To have confronted this Oman whenever her dog licked my daughter’s face?

[Goldenboots11]

Context is daughter is 2 and quite frightened of dogs.

We were at the park today and it was full of children as schools are off here (N Ireland) and it’s still half term.

I was walking to the entrance of the park with my 2 & 4 year olds.

Party of 3 came walking past with their 3 dogs. One of the dogs came over to us and straight away licked my daughter’s face from chin to forehead. I wasn’t worried about the dog biting, it didn’t look cross iykwim, but my daughter was really upset. The dog was the same height as her, so I can see why she was scared.

The owners of the dog stopped and laughed and them walked on. They didn’t seem even remotely embarrassed.

I stood for a moment and thought, hang on that’s not really on.

I went after the owner in question and told her it’s not really ok for a dog to go around licking children on the face. It’s unhygenic and if she couldn’t control her dog it should be on a lead.

The women (age 50/60 ish) made a oooooohhhhhh sound and looked at me as if IWBVVVU

So is it ok for dogs to lick children on the face? I genuinely think it’s gross. My mum who was with me said I should have just let it go.

I was not rude or aggressive in any way but I just wanted the woman to know.

AIBU?

Not unreasonable at all. I don't let my dogs lick me let alone my son and random strangers. Not acceptable at all. Nor is them running up to other people, especially children.

old enough to know better

Yes, because age 18 is technically an adult (a woman) but might not have the sensibilities or experience of someone older. Gee, there are 14 yr olds who could pass for 18 - such an immature response from the dog owner would be more fitting to someone younger.

Try telling this to dog owners where I live. I have spaniels and enjoy walking them through a local woods which is very atmospheric. The problem is that nearly all dog owners have their dogs off lead and some have as many as 5-6 dogs. Vast majority are disobedient and run at my dogs who are pretty tolerant but having five dogs sniff round your rear end does tend to make them a bit jumpy.

One owner asked why I kept them on a lead, well because small children are around, buggies etc and I want to avoid dog fights. Her reasoning was "I let them get on with it". Right, great idea.

You did right to challenge op, but I knew straight away the response you would get. A few months ago I asked someone to put their dog on a lead which was running riot, growling and snarling at my dogs and others. She went ballistic, swearing and gesticulating at me.

Whilst I think dogs should be able to exercise off lead, I think there are areas that need to be marked as dogs on leads only. This is for everyone's safety, children, other dogs, owners etc. Sadly there are a lot of irresponsible dog owners.

In fact on our local common there was a serious assault in a dispute involving off lead dogs and a dog was shot dead the year before. I think the same is brewing in the area where I have been walking so another place to avoid.

RavelLG - I think you made the comparison yourself with the word 'willingly' in your comment. Regardless of who is licking who and licking what - the OPs little girl did not want to be licked by the dog.

greyponcho if the dog owners had been extremely young then yes, mentioning their ages could have been appropriate, because that would have "put it in context" about the immaturity of the dog owner being part of the problem. But these were not very young dog owners, and the expectation is that once you are slightly more mature you behave appropriately. So their age is really immaterial, they behaved inappropriately and allowed the dog to behave badly. That should have been enough information to put the story in context.

It happens a lot in MN, where older women are identified by their age as though this also gives them a defining label that says "unreasonable, grumpy,selfish,unhelpful,entitled,old fashioned," it leads to the acceptance of sweeping statements and assumptions about older women which are the same precepts which are responsible for racism and sexism, when you start to see people as belonging to a group rather than individuals .

sorry, I will get off my soapbox now!

One owner asked why I kept them on a lead, well because small children are around, buggies etc and I want to avoid dog fights.
You're actually more likely to end up with a dog fight if one dog is on a lead (and not the others) because they have nowhere to escape to and are therefore more likely to become aggressive as a defence mechanism. (But I keep mine on a lead round children because I don't want to risk her jumping up or kids running at her without me being able to intervene)

Dogs lick their arses, they should not lick peoples faces, disgusting.

