When people say their dog is fine and won't bite?

[marshamella]

Walking down the narrow road with my ds and hear a dog heavy breathing behind me. So I turn and tell the owner she can go infront. Her reply "it's ok he won't bite he's soft as anything" and stays behind us. With ds I couldn't walk fast so decided to cross the road when I didn't need to. Was this rude of her not to walk infront as she could see we were uncomfortable with a dog right behind us? I'd rather be the judge of weather or not I want the dog by us.

And here we go again.....

And IMO we are tolerant as a society of behaviour in dogs we would never allow in kids! Eg the dog who shat next to me when I was sitting with my newborn on a walk by the river. The owner was like 'aaah what can you do! (And don't worry, he doesn't bite!)' whereas if my toddler ran over to someone he didn't know and then pooed where they were sitting, I'd be in deep shit myself for his behaviour. It's a pretty effed up society we live in where dogs are more loved and tolerated than children.

so what would you like the owner to say?
owner thought you were nervous because of his heavy breathing and was trying to placate you.
this is indeed a non story
often if i am walking my dog and if people stop to let me passed we end up over taking one another, what with the stopping and sniffing and doing business.

Those saying was this worth a post then telling OP she was BU for dictating where someone should walk is a little hypocritical.

I read it as was she BU to not trust the owner when saying their dog won't bit. In which case YANBU. I would have stopped and let the lady and dog pass. Or I would have replied to her and said ok but still, will you go in front.

I think a suitable solution was found here. There was no need for the dog owner to do anything different as they weren't doing anything wrong and you were capable of crossing the road to avoid being near them.

Been a few days since we've had a dog bashing thread

You need to calm down.

My dog doesn't like people walking behind her. She will stop dead, look over her shoulder etc it seems to worry her..

So in this situation is have refused to go ahead too. We'd have got in your way and then ended up being posted about on mumsnet for using the pavement...

Monkey, if you don't see the difference then in people and animals shitting then clearly the problem is more than poo deep.

The Owner was trying to make you feel better

AtSea yes the title implies it's about saying dogs won't bite but in the actual post she asked if the dog owner was rude for not going around her.

I am laughing at the poster comparing toddlers and dogs shitting In a public place!

I think you should have stopped and let the dog walker pass you. When Dd was younger she was very dog phobic and I did get annoyed at the it's fine the dog won't bite - because it wasn't fine Dd would be going crazy with fear! Thankfully after a lot of work and getting a dog Dd is no longer dog phobic.

The most annoying thing for me is dog owners saying 'he won't bite' - he may never have bitten yet but you should never trust an animal completely, you never know what a child might do to a dog that pushes it's buttons and makes it snap.

My toddler does shit in public but I'm a good mummy and make sure I always have a bag ready to pick it up.

Don't understand why you didn't just stop for a couple of seconds, move to the side, and let her pass you, perhaps with a cheery good morning/hello.

The way you reacted is going to make your son scared of dogs.

I'm with monkey on this one.

Had a growling pug run up to us a few weeks ago, woman owner looked up from phone & shouted over the usual "ooh, it's all right, he won't hurt you/just saying hello" bloody nonsense. She got my usual reply of "he's told you that has he?" At which point she, like most owners, start mumbling about how they've had dog a long time....it would never, etc. I just look at them as they hear the crap they are spouting, and then dog goes back on lead.

Why are people so stupid?

Before I came on MN and had some bun fights on the dog hating threads I had no idea people hate when you "Sorry, dog's friendly, he won't bother you".

I used to use it because I thought it was reassuring. My intentions were never anything but to be nice. I now don't use it, but maybe that woman just doesn't realise people get offended?

Bottom line, dog did nothing wrong yet here was have another rant filled bashing thread.

my dog is scared of little children.
i had to pick her up to walk passed some childrne the other day.

and their parents never say , they are fine to me

Growling pugs are the worst. Monster dogs they are.

Why are people so horrid?

I accept that people are scared of dogs (not good to carry on that fear into your children) but really she was being nice trying to reassure, as would If you looked worried

Responsible Dog owners do know the temperament of their pets.. That should be respected.