Dog off-lead in deserted play area- is this woman U?

[TridentTested]

A friend of mine has a rescue dog with terrible recall.

Our local park has a fenced-off children's play area.

On weekend mornings when the play area is empty, my friend lets her dog off-lead in the play area.

She says she's not U because there's no-one there; she always puts the dog on the lead and takes her off if a child comes to play in the play area; she picks up poo; and doesn't let her dog climb on the equipment. She says having a dog running around in there is no worse than the rats, foxes, mice, cats etc. that roam the park at night.

So, do you think she's being U?

TheDailyMail Our local park has not one but three resident grumpy cats.

One sits on top of the slide in the children's play area and moves for absolutely no fucker. It's funny to see this cat dozing away at the top of the slide in the sun with a queue of about 260 children waiting patiently to have a go. Everyone, parents and children, are too scared to ask it to move!

Another one just hangs around at the bottom of trees waiting for squirrels but will take a good swipe at any passing dog or child.

The other one is awful and just kind of roams with impunity taking a swipe and hissing at anyone and everyone. It fears nothing and saunters along like it owns the place. If my dog sees it, she'll leg it in the other direction.

Penggwyn Good point

There is a park all around it where she takes the dog. I don’t understand why she needs to take it in the fenced off bit.

I also think your friend should have considered what facilities were available to her before getting a dog.

If it has such poor recall I doubt she literally gets it back on the lead the instant a child appears who is hoping to play. I think it is dreadful that this person thinks this is ok. This space is for children, not dogs.

She’s BU - how on earth does she check her dog is empty?! Mine are always capable of a sneaky watery fart late into a walk that’s impossible to pick up. There are so many other options available rather than using a kids play park as her personal space.

She's being very unreasonable. Tell her about the bacteria in dog faeces and how children crawl and play in sandpits. Its just one area fenced off for kids, dogs have the whole park. Its her responsibility to teache recall, same as its parents responsibility to look after their young children and not let them stress out strange dogs. Thats why there is 2 separate areas.

Your friend is being unreasonable because she doesn't think the rules apply to her. Posters have already explained the many reasons why dogs aren't allowed in children's playgrounds but they really shouldn't have to. Your friend can either look up why it says no dogs or not bother either way she should go somewhere that is suitable and not in a playground 'just because she can'.

Your friend is being unreasonable.

The area is fenced off for the safety of the children and not so that she can let a poorly-trained dog off the lead.

This thread will probably go the way of all dog threads on MN
She is being unreasonable.
Its a non dog area.
No need for qualification or 'what about'

I have three dogs. Two rescues, both with crap recall.
They go on a long line or in a dog area.
Not any handy fenced in place as long as its empty.

I wouldn’t do it with my dogs, it’s just adding fuel to the already growing anti-dog lobby and to be honest in this case they have a point.

Tell your friend to buy an acme whistle off ebay and this book. With a bit of time, patience and hard work she can train her dog to have a decent recall. In the meantime tell her to look up the fb page Dog Walking Fields or their website here to find secure dog walking fields that can be hired for exclusive use.

I have a sighthound that has a reliable recall 99.9% of the time, but will bolt in fear if approached by another off-lead dog. I wouldn’t use a children’s play area as an alternative place to exercise him, he’s my responsibility and it is therefore my job to find a way to meet his exercise needs.

I am another one who wishes there were more designated on-lead dog-walking areas, but then again, when we use those that we have found we usually find at least one other dog owner every time that is flauting the rules and lets their dog run up to ours. It only takes one bad owner to give some people a bad impression of dog owners in general, we all need to be ambassadors and advocates for our dogs and that means working within the rules so that everyone (well almost everyone) is happy.

I've had dogs and I love them, but I wouldn't do this. As pps have said, even if you pick up, there is likely to be residue, and very small children who fall or crawl could easily get it on their hands.

I think she's being very U and cheeky. Seeing a dog in the play area might put children off going in, even if she puts it back on the lead. It's supposed to be a safe space for kids to play! Also the risk of worms and diseases from dog poo- there will still be microscopic traces on the ground, which toddlers and crawling babies could put their hands/faces in.

And what if other dog owners start copying her?

I'm sure it won't be long before somebody sees her and shouts at her. I would! It's never ok to exercise your dog in a space designed for children. Hopefully someone will take photos of her and shame her on social media.

