Dogs on the school run

[Sunshineshinning]

Our school run is along quiet residential roads and footpaths. There are quite a number of dogs - most of which are on leads - particularly around the outside of a largeish park.

There are a couple, however, who are left to run free. They are all ‘nice’ dogs (eg Labrador, beagle types) and stay relatively close to their owners. However they do sniff around which scares my children.

So - would I be unreasonable to ask them to keep their dogs on a lead or do they have the (moral) right to keep them off lead?

Am particularly interested to hear from dog owners (esp those who do keep off lead - and think their right to have off lead trumps my right to not have a dog sniffing around).

@LittleGreySheep try a basket muzzle 👌 because yes you are still responsible.

I very loudly tell other dog owners to get their dog away from mine if theirs is a puppy. She's only a medium 10kg dog but she does not like puppies one bit.

"He's only playing, don't worry"
"It's not my dog I'm worried about, love. Get it away, now!"

She only puts then in their place (as puppies are all about the face space). But I can't be dealing with idiot dog owners who then freak out "you dog tried to bite my puppy!" No dear. My dog told your dog off.

If she wanted to bite it she would've taken a good nip out of it's front leg!

Angryburd - my children are definitely inconvenienced as they are scared. I’m inconvenienced as I have to deal with that. You may think it unreasonable that a dog sniffing inconveniences us - but it definitely does.

Agree with those who say I need to work with my kids so they are not scared - which I am doing but that’s not a quick process and won’t help me this afternoon / tomorrow morning etc.

I own two labs and I lead them both on streets. I try and avoid the school run because there are many dogs here that are walked off lead on the school run and one of my dogs since being attacked is nervous about strange dogs approaching her. School run is bad for it. Also school pick ups where the dogs line up on the narrow pavement outside the school with their owners waiting to meet children.

I also lead them because they both adore children and will happily say hello to every child and I appreciate not every child wants a lab saying hello.

She only puts then in their place (as puppies are all about the face space). But I can't be dealing with idiot dog owners who then freak out "you dog tried to bite my puppy!" No dear. My dog told your dog off.

This! We have a 7 year old spaniel who enjoys a little sniff hello when she meets other dogs but will not tolerate puppies bounding at her and pawing her head. I can't believe the indignation of owners who say "she nearly took his face off". No, mate, she told him in dog language to piss off out of her face, which is fair enough because he'd jumped on her head 3 times before you tried to remove him.

I let our dog off lead when it's safe to do so; her recall is flawless, she obeys my commands immediately and aside from the occasional grump when puppies bother her, she's never been a snappy dog. I also choose never to let her off lead when we're on the school run simply because you never know what impulsive thing small children might do next and despite the fact that I trust her with our DC, I have a duty to ensure she's never in a position to be able to break that trust with anyone else's DC.

It's more common sense than anything else; if your dog is off lead make sure it's obedience is great. If it's near a school stick it back on it's lead. If it's a puppy that likes to bother other dogs, pop it's lead on when they're approaching til it realises it needs to cool it's jets with new dogs.

@Idontbelieveinthemoon ours is a SpringerX, they cant stand puppy space invaders as a breed, but other owners are fucking idiots as a whole.

I'm struggling to understand the issue, a couple of dogs are "sniffing around" well dogs on leads do that too! Sniffing is an important part of being a dog. Are they sniffing your children? Is that the problem?

Romeobunny im glad you said that. My two, other wise friendly dogs, hate puppies too. Or very excited dogs.

Dogs off leads is a big bugbear of mine, and I have two dogs. Unless your dog consistently recalls to you then it should be on a lead. And not just when they fancy it or once they've finished bouncing all over someone, when you call them.

For a dog to he considered out of control it only has to cause someone to feel concerned so whether they're friendly or not isn't really the point.

stay relatively close to their owners. However they do sniff around which scares my children.

The point was really the dogs were doing nothing really wrong - just the mere fact that they were off lead

I don't particularly like children, WIBU to ask parents to hold onto their children around me, and not let them run around?

You can't tell them off if they aren't doing anything wrong
Yes some dogs do run up and jump on people, or get in the way of cyclist etc - then you are well within your right to say something. In this case, you've said yourself they aren't doing anything wrong!

UABU

So are the dogs just sniffing around minding their own business or do they actually approach your children, if the former then I really don't think you have a case other than walk around the dogs

WIBU to ask parents to hold onto their children around me, and not let them run around

Well no, not really if they were being really irritating and getting into your personal space. But kids don't generally run up to strangers and sniff them, lick them, or bite them!

I know of a few people in my running group who have been directly injured by dogs either by being bitten or one fell off his bike. I don't know anyone who has been injured by a child running around.

I have two large dogs who are on lead and under control. I can’t help if people are scared of the look of them much but I wouldn’t ever let them off lead around children-too much risk of my dogs being pestered!

I would walk them to school but not on the grounds and not off lead.

Dog owner
I think there's more than one argument to be had. No I don't think people should have off lead dogs on a school run at the school gates. They may be a perfectly well behaved dog, but one curious kid poking it in the eye will soon change that and if it's not on a lead, well, you know what could happen.

