children that are firghtened of dogs and how i find some parents are encouraging their fear

[haychee]

I have 2 medium to large dogs and i get so cross when i come accross children that just lose the plot if the dogs go near them. I can understand that they are frightened and i call the dogs away from the child instantly. But what makes me cross is the parents responses, "that dog should be on a lead" or i just get looks that could kill you dead. My arguement is, that if the child is that frightened then why would you take him or her to a place where dogs are everywhere in a dog walking area. Why do parents encourage their childrens fear by making these comments? what good does it do for the child? I actually saw one mother once who picked her child up every time the dog was anywhere close (like 4-5meters away). The child got increasingly anxious and the mother ended up having a go at me. I know and fully appreciate that some dogs are dangerous but mine arent and i think that when parents react like this infront of their children the message they are displaying is that its ok to be this frightened of dogs.

My daughter was once frightened of thunder so i purposely sat up with her watching a storm and saying things like "wow, that one was very loud" and " cor, look at that lightening isnt it beautiful". Because of this time i spent with her and the way we watched it together has dulled her fear - infact she gets quite excited if there is a storm brewing now.
Any one else feel the same or can understand where im coming from? or maybe your one of these types of parents that react like this? I would like to discuss the issue if anyone has any comments?

no that was an extreme analagy(sp), im just saying that parks are for people, dogs are animals and should not be allowed to bound over to anyone, i used to have two great big bull mastiffs, sooo friendly, but they never got to run around in park, only in the dog pen, gated up and away from the public areas..if they wanted to run, we ran with them(yes we were knackerd after that) otherwise they enjoyed running around our own back garden.

I like dogs, and am not afraid of them (despite having been bitten by one whose outraged owner - because I kicked it off while it was biting my thigh - shouted in an abusive tone 'he's only playing').

DS is terrified. Really scared. I am trying to get him to recognise that most dogs are simply walking past, not interested in us, and are minding their own business - or are safely on leads. But it's really hard because so many owners don't or can't call off a dog that is bounding open-mouthed towards us. They wait until DS is huddling behind my legs or jumping up, covering me with mud, to shout 'he's just being friendly'. If DS could see that dogs are EITHER on leads OR under control, he would lose much of his fear.

So dog owners (haychee, at any rate - respect to the understanding dog owners here)- could you put pressure on each other, rather than blaming the poor terrified child?

A dog ran right up to my 2 year old and knocked him to the ground, subsequently chasing after him as he was running, terrifed, towards me.

Excuse me if he is frightened.

You sound like a very irresponsible dog owner to me.

That was to the OP btw. I can't even put how I feel about it into words or else I'll be banned from MN!

My real pet hate is owners who don't notice their dog bounding up to us when we're having a picnic, and starting to rootle around for food.

Although I suspect the OP will think that's our fault for daring to presume we can have a picnic in a public space.

I am constantly shocked by how few dog owners I see can really control their dogs.

I think a healthy respect, if not a little fear, of dogs is good.

How many posts were on mn about that little girl who got killed by her uncle's dog?

I don't see why my chidren's enjoyment of the park should be ruined by a big, uncontrolled dog.

(And please don't let me get started on those dog owners who allow their dogs to defacate on public footpaths and then leave it there!)

If people kept their f*cking dogs on a leash it wouldn't be a problem. Dogs are extremely unpredictable around kids.

hmc, i totally agree with you. parks arent the place for dogs to be running around with no leads on. forests are. imo the majority of dog owners are responsible and do take into consideration the fact that children can get nervous round dogs. i no longer have a dog, but grew up with large dogs as pets. my children are not scared of dogs, though they do understand not to be overfamiliar with them. i regularly take my kids on forest walks and have found that most dog walkers call them to heel and put them on leads when they see the kids walking towards them. its common sense not to let your dog bounce round peoples kids.
i still think the op is quite mad and doesnt want to listen to other points of view.

Ds2 is terrified due to two distressing experiences very close together when he was 2. He has 2 friends that have dogs and the mums are fantastic with him. THey will restrain the dog as he comes in and they sit with the dog to keep it calm while we stand close and encourage him to stroke the dog and understand that the dog is just happy to see him and won't hurt him. We'll do that for a few mins then they lock the dog away in a room so ds2 can play without worrying. THey might bring the dog out 2 or 3 times later but again, focusing on ds2 and making sure that he can stroke the dog without worrying.

Once when we were at a friends and the dog was a bit 'frisky' he actually wet himself he was so frightened. I can remember being scared of dogs as a child and it really is terrifying when one runs towards you.

A little understanding would be marvellous but hey, if you don't give a shit about a child's fears I sure as hell don't give a shit what you think of me if I appear annoyed at you in a park!

YouAreSOOOOOAnnoying
Where have you seen such documentation of a tendancy for aggression in weimeraners? Genuine question, ive had this breed for 6yrs now anf have never read anything along those lines!