My issue is that I have a child who is very nervous around animals, dogs in particular. She is autistic, it is difficult to get her completely comfortable but she is learning to ignore dogs, still her instinct is to run away from them. I don't inflict dd on dogs or vice versa unless I am controlling the interaction as much as possible. Obviously we have to expect dogs bouncing around on country walks etc. But it is helpful for dd to know there are places where dogs won't be. So if I see a dog running around in the play area I will not go in. Dd will likely refuse to go in. If someone is happy to disregard the rules about no dogs in a fenced off Childrens playground, how am I going to know that she will recall the dog and leave when I enter?

If the dog is not trained then they need to stay on a lead. There must be behaviour training available for traumatised or disobedient dogs, that is the answer, not expecting to use children's play areas because, reasons. So it is not reasonable.

Not OK. Children can scoot or run up very quickly and if the dog has poor recall, that could be a dangerous situation. No dogs allowed means parents might feel safe letting their children play in the grass without worrying so much about streaks of poo everywhere.

As another poster said, the sight of the dog in the playground might make parents decide not to come in.

Great idea, she is not being unreasonable at all and sounds very conscientious.

All this talk of remnant faeces, good grief, you get worse on any pavement, parkland, woodland or garden in the world.

I agree with others that it sets a precedent which will lead to unscrupulous owners letting their dogs in and leaving their poo. Both the children's play areas near me are full of dog shit which is hard to see among woodchips, DD has got it on her clothes and shoes a few times, which I've had to bin. It's annoying, the whole rest of the park is free for dogs and it only takes one bad owner to ruin the children's area for everyone. Surely one can practice recall with a long line lead, the ones you drop on the floor, it doesn't need to be done in a fenced area that is specifically for children, it's selfish and lazy. I don't take DD into the children's bit anymore because of the poo, so I have to helicopter as she runs around on the grass with the dogs that are off lead.

She is being unreasonable I'm afraid. I always have at least 1 rescue in training, usually more, she needs a long leash, time and patience - plus some really good treats! I would also recommend a dog whistle, always treat for a dog whistle recall and they soon learn!

She can't just use a space that is intended to be specifically dog free

I'd agree she's being unreasonable, no dogs means no dogs and if that is flouted then it may as wellbe unfenced and open to all. I suspect play areas are dog free for safety reasons from dog attacks rather than hygiene reasons, and it would just take one owner with a dog with a bad recall for it to chase and potentially nip a child and the damage would be awful, for the child, witnesses, the dog and other dog owners.

I am a dog owner, and if mine had poor recall then I'd be looking at training classes or using extending leads rather than invading a space I couldn't be.

I've done similar for recall training but not in a play area where babies are likely to crawl around. I've taken mine to an empty public basketball court, which is never, ever used by children as there's a play park nearby.

However, I've always made sure my dogs are "empty" first. They only poo twice a day, never have "watery farts" as someone above said and are trained to wee either on command or will wee when on lead up trees etc, so I am absolutely certain they won't defacate there.

If there was a risk of poo, I wouldn't do it. There are also no signs on the court forbidding dogs. It's a great place for recall/obedience training as I have a breed that will run in a straight line for miles if they are distracted while off lead

If I were approaching a play area and with a toddler, I'd think, "if she's the kind of person who thinks it's okay to exercise her dog in a prohibited area, she's probably the kind of person who wouldn't remove the dog when asked". And I'd probably take a detour.

YY, my dc wouldn't get close enough to the playground for you to even know we had wanted to go in. This is a direct result of previous dog owners not controlling their dogs in public at my dc's expense.
YY, dog shit creates infections in humans that means humans loose eyes, legs, wherever the infection can get in.
Other animals, wild or pets, are not lead into the park by humans.
I fancy getting a panther rather than a lion, just a big version of my harmless cat, to take for walks and take in the school playground like other parents do with dogs, I mean there isn't even a no cats sign like there is a no dogs sign Wiped the smile of the indulgent staffy owner in the school playground when I asked her why the rules didn't apply to her.
Big no to wasting the the public money we have to dog parks, complete waste of time in my experience. The irresponsible dog owners, the ones these parks are really for TBH, refuse to use them and prefer to use the playground IME. Holmewood gardens in Brixton has a square that you would think has the perfect set up, split in two, one half a playground/grass area, one half a dog park. Multiple massive signs explaining this on entry to the playground. I did check the family understood, they explained to me that they fully understood, but decided they didn't want to follow the rules and prefered the playground for their dog. It is very close to many non segregated public green spaces.

No dogs means no dogs. If one person starts ignoring that (even if they do try to be good about it) then others will think it's okay for them.

And those others may not be so responsible.

I think she's been unreasonable - seeing a dog off the lead in there could well put people off using it. The bottom line is that whether or not anyone is there, it is a space for children to play in, not one for dogs that have recall issues.

Really U and disgusting; she’s contaminating a children’s playground. No dogs means no dogs!