To think that dogs should be kept on leads near a school?

[Cherryflamingo]

Today whilst going to pick DD up from school there was another mum who had a dog with her, off its lead. It was not walking to heel and was trotting along several metres ahead of her so as far as I could see, not really under her control.

I politely asked whether she could she could put it on its lead as we were approaching a primary school and the children were about to come out (I didn't know she was a fellow parent and thought perhaps she didn't realise.)

She seemed quite affronted and refused. I said that some little children are frightened of dogs and wouldn't want to encounter one off a lead, away from its owner. She was completely unsympathetic to this and replied that children need to face their fears!

She gave it all the usual she's very placid, she won't hurt anybody line, but although that may well be true it's of little comfort to a child who is frightened.

AIBU to think that when you know that small children are going to be in the vicinity, your dog should be by your side, on a lead?

No yanbu. I know several children with dog phobias that wouldn't be happy with a dog off lead

Oh and wibu to contact the school and ask them to perhaps put something in the weekly newsletter to the effect that dogs outside the school should be kept on their leads?

We were walking along the road the school is on, about a 1 min walk from the gates.

Did she collect a child too?

Yes, she tied the dog up outside and went in to collect a child. She said that it is under better control off lead than on (I don't really understand this) so presumably it was off lead on the way back amongst all the children too.

YANBU- not just because of any children who may have had bad experiences with other dogs, but also so it does not bolt out into the road and be hit by a car.

YABU to expect dog owners to care about anyone but themselves.

YANBU
'Face their fears'?

I know! I'm not sure that the right way for a frightened child to face their fears is by having a random animal run at them unexpectedly.

I'm an adult and I hate off lead dogs in the streets.

The owners always say "he /she is just being friendly" after the dog has just jumped up at me......

It's against the law to walk an unleashed dog next to a public highway so assuming they were walking on the road she was not just BU but acting illegally.
It's owners like this that give the rest of us a bad name.

I'm a dog owner...occasionally I think about people other than myself...way to generalise!

It's unreasonable to have a dog off lead in the street, drives me nuts. Dog has to be on a lead around people. He's a very docile lab but his spacial awareness is shocking and nobody needs their legs knocked from underneath them because he's seen a squirrel. We wait until we are deep in the wood or in the local deserted fields. A dog doesn't have to be aggressive to be a pain.

Although she was being unreasonable. I do get why she defended herself though. I had a parent grab a child into their arms with a gasp when Dog and I approached yesterday. I smiled in greeting and walked by but I wanted to say. "For goodness sake. Dog is walking to heel on a short lead, happily ignoring you on a wide path separated from your child by two adults, a push chair and about 10 foot of Space. Stand down!" It gets to you sometimes.

Dogs should be on lead on roads, it is the height of stupidity to not do this..

In all likelyhood, she's doig this as the dog pulls on the lead and flips out at other dogs when 'trapped' by the lead and she either doesn't know how to train it, or can't be bothered.

Unfortunately the LAW states that dogs only need to be on leads on roads that are designated as being relevant to the Road Traffic 1988 - your chances of a/ finding out whether a particular road is designated under this act and b/ actually getting anyone to police it are frankly, fucking nil! (Drives me mad!)

You could point out to her that if her dog causes an accident she is liable and if its a car accident, that could be MILLIONS.... if shes insured that might cover it but almost certainly NOT if the dog is off lead intentionally.

Widdlin - I didn't know that about designated roads, sounds archaic.

So it wasn't doing anything? Just walking a few metres ahead. Not jumping, running, barking or showing the slightest bit of interest in anything but going for a walk? YABU and a bit of a busybody imo. I agree with you about that facing their fear shit but it wasn't running at any children. You just immediately decided that it probably would.

FFS can people with dogs not even walk down the fucking street without parents getting hysterical about it being within a yard of their children? For all you know it was perfectly under control. I could do that with one of my dogs. Not the other as he is a nut job with the road sense of a brain dead hedgehog but my eldest dog could, easily. She wouldn't go in the road, go up to anyone unless they called her and would stop immediately if I told her to. She is an angel off lead and likes to meander along a few metres behind as she is getting on in years and doesn't keep up with DDog2 anymore. Ddog2 is better behaved off lead than on. If he had the brains not to run under a bus, I probably wouldn't keep him on lead.

TBH I would probably have written you off as a weirdo and ignored you. Fair enough if you HAD a child who was scared and wanted him held while they passed but there were no children. They hadn't even come out yet.

How is a dog which is several metres ahead of its owner perfectly under control? It isn't. She admitted herself that it wouldn't be under control on a lead so clearly it's either unpredictable or not trained properly.

And yes people can walk down the road with their dogs. ON LEADS.

Face their fears? What a stupid dog owner.
Dogs should be on leads near a road. I wouldn't have a dog off lead outside a school.

If she can call out to it and have it stop where it is or come straight back to her then I would consider it under control. It wasn't bothering anyone. My older dog is as under control off lead as she is on. Off lead she can keep her own pace and knows not to go near the road. This dog may have been perfectly fine off lead but have a lead pulling habit or something. My younger dog is like that. He doesn't get off lead near roads due to his dreadful road sense but I understand what she means about being better off than on. Sorry OP but you don't actually know this woman or how she trains her animals and I think you stuck your oar in where there was absolutely no need. At the end of the day the dog didn't put a paw wrong, there was no need to intervene.

I wouldn't actually take Dog near a school at drop off or pick up time. I did it once (on a lead) he was fine but I got very fed up with telling random small children not to suddenly grab him round the neck or put their face in his face while their parents chatted or stared into their phones. Dog thankfully has more patience than me.

You say it would jump up at a child but you have no evidence for this at all

I haven't said anywhere that it would jump up at a child. I don't know that it would do that. I said that a child who is frightened of dogs would not want to encounter one which isn't on a lead.