a fair chunk of their dog walking done; quite handy.

There are now around 15 dogs that are in the school area before and after school. They are not allowed in the playground, but the parents don't need to go in there anyway. So there are lots of dog owning parents waiting on the footpath behind the metal fence outside of school.

Some parents have complained that there are too many dogs at the school gate area and it is frightening for their children who are scared of dogs. These are not aggressive dogs, but many are puppies so are bouncy and they all want to play with each other.

I can see the perspective of the parents with small children that feel scared. They have put a petition together to ask the head to ban dogs from outside the school.

Am I being unreasonable to think that as long as the dogs are not in the school grounds, are not acting aggressively, are on a lead/under control, there is nothing that these parents can do, no matter what the petition?

I put my hands up to owning an 8 month old puppy. One mother asked me via Facebook to not walk my dog to and from school and I said no because I'm doing nothing wrong. I likened it to not wanting a strangers car parked outside your house but you can do nothing about it if they have paid their road tax.

Can't get my head around some of these posts.

If I had a dog, or a cat, or a tortoise, or a goldfish, and I knew others were scared by them-even if I personally thought it a bit irrational-I'd do what I could to mitigate those fears. Which would mean, for example, behaving considerately, not forcing kids to walk through a dog corridor, etc. Why on earth do that to kids? We are taking about little kids trying to get out of school ffs.

I like dogs, but dog owner behaviour is plain rude at times. I have lost count of the times a dog has run up at us and barked and the owner has not apologise. I have lost count of the times when I've been on a run and a dog has tried to jump up at me, or growled, blocking my path, and the owner has acted all surprised and shocked that I asked them to call off their dog (and surprise surprise not apologised).What annoys me is dog owners who don't apologise, who excuse or blame or explain. If your dog is standing in the middle of the path growling at me when I'm trying to go for a quiet run through the park, I'm not offended, I know dogs do things like that but a. stick it on a lead and b. apologise. I don't frigging care if he's a puppy or not. Its just good manners.

If my child - who is part of my family too - stood in someone's way shouting at them, I would be apologising. I wouldn't expect the person being shouted at to care much if they were tired, or hadn't eaten, or didn't normally behave like this, or ffs didn't like runners . I would apologise, because that is what is polite. Expecting the world to give a shit about the mental well being of your dog is not polite.

Don't use your dog as an excuse to behave like an entitled arse. It gives all dog owners a bad name.

And so I think, re the OP. Its not about being unreasonable or not. Its about saying, wow, we're decent people and we don't actually want to behave like arses. It is a shame that some kids-the same kids who are friends with our kids - are scared, and its a shame that we are pissing off our community. What can we actually do?

Its sad that this is turning into a big thing, that the head is having to point out that its an issue. It would be bloody lovely if the dog owners could take responsibility for a win win solution rather than going "ner ner ner, public highway, you can't touch us, screw you small scared children."

Bugger

The grin was for bowlersarm

Well said Sigyn!

Not well said at all sigyn. You're saying, dog owners, do the decent thing and stay at home. Don't agree with that at all.

No, that wasn't said. It was take your dog out but do so responsibly and with consideration to the feelings of

Of others *

No, just leave the dog at home. The owners don't have to stay there too.

Unless you can find a way of bringing the dog which doesn't mean every child at the school needing to pass within lunging distance of the dog & its 14 'bouncy' best mates...in which case, no-one is going to mind it being there.

Several dogs and vast numbers of noisy excitable kids in the same area is a dog bite waiting to happen.

My 10 year old was bitten by a dog he just walked past when he was 8, he'd be utterly terrified as would his siblings who saw it happen.

My favourite dog owners are the ones with dogs bigger and more powerful than themselves being dragged along shouting " He won't hurt you!"

"Not well said at all sigyn. You're saying, dog owners, do the decent thing and stay at home. Don't agree with that at all."

Where on earth did I say that?

I said, show consideration.

If you can't think of a way to show consideration as a dog owner without keeping your dog at home, well...then yes, you probably need to keep your dog at home. Sorry about that. Respect for others and all.

