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.

I’ve been in your position and in the dog owner’s position.
She was completely U.
However there have been times when I’ve just wanted to let my dog run around in the park our house overlooks, and haven’t been able to for what feels like months because there are ALWAYS people in the park with picnics and my dog (despite years of training) simply cannot ignore food.
I remember being relieved one day because it was finally raining. We get out and - guess what! Some people had obviously schlepped to the park with their barbecue and damned if they weren’t having it! So the dog had to stay on the lead, again.
In summary - she was definitely, definitely in the wrong. But I have felt frustrated by picnics before (very unreasonably). She should’ve just kept her mouth shut!

The dog owner is a fucking idiot. I have an 8 year old who is terrified of dogs after a big one jumped up at her in an attempt to steal her sandwich when she was 3.

Of course, it is down to dog owners to control their dogs not to raid picnics, chase dogs, joggers or cyclists etc. By both luck and some training, none of my Greyhounds go up to people having picnics. But so many people actually try to call them over and attempt to feed them. I know it is meant as a nice, kind gesture but I wish they would not try to undermine dog owners, trying to do the right thing. Although, generally the onus is on dog owners, in one of the local parks, there is a huge, beautiful, fenced-in kids and picnic section and an area for exercising dogs. It does get a bit frustrating when so many folks decide to grill and hold massive picnics in the dog section. Then I don’t have much sympathy for these people having to fend of dogs raiding their food, besides it being illegal to actually grill there.

As a dog owner my radar is constantly on high alert for anyone with food - particularly small children and people with a picnic. And I just make sure my dogs go nowhere near. It's absolutely the owner's responsibility to keep their dog away from temptation. Not the responsibility of others to keep temptation out of the dog's way.

Learnt the hard way. As a new and inexperienced dog owner I can still remember the horror of watching my young Labrador, fresh from wallowing in a pool of mud, charge at a young woman, dressed in white, sitting on the grass eating her lunch. She was very restrained in the circumstances.

YANBU

Schaden… Thank you. I have seen extended leads get in the way of cyclists, pedestrians and pushchairs.! They are no help at all in controlling a dog. The poor creature does what it wants to and does not recognise danger to itself or humans. I was at an event recently when a dog ran out barking at the heels of a horse. Luckily the horse stayed calm but it could have resulted in serious injury, or even death, for both horse and rider.

Extended leash owners also seem to be particularly entitled regarding their dog-walking rights.

Or maybe it's my perception.

I spend a lot of time and effort teaching my dogs good manners, but as long as you have a reliable recall, and "down" or "off", you should be able to manage without them disgracing you in public. It's not hard to teach them (except for the bull terrier I mentioned earlier - he was a one-off, I can tell you) but it does take time and you have to be consistent or the dog, just like a child, does what they like.

Dog owner was being an idiot. Probably because she knew, deep down, that she was in the wrong.

I've seen dogs on flexi-leads run out into traffic. And I've also seen the so-called "stop" on the leash break when a dog has lunged.

To my mind the only reason to have a flexi is if (say) you have an unwell dog and you want to allow it to beetle about while ensuring it is safe from being buffeted about by other dogs, or when you have a dog which has a poor recall, and you need to train it to come back by dragging it (if you must - I get the recall fixed at home before they go anywhere, but new places can be tempting to a pup).

All parks in our city are enforced so dogs on leads at all times, most have a small enclosure for dogs to run free in but it's a locked gate system.

Our local park has council wardens in it and if a dog is off leash near the large kids park it's put on a lead and taken to the local stable which has a vet beside it. Owner is traced, educated then billed which is enforced by legal letter.

We also keep a mini air horn as too many dogs come up to us and one tried to bite my daughter so it got punched in nose and ears blasted - owner was prosecuted under dangerous dog as it had bitten before.

Dog owner of course was in the wrong.

I recall having a very young rescue dog that I'd only had a day or so and I'd opened my door and he bolted out the front and to my surprise there was a man with his dog off lead in my yard.

I quickly gathered my dog to take him back inside and the man had the cheek to say I needed to train my dog better. I said maybe it would be wise for you to keep your dog out of other's lawns.

How bizarre, this EXACT thing happened to me once, as a dog owner. I let her off and she pelted at a group of picnicking toddlers who were clearly a playgroup or nursery school. I don't know what happened, as her recall was spot on, but that day she didn't listen.

She jumped into the middle of the picnic blanket and started speed inhaling the food while the children lay on their backs, legs in the air and the adults flapped around screaming.

I was absolutely MORTIFIED. The most embarrassing moment of my life and totally my fault. The adults were furious and rightly so. I was shouted and screamed at and burst into tears, I was SO sorry.

I claimed my fucking dog, tied her up, helped them clean up and sit up babies and asked them if it was OK if I popped to the nearby Tesco and replaced their food, which they were very thankful for. They were alright as soon as they realised it was a genuine mistake and how sorry I was.

I ended up joining them, my dog got the remains of the wrecked food and the children enjoyed stroking her. It was still bloody awful though. She never went off lead again while there was food or young families around. She's long gone now, bless her, but she had a grand day.

The dog owner in this case is an absolute twat. It was NOT your fault in the slightest.

