How do you defend your toddlers from dogs not on leads?

[Flatearthersphere]

I have 3 children 3 and under, we often go to the park, on walks to different places, our local reservoir with a play area, picnics etc etc..
Anywsy all these areas say dogs should be on leads but they aren't I would say about 50 percent of the time, not exaggerating but just seems the norm round here.

Anyway I am guessing most people could pick up their toddler if a dog came bounding up to them but I have 3, usually 2 in the pushchair and one walking. I thought this would be OK but I was in a situation a few days ago which scared me.

I had 2 in the pushchair, an elderly woman had a big collie which bounded up to us, on one of those extendable leads and she just let it run up to us, I shouted "please pull your dog away" and picked up my eldest but she just said "don't be silly he's being friendly" and I said "I Dont care pull it away" but she refused and it jumped up into my pushchair and scratched all my sons legs even though I was trying to push it away because I was holding a child.

This isn't the first time I've been in this situation, even me and my husband have struggled when we've been holding hands with all 3 and there was a big pit bull cross or something which knocked one of our toddlers clean off his feet.

Genuinely, how do other people deal with these situations? I feel like I can't ever take the children out on my own and like we have to keep them in the pushchair all the time even if there is 2 of us. I'm finding I am avoiding going out now and it's getting depressing.

I have volunteered on and off for Battersea for the past 20 years. I love animals. I have 3 dc under the age of 6 as well as 2 dogs, 2 cats and various other animals. My children are very comfortable with animals but even they would be scared if a strange dog started jumping up at them. I have taught them to always ask the owner before they stroke a dog they don’t know. If I see young children, I always put the dogs on the lead as I understand children can be scared of them. Also, I’m not a twat! I don’t expect other people to love my animals as much as I do

my mum was terrifeid of dogs nothing had happened she just didnt like them

the amount of times she heard oh theyre just being friendly was astaounding she used to burst into tears if they ran up to her

I always wondered where these tosser dog owners lived, I’d never come across one. Until earlier this week.

French bulldog, off lead, bounded up and knocked my daughter over. She’s just turned 3 and very used to dogs, grown up with them. The owner couldn’t understand that after being knocked over, she did not want to “say hello” and kept telling my daughter to not be scared.

I was not best pleased and responded “she isn’t scared, she just isn’t used to poorly trained dogs in my most scathing tone of voice.

The woman looked stunned that I didn’t think her poorly trained fur baby wasn’t an angel sent from above and stalked off without another word. Idiot.

But what if someone is allergic to dogs, so doesn’t want to be jumped all over while the owner is taking their time to call the dog back just because they think the person is over reacting? Surely you don’t know everyones situation.

I have 2 children who are only just getting used to friendly dogs after being scared for a long time. An over excited large puppy once jumped all over my DS while we were trying to get into our house. It knocked him over and I automatically bent down to pull him up as the dog was all over him and he was screaming, but I was holding DD. The dog jumped up again, but this time caught her face and she had a scratch just missing her eye. The owner said “he’s friendly, he wont hurt you” and he didn’t mean to hurt them, but still did

It depends where you are too. There are areas and parks I know I never have trouble with dogs and others where the twatty dog owners seem to congregate.

Dd witnessed a dog attack another dog (dog left bleeding) while owner was totally unable to recall it walking home from school alone. So it's not just children who are affected by dogs of sensible owners too

Sweetcheeks

Dogs are huge and unpredictable to small children. An encounter with a dog as a toddler can make a small child fearful for a long time afterwards.

I like dogs but have never owned one. I used to think that dogs jumping up was unavoidable but I now know that it's not unavoidable. Good owners are never defensive about their dog's behaviour - they recognise it's their responsibility to control their dog.

I've got 5 dogs and if a toddler approached us the dogs wouldn't care.

Should I pick my dogs up and start screaming "call your child! Call your child - I have dogs!"

Anyone want to play Spot the Twatty Doh Owner?

Too late, I win

We aren't talking about toddlers approaching dogs - that's the parent's responsibility. We are talking about dogs approaching toddlers - that's the owner's responsibility.

I taught my children to never approach a dog without permission

Sweetcheeks you sound really irresponsible, I know of a man who nearly killed a dog because it attacked his dog and left his dog bleeding. To get the dog off his dog he bashed its head in with a brick. What if someone harms your out of control dog? You're putting your own dog at risk.

I'll make sure to carry my water pistol and squirt the kids in the face if they dare come near my dog without permission. Obviously that's a totally acceptable thing to happen.

sweetcheek fwiw dc1 and dc2 were brought up around animals (PIL are farmers).
Dc1 has no issue with dogs. Dc2 is scared shit, even now as a teenager.
Dc2 ha been know to refuse to go in another room because MIL dog was in the way, a dog he had known all his life and was as placid as it could be (and old).

Some children are just scared, regardless of how much contact they have with said animals.

But more to the point, dogs owners KNOW some people and esp children are afraid of dogs somthe leat they can do is to either have the dog on lead OR have a fantastic recall so that said dog never goes to see people who don’t want to see them.

