Dogs tied up outside the school.

[JKCR2017]

Hi all, so basically there are always dogs tied up outside DS’s school at school run times despite that the school have sent letters outs requesting they aren’t. One dog managed to get off its lead and entered the school 😬

Today, we were walking out of school and DD to fell over, as I was attending to her DS ran up to a dog that snapped at him. Luckily DS jumped back quickly else he probably would of been bitten.

Now, I totally understand that parents should teach their children not to approach dogs. I am constantly reminding my children not to approach dogs. However, DS has asd and often ‘forgets’ the rules and has little sense of danger and today ran up to a dog and this happened (I’ve seen the dog snap before and the owner even said it hates children it doesn’t know!)

Aibu to think this woman shouldn’t even be bringing her dog to the school if it dislikes children? The worst part is the woman is a childminder!!!

Of course, I will keep reminding my son not to approach strange dogs but a few seconds of seeing to my daughter meant this happened!

One of the school busy body gossip mums seen this happen today so I’m certain she will mention it the dogs owner. I will apologise for my son approaching the dog but maybe she should keep it at home!

I think that dogs should be on short leads and under control in public places. Tied to a railing is not under control. Why do the dog owners not keep hold of the lead so they know exactly what their dog is doing? If it is not possible to do this then leave the dog at home and take it for a walk another time.

i see both sides here - but if your child approaches a dog (thats on lead next to an owner not tied up)! then its your responsibility to keep your child away from the dog

if its tied up - its very different - it should be friendly enough to walk past and still - not approach!!

I am glad no one does this at my childrens school. I hate dogs so it would annoy me.

I agree with reminding your child not to approach strange dogs, especially unattended ones.

But honestly, the dog owner should not be bringing and leaving unattended a dog which is not confident around strange children. That is just asking for an incident which is neither dog nor child's fault.

If you are having no joy with the school resolving the problem, I suggest contacting your council and seeing if they have a dog warden. They will be better placed to advise and take action if necessary.

My dog is always tied up outside school and she always has a fan club fussing over her!! I trust my dog as much as one can ever trust a dog (who incident is a PAT dog working with ASD children) but it really is the responsibility of other parents to make sure their kids approach her responsibly. So. YABU. Your child, irrespective of their ASD, will encounter dogs in life and actually the probability is that dogs outside school will be dogs socialised to children - so probably safer than dogs encountered elsewhere.

Thank you. I understand that my dogs shouldn’t of approached the dog. I take full responsibility of this as attending to DD meant DS had run ahead slightly.

Saying this, a few weeks we were walking home and an off lead dog ran up to DS and went mad barking at him because the dog supposedly didn’t like DS swinging
his book around according to the owner (didn’t put DS off dogs obviously) 🤷‍♀️ So there needs to be more responsibility all round!

That my child**

I have no issues with dogs outside the school. But a dog who has issues with children should not be tied up unsupervised in my opinion! I would never do it with my dog. She would never hurt anyone but she’s a bit excitable and a bit noisy at times!

I would never leave my dog tied up outside school. Well trained and sociable dogs can snap under the wrong circumstances and well trained sensible children can have a momentary lapse of impulse control!

If a dog is tied up outside a school it should be completely fine with children approaching/crowding it/touching it.

If there is any risk it might bite, there is no way it should be left unattended.

YANBU. If DS approach a random dog being walked on a lead down the road it would be different but you shouldn't leave a dog unattended outside a school if it isn't safe with children. (God knows how she keeps her mindees safe!).

Always loads of dogs outside of school DS hates them. Surely it's not nice for the dogs esp if they don't like a fuss/noise? Not a dog owner but feel a bit sorry when the dog owner / partner pops into school for a word a chat etc!

I think if you have kids and a dog then its not unreasonable to walk the dog and pick the kids up, and if the dog can't go on school premises it has to be tied up while you go into the playground, since presumably the kids aren't allowed out to meet you at the gate.

I sympathise, at one point I had a dog that howled miserably when tied up, but trashed the place if left at home/ in the car. The only way to buy shopping was to tie up a howling dog outside the shop.

If you have a dog that snaps at kids yabu to tie it up outside school though.

Plus my dog hasn’t reached well trained status yet, he’s firmly in the bit of a plonker stage.

I’ve also seen some not so pleasant children taunt and scare dogs deliberately that are left alone at the schools gates.

Erm what the heck... YOUR child ran upto a dog and you are whinging that said dog may be aggressive/dislike dogs. Teach your child NOT to run upto to stangers dogs. The fact your child has asd is NOT the dog owners problem.

Sorry meant 'dislike children'

Given the dog is known to have issues with strange children, the owner is still responsible for ensuring it isn't left in a situation where a child could approach. It doesn't matter how many times you tell a child not to go near, the owner is horrifically irresponsible for bringing it to a school (where there are tens of unknown children) and leaving it unsupervised.

There was a case where a dog bit a child, then a police officer and in a third incident bit a child's face. The final incident being after the owner had been told to keep it away from children and muzzled in public. The advice was not followed and the owner, trying to show how friendly the dog was shoved it in a child's face. Owner imprisoned and dog out to sleep.

Imo tying a dog with known stranger issues up and leaving it unsupervised and unmuzzled is asking for trouble. Even if the child doesn't approach, what is to stop the dog acting out after getting distressed with a large number of children passing nearby.

As a dog owner, YANBU.
We all know kids can run about when ‘released’ from school. Any dog should be with a responsible adult, even very well behaved dogs. You never know when a kid may do something any dog would object to and respond. Neither child or dog can take responsibility that’s up to parents and owners.

I am as dog mad a person as you are ever likely to come across but YANBU. Tying a dog outside a school and leaving it unsupervised, even if it is the loveliest dog in the world, is just idiotic. Dogs that are restrained are more likely to become fearful, stressed, or reactive. The owner is not there to notice the first signs of stress/fear and remove the dog from the situation, so things can escalate quickly. There are going to be a lot of children outside a school, some may run up to a dog, some may be running and screaming, a child may trip and fall into a dog, a child may be pushed onto a dog...the list of possible complications goes on and on.

If the dog has a history of snapping at people i’d escalate this with the dog warden. It’s even riskier than all the above.

It will be the owners problem if the dog bites and it will be the owners problem if her previously ok with children dog becomes fear agressive towards them because of an incident that spooked the dog when left unattended. Owners are responsible for keeping a dog under control and a dog left unattended outside a school isn’t under control.

Makeahouseahome what are you on about? It’s the owner’s responsibility to ensure the dog is safe in public and one of the things that happens out in public is that people, including children, come up to your dog. If a dog can not tolerate this, it should be muzzled and closely supervised in public, not left tied outside a bloody school!

I would be more concerned that my dog was open to being stolen Was never a problem all those years ago as simply stood in the playground with dog waiting for children

This drives me nuts
It’s like Crufts at our local school most mornings and a struggle to get past the gates.

Thank you all. I’m a dog lover and owner. It’s a small village and I know the owner and I know her dog isn’t great with strange children (the owner told me this a while ago after DD asked if she could say hello). Usually I keep a close check on DS but today was a moment of madness. Where I was comforting one child and another slipped from my grip. He didn’t do anything wrong as such. DS always runs, never walks anyway. We were coming out the pathway and the dog was by the gate and DS went to say hello and stroked it. I went to grab him quickly and told him off. It was a complete moment of madness!

I dont understand how people can leave their dogs tied up outside, What if someone takes it? Dog theft isnt unusual these days.