Dear dog lovers/owners...

[INeedABiggerBoat]

A few tips for 'dog lovers':

• Don't leave your young children to pet a dog while you p* off to the loo or go to buy a pint, without checking with the dog's owners first. Dogs may not find your children as adorable as you do. Some dogs also bite children/when scared and I'm betting you won't be blaming yourself if that happens.
• It is not okay to feed a dog without its owners' permission - especially when you give the dog a small bone that could choke it/splinter in its throat. Unless you're happy for us to pass on the vet bill to you.

And one for dog owners:

• Whistling for your unleashed dog to follow you while you merrily cycle off home does not constitute 'having control' of your dog.

Any other tips to add, MN-ers?

I said a perfectly controlled Rotweiller. A perfectly controlled Rottweiller is no more dangerous than a perfectly controlled Yorkshire Terrier

In terms of risk, a perfectly controlled but unleashed rotweiller is STILL more of a risk than the equivalent Yorkie. Because if they did turn, the potential for damage is much, much higher. Which is why I would always rather my children stayed away from certain dogs, because it's just not worth the risk.

everlong
it's the law.
the law says the dog should be under control at all times. if it isn't without a lead it needs to be on the lead at all times.

Unfortunately though everlong the definition of 'under control' varies from dog owner to dog owner....

What other dogs would you keep your children away from then?

I've been bitten by far more collies and Jack Russell's. I average one bite every two weeks I expect. In the last 4 years I have been involved with one incident with a Rott (and that was a dog aggressive Rott that bit me by accident) and that includes dogs that have been badly treated, beaten, broken and abused.

Dear dog owners,

When someone confides in you about the heartache of losing a child, do not compare, to the bereaved parent, how upset you were when your muchly-loved twelve year old old English sheepdog was PTS. As much as the loss of a pet is horrific, you do not 'know what they're going through'.

Happened to my sister.

Dear dog lovers

A young child cannot have a pet. Ultimately, you will be responsible for walking, feeding, cleaning up it's poop, training and vets bills etc. You cannot complain that your eight year old isn't looking after the dog properly when she doesn't want to take it out in the pissing down rain, cannot manage it on a lead and occasionally forgets to feed it. Growing up with animals can be a wonderful experience for a child; however, it is still your responsibility. This needs to be understood before the aforementioned pet is purchased.

Makes someone worried that it might injure them

If a dog is running around, barking, sniffing, grabbing things out of my hands, jumping up etc - then I worry it might injure me or my DC. According to most dog owners though this is not a dog which isn't under control, this is a mutt 'just being friendly' and 'he won't hurt you'.

LtEveDallas - I don't have a definitive list.

But any very large and heavy dog with the potential to do so much damage, if unleashed then yes, I will keep my children away from it.

I think you're missing the point a bit - any dog, if they bite, could be lethal...even a Chihuahua, if they got their teeth in the wrong place could be. And you can undoubtedly have a nasty bite from any breed of dog.

But, should a 'nice' dog suddenly turn on me/the kids then I would 100% rather that was a Jack Russell than a Rottweiler, based on probability. Jack russel jumps at dc and bites into legs = a&e. Rotweiller jumps at dc and bites into head = mortuary.

I think you're missing the point a bit - any dog, if they bite, could be lethal

Which is why I said DEED not BREED.

Jack russel jumps at dc and bites into legs = a&e. Rotweiller jumps at dc and bites into head = mortuary

And vice versa:

JRT jumps up at DC and bites into head = mortuary
Rottweiller jumps up at DC and bites into legs = A&E.

Did you not read the rest of my post?

You really are missing the point. It's risk aversion, that's all. It's completely natural and I would bet my last penny there's not one parent who doesn't do it.

Just to chuck another comparison into the mix - when i'm walking along a busy road with ds2 (age 4), I will always hold his hand. Yet I hold him a bit tighter when there's an articulated lorry going past a couple of feet away than when there's a cyclist. Not that I want him to be run over by a cyclist either...but the likely outcome if the worst happened is so MUCH worse with one of those scenarios then I am 'more' careful with that.

It's not difficult to understand, surely?

I KNOW YOUR DOGS DON'T DO ANY OF THAT - BUT THERE ARE PLENTY OF DOGS THAT DO, AND PLENTY OF DOG OWNERS WHO DON'T APPRECIATE THAT THEIR DOGS ARE BLOODY NUISANCES WHEN THEY BEHAVE THAT WAY.

If you read my posts you can see that I make that quite clear.

Well if you aren't 'swooping your child into your arms when the perfectly controlled Rottweiller is 100yds away' (which was my very polite request to dog haters) then what is the issue?

I give up.

Off out with the dc now and the dog on a lead

Keeping, I'm a doggy person but I understand where you are coming from. The damage that could potentially be done is greater from some types of dogs than others. It doesn't mean to say that they're more likely to attack but if they did the results are likely to be so much worse.

'I said a perfectly controlled Rotweiller. A perfectly controlled Rottweiller is no more dangerous than a perfectly controlled Yorkshire Terrier.'

Unfortunately there isn't a way of knowing if it's perfectly controlled, other than to see that control tested and hold. Or not.

Any dog bigger than a handbag dog can cause serious damage. The Rottweiller I walk is smaller than many Labradors and a lot smaller than (for example) the very lovely looking curly as hell Bernaise Mountain Dog that we regularly see - but no one is scared of the BMD because it has curls...whereas as the Rottweiller just has a bad reputation from years back.

That's my point.

Unless you are keeping your child away from EVERY dog that weighs more that 25Kg (including I expect your own Visla) then why are you keeping them away from Rottweillers specifically?

There are no perfectly controlled dogs. There are dogs which are on a lead, and there are dogs which have excellent recall - but no animal is 100% under control, 100% of the time.

'What other dogs would you keep your children away from then?'

Any dog that approaches without being invited to.
Any dog that looks uncomfortable or is unable to move away from them.
Any dog without having a chat with the owner about it.

My children were taught how to behave round dogs, for their own safety.

And that is very sensible Goblin, exactly what I teach my own child.

Oh and any dog wearing yellow.