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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think this dog should have been on a lead

248 replies

Doginthepark · 26/12/2014 17:39

Took DS to the park today and we were kicking his new Frozen ball around. A dog came charging up and grabbed the ball and popped it. DS cried. Aibu to think the dog should have been on a lead?

OP posts:

KnackeredMerrily · 27/12/2014 12:15

Our local area successfully repealed the idea to keep all dogs on lead at all times.

Dogs need to run free, it's cruelty otherwise. They are using the parks 365 days a year in all weathers which is more often than children use them.

And as for allowing dogs off lead but muzzled - a ridiculous suggestion! It ignores the majority of problems with off lead dogs (fouling, knocking people over etc). A dog biting a human in a park almost unheard of.

I think if dogs wore muzzles it wouldn't ease children's fears, they would look scarier and reinforce the idea that dogs bite.

GraysAnalogy · 27/12/2014 12:17

I would move before I had my dog muzzled all the time.

SirChenjin · 27/12/2014 12:18

this ends up manifesting into the attitude that people should be able to do what they wish around or to dogs

No it doesn't. The majority of non-dog owners just want to be able to go for a walk along the beach, or take their kids to the park, or go for a walk in a country park inpeace without dogs approaching them/bounding up to them/whatever while their ineffectual owners either roll their eyes at nervous children or claim that their dogs are 'just being friendly'.

Most people really aren't that interested in your dog. Of course there will be people like your friend - although quite why you're friends with someone who is tormenting your dog I can't imagine - but most people just want to go about their business without dogs bothering them.

SirChenjin · 27/12/2014 12:19

nervous children or adults

GraysAnalogy · 27/12/2014 12:21

Funnily enough she isn't the only person i've come across with that attitude, there's countless people I know including many on here with the same opinions.

But I do accept that some dog owners need to be more responsible - unfortunately being responsible is getting harder and harder.

And as for although quite why you're friends with someone who is tormenting your dog I can't imagine if you read back it isn't my dog, it is her own.

BelleateSebastian · 27/12/2014 12:25

Love how elephantpoo rhymes with GLUE .. as in 'onnit' innit!

SamCroClaus · 27/12/2014 12:26

well maybe if you can't control your ball

you shouldn't have one

SirChenjin · 27/12/2014 12:27

And there's countless more who want to go about their business without being bothered by 'friendly dogs' whilst out for a walk or in the park.

Designated dog-only areas across the country would be an ideal solution - those of us who don't want to be bothered by barking dogs bounding up to us can give them a wide berth, and those of you who don't want to put your dog on any form of lead can give them a good run without worrying about your dog upsetting or annoying others. Win win.

GraysAnalogy · 27/12/2014 12:30

That would be the perfect solution SirChenjin, although 'who dont want to put your dog on any form of lead' is being a bit as nowhere has anyone said they don't want to use a lead at all. Just that our dogs need time off it too.

KnackeredMerrily · 27/12/2014 12:33

Perfect. I am often jealous when i hear of dog parks in America.

But there arent enough open spaces in the UK - we have to learn to share.

SirChenjin · 27/12/2014 12:33

You don't want to use the lead in places where others are - the beach, the park etc, ie places that dogs tend to be exercised. No-one here has said that they only take their dogs off the lead when there is no-one else around - which is why I said what I did.

mausmaus · 27/12/2014 12:35

Sorry but, that's hilarious. So because I want my dog exercised properly, I shouldn't have one? There are so many health benefits to allowing your dog to have a good run, some that are behavioural - so I go out of my way to allow them to have a run as well as a long walk.

my point exactly. if you can't give your dog what it needs without annoying other people or worse you shouldn't have a dog.

SirChenjin · 27/12/2014 12:36

We can segregate areas that are built up - but there are plenty of open spaces across the UK.

GraysAnalogy · 27/12/2014 12:37

No Sir, I will use the lead in those places of course, but I also want to be able to have ten minutes or so off-lead. I'm not sure where you live but there's absolutely no hope of 'letting them off when no-one else is around' because there's always folk around here. Always. If people were perhaps more tolerant on both sides we'd all be able to do what we need to do. But no, doesn't work.

GraysAnalogy · 27/12/2014 12:40

my point exactly. if you can't give your dog what it needs without annoying other people or worse you shouldn't have a dog

So because other people are annoyed at a dog wanting a run I shouldn't have one. Sorry that just doesn't wash. No-one would own a dog would they? Like I said if both sides were more tolerant then everything would be fine. I've already said I go out of my way to keep my dog away from people who are having a walk etc. Unfortunately the walkers don't often extend the same courtesy.

