to report these dogs?

[lunar1]

I walk my children to school and back every day. Due to a road with no footpath on one side and a canal on the other there is only one way to go, the only alternative is about a 4 mile detour.

Part of the path we walk down is about 1.5m wide with fences at one side to the house and railings to the other where the stream that runs off the canal is. I'm just giving the detail to highlight that there is no way to move further away from these dogs without swimming to school!

One of the houses on the corner/start of the path have removed their wooden 8ft fencing and replaced with iron railings. They have two huge dogs, and every time they see anyone they continuously bark and growl. They always seem to be in the garden with no owner in sight.

My children love dogs, but these two are starting to terrify them. My youngest is 4 and is asking not to go to school and crying. I reassure them that the dogs are fine and can't get out, but honestly they scare me too!

Would I be unreasonable to report them? And who too? They are going to have to either keep there dogs in or put the panels back up so they can't see the path.

The issue with the wording of the law is that a dog, sitting quietly on a lead, could make someone afraid it was going to attack them - if they were particularly afraid of dogs - purely by its presence. This situation is not actually dissimilar to that - there is very limited risk of an incident because the dogs are secured. While they are secured, any fear induced by them is fairly irrelevant - less like being afraid of a fake gun used to aid a robbery, more like being afraid of a real gun locked in a cabinet in a museum...

Interestingly, dog wardens generally aren't able to do much about this sort of thing - people with horses often report dogs who behave like this, because it frightens their horse (which in itself is tough titties, but the rider's fear of death tends to factor heavily!).

FTR though, legal or otherwise, I wouldn't allow my dogs to behave like that - they'd be called in the moment there was any nonsense.

It may sound ridiculous to some people, but fear can be a strong thing. My ds couldn't walk near a tiny dog on lead until he was like 7. When he was about 4, he would have run across the road if he even saw the dog in somebody's gated garden. I know those dogs aren't loose, but I can still understand somebody can be scared. I'm sure it 's not only OP who are intimidated by those dogs. 4 years old cannot judge if the dogs are secure or not.

Irvine I don't think anyone is arguing that the OP's 4 y old is unreasonable for feeling frightened, merely that it's somewhat unreasonable to report these dogs when they are securely contained, fear or no fear. I have a pretty severe spider phobia, but the world is full of them. As long as people aren't throwing them at me, I have to get on with it.

I don't really understand what report meant, so I may have misunderstood.
In that case, I'm sorry. I was thinking more of OP talking to somebody so that dogs can be somewhere else during school drop off/pick up times.
By the way I am a dog lover myself, used to have very gentle Rottweiler before ds was born, and was very aware that some people can be really scared of him.

I repeat the dog is in a secure garden therefore under control. You are not at risk from them and nobody thinking logically would perceive a threat. Therefore the law does not apply. Putting a solid fence up might help but it also could make it worse. The dogs are not threatening you they are protecting their home. It's what dogs do.

Icy, if you look at the link I posted earlier on the thread I'm not sure that you can clearly state 'the law does not apply'. Here is the link again www.gov.uk/control-dog-public/overview
It states clearly "Your dog is considered dangerously out of control if it injures someone" or "makes someone worried that it might injure them"

I'm no lawyer but surely this would count!

Tealady, any dog can make someone worried...someone could be worried about my dog sitting beside my on a lead barking of they are scared of dogs. Someone might not like the breed of my dog and feel worried, does not mean they can report it for not doing anything wrong. Or I suppose they could but honestly it would be laughed at. These dogs can't physically get to the OP and are no threat so no action could be taken bar maybe telling the owner to shut them up.

If the dogs were running at people without a fence, then yes they could in theory injure a person but as it stands it is physically impossible as there is a fence in the way!

It's just ridiculously worded. By that logic I could report a dog on a leash at the other end of the park if I didn't like the look of it

That's true Greyhorses but lunar1 said the dogs were behind railings. What if a child who is not scared puts their hand through the railings? I am not saying the dogs need to be removed but I do think the owner should be persuaded to train them or keep them away from a public footpath. It can't be very pleasant for their neighbours having them barking and growling every time someone passes.

It is hard to judge without seeing the dogs in question but lunar has stated clearly that her children love dogs and it would be a shame for them to be made fearful by the dogs behaviour. I think it is more important that the dogs are trained to behave better than that the children are trained to think this kind of dog behaviour is not scary! Lunar has tried to reassure them but it is instinctive to be scared when something large and scary is appearing to want to attack you!

My dogs sometimes bark when they hear things on the street outside our house. I know they are not aggressive and they are barking with excitement but I still discourage this behaviour and would bring them inside if it continued.

Railings aren't secure if a child gets too close. It's not right for the public or the stressed out dogs barking at everyone going past. Strange the owners are allowing it to continue. I'd report it to the council - it's a public footpath and you don't feel safe on it.

i do not know anything about dogs, but wd it be worth it to invest in some kind if dog food and make friends with them ?