To shout at this dog-owner?

[AnotherNC]

Surely if your dog jumps up at strangers it should be on a lead?!

Walking in park, 4-month-old baby in baby-carrier (with his feet dangling in furry bootees) a Westie started jumping up at me, scrabbling at my leg and making grabs at baby's foot when he jumped! I yelled at dog to 'get down then shouted at owner to 'get your dog under control' (she responded with a cheery sorry!)

Did I overreact? I wouldn't care so much had I not had baby strapped to me. I get it that baby's bootees might look like toys but I don't want a dog tugging on them or getting mud/slobber everywhere. And I don't want dogs running round my feet particularly when ground is slippery.

Why can't people keep dogs on leads?? It's not the first time random dogs have jumped up in the park.

whois Yes, by all means a firm "no" and hold out a hand in the stop motion is a good idea. This will not stop 100% of badly trained dogs with idiot owners, and I'm sorry for that.
As a sensible dog owner I apologise to all those people terrified of dogs, or who just dislike them, who have had bad or annoying experiences. But that isn't what so many dog owners are like.
Pets can bring so much joy, one of our dogs (a huge lurcher) was even a Pets As Therapy dog who went into children's hospices to help those in end of life care. Did he not deserve to run and sniff and be free in our local park? He never bothered anyone, or jumped up or any of that. Why should he have been punished because of other morons?

Exactly Seryph. That is my point.

Waitrose

*AnthonyBlanche

My only reason is that it can't be enforced in all areas at all times. It won't happen - not in my lifetime anyway.*

You could say exactly the same about most of the laws we have, so that reason is not valid.

It's only valid to me then. Until that day comes I will continue to be a responsible and respectful dog owner In public.

I don't think that all dogs should be on leads at all times. It's the small % of bad owners who ruin it for everyone. There are quite a lot of people who aren't 'bad owners' though but haven't really rained their dog.

I love a well trained dog, they are a pleasure to see. I was out biking in the summer and there was a woman running and her dog was running too - everything someone came she gave one whistle and the dog darted to her heels and ran at her heels. It was amazing to see!

That would scare the hell out of me. These irresponsible dog owners are such a pain. One of our neighbours has dogs which I think are badly behaved and howling all the time. I feel scared of keeping kids out on the lawn when they are out on their lawn. Some people are so careless.

I have not read the full thread so sorry if this point has been made already . OP , YANBU ,dogs that jump up should be kept on leads but for those on the first page who were saying they would kick the dog I will refer you to a recent case in Kent where the RSPCA prosecuted ( successfully) a man who kicked a greyhound that had attacked his dog , his kick killed the dog ( he apparently only kicked it twice) and he got a substantial fine and costs to pay . Your kick may result in prosecution so beware !

Typical RSPCA! I'd rather have a fine for killing a dog than a child scarred for life Flora. One less aggressive dog on the planet has got to be a good thing surely?

Floral, I wish the RSPCA would send whichever branch pursued that up here. One of our neighbours is a backyard breeder. He kicks his dogs. He dumped a dead pup in a wheely bin ffs. He terrorises those creatures. Does the RSPCA care? Does it feck.

Oh my Show that is heartbreaking

Since being bitten some years ago, I've had a lot of success with pepper spray. I've actually only used it 3 times (twice on the same dog ) but if it jumps up at me, it will be sprayed.

Barbarian you do realise it is illegal to carry or use pepper spray in the UK?

Anthony it will never be law in this country!!!! There are millions of responsible dog owners. You all remember the handful of bad experiences you have had but almost certainly don't notice or recall the hundreds of not thousands of times a dog off the lead has ambled along passed you without bothering you in the slightest.

In my opinion dog owners have a responsibility to ensure that their dog is not a nuisance when out in public whether on lead or off lead. That includes picking up after them and preventing them from jumping up.
Parents equally have a responsibility to teach their kids respect to all animals including dogs. Violence towards an animal is never to be condoned. They also have a duty to teach kids not to be scared of dogs and if an incident did occur then to deal with it appropriately and not get hysterical. More often than not its the parents reaction to an incident that affects how the child remembers the incident rather than the incident itself. If you don't react in a horrified way then odds are the child will get over it quite quickly.

And finally going back to the point of dogs being on lead all the time Anthony I think that it would actually make the situation worse not better. People would just swap to those long retractable leads which are a nuisance at the best of times!

Carrying pepper spray?

I'm sure Barbarian is just being goady. I'm sure nobody that is of sound mind would consider doing that.

Oh FFS, keeping all dogs on the lead at all times? Expecting all of their exercise to take place in a garden?? Don't tarnish all dog owners with the same brush. I don't have a dog but my mum has two beautifully natured golden retrievers who would never jump up or annoy anyone and to have to keep them on the lead the whole time would be totally unfair.

iceyrider16 - spot on

icey what a bizarre idea to say that parents have a duty to teach kids not to be scared of dogs. The duty (to keep their dogs away from other people) should all be on the dog owners side.

If someone wants to go throu life having no contact at all with dogs that should be possible. The only reason it isn't is becuase of twattish dog owners.

Spot on icey

icey the legislation could very easily specify a maximum length of dog lead, so those annoying retractable leads wouldn't be allowed

YANBU I own two dogs and am very conscious that my dogs are under my control at all times.

I don't agree they should be kept on the lead at all times tho as there is nothing nicer to see than dogs romoing around having fun on a Sunday morning.

I remember being 8 months pregnant and two large dogs ran across a park and totally floored me - I struggled to get up. The owner turned the other way and walked off.

Not all dog owners are twattish though, promise!

romping

I needed 17 stitches to my arms and neck from the first time a dog attacked me. Id far rather risk a conviction for illicit pepper spray than another 17.

I'm generally well disposed to dogs by the way. Have owned my own and generally get on with other peoples. But I no longer tolerate strange dogs jumping up at me.

I'm sure they're not Waitrose but an awful lot of them are