Who was unreasonable?

[FiddleWiddiRiddim]

Man and his son were in the park driving around two remote-control cars. A big dog was in the park off-lead, which is allowed at that time in the morning.

As they cross paths one remote-control car goes near the dog. Dog owner calls the dog over and tells the man and the son that the dog will pick up the car, run off and chew it if it comes too near him.

Man says "okay" and they move on.

Later, they cross paths again on a narrow path.

The dog owner calls her dog close as the man and his son get closer. The man/son keep their remote-control cars going as they pass so the car comes close to the dog.

The dog goes nuts, picks up the car and runs with it.

The dog owner calmly walks after her dog. The man starts yelling at the dog owner to get the car back. The son goes chasing the dog, which the dog completely loves and which gets the dog really excited meaning it runs further and throws the car around like a ragdoll.

After several minutes, the owner catches up with the dog. The toy car is very clearly knackered. The owner puts him on the lead and goes to leave the park. The man insists the dog owner needs to pay for a new car as the damage is her fault. The dog owner says she warned him about the car coming too close to her dog so he should've picked it up until they'd walked past the dog. Therefore, the damage is his fault and she won't be paying.

So, who's in the right? And WWYD?

[pollymere]

Dog picking up something and destroying it rings alarm bells. Small child!? The owners of the car were foolish to drive them so close to the dog after being warned. However, I would hope a dog owner who knew this might happen would've put the dog back on the lead to go past them.

[FiddleWiddiRiddim]

Saw remote-control car man this morning but without his son and without his toy car. Normally, he'd say "hello" to me but today he just gave me a filthy look and ignored me.

[ravenmum]

I had no idea how to act around dogs until I got one myself. If one had grabbed my property, I'd have tried to get it back, like this boy. Seems quite unfair to expect him to just let the dog break his toy.

[Schmoochypoos]

The dog owner needs to pay for the damage to the car. End of.

Dog owners amaze me sometimes! We were crabbing on the beach once and a dog came running into our group of children and two adults sniffing at the bucket of crabs and the bait. The owner made some lame attempt at calling him back, I took him by the collar and led him away, he came straight back, snatched at the bait and the hook we were crabbing with and ran off, snapping our line in the process. Woman now running over shouting at her dog, I said your dog has just eaten our bait and line. She didn’t once apologise just started shouting at me worried about whether we had a hook on the line and would her dear dog be in danger!

[PuppyMonkey]

He's probably been following the thread OP.

[FiddleWiddiRiddim]

PuppyMonkey Haha, true.

[Jux]

FontSnob, don’t you think that if the dog had been on a lead it wouldn’t have been able to run off and worry the toy for so long? Owner would have just taken toy from dog immediately (one hopes) and returned it - maybe with a few teeth marks but not seriously damaged. Then who is responsible becomes a little more cloudy, but there’d still be no doubt about who actually damaged the toy.

[YoloSwaggins]

Dog owners can be so arrogant and entitled, thinking everyone has to bend over backwards and love their animal just as much as they do. Newflash: some of us just want to enjoy a public space without some drooling smelly dog climbing all over us.

"Sorry he's just excited" - doesn't undo the rips in my tights, does it?

[YoloSwaggins]

I'd be angry too if someone destroyed my property and the witnesses refused to do anything

[NataliaOsipova]

Parents (dog owning or not) have a responsibility to teach children that to run up to /after an unknown dog is dangerous and unkind

I agree with you, Kerala. But the converse should be true: dog owners (parents or not) have a responsibility to make sure their dogs do not run up to/after an unknown child.

Drives me mad. My children would never approach a dog unless explicitly invited to do so (and even then, they don't really like them). But the number of people who allow their dogs to come up to my children - and then say, in a slightly superior tone "oh, are they scared of dogs?" or "oh, he's only be friendly" drives me mad. I just say "Not scared just not liking/we don't want him to be friendly as none of us like dogs". And people cannot comprehend this somehow....

[thecatsabsentcojones]

Shame that dogs aren't machines really given the lack of understanding on this post. They are animals, sometimes they do daft things - just like kids. But most people tend to realise that toddlers can do silly things and make the according allowance for the odd blip in behaviour, not the mumsnet dog loathers though.

Had it been one of my dogs I'd have probably grabbed their collar whilst the people went past (probably muttering swears under my breath at the fact they'd ignored my warning), so the dog owner could've done a bit more. But the bloke was warned and they chose to ignore it.

[Onyourtoes]

I don’t trust anyone who doesn’t like dogs. Just saying

[messyjessy17]

I don’t trust anyone who doesn’t like dogs. Just saying

I don't trust anyone who doesn't trust anyone who doesn't like dogs. Because its such a stupid thing to judge people on.

[AlternativeTentacle]

I don’t trust anyone who doesn’t like dogs. Just saying

Liking dogs does not make you trustworthy - bit of stupid logic there. Ie dog likers can't always be trusted to use a lead where necessary.

[thecatsthecats]

Going invoke Godwin's law. Hitler was a dog lover. It's not a great arbiter of character.

[pictish]

I like dogs very much...but I'm not so fond of some of their owners.

[Eveforever]

So, if you think the dog owner is at fault you must hate dogs? By that logic, if you think the car family are at fault you must hate males or cars!? And if people disagree with you they must be mean and/or stupid? Well I love dogs (and only sometimes like males!) but I still think the dog owner is the most culpable. The dog owner knew the dog might have a problem with the cars and although she did warn the family, that doesn't absolve her of any responsibility for the damage caused. The dog can still get a walk if it's on the lead, the car family can't play with the cars if they are having to carry them. However, the car man definitely shouldn't be taking it out on the OP.

[prh47bridge]

If you think the dog owner is at fault it may, of course, be because you know the law. I don't hate dogs. I do know the law. On the facts presented the dog owner is legally at fault and is liable for the damage done to the remote control car.

[famousfour]

Hmm. On balance the dog owner is responsible. She should have put the dog on a lead or held the collar whilst the remote cars passed. Issuing a warning the dog will destroy property does not absolve her of responsibility, in circumstances where they have behaved in a reasonable fashion (e.g. Did not stalk the dog) It seems the car people could have been more sensible also and lifted their car whilst the dog passed (and been less of a tit to you). I don't think that makes her less responsible though.

[famousfour]

Thecats.

If my toddler destroyed property I would also pay for it - whether the behaviour was understandable from a young child or not.

[NataliaOsipova]

But most people tend to realise that toddlers can do silly things and make the according allowance for the odd blip in behaviour, not the mumsnet dog loathers though.

Not sure that’s true. Someone’s dog comes and licks me and I recoil. Owner pulls the dog back and apologises. It’s no problem. Same as if someone’s toddler runs into me. It happens. No big deal. A lot of the time, however, the owner marches up stating “He’s just being friendly”. I see that as the same as an entitled parent saying “he’s just having fun running around”. In both cases, what’s needed is a polite apology.

[thecatsabsentcojones]

NataliaOsipova I don't think you meet my criteria of mumsnet dog loathers with that comment, in the previous dog related post I saw there was mass hysteria about them. A polite apology is definitely the way forward.

[peanut2017]

Dog owner at fault - dogs should be on leads in a public place

[Onyourtoes]

Every open space is a public place unless you have acres and acres of your own land you so where would you sugggest excercising them peanut?
That’s equally as silly as children and adults shouldn’t have annoying toy cars in public places.

[Onyourtoes]

*equally as silly as saying