At this time of year / in this weather, there is quite literally nowhere I can walk my dog that isn't full of picnickers aka fair weather park users. He needs his exercise. Some of them seem to actively choose the very dog heavy bits of the park (e.g. next to the dog pond) so they're not helping themselves. Likewise, one local park has a dog-free picnic area - which I absolutely wouldn't take my dog into. The problem was that the dog free picnic area is deserted, and the other areas are heaving with picnickers.

My dog has good recall and isn't excessively food motivated, so the chances of picnic raiding are low (one incident this year where they sat in grass so long I couldn't see they had food; I was embarrassed but luckily they were very good about it and we haven't had a repeat incident since). I do try and reduce the danger my dog poses to other people's picnics, but at the same time I do think that if you will take dog bait cheese and ham to parks you have to accept that there is going to be an element of danger.

The matter is also confused by people who look dreadfully offended when I call my dog away from their picnic (they wanted cuddles and didn't think that he was actually after their ham) or occasionally try to feed him from their picnic (which doesn't help next time I'm calling him away from a picnic, because last time he approached a picnic he got an EXCELLENT reward).

I'm having enormous problems with people who are leaving picnic remnants behind when they leave the park. In the last few days I've found him eating an entire burger bun, pulled a cooked chicken bone out of his mouth, and pulled him away from dumped chocolate cake. These people could kill my dog through their laziness and selfishness.

It's not compulsory to spread uncovered food all over the floor in the park just because the weather is nice, and I'm not going to stop using the park I use on the other 364 days of the year just because the weather is nice; fair weather park users should not believe that their desires take precedence over other people's needs.

It's not compulsory to spread uncovered food all over the floor in the park just because the weather is nice, and I'm not going to stop using the park I use on the other 364 days of the year just because the weather is nice; fair weather park users should not believe that their desires take precedence over other people's needs.

😂

Gosh! It’s not compulsory to have a dog, never mind an out of control one!

My dog will ignore recall and eat someone's picnic if given half the chance.

The park we take them to is huge, and it is full of dogs and humans. If the weather is nice we know people will be eating over there so that dog remains on his lead.

If the dog needs a good run about we take her back late evening when no food is around.

If the dog needs a good run about we take her back late evening when no food is around.

You're very lucky; my local parks still contain plenty of picnickers up until 10pm or whenever it gets dark - and I don't walk in the park after dark because I prefer not to be raped.

My dogs have good recall until bacon sandwiches or chicken wafts in their direction -but it's MY fault if they don't come back. They always have done, but they so have been torn. Some dogs have literally millions and million more sensitive noses then us. Totally the dog's fault to not listen and apply selective hearing. What she probably meant was that the dog was friendly and a bugger -but in the heat of the moment and her embarrassment she said something stupid and regretted it a second later and beat a hasty retreat. You know she was in the wrong. Even the best behaved dogs act like buggers at times and apply selective hearing -it is always the owner's job to control them.

God there are so many entitled dog owners on here. Your dog has no right to be off lead ANYWHERE but a designated dog park/off lead area. And no, you don’t “have to accept there’s an element of danger if you take cheese and ham to a park” because your dog should be on a fucking lead! It’s not up to the rest of the public to ensure they don’t do or eat anything that might attract your dog, it’s your fucking job to be a responsible dog owner. We have an 18 month old husky who has excellent manners yet we walk him on lead anywhere but the field we rent 4 times a week. Your dog should be on lead anywhere people may be eating or small children should be playing. Your dog may be impeccably well behaved 99% of the time but there is always that chance they’ll charge off. Dogs should be on lead in public places. End off.

For this particular reason and general busyness in my local park, my dog is now usually on lead there! Dog owner was very unreasonable

AvocadosBeforeMortgages OMG where do you live?

@itsclaire Inner London.

It's often not families, it's groups of adults that are out that late - but there are a lot of them.

In reference to your comment - I don't know how you missed the bit where I made it clear that my dog was under control. It may not be compulsory to have a dog, but once you do have one it is compulsory to exercise them properly.

Yes, properly means exercising them so they aren’t a nuisance to the public.

have to accept there’s an element of danger if you take cheese and ham to a park

FFS surely not - someone upthread ^actually posted^ that?!! There are some entitled wankers on this thread!

God there are so many entitled dog owners on here.

Funny - I was thinking that there are so many entitled dog haters . . .

OMG sorry it wasn't even upthread - AvocadosBeforeMortgages? Give your head a wobble!!

Yes, properly means exercising them so they aren’t a nuisance to the public.

The "public" are often a nuisance to dog owners - I have had kids run screeching up to my dogs, flapping their arms to try to entice them to play, kids AND adults feeding my dogs all sorts of crap without checking it is okay to do so, petting my dogs without permission ("Oh, she'll be fine - dogs love me" - well, actually no - this one has been abused in the past and is wary of anyone she doesn't live with).

We all have to live on this planet together - a bit of give and take and common courtesy does not go amiss.

Accidents happen - a dog may forget its recall under the thrall of food, seduced by a bacon sandwich, a child may be over-excited and jump at a dog when he shouldn't - an apology is usually all that is needed, but we all have to be prepared to take responsibility for our errors and try not to let it happen again.