Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think if your granddaughter runs up to my puppy that he might try to jump on her?

117 replies

Taz1212 · 14/10/2014 14:12

We have a 16 week old puppy. He does the school run every morning and afternoon (carried much of the way still to his great disgust Grin ). He's a lovely dog but he wants to meet everyone. Everyone is his best friend and he jumps up to greet them.

We are training him to not jump and after school we have about a dozen little girls eagerly helping. Grin He's getting better but it's going to take a while. I keep him away from people who don't approach him and tell people to ignore him. However, he's little so lots of people think it's cute. Urgh. We'll get there.

Every morning and every afternoon we see a grandmother with her granddaughter. Every morning and every afternoon she tells her granddaughter, "Stay away from that dog." Fair enough- not everyone likes dogs. Yesterday morning her granddaughter ignored her and went running up to the puppy. He tried to jump on her but didn't touch her because I have him on a short lead and I pulled him back. She started screaming blue murder - "THAT DOG NEARLY GOT MEEEEEEEE!!!!!!" The grandmother glared at me and said, "Yes, I saw that. That dog needs muzzled."

Seriously? She's seen the puppy every day. She sees how excited he gets. She tells her granddaughter to stay away- what did she think would happen?

OP posts:
ILovePud · 14/10/2014 14:16

Very silly woman, ignore.

WooWooOwl · 14/10/2014 14:16

The woman is crazy, forget about it.

It amazed me how many stupid parents there were when our dog was a puppy. So many people just let their small children come over to him without even acknowledging me.

No be expects their very young children to be perfectly behaved all the time, so why do they expect it from puppies that are too young to be fully trained?

seasavage · 14/10/2014 14:16

I appreciate you're trying to train this dog. But is a busy, energetic school run really the place to build up the dog's behaviour? Surely a gradual build up to a couple of hundred children is desirable?

Wolfiefan · 14/10/2014 14:17

You had your dog on a short lead. In control.
She didn't notice the little girl go over to your dog. Not in control and unsafe.
My DC and I never approach or touch a dog we don't know without asking. It could be a terrified rescue. Have an ear infection etc etc.

odyssey2001 · 14/10/2014 14:19

Am I BU to say she needed a muzzle? You can interpret yourself who "she" refers to!

RoseyHope · 14/10/2014 14:20

seasavage, it's much easier to get dogs to be comfortable with busy, loud, hectic surroundings when they're this age (and younger!). They adapt much more quickly than when they're older.

capsium · 14/10/2014 14:23

Well if you know your dog 'wants to meet everyone', you must appreciate not everyone your dog comes across, will know how to behave around dogs or even like them. It's a risk you take.

As it was, nothing happened very much. The woman was a bit cross, but it sounded like she doesn't like dogs in general, very much, anyway. Lots of people don't.

DishwasherDogs · 14/10/2014 14:23

Seasavage, when you're socialising a puppy it's not always easy to find the ideal situation to do it in, so you go with what you've got.

I've got a young puppy at the moment, he can be a bit nippy (because he's a puppy), but people send their children running up screeching to see him. I always pick him up and tell the children that when they can approach him calmly and quietly they can stroke him, until that time they can't!

The grandmother sounds like she's scared of dogs and is being overprotective. I would probably say loudly "don't let your gc rush up to my dog, she's scaring him!"

Theresadogonyourballs · 14/10/2014 14:23

I'm on your side absolutely 100%, but brace yourself for the dog-haters, they're bound to turn up soon Wink.

cherrybombxo · 14/10/2014 14:24

Urgh, ignore her. You were in control of your dog, she wasn't in control of the child.

capsium · 14/10/2014 14:25

Oh and some children are much harder to control than a puppy. You cannot muzzle them or put them on a lead quite so easily!Grin

Passmethecrisps · 14/10/2014 14:26

I am not a massive dog fan purely down to bad experiences as a result of bad dog OWNERS!

You sound like you are in control and doing all you can.

Granny needs to do the same with her granddaughter I reckon

MollyHooper · 14/10/2014 14:29

Granny needs to do the same with her granddaughter I reckon

:o

OP yanbu and you will be even less unreasonable if you post a picture of your puppy.

seasavage · 14/10/2014 14:30

Absolutely this woman is behaving in a way to instil fear in the GD. This has happened to my DD, the exMIL is always making comments like this (I am now teaching them away from it). Saying that, I am frustrated by over confident dog owners laughing at my DD's when they are crying in fear because their dog has cornered them in the park/ on a train.

But I wouldn't put a young puppy in that situation (school). So many parents will have no idea how threatened that puppy can feel as they're well used to throngs of excited children.

Dogs and children are a pretty challenging mix.

Floggingmolly · 14/10/2014 14:31

Dogs and the school run don't mix. I'm a dog lover and I've got a dog, but wouldn't dream of taking him to school.

Thebodyloveschocolateandwine · 14/10/2014 14:34

You sound ultra responsible op.

The grandmother is actually failing to keep her gd safe as she's not teaching her how to behave around dogs.

Silly lady.

Original poster
Taz1212 · 14/10/2014 14:42

For MollyHooper : Meet Noodle- lounging on our butt ugly astro. Grin

I'm not worried about the school run. It doesn't frighten him in the slightest and he gets to meet lots of other dogs and puppies. We stand on a grassy bit away from the path and he waits patiently for his fan club. We don't head back home until everyone has left so he's not in the middle of any great throngs.

To think if your granddaughter runs up to my puppy that he might try to jump on her?
OP posts:
MollyHooper · 14/10/2014 14:45

Yup, definitely not unreasonable.

Noodle has a very kissable nose.

Sallystyle · 14/10/2014 14:47

I think the school run is a great place for socialisation as long as you have the pup under control.

Mine loving going with me, they get lots of fuss and meet other dogs. You will always get children who run up without asking first but I tell why it is a bad idea. None of my dogs have ever been scared doing the school run, they loved it.

rebelfor · 14/10/2014 14:48

Not being unreasonable at all.

I've taught my daughter from a young age to never approach a dog she doesn't know, and certainly not to run up to one.

Beautiful dog.

GhoulWithADragonTattoo · 14/10/2014 14:51

You do sound responsible OP but I am sick of dog owners on the school run who let their dogs run up to or around my children barking and growling at them and scaring them. My DCs went from toddlers who enjoyed looking at and waving a dogs from their pushchairs to primary school kids who are nervous of dogs. My two don't do anything other than walk by the way so no running up to dogs.

TheBatteriesHaveRunOut · 14/10/2014 14:57

Daft woman. Brilliant way of helping her gdd be scared of dogs.

I think it's a good idea to teach children to be cautious of animals, ask owner's permission before patting them etc. But I'm baffled as to how a muzzle would prevent a dog jumping up...... Wink

cherrybombxo · 14/10/2014 15:00

This is unrelated but one thing that really annoys me is children who ask their parents if they can pet my dog, and their parent says yes! My dog is a very excitable, bouncy JRT, he's only 14 months old and we're really struggling to teach him to be calm. He's not brilliant with kids so I end up looking like a miserable bitch when I have to tell the kid she can't touch him after the parent has said it's okay Hmm

FloatIsRechargedNow · 14/10/2014 15:05

I am a lifelong confirmed dog lover and owner and ds has been trained from an early age to always ask if it's ok to stroke a dog BUT I wouldn't take a dog on the school run no matter how convenient and beneficial it is for the dog and/or myself.

WooWooOwl · 14/10/2014 15:05

We've had that one too Cherry. Our dog is as safe as a dog can be around children, but I still stand there thinking it's supposed to be up to me whether children can stroke my dog or not!