Then there are the kids who are scared - no they shouldn't have to go to school where something they're scared of is, but, at the same time it actually really pisses me off the amount of small children and teens I pass who are so shit-scared of dogs they would rather risk injuring themselves to get away. Maybe it's just my area but I've seen three separate children run into roads to avoid my pup - he's a shih tzu cross, always on a very short lead when anyone else is on the pavement, and doesn't bark at people. I purposely try to walk him on the road side of the pavement now so if anything, someone squishes against a wall rather than step into the road to avoid him. I've seen small kids squealing and clinging to their mums (sounds so overdramatic!) and they do nothing to reassure the child.

Op please don't be one of those mums. I know it's a school run and it's pressured, but could you explain to your kids that you see these dogs everyday and they have been fine, so maybe they don't need to be so afraid? Maybe mention it before you leave home?

I also don't get school run dog walkers anyway tbf. I don't walk mine to take dd to school because I know there are so many kids around and besides anything else I don't want him getting stepped on. Yeah it would be nice for him to have had his walk but I have just enough time to walk him separately before work so do that instead. Same with afterschool.

The problem is you can't say it's ok for "good" dogs, or everyone will think they have a "good" dog. You need to have dogs on leads, no dogs immediately outside the school gates, or nothing in place at all.

Nesssie you could ask me (though you wouldn't have had to), I hate small children running about on pavements with oblivious parents milling along.

I don't understand why some dog owners think it is ok to allow a dog to approach a child.

And I don't understand why some parents think it is ok for their child/children to approach a strange dog without permission. My dog is a rescue and, before she was picked up by the dog warden as a stray in inner London, she had clearly been very cruelly treated by children. She will always be nervous and defend herself (and me) if she thinks a child is about to hurt either of us. She also tries to seize and "kill" passing footballs (not to play with them) so I assume these were kicked at her as a weapon by the lovely local children in her past. Fortunately, there are a fair few sensible parents who have taught their children to ask first before approaching a dog, which makes up for the less sensible ones who haven't.

Dog owner.
I would not be at all offended if your child was frightened of dogs and you asked me to put mine on a lead. I wouldn't want anyone to feel fear because of him. But as I own a Staff I always keep him on a lead in residential areas NOT because he's a bad dog, but because people perceive him to be because of his breed and I get a lot of judgement and abuse about him.
What I object to is the classification of some dogs being "nice" and others not purely because of breed. The two main breeds of dog that go for mine on walks are Jack Russell and Labradors. There's no such thing as a bad breed, but there is bad breeding and bad owners.
Anyway, I'd suggest speaking to the school to ask parents and the community to keep dogs in leads near school and maybe ask the council for extra dog mess bins in the area so the dirty buggers who don't clean up have no excuse not to.

My kids always ask before approaching a dog and understand that sometimes it's a no as some dogs don't like to be stroked

Yet my daughter still got bitten by a chiuauah or however the feck you spell it even after the owner had stated that my daughter was ok to pet her after asking
Then lead to a fear or dogs.
So We then got a 6 month old rescue pup and shes fine

I digress. . . I never ever let my dog off and never ever would in a built up area. Partly because it's thick and likely wouldn't come back but also because I woukdnt put a child in the situation that may end in them fearing dogs or worse getting bitten

Our school has a no dogs within 10m of gates request and none on the site at all.

Obviously they have not rights of the public footpaths, but the layout of the school is such that the School have asked that the dogs stay on the opposite side of the road from the gates with teacher and parent volunteers doing crossing patrols. It works well as the immediate area around the gates stays dog free and if you have a frightened child you just stay on that side of the road as you walk to school.

But it only works as the school were very measured in their asking and made it clear it was not something they could ever enforce, they simply wanted to make the start and end of school as calm and friendly as possible.

Do these dogs belong to parents from school or just random people?

Sorry just saw its parents from school. Personally as long the dog isn't being nasty or aggressive and isn't in danger of running in the road etc I don't think you can ask people to keep them on the lead. You could ask the owner to call their dog back though as it approaches you.

If these dogs are on school premises or just outside then you have every right to ask for them to be on lead, however if as your post suggests they are on footpaths then i really don't think you have a leg to stand on? However you are completely within your rights to ask the owners to keep there dogs away from your children, dogs should be under control at all times, which doesn't necessarily mean on lead (unless there are on lead only sign) but should not be coming up to you or your children without invitation.

itstimeforanamechange - But kids don't generally run up to strangers and sniff them, lick them, or bite them!

But the dogs in this situation haven't done any of those things.. They are simply in an area where the op is walking her children.

GreatDuckCookery
You could ask the owner to call their dog back though as it approaches you

You could but the issue with that, if there is even enough room between them and you to have time to say that, is the twatty dog owners who then say "oh they're alright, they're friendly". Which isn't what you've asked at all.

I do think kids should be wary of unknown dogs, I am myself, but scared? Not at all. Be wary, not fearful, they're two different things and one is healthy, one not so much.