Lots of people don't wash their hands after wiping their arses on the loo and touch other people later.

It's not just dogs that are disgusting.

This thread is getting ridiculous especially the disgusting comment from a poster above.

MrsJayy - you mean you don’t go wiping your poo-ey hands on the faces of unknown toddlers like ‘the rest of us’ do...?

to Chardonnay

Dogs should indeed be on leads in public places. Why assume that everyone else is going to love your dog and the things it does?

I would have had words with this lady. Disgraceful behaviour.

The issue is not about whether the licking would infect the child; it is about common courtesy. It is about having the imagination to realise how frightening it is for the child to have an animal the same size as her looming over her and invading her space - I would be terrified under similar circumstances.

It is also about being aware that not everyone likes dogs and that the whole population, going about their reasonable business, is not obliged to tolerate being licked, jumped up on and getting covered in mud, having their private parts sniffed etc. etc. Dog owners love their dogs - that is fine. But it is their private business and they have no right to inflict them on others. It is just plain rude.

greyponcho Not on a regular basis no I can't get past dog saliva is healing either

Dog licences should never have been abolished.

Why the face Poncho?

If you think it's not happening, you are mistaken. Yes, dogs are dirty beasts, but humans aren't much better.

Ermm, I can't speak for everyone but I definitely don't lick my wounds.

I bet the entitled dog owners would soon complain if a random child went over and jumped on them knocking them over, or licked their face.

Jesus Christ Dunk your post is obscene!!! I have no recollection of ever licking a wound. I also don’t think many parents will make a habit of kissing their children straight after oral. You are just being goady af I presume.

Mouths of any species are teeming with microorganisms.

The variety of these varies from species to species and as dogs lick their bums and their penises and sniff other random poo and whatever else they can find, their oral flora is different from humans'.

Somewhere along the way the fact that *human mouths are no cleaner than dogs' mouths' has morphed to 'dogs' mouths are cleaner than human mouths' which is total rubbish.

While I may well yell 'ouch' and stick the finger I've just got a paper cut on in my mouth, I would not recommend licking wounds as a valid way to clean them or to encourage healing

The comment above re:dog licences is ridiculous. Barely anyone had one, it was a form you got from the post office and it cost about 50p. Not really a deterrent and it did nothing to control dogs that lick toddlers.

I'm a dog owner. I wouldn't let my dog go lick a child but some of these posts are OTT. Dogs are not human, you cannot compare animal and human behaviours. You wouldn't let an adult lick a small child's face in the park in the same way you wouldn't expect a human to crap outside and sniff lampposts.

My dog is on a lead in public as his recall is shocking as soon as he sees another dog to play with. The lead is short and it means that he has positive interactions with the other people and dogs he meets. If he did slobber on someone I would apologise and offer them a wet wipe from my bag. Not much else I can do. I can assure you that the dog warden and police would have zero interest in this absolute non-event.

Well - it is not a non-event. A small child has been terrified, and understandably so.

Would it seem acceptable if the child had been terrified by some other means? - e.g. a stranger walking up and shouting at her or slapping her.

Why is one a non-event and the other unacceptable?

Could it be because some (I emphasise that word) dog owners lose all sense of proportion or propriety when it comes to their dogs? They are so besotted with them that they lose the ability to put themselves in another's shoes or to maintain decent good manners.

To thee person who said that a dog on the lead is more likely to be attacked.....I am sure you are right. But that adds further weight to the argument for ALL dogs to be on the lead in public places.

My OH has PD, and, whilst walking slowly in a wood, a dog arrived on one of those very long leads, and proceeded to wind itself round my OH's legs. Owners thought it was quite a joke. Not a joke - my OH is seriously unwell and if he had fallen he would not have been able to get up - and if he had broken anything it could have ended his life - he is not fit for any sort of surgery.

Get these blessed dogs under control.

www.edp24.co.uk/news/crime/80-year-old-woman-jailed-for-holding-jack-russell-up-to-five-year-old-girl-s-face-who-was-then-attacked-1-5263648