To expect parents to teach their little children not to approach my dog?

[joystir59]

It happens all the time- young child screams "Little doggie" and reaches towards Dog with outstretched hands. My dog hates little children doing this and would probably snap at them if they managed to actually get their hands on him. Why don't parents teach their children to ignore strange dogs?

My dad had a job where he was travelling to various farms. Sometimes I would go to work with him. There would very often be random dogs running about. They were working dogs. I was told right from the start to never ever touch a dog without asking.
To this day I won’t touch a dog without asking.

This has never happened to me. Children are scooped up, cross the road, dragged away and watched like hawks.

Poor children swallowing German shepherd dogs

Preventing children from being injured should be the parents priority. Fixed that for you. They're your kids, not mine. Their safety isn't my responsibility I'm doing my part, keeping the dogs on their leads, away from kids. If your children come running over, you need to stop them.

If your kids are in public you should have them in a buggy or on reins if they cant be trusted not to endanger themselves.

This ^

I can't believe all these posters with nasty dangerous dogs trying to blame children for just being children

How far does that go though? What about when child-just-being-a-child wants to scream at doggie, pull its tail/coat, poke it in the eye, pull its ears, etc, etc?

Youtube is a veritable wonderland of such gems. I’m always amazed by the dogs that just sit there and take it, probably because the dog and child belong to same family. Not sure stranger dog would always be so accommodating.

YABU. If your dog snaps don’t let it get near enough to children to do it. Keep it on a lead FFS. I’m so sick of entitled dog owners who let their dogs run all over the place, jumping on me then going ‘oh it’s ok she’s friendly!’ I don’t care if your dog is friendly. Keep it under control.

If your mutt snapped at my very young child, you and it would be very sorry indeed. Don't take it near other people if you can't trust it not to hurt them

I'm not a dog owner but from the way people seem to feel about their dogs, I doubt many dog owners would stand by and watch while you made their dog feel 'very sorry indeed'.

THankfully is a dog attacks a child the law deems it the fault of the dog and the owner.

Two year old victims should not be blamed for being attacked.

I tell my children aged 2 and 4 you never stroke a dog you don't know because you don't know whether its friendly or not, some dogs are and some aren't, you wait for the owner to invite you to stroke the dog. Fortunately my two aren't keen on dogs .

Sorry, but preventing children from getting injured is the priority.

Agree, and parents need to keep their DC away from hazards, and train them not to approach strange dogs. Very small DC should be closely supervised anyhow.

Dogs should be under control (and on leads where necessary). Ditto DC

I don't think most humans would tolerate a stranger running up to them, getting in their face and grabbing at their hair/ears etc. Why are dogs expected to tolerate all of this and more just because it's a child doing the grabbing etc.?

My dog is small and fluffy and an absolute child-magnet. I always have her under control (she is always leashed when out and about). She usually loves all the petting she gets, but sometimes it gets too much. Then she will growl or even snarl. I step in as soon as that happens or earlier (usually she is already hiding behind me at that point). I have no problem telling a little child to leave my dog alone. I've had parents then tell me how much their little sprog loooooves doggies and to just let them pet her. Or other parents actively send their child over to pet the dog without asking first.

Luckily, where we live now (more rural area, lots of large dogs, plenty of working dogs) most parents know better and the children are taught how to act around dogs.

Google the yellow dog scheme
No. I know all about the yellow ribbon thing and don't agree with it because it pushes responsibly onto the public. Instead of a yellow ribbon how about a muzzle? That would also alert the public to street clear of the dog while keeping everybody safe in anyone did get into the dogs space.

YANBU.

THankfully is a dog attacks a child the law deems it the fault of the dog and the owner.

But the child has been bitten and the damage has been done. Surely the priority is to keep your child safe, not being right in the eyes of the law?

I’m always reminding my children not to stick their hands in strange dogs’ faces. Yet have been nipped twice myself recently for er, sticking my hands in strange dogs’ faces. Not the dogs’ fault, entirely mine. I have four big softies and my stupid brain doesn’t automatically make the connection that dogs = biting.

