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.

My son has to walk through a gaggle of parents smoking on a narrow path right outside the school gate (was actually walking just behind a parent smoking weed this morning!!!), he is subjected to language he doesnt hear at home but i suppose as long as theres no dogs....

UncleT
yes I believe I would fulfil all of those requirements. Not all dogs are horrible, not all dog owners are either.

No TSSDNCOP, you may not bring your tarantula.

YANBU. There are always loads of dogs tied up/waiting with their owners outside our school. I assumed it was normal life everywhere.

My dog is in training to be a PAT (pets as therapy) she can take her test at 9 months. She is extremely well behaved and docile... even for a puppy. Yes, I pick up her poo everywhere, in the woods, fields and verges. I am a considerate dog owner. I just don't wish to be vilified because I am walking my dog. I'm not standing there saying "kill fido". I am just waiting for my children to come in/out of school.

Where exactly are the dog walkers being unreasonable. Where is the non dog owner compromise?

leave the dogs at home! do you really have to bring them?

i hate dogs too. the dog pooh drives me crazy. I don't fault dogs for being dogs, but dogs and dog owners need to stay away from me and my kids. Both of my kids are frightened by dogs but people and their precious dogs are about, without a leash, scaring kids. My children have never been bit by a dog, but they have certainly come close to my children and scared the hell out of them by barking and being mean.

I have been pretty nice about it. but I am going to be yelling and screaming next time this happens.

Not every dog will attack, despite what people will believe.

of course. who thinks that? but I don't know you dog, and frankly I am not entirely confident that you do either. they are unpredictable animals. A dog bites a human the first time once, and it's probably a surprise.

Allowing a child to be terrified of every dog, will not help, because they then generalise and become terrified of dogs.

I don't "allow" my children to be afraid of dogs. they just are. and no one has any right to have their dog within frightening distance of my child. it's threatening. I have no idea if your dog is the kind that will never bite, or the kind that will if you look at it wrong. All I can see is a big unpredictable animal near my kids, scaring them.

stives you're bringing your dog up to be calm and considerate. Again, no problem. I love polite doggies and my boys learn to trust them quite quickly.

The tarantula is in danger of being stamped on by invertebrate-thouroughly-phobic DS1, I'm afraid, though DS2 may simply drown it in excited drool.

Its - fine then. I'm not saying that all dogs/owners are bad or irresponsible, but it's a growing problem and one that needs reining in.

My instincts on this one are to forgets it's actually about dogs and children and parents as such, as they are all pretty subjective.

If complaints are made about something and a petition is started than I guess some people do have an issue. It would be interesting to see where the majority lies.

I'd certainly say that more than 15 families at the school must have a dog, and they choose not to bring on the school run. I'd imagined the new puppy owners would be disgruntled if another 42 owners decided to bring their dogs too and the fifteen current walkers would find it pretty inconvenient and irritating.

Regardless of who has what rights and who is being entitled, the EASIEST option is for those fifteen dog walkers to find another time to walk their dog. If the can't do that than they've possibly not looked into getting a dog properly.

Being a parent means looking out for your child, and hoping that others will look out for your child too.

The joys of being a dog owner is accepting that your dog will never be entirely welcome in some environments, and ensuring your dog gets to have fun and exciting times in places where they can enjoy being a dog, and not potentially hurt someone if they are young, big and bouncy. Sock aplastic for dogs at a young age is important, tht why they have dog training classes father thn bring your puppy to school days

My dd1 (8) is fearful of dogs. She has several dogs in her life, grandparents, cousins etc. With these dogs she knows she is relaxed and happy. I have spent time introducing her to dogs in a relaxed and calm environment to get her tyo ythis point. If she encounters a doing she doesn't know she is fearful. Whilst I reassure her as much as I can she actually has a point, it is wise to be wary of dogs you don't know.

If her school was like you describe she would refuse to go, yet she doesn't have a choice, it is the law that she goes to school. Is it as important that you are able to stand directly outside school as part of an intimidating pack of dogs? Many adults wouldn't like it let alone small children.

I would support a ban wholeheartedly after my son was attacked outside school by a pit bull and needed surgery on his arm two weeks ago.

I hate it when people say they hate dogs, if you've been bitten by one etc then it's understandable but when people just hate them for no reason it really gets to me. Only a small proportion of dog owners don't properly train their dog, or pick up their poo or look after them properly. But the majority are responsible and why shouldn't they be allowed to walk them on the school run? If you or your child is scared of dogs then that's a problem that you need to address, you can't just avoid them forever.

I would think you & your 'bouncy' puppy were a right bloody PITA, tbh.

Bring it when it's able to wait nicely without 'playing' with other dogs & I'll cheerfully ignore it sitting quietly at your feet, but really, bouncy puppies is something the dc & I could do without on the school run.

It is a case of allowing fear though. You can educate them, show them that dogs can be very useful, great companions - or you can let them squeal and run, insist all dogs remain away from them.

Where do you draw the line? When does it stop? At one stage they will have to learn to overcome it.

Poor Dtarantula. He was only trying to be friendly.

So misunderstood.

I'm not sure on this. What annoys me more than anything is mothers that pass their fear of dogs into their children. Squealing when a dog is in the vicinity is bound to scare your child. Stop passing it on to your children. It's ridiculous.

'you can't just avoid them forever'

No, that's fine - I don't need to avoid dogs - I'm happy if their behaviour is such that I can ignore them. If they're not ignore-able, then I'd rather they were somewhere I am not.

I get that I can't enforce that, but just don't expect me to like boisterous dogs or not think that the owner's a selfish berk.

Well watch, guess what? I've been bitten by a large dog. It was shit. I haven't said I hate all dogs though, but you're kidding yourself if you don't think that irresponsible dog ownership isn't a growing problem.

And people supporting bans because they've had a bad experience... You wouldn't ban other things that have just happened to cause you or your child harm would you?

Dogs who know how to behave around strangers are fantastic companions.

What bans? I have suggested stringent licensing. The responsible should have little to fear from that. The only thing I see being suggested for a ban here is congregations of dogs outside schools. Not really unreasonable.

Some people do have an irrational fear of dogs and some have a fear born out of an incident with a dog. I have a fear of the gang of kids who congregate by my house. I just wish their parents would put them on a leash... They totally disruot our family out of school hours till late at night....

Lud so your point is what, that groups of youths acting antisocially should be tackled to? Yup - no problem with that whatsoever. They should be.

*too

uncle I never said it wasn't a growing problem, simply that there are more responsible dog owners than irresponsible ones