This whole thread is bonkers, what with the wild and wilful misinterpretation and misrepresentations, the total wandering off point and the random willy-waving and threats of violence on both sides. Seriously, bonkers.
However my two pennorth: I bloody hate dogs. I'm not afraid of them per se, I just don't like them. Not a fan of any domestic if pets really. And no your little Fido is no exception. I don't like them, I don't want them approaching me or touching me. At all. Ever.
Short of wearing a massive sign saying "I HATE DOGS" could dog owners please tell me HOW I can get this fact respected? Because it doesn't seem to matter what I do or where I go, the foul dimwitted dribbling things just won't leave me or my daughter alone. And I am aware, when a dog comes lollopping over to us with owner either nowhere in sight or feebly calling them off and being ignored, that IF it decides to hurt me or my 3yo it can and it will and there is next to bugger all I can do about it. How is it that this is considered to be acceptable?? Something those of us who don't bloody like dogs just have to accept and prepare for?
It's like catcalling twat men: why should I have to teach my daughter as she grows up how to deal with unwanted "attention" from dickhead men with no self control, rather than the dickhead men be forced to exhibit some self control? I'd like to think that, on a forum largely populated by women, the fact that it isn't the "majority" of men who behave this way doesn't in any way lessen the impact of the twats who do or make it ok; or that because some women love it and it puts a spring in their step the onus is on women to make it clear they're not interested rather than on the men NOT TO FUCKING START IT IN THE FIRST PLACE.
I mean what is the point of all the people saying there is no need for a rule to keep dogs on leads expect in designated areas because their dog behaves off lead? YOUR DOG ISN'T THE BLOODY ISSUE IS IT? And anyway I think this confidence in ones control over one's dog (which is, fundamentally, an animal which has instincts you, over the brow of a hill or round the bend of a path, cannot necessarily anticipate) is a bit akin to those who think the drink drive limit is a very necessary rule for bad drivers and lightweights but not for THEM, because they can handle their drink and always have complete control of the vehicle. After all they've never had an accident on the way home from the pub, have they?
Basically if your dog touches me, gets close enough to me to touch me, or whooshes past me at the much vaunted 30mph and makes me jump, I consider it to be a nuisance. If it jumps up at me or my small child, snatches food from us (happens ALL THE TIME) and either has no visible owner, owner isn't recalling them or dog is not responding to recall, I consider it a danger. And as someone who is not remotely ashamed to say I hate bloody dogs, I don't see why I should have to put up with it in public spaces designed for the use of human beings e.g. the high street, the local park, woodland footpaths etc.
I mean this is bonkers. Several dog owners, in response to OP's stick threat, have gone into graphic detail about how dangerous it would be for OP to antagonise various breeds of dog, dwelling on their size, strength, jaw power, and basically making it very clear their dogs could kill OP if they wanted to. The assumption being made is that they would only want to if OP hit them with a stick, rather than any number of reasons that might be perfectly normal behaviour for a human unfamiliar with dogs or a small child, but perceived as threatening by a dumb animal running on instinct or previous experiences the person they have just encountered knows nothing about. How is that an acceptable level of risk??
Similarly people saying their dog needs to be off lead as it needs to run much farther and faster than their owner can keep up with it - how can you possibly claim to be in control of your dog if that is the case? Unless you only let it off lead in an abandoned field, it will be out of reach and often out of sight. You can't KNOW it won't encounter another dog or human, possibly taking them by surprise given the speeds mentioned. And if they do and the interaction goes badly, you are not on hand to take control of the situation!
My mum used to keep boa constrictors. Very useful to drape around one's shoulders when answering the door to the Jehovah's Witnesses, tended to make the conversations much shorter.
Imagine if she had taken them to the local park and then released them, assuring any scandalised observer that they were very friendly, well-fed and fully trained, so there was nothing to worry about? Imagine if when one started coiling up a stranger's ankles the stranger was tutted at, told not to panic or they would provoke it, and to read up on snake behaviour (maybe even volunteer at a reptile house!) so they wouldn't have such silly reactions to perfectly innocent snake behaviour in future?