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?

Exactly @slashlover

Yes dogs have teeth, lol at the 'carnivorous' talk

The majority of dogs will never harm anyone, a very small number of dogs may growl, snap or bite if provoked and feel trapped. However, it would be extremely rare for a dog to go dashing over to a child in a buggy straight into attack mode.

Nasty Granny said it tried to lick ffs. She knew it wasn't hurting her gc yet she chose to go on to kick the dog.

I have dogs and I have kids. I also have common sense and can weigh up probable risks.

I think kids get conflicting teachings on dogs. You tell your kids not to go near strange dogs, then you have owners asking your child if they want to let the dog/if they like them etc. There's times dogs sniff about at kids and y o ure told the dog loves kids and other times a child looks at a dog and the owner acts all over the place. I do keep them away but kids are unpredictable so technically, unfortunately it's up to y o u, and I know it isn't Fair but in a court of law blaming the child or parents won't stand up

I have drilled the following into my DD from a very young age:
"Do not touch dogs you don't know".
No amount of "it's so cute" or "but xyz school friends are allowed to stroke dogs" have any effect on the rule. If school friend jumped off a bridge would you do it too?
Old fashioned but it keeps her safe and wary. Personal space is the same for animals as it is for humans, to an extent that children should be taught to understand.

I have not RTFT however I was in this situation this weekend as 22mo DS patted a dog before i twigged what he was doing (as was herding two other children round a county show urgently searching for portaloos.

The SHIT EYE the owner gave me made me think two things:

1. She doesn’t want dog to be touched
2. Dog does not want to be touched

I mean, it was a pat and then DS was away.

I felt bad for not paying attention and DS invading the dogs’ space but if her shit expression was due to the dog’s potential to nip then why can an owner not just say??

Also if a dog approaches my DD off lead and isn't under control then I block with my own body and remove her immediately.

Where are all of these soft, gentle, friendly, playful, timid, nervous, easily scared dogs. Don't live near me that's for sure!

Nasty granny knew that children are not equivalent to animals.

The vast majority of dogs don’t mail and kill children. But some have. Your common sense is very skewed by means of you presumably having trained your dog (hopefully) We don’t know your dog and there are a lot of shitty owners who dgaf. my own dog was mauled by a nasty little “just being friendly, oh he’s never done that before” thing. Nasty granny took no chances. I hope my mum would do the same.

And besides why is licking okay? It is absolutely revolting.

The law says that your dog must be under control at all times. If you cannot prevent your dog from biting a child, even when that child has approached it without asking, then you cannot take that dog out in a public place.

This. No matter what the circumstances, if a dog bites a child it will always be deemed the owner's fault. Yes, it is sensible to teach small children not to approach dogs, but you can't assume every child will know that, or even that every adult is aware. Dog ownership has increased a lot in recent years and there will be many adults who had little to no contact with dogs as children so may not be aware of how to act around them.

As part of responsible dog ownership, owners should always be prepared that any member of the public could approach their dog if it is in a public place.

The grandma in that scenario didn’t have a chance to teach the baby to be good around dogs, it was in a pram. It’s so funny how far some dog owners will go to justify not putting their dog on a lead. If it can get in to a pram, it needs a lead.

And I agree about the mixed messages for children. My children are often approached by off-lead dogs and the owners always say "Don't worry, he/she won't hurt you". If this is your only contact with dogs, the message you get is that they are friendly animals who don't hurt.

TAAT but fair enough.

My dog terrified DS won't approach your dog, though, so that bit is quite unfair.

Yanbu, although I have definitely had people be offended when I've told my child not to approach a dog. I feel like saying, no I don't think your dog looks horrible I just don't know it.

They are animals, they are not like us or mans best friend or whatever. They are unpredictable beasts. Of course children should be wary of them. I’d never have a dog and never have growing up. They can turn at any second and it’s unfair on us as humans to push the blame onto dogs who are just doing what they do. So YANBU.

‘If it can get in to a pram, it needs a lead.’

The poster said ‘buggy.’

Even that’s too near, everyone bleating on about bloody kids getting up in their dogs grill and then wondering why a granny was upset that a dog was up in the grandchild’s.

Surely anyone can see a dog putting its tongue on a child is too close, if a child licked your dogs face we’d have threads complete with diagrams.

But fucking hell, I know that my DS is scared enough of dogs not to approach them, If your dog will bite curious toddlers, it has no reason being unrestrained out in public. Stop with the sentimental, defensive crap.

Those dogs that it's apparently unfair to put the blame on only exist because humans are so sentimental about them that they keep on breeding them.

Don't you know, OP? Dogs must be 100% bombproof, and must never glance in the direction of a child, never mind approach one. It's unreasonable to expect children to be taught not to approach strange dogs because they're children and can be unpredictable, unlike, you know, animals, which must be impeccably behaved no matter what the circumstance.

According to MN, at least...

Dogs that bite with minimal provocation should probably be destroyed, in truth. Other dogs and children should be under close control.

People need to be a bit clearer in their message.
How hard is it to say “Please don’t touch my dog” or “Please stop your dog approaching my child”? Said with an expectation of compliance, it’s usually effective.

If it can get in to a pram, it needs a lead

The poster said ‘buggy
@Breathlessness I think don't any dog should be allowed close enough to access a pram or a buggy, I personally wouldn't kick the dog, I might kick the owner depending in their response to my angry reaction to them.
Lick or no lick.

I agree with you . Not all dogs are good around children , doesn’t mean they can never go out .
I’ve taught my children to always ask the owner if they can pet a dog . It’s good manners .

They did say extending lead which = not enough control but on some pavements and footpaths a dog on a short fixed lead could easily reach a child passing in a pushchair and vice versa. I would always put myself between my dog and a child because even good natured, child-friendly dogs can be attracted by a half eaten biscuit in a little hand or a brightly coloured toy and some children (I assume with dogs of their own) are keen to ‘share’.

My kids don't go near dogs but yours needs a muzzle if it is liable to snap. Take responsibility yourself as well.

If a dog is tied up outside a cafe, or near a park, I would assume them to be friendly enough to pet, although I would ask if I could see the owner, wouldn't approach if they gave any non-friendly warnings etc. Never approach with dog on lead who is with owner without asking.

o think all dogs should be muzzled in public tbh.

So you take your dog out for a walk and you just walk them? Because they can't play fetch etc with a muzzle on, where would no muzzle be allowed, dog parks?