Redhead11 · 27/12/2014 12:41

Personally, I think that 'children only' areas in parks is a great idea, and they can have 20ft chain-link fences to keep the little darlings inside, so they can't bother the rest of us. That would keep the paranoid parents and noisy, spoiled brats far away from the rest of the world and let us get on with our lives. That seems like a win-win situation to me

SirChenjin · 27/12/2014 12:44

Yes - there are people around where I live too, which is why I've had my absolute fill of friendly dogs spoiling walks and trips to the park on a regular basis over the 17 years I've been a parent.

My tolerance has worn away to nothing, I'm afraid. Children (multiple) knocked over by dogs, balls burst, one DC pinned against a wall by a barking dog, coat ruined by a dog jumping up on me, dogs in parks and on beaches clearly marked 'no dogs', 'friendly' dogs bounding up to us (we don't know if they bite or not), sticks grabbed out of the DCs hands by dogs etc etc etc etc etc - and that's before we even get to dog shit everywhere.

So before you talk about tolerance, please remember that many people (as shown on the multiple dog threads on MN, for example) are really getting past the tolerant stage.

BackOnlyBriefly · 27/12/2014 12:48

From the dog's point of view it may have been an accident, but the owner did not 'accidentally' let a dog off the lead that wasn't trained. That was a choice.

Sunna · 27/12/2014 12:49

Like I said if both sides were more tolerant then everything would be fine.

I don't want to tolerate walking through dog shit and being jumped at by out-of-control dogs or have them destroy children's toys. No rational person does.

Dogs are not as important as people and their needs come way down the list.

GraysAnalogy · 27/12/2014 12:53

I'm sorry you've had all that, I'm actually quite shocked at the dog owners that must be around your area because I have never in my life had my dog do anything like that.

I can talk about tolerance all I want because I too have had enough, and so are many dog owners. Just because we're on opposing sides doesn't mean we can't discuss tolerance. I'm tired of having a good time playing with my dog only for people to ruin it. Allowing their children to run over, or joggers running between us when they have the full range of the park, people walking past us and muttering under their breaths at such an 'ugly monster dog shouldnt be allowed to be in public' and even other dog owners bringing their own dogs over and assuming that my dog wants to play with theirs - all things that promptly mean I have to leash my dog.

I wouldn't dream of taking my dog over to where a family were having a picnic, a group of being playing football, or walking near people having a jog, but it seems perfectly fine for others to come into a dog and it's owners space then complain when something happens. We're actually moving soon and it's one of the main things we've looked at because our dogs are a massive part of our family.

GraysAnalogy · 27/12/2014 12:55

Dogs are not as important as people and their needs come way down the list

Sunna it's quite evident you don't like dogs and you don't want them in your general vicinity. There's not much point speaking with you about them is there?

And I didn't say fuck all about having to tolerate walking through dog shit or the examples you chose.

GraysAnalogy · 27/12/2014 12:56

Sorry my post looks like I've had too much to drink, not sure what happened there

SirChenjin · 27/12/2014 12:58

That's across my area (central belt of Scotland) - I don't imagine we are so different from the rest of the UK.

Of course there are considerate dog owners, I fully recognise that, and we've come across them as well (they demonstrate that it is fully possible to have a well trained dog that comes to heel immediately or which simply doesn't bother anyone) - but there are far too many instances of inconsiderate dog owners for me not to be fully supportive of segregated dog areas.

I'm afraid if you take an dog (unleashed or otherwise) to an area where there are people then people will trump your dog every time.

Redhead11 · 27/12/2014 12:58

Does anyone actually know if this dog was 'untrained'? It was off the lead and the ball, to all intents and purposes, appeared to be there on its own. I'm absolutely certain the dog did not mean to pop the ball and it isn't as if it ran up and started jumping up on the toddler, who was being carried.

As a dog owner, I hate the lazy people who do not pick up the poop. It is hardly difficult to do, but there are still owners who do not do it. Please do not tar every dog owner with the same brush. We are not all thoughtless, as some posters are implying just as not all parents are lazy and let their kids run riot Please do not vilify everyone because you are wary of dogs and don't think any dog should ever be allowed out in public.

NoImSpartacus · 27/12/2014 12:59

Great idea redhead

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