I'm not even saying that dogs should be allowed to jump all over children, but if they do it's better to be calm.

It's f*ing annoying when you're walking your dogs and a parent is shouting "my child doesn't like dogs" when the dogs are doing nothing but walking around and sniffing and taking no notice of the child.

SweetCheeks
My children and I haqve a right not to be bothered by other people's poorly controlled dogs.

OP, I'm sorry to say that I tend to avoid places where I know there are likely to be dogs off lead. I do a lot of scanning the horizon for them. I cross roads and change routes to avoid loose badly controlled dogs (sometimes a dog is off lead but you can tell the owner has it well under control) or those on those stupid extendable leads.

My eldest is a massive overreact-er in lots of situations and she is too with dogs. Our dog died when she was 3 but it was a very calm quiet one and I don't think in her mind comparable to the loud boisterous ones we see out and about. I've told her countless times how to behave when we walk past a dog, but she is not able to follow these instructions. Like I said she over reacts and panics which usually makes the dog worse. (She runs squeals and acts a bit silly tbh but is only 5. I'm sure she will get better.) She only does this because dogs have jumped on her buggy, jumped up at her or pushed into her. I always, always ignore the dog and we walk away because I don't want to make my daughters behaviour worse. I tell her the dog is probably fine but shouldn't be allowed to be off the lead. I always say 'it' rather than he or she so owners realise I want nothing to do with their animal. She wouldn't be like this if it wasn't for poorly trained dogs in the first place.
All the time people say their dog is friendly but that's missing the point. I'm friendly but no one wants me in their face. If we are out and we see a dog do that little wiggle like it wants a pat and the owner is with it and smiling then I will sometimes ask if we can stroke it. That's usually a good experience all round.

@sweetcheek well actually I would call my toddler if they were going towards a pack of 5 dogs, even more so if they weren’t on lead.
I would intervene if they weren’t coming back and would pick them up. (Because being toddlers, they wouldn’t be miles away from me anyway)

I expect the same sort of behaviour from the dog owner.

Take a water pistol with you and squirt it at any dog that does this and then at the owner.

Off lead doesn't equal out of control!

Having fallen victim to several dog bites (some quite serious ones) I always tell my kids to be cautious around dogs. I have 2 DC under 3 and one 7 year old. You can complain to your local council and or the police if people fail to keep their dogs under control. Whilst a small scratch isn't a serious injury, it's the potential the situation has to go very wrong, and the understanding of how little control you would have if it was to be more serious. I obviously don't want to worry you by saying that, but having had several serious bites by out of control dogs, and my DD (2) being attacked by a dog, described by owner as her 'fur baby' ... you are well within your rights to tell people to keep their dogs away from your children. Dog people will find it unreasonable but frankly, who fucking cares! If it's a regular problem at a particular location you can discuss that with your local council and police and ask them to do a sweep and visit it regularly. Make sure you report every incident as well as this puts it higher up the priority list.

Sweetcheeks keep your dogs on a lead / under control then. You sound like a complet twat.

I’ve taught her to stand still and I block the dog with my body. If that doesn’t work, a kick to the face if the dog is being aggressive. I have absolutely no problems with that.

My dd has been knocked over by uncontrolled ‘friendly’ dogs more times than I can count and is terrified of them now. I’ve been bitten on the ankle (from a dog off lead that ran at me from behind- didn’t even see it coming!). My poor 68 year old mum actually got knocked over from behind on a walk with us from a dog rushing at her from behind. Again didn’t even see it coming, just walking along on a foot path minding our business. It jumped up on her back, knocked her forward and literally left paw prints on her back! I’ve never once had a dog owner even stop to say anything. That couple just walked on past as she was picking herself up off the ground. So yet put myself between then, instruct the dog owner to control their dog and use force if necessary. Admittedly not easy when you have three but if you can keep them calm and get to the dog first it may help.

It's highly unusual for owners of dangerous dogs or snappy ones to let them off the lead, especially in a park. So I wouldn't transfer unnecessary fear to your children but even so it's completely out of order for a dog to jump up and scratch. I think if an area says 'dogs on leads' it should mean just that - so you can make an informed choice where to take your little ones. YANBU to point out the rules. Will they listen? I don't let mine off where signs say not to, but unfortunately lots of people think the signs don't apply to them. Please don't let it stop you enjoying the park though.

@sweet then instead of taking your anger on the parents, what aboout diit sounds like your DP hasn't talked to his friend about your relationship in such a way that would make it sound as serious as it is ercting your anger towards the dog owners who can’t cintrol their dogs, let them jump on pushchairs etc...??
Because THEY are the ones who are creating that sort of reaction in the first place.

Besides, you have no idea of said parents aren’t completely frightened of dogs too. They might have been attacked themselves (I have as a child and I’m always extremely weary of any child running towards me. I tend to freeze on the spot after being attacked by stray dogs few times). You have really no idea.

Ps some parks have whole dog-free fenced areas, might be worth checking out your local ones.

Haha, sorry my last post in crazy 😅😅
I’ve managed to somehow paste some previous stuff.