But all the rest of the dog owners, who care enough about others to be considerate and not treat their dog like a PFB absolutely. I like dogs and I like to see them out and about.

What I don't like, and this is from the perspective of someone who likes dogs is dog owners basically using their dogs to behave like fuckwits. Like men with big cars.

Its this entitled attitude of some owners that gets me.

Good grief, I really worry for some people. Is dog behaviour really such an anathama? Most annoying dog behaviour could be avoided by a firm command of some sort - how about telling it to "get down" or "go away".
I'm sure some children may have been bitten or had a scratch or a scare but it's not actually that life threatening. Can't imagine what happens in a country with spiders and snakes that kill you without intention.

That's great that dog behaviour can be controlled so easily. It shouldn't be a massive problem for owners to sort it out then.

Just as I basically expect to have to control and discipline my kids when out and about, I basically expect dog owners to control their dogs when they are out and about.

If my kid shouted at someone, scratched them, scared them or bit them, I would be bending over backwards to apologise to them. I would expect them to be upset and I would make sure I did what I could to avoid a repeat incident.

Its just courtesy, plain and simple.

'Can't imagine what happens in a country with spiders and snakes that kill you without intention.'

People probably don't bring their pet spiders & snakes on the school run & then act butthurt when asked to keep them away from non-herpetologists/arachnophiles, maybe?

I don't think well trained dogs would need telling to 'get down', though. The annoying behaviour is the owner's responsibility to manage, either by training the dog, or by keeping it far enough away from other people for it not to be a problem. A few feet of distance & a short leash will do, if your dog is prone to being 'annoying' & you can't control its behaviour.

Is that really so much to ask?

Taking your dog on a school run is only easy and convenient if it is actually appropriate for the people who use the school- ie small children and their families. In this case, the school run is not the right outing to combine with a dog walk.
The children's needs trump the convenience of the dog owners, I would have thought - and I am a dog owner.

But most dog bites they aren't life threatening. It's just hysterics. No more dangerous and or painful than other things kids experience ..falling out of trees, crashing bikes, jumping off things,falling down stairs the list goes on.
If they were truly dangerous ,dogs would have been banned years ago.

Twiggy tape
This is how stupid the argument has become. You have actually suggested dogs are as threatening as spiders and snakes with the W"where they are a problem" . Dogs aren't a problem.

Can I point out that animals ( such as dogs ) aren't people(like children). So the way you control them is different. Yes I would expect your child to behave like a child. Some better than others. Lots of reasons why children behave less well.
Dogs behave like dogs. I expect it to behave like a dog. Sometimes ric will behave less well. Still not a problem animal.

'Dogs aren't a problem' - what, no dogs or owners, anywhere? Odd, because there are quite a few laws pertaining to this problem that simply doesn't exist. Sure, most aren't a problem. Some most definitely are.

I'm sorry but I would be one of the parents kicking up a stink if this was happening at DD's school. You're right that, being outside the school gates, there is nothing legally that the school can do as it's a public place, but it is extremely bloody inconsiderate to have 15 dogs hanging around outside the school gates.

I can't believe that so many people think OP is not BU!

'Dogs behave like dogs. I expect it to behave like a dog.'

I have no idea what your expectations of doggy behaviour are; clearly, this is a very variable thing & not all dog owners have good control over their animal.

This being the case, it's sensible to want to be able to give an unknown dog (with unknown owners who may be incompetent in managing their dog's behaviour) a wider berth than 4' - as the OP describes this as being the width of the path, even this wouldn't be possible in this scenario.

The fact that you think that a 3rd party should need to be giving commands to your dog to 'get down' doesn't fill me with confidence as to your ability to control it, tbh.

Indeed raven. It's OK for other people's dogs to get in your face because you can just tell them to get down.

OP, YABU to expect any thread about dogs on MN to be rational. It will descend into "all dogs are evil" v quickly. There is no common sense on this issue on MN.