Tell you what - teach your fucking dog not to bite children rather than telling people off for not teaching their kids not to touch dogs.

My dog won’t bite and he’s not allowed to approach anyone unless invited BUT he is big and may lunge for a kiss, knocking a child over, he may give paw, his paws are big and have claws on the end. He might accidentally head butt (if he gets you under your chin it hurts).
That’s why a child should only be near him with permission so I can closely monitor the situation so everyone is safe.
He won’t deliberately hurt anyone but he has hurt all of us in one way or another, usually scratches when being over enthusiastic and that’s before he gets you muddy and hairy

YABU. If your dog snaps don’t let it get near enough to children to do it.

What about the cases when dog IS on a lead and free-range child runs over to dog? Is the owner supposed to physically lift her GS to keep it away from encroaching child?

Caution has to taken by both dog owner and parent. And, as a PP mentioned, for dog owners not to shout out “it’s okay, he doesn’t bite”, at a parent trying to steer their kid away.

Two year old victims should not be blamed for being attacked.
Absolutely.

If your dog snaps don’t let it get near enough to children to do it. Keep it on a lead FFS.

But a dog can be on a lead tight to its owner when a child comes running over and pokes it.

Tell you what - teach your fucking dog not to bite children rather than telling people off for not teaching their kids not to touch dogs.

So parents shouldn’t teach their small kids not to touch strange dogs?

Two year old victims should not be blamed for being attacked.

Who's blaming the two year olds? Parents are the people responsible for their small children - and if your child can't be trusted to not run upto a strange dog and touch it, you should have it in a buggy/holding your hand/on reins, not free to run off and pester a strangers pet dog.

Around here most families have dogs and as such people don't approach other dogs without permission. I was at the pub the other day and a family with three small children wanted to fuss my beagle - every single child asked permission, they all waited their turn and all acted amazingly - it was really nice to see and as a result my dog was calm and happy to have some attention. He wasn't being overwhelmed or frightened or surprised - he could see what was happening and happy to have a fuss.

He wouldn't be happy to have a random child run upto him and grab at him, though. And I don't blame him. If my dog is on a lead and deemed under control by law, your child should be under your control too.

Simple solution.

All dogs muzzled in public places. Children matter more than dogs.

Tell you what - teach your fucking dog not to bite children rather than telling people off for not teaching their kids not to touch dogs.

How about you be a parent and teach your child how to behave around strange animals? Dogs on leads are under control in law. Get your child under control and stop them sticking their hands in strange dogs faces.

Two year old victims should not be blamed for being attacked.

I agree - but presumably these two-year olds have adult parents who should be looking after their children, not allowing them to approach strange dogs - or indeed, even leaving them alone with family dogs.

The OP has her dog on a leash - it's the kids that are running wild. And kicking a dog as some of you on here have threatened, is NEVER a good idea. It could cause a good-natured dog to bite, and a bad-natured one to really turn on you.

It puts the dog under threat, and a dog can only defend itself with its mouth.

Everyone saying that toddlers don't understand that they cannot do this, that or the other - That's why parents have a responsibility to teach them how to behave.

And a dog is effectively a permanent three year old. They don't have a much greater understanding than a small child. So if a dog can be taught to behave (and most do behave), then so can a child. Some quite old children (ie up to about 12) can behave stupidly around dogs - they certainly should know better. As should adults.

Absolutely YANBU!!!

I have a very cute puppy, that even adults seem to have trouble controlling themselves around sometimes

She’s young and still learning how to behave and she’s also quite shy. I am absolutely sick of children yelling ‘puuupppyyyyy!’ and flinging themselves at her. When she hides behind my legs or under my chair or climbs up on to my lap, she’s not being cute, she’s frightened. When I say no, I mean no, when I tell someone (adult or child) to leave her alone, I expect them to leave her alone

She needs to be out and about, she needs to be socialised so I take her to quiet out of the way places, she’s always on her lead but without fail, every bloody time some kid will try to come running up to her and fling their arms around her with their parent just looking on adoringly, while I’m trying to prevent their child getting near my dog. Stop it FFS.

I always taught my kids never to approach a strange dog without asking their owner first