AIBU to think you don't walk dogs in a school playground?

[LunaLoveg00d]

We live very close to the local Primary school. The gates to the school are never closed, so in the evenings, weekends and school holidays the playground is used by kids riding their bikes or playing. There are two parks within less than quarter of a mile, and a large wooded area. We are not an inner-city location with no green spaces.

So why on earth do people think it's appropriate to walk their dogs in the school playground? Most do pick up if their dog poos, but obviously you can't do that with pee. There is a sign on the gate saying people who allow their dogs to foul will be prosecuted, but I would much prefer a "take your dog elsewhere" sign - there are plenty of alternatives.

YANBU. Having had to yank up grass from a (dog friendly) park this morning to pick up the verging on diorreah from my dog, I don't know how I could have got it off a flat surface. Pretty disgusting. Most school sites are off limits except to staff in holidays.

The gates are never closed and locked, that's very surprising.

Our school gates are only vaguely locked when the children are in school. Even then not really. We all use the school grounds outwith school hours.

I'll bite - I have been known when I lived in suburbia, to use such places as a secure area to train dogs in.

In some cases there are very few places where one can practice the sort of things its vital dogs learn, such as recalling - great to practice in your own garden and use a long line on the fields but the first time you take that lead OFF properly.. better to do it somewhere secure, but big enough as well.

I've never EVER done this during school hours or on weekdays, and always took the full clean up kit (bottle of water, take that anyway for dogs to drink, poo bags, kitchen roll and freeze spray (freezes a squishy turd solid so it can be picked up).

This may not be the use intended by the owners of the property, but as long as there are not signs there expressly forbidding dogs I am doing nothing more than trespassing, if that (some school playing fields and yards are actually public and don't belong to the school!).

These days I hire a local facility (back then this wasn't an option, there was no where to hire!) and one of the indoor venues I regularly use is a school hall, the other is a community hall and playing field - so as long as clean up is done properly I really don't see the issue.

OP is looking for a fight. One of my 7 rescues has just done a poo in the kitchen. According to my other half, that is worse than outside when the owner picks it up . (he trod in it)

Fiona it's more like the daily dog haters thread.
Honestly, someone left a nappy on a memorial bench in my local park yesterday, bloody parents, bloody idiots all of them, how disrespectful.

Tortoise . Yeh they should be lined up and shot. The lot of them.

I've never heard of a school playground being secured in the summer holidays - children go there to play football etc

I agree, no dogs should be allowed anywhere near a school playground and the gates should be locked at that school. Not just for dogs but for all sorts of reasons.

This will inevitably descend into a dog hating thread with lots of hysteria surrounding murderous sausage dogs.

The school on my street has a public right of way right through the playground into the woods.

Most people are courteous and avoid using it during school hours but legally they could.

So to summarize the owners of the playground welcome everyone including dogs, the dog owners pick up their mess, you have not seen dogs making a nuisance of themselves by chasing/jumping or barking at children but you still want dogs out? How about you buy a large piece of private land and use it as you want?

Our local school sports field was left open last week for a sport event. As the caretaker was checking around a convoy of travellers turned up and made themselves at home for the week!

I think dogs are the least of your problems.

I've used the local school grounds for walking my dog...he was recovering from elbow surgery, on restricted exercise and it's at the end of my street...

Our local school sports field was left open last week for a sport event. As the caretaker was checking around a convoy of travellers turned up and made themselves at home for the week!

Luckily the gates are not wide enough for anything other than people and bikes!

We have two dogs, and personally we would not take them to a school field or playground or where children play in general. Not because, the dogs can't behave, or we don't pick up etc etc, but because a great many other people would not feel comfortable with it.

For me it's not what I can do, or am entitled to do, because there isn't a sign saying no dogs, for me it's about respecting other peoples views, and that means dogs and playgrounds do not mix.

Just my view

I'm in Scotland too and I've never seen school grounds locked outside school hours, in fact many have a public right of way going through them so people can walk through at any time, including when the children are having play breaks. Schools are considered a community resource rather than private properties. I certainly walk my dogs in school grounds regularly and pick up their poos.

Doesn't sound very safe if playground gates don't lock. What if (during the school day) a child gets out, or someone unscrupulous comes in. Safeguarding concern or what!

Also, if gates where locked and someone climbed over and injured themselves, that'd be different to the public essentially being allowed in, then someone injured themselves

IT sounds like all of your community mix in well together, which is how it should be, but you want to change that.

I can remember a similar set up, in a school local to my Mums, they stopped Adults/Older Teens (playing football) using it, so the school was robbed and vandalised, until it closed.

One of my local parks has a hard pitch, with hoops and goal posts, when it was empty, I ran my dog on it, to keep down her nails, running on grass etc doesn't do it and the streets around me are full of rubbish.

I find that when there's a mix of people, the area is generally safer and there's Adults on hand, do you get involved in your community, or just curtain twitch?

I love dogs, but schools are not the place for dogs at anytime. Large proportion of dog owners clear up after themselves but there is always the few who don't. All school grounds here are locked and there are signs saying no dogs. Parks are the more appropriate place for dogs.

Schools round here (rural South Wales) have railings and are locked up during holidays. Also most have signs saying "no dogs in the playground please". As a long time dog owner I can't fathom why anyone would take their dog onto a school playground or field even if they do pick up the poo. Find a common, woods, park etc.

Doesn't sound very safe if playground gates don't lock. What if (during the school day) a child gets out, or someone unscrupulous comes in. Safeguarding concern or what!

1. Neurotypical school children generally know that they're meant to stay in school. Children who really want don't wan to be there will either refuse to come in at all, or climb over a wall to escape. This is very rare. Those with special needs will be more closely observed or in special schools with much greater staffing levels and security. It's a bit like saying that child can't walk down their front garden path in case they escape onto the street! Most children aren't mindless bolters and stay in safe areas.

1. The school playgrounds are staffed and usually have CCTV. Other children a very good at letting staff know if there's anything to worry about in the playground. It's very rare for a child to be abducted from a busy playground. The realities don't back up the perceived dangers.

"Doesn't sound very safe if playground gates don't lock."

I'm in Scotland as well, it tends to be that there are 3-4 ft fences and gates that close but aren't locked round the entire outside with some playground/grass inside it, then lockable metal railings then buzzer entry into the building.

Older children use the less secure space during school - supervised and the rest of the community at other times, children play football, there are rights of way through it etc, but the infants playground is inside the secure boundary.

Doesn't sound very safe if playground gates don't lock. What if (during the school day) a child gets out, or someone unscrupulous comes in. Safeguarding concern or what!

Staff are in the playground with children at playtime and lunchtime, they would notice an "unscrupulous" person or a child making a bid for freedom. School doors are locked. I have no safeguarding concerns at all.

This is getting a bit tiresome