To think dog eating my picnic wasn’t my fault

[0lgaDaPolga]

I’m genuinely interesting to know if IABU.

I was in the park with my 13 month old and 5 friends and their similar aged toddlers. We were sat on picnic blankets and the toddlers were eating their lunches.

All of a sudden a dog comes lolloping over, running all around the toddlers, sniffing them, eating bits of sandwiches out of their hands and wagging its tail in their faces. I was a bit nervous for a few seconds and grabbed my son (who was delighted by the whole situation!) until I quickly realised from the dog’s body language and behaviour that he was friendly and not being threatening.

The dogs owner came running over with 2 other dogs. She was apologetic and we said ‘it’s ok, don’t worry about it’ but she then said ‘well, I don’t know what else you expect having food open in a park’ as if it was our fault the dog ran over. So I said ‘if you can’t call your dog back and he can’t control himself around food he should be on a lead’ and she got really shirty and said it’s not the dogs fault he can’t help it around food and he is friendly so doesn’t need to be on a lead, when walked off in a huff.

Is it unreasonable to expect a dog that you can’t recall to be on a lead or is it unreasonable to eat food in a park without expecting a dog to run up to you? For what it’s worth, no one in the group I was in was confrontational or visibly annoyed when the woman came over to get her dog but she seemed very defensive and seemed to thing we were in the wrong for bringing food to the park. There were plenty of other dogs around on and off leads and none of them came anywhere near.

• outside your own garden or house

And I’m not arrogant, I’m a dog owner who loves their dog and does everything in their power to protect them.

We’ve had this happen in Kensington Gardens with a group of babies. Of course all the mums grabbed their children and watched helpless (though shouting a lot!) while 2 mastiffs ran amok over our picnic.

Someone took a photo of dogs and owner when she arrived but I don’t know if anything came of it. They were going to report to the warden.

Owner was shamefaced (8 annoyed women to contend with!) but not apologetic.

The parks are for everyone to enjoy, not just people with children, not just dog owners. You sound like you were very reasonable considering what the dog did. The dog owner was an idiot. My dog will make a beeline for any one having a picnic so lately I’ve had to keep him on the lead or walk him somewhere where there’s pretty much a guarantee there won’t be people picknicking. It’s a bit frustrating as one park I walk in in all weathers is full of picknickers at the moment but as I said it’s there for us all to enjoy so I’m considerate

The dog owner is an idiot , at this time of the year you need to be more careful about where you let your dog off lead . In my case our dog wouldn’t eat anyone’s food but he does like to scent mark / pee on anything that isn’t normally about be it litter / picnic blankets / jumpers etc so I have to be very vigilant and steer him well clear . Any dog owner that is so far away from their dog that he can harass someone is mad anyway as the dog could be up to all sorts including standing on / trying to eat hot barbecue coals which is something that keeps being left on our local heath .

She was an idiot. Kick the dog away next time. Some dog owners are crazy.

@Wellfuckmeinbothears in lots of places in the UK there aren't specified areas for dogs. Dogs are expected to be under control. whether on the lead or by recall. However there are dedicated areas for children e.g. playgrounds where dogs aren't allowed.

It's her fault.

Mine would do this so isn't allowed anywhere near picnickers! If he did (once took took a sausage roll from a kid!!) I would be extremely apologetic and offer to pay for more food etc. You are perfectly entitled to enjoy a nice picnic in the park. Stupid dog owenr eneds to control her dog.

Stepback 1. Kicking a dog is actually an offence under animal welfare laws but since someone advocating that kind of response probably doesn't care then 2. Kicking a dog is a good way to get yourself bitten and/or savaged.

And your point is? My child would be far less likely to frighten anyone (lots of people are afraid of dogs) mark their territory or scent by peeing on them or steal their picnic. There are so, so many incidents where dogs have been off lead and caused problems (just do a search on here) if you are a good dog owner why would you risk them running off and being a problem which could end up with someone kicking them away and them retaliating?

We had this once and i actually kicked the dog as my toddler was terrified and it ran really fast. My child is now scared of all dogs.
Then again 'hes only friendly' people totally piss me off.