I have just come back from a walk on Hampstead Heath with my baby in his pushchair. While I was having a cup of tea at the cafe, at least five different dogs came bounding over to my table, sniffing my (sleeping) baby's face, running under tables, trying to grab food etc. Even worse, one of them had a very long rope trailing from his collar which got tangled around pushchairs and tables. The women sitting next to me had to go inside as the baby they had with them (about a year old) was absolutely petrified. Not one of the dog owners came over to apologise, nor did they chastise the dogs in any way. The women were very calm in talking to the crying child but even so she was very scared.

After I left the cafe, there was another dog off his lead which took a huge dump next to the path. When I pointed it out to the women walking him they said that they hadn't noticed.

I'm utterly furious and now feel like all dogs should be kept on leads.

As i am the OP, i feel i need to explain further. My dogs do not run up to every passer by child and do not and terrify them. If there are small children around that may be frightened i of course call them back to me and get them under control either on the lead or we walk away. I dont go out of my way to scare kids in this way. My point is that some parents do not help their childrens fears with their reactions - im not saying that all of you do. I am not an irresponsible dog owner i always clean up after my dog and i do respect the fact that some kids are fightened. I take my dogs to training classes so that i know they will respond to me when i need them to and they do. I think you all have got this image of my dogs running around in the park jumping up at anyone they choose and im letting them carry on like this and disturbing families on picnics etc. This honestly is not the case, that is why im upset and angered by some parents who do not politley say, "my child is desperately frightened or my child is allergic" but go straight in and have a go at me because my dog is minding its own business sniffing around at least 5metres away.

thats because people do know that dogs will jump /run/lick/sniff thier children/themselves, so are watchful of whats going on around them, same as crossing road as a parent you looks for possible dangers..regardless of wether the dog is(and this is my pet hate!) 'friendly' , there can be very scary creatures and children should be able to run free around parks, not dogs.
If you put your dog on a aleash when you see children, then you must think that your dog 'could' run over and scare that child and IMHO thats the problem here, not the fact the kids are taught to 'be scared'

Fair enough if some hysterical bint yells at you when your dog is nowhere near her dc haychee, but you stated quite clearly earlier on that your dogs get caught up in a vicious cycle of running, screaming and chasing.

Which rather implies that you don't take the sort of preventive action most responsible dog owners take when they see kids ahead. My friend always calls her dog over and says "heel" when he looks like he might join in, and if he's still excited, she'll put him on the lead until the kids have passed.

There is simply no question of her letting him get caught up in chasing games. No question at all. Responsible dog owners just don't allow that. Ever.

oh, haychee, good to see you back, toughening up the neighbourhood kids.

I can understand a parent reacting badly, because however well-trained you have your dog, you can't be 100% sure that dog will not bite, and even if it doesn't, it can still cause some damage without meaning to.

But I imagine this might have already been said on the thread...

Yes pink chick it's rather like me in my car getting annoyed with a mother for stopping her child on the pavement in case I run her child over.

Of course I would slow down and would do an emergency stop if I needed to, but she doesn't knwo that, does she? And it would be somewhat mental of me to get annoyed with her for teaching her child road safety, wouldn't it?

can I just point out that most dog owners, myself included,

HATE ::
dog poo on paths
dog poo in parks
dog poo on the beach

you get the idea....it isnt exclusive to non dog owners.

SOME of us are responsible

argh, a father has started bringing his 'spirited' new dog into school, actually into nursery playground last week or so on a lead as long as the grased area....and he looks blankly at anyone who moves their children away!

The running and screaming cycle that i described was with regards to a child that screams and runs in response to seeing the dog not because he is already chasing the child! I immediately call him back and he does stright away. I always apologise to the parent and offer that the child can pat the dog if they want to while on the lead.

This really isnt the issue. If the dog is minding his own business and just sniffing around in bushes and on the floor 5meters away is it really necessary for the parent to be overly concerned that the dog is going to attack the child.

I have owned weimeraners for 6 nearly 7 years and they have NEVER shown any sign of aggression either toward humans or other dogs.

Hear hear FFJ, Completely agree with you, most dogs owners get angry at dog Poo on not being scooped.

I personnaly hate to see that a dog owner has just left a dog poo and not cleaned it up. I have a Poop-a-scoop dispener on the end of each of my dog leads and it has a rollsof poop-a-scoop bags in it. You can get them from Tesco's and the refill rolls also.

infact i have one friend whos daughter was petrified of dogs for several years. They used me and my dogs to help her overcome her fear. Not my idea but went along with it. Spose they chose me because they know i do alot of training with mine and because we are friends. She is now quite comfortable with larger dogs such as mine. It seems she is more concerned about they wet noses on her skin rather than the large teeth!