Over 30yrs ago, as a new dog owner with a bouncy young golden retriever, my dog did something similar. I'm still mortified at the memory of it 🙀

None of the 10 dogs I've had since have done that, It's totally the owner's responsibility. I walked the dogs today in a forest with picnic area near the car park - as we got near the car I saw people with food, so dog put straight back on lead, just in case.

Not your responsibility in the slightest OP.

She was right, it wasn't the dogs fault.

It was hers.

I'm the owner of a very greedy dog and I'd say dog lady was BU not you. My heart sinks when I see someone having a picnic or barbecue when we are out walking. He's sort of trained not to steal but wait to be offered but he chooses to ignore that command from time to time. Worst crime he's committed is to lick a frying pan clean from some campers' early morning sausages but I know one day he'll disgrace himself and me. I wonder if I could just disown him if he stole someone's picnic....?

As a dog owner I would say yadnbu.

It doesn't matter that the dog was friendly - by legal standards it was dangerously out of control. There is also fairly high risk of a child getting accidentally hurt when a dog snatches food.

Of course it’s her fault. If all dogs were on leads or suitably controlled then a dog wouldn’t have eaten your food. Would only be your fault if you’d magicked up the dog.

This is why I can't let my dog off in the summer! He would eat everything in sight. She was ridiculous, she should have been grateful that you were cool about it.

This happened to me in my local park, it had happened to a few people actually, always the same dog, a dalmation. The difference is the woman who owns it makes no attempt to call it to her. When it happened to us, the dog ran off with a bag of popcorn which it strewed round the park, then ran back and shoved its face in my rucksack, where i had chocolate. All the while the owner never made a peep. I grabbed the dog by the collar and got its face out of my bag, and gave it a shove away, at which point the woman goes ‘don’t you hit my dog’. Well. Words were spoken about how she should have her dog under control etc, but she didn’t give a shit. She is notorious for this, she seems to despise families with young children and think we should confine ourselves to the (small) dogfree area of the park, rather than recognise her own duty to have her bloody dog under control.

An entitled dog owner.....what a surprise. You don't often see one of those.....

Absolutely the Dog owners fault.
You had young children present with a dog that was out of control. She was not being a responsible dog owner. Totally and utterly unacceptable. The dog should have been on a lead.

@Dottierichardson I have kicked several dogs approaching my DCs or others in a threatening manner and never once has one gone for me. If one had gone for me I'd have made sure it was put down.They run off.

If people don't want their dogs kicked they need to keep them away from DCs. Funnily enough I've never been prosecuted for my heinous crimes because the police, if someone was daft enough to call them, would tell the owner to piss off and keep their dog under control.

I’m a dog owner who treats the dog like a member of the family and you were not being unreasonable at all.

As much as I love my dog (and she thinks that everyone should love her!) others don’t. She’s kept on a lead outside of our house at all times. Not only is it intimidating to some children and parents to see a dog bounding over but it’s also rude. If a stranger chooses to interact with the dog, she’s more than happy but I don’t think it’s acceptable when dogs run over to others.

My dog had back surgery a few years back and it’s annoying the amount of dogs who are let off lead and tried to jump/play with her. She was learning to walk again and some dog would come running over and we’d have to get in between them. The owners would often call out “don’t worry s/he’s friendly!”.

She sounds like an idiot who thinks everyone should make way for her dog.

My dad (as a toddler) was bitten on the face by his own dog when they became involved in a tussle over a biscuit both of them wanted. How are dog owners to know how their dog or a child will interact during a picnic raid? I can't believe people let their dogs run around so freely in places busy with picnicking. It's a disaster waiting to happen. In case you didn't guess I think she was BU.

YANBU - a lot of dogs won't have perfect recall around food/footballs etc so in a busy park on a sunny day the dog should have been on a lead.

Reminds me of the time HappyDog was roaming around our National Trust parkland and very unexpectedly rounded a corner just out of my sight, to find a group of people had pitched a tent (not allowed in that area) and were just serving up sausages and handing them around.

Being a labrador, Happydog wolfed down a plateful and ran off, with me apologising profusely. Luckily the family saw the funny side