To expect dog walkers to keep their giant dogs on leash around other peiple

[Thewithesarehere]

I am still quite sick after seeing a dog, nearly my DC’s size, running after my DC knocking them to the ground and running over them.
DC is covered in mud. I was taking a picture of them running to me and it happened in a flash. I shouted at the dog owner who something like put your own children on leash.
Why the hell people don’t keep such huge dogs and then let them off leash in a public park around children? DV is covered in mud, shivering and complaining that their leg hurts where it hit a rock and that they are scared of dogs. I wish I had done more but don’t know what else I could have done.
AIBU in feeling bloody furious?

I don't own a body cam and haven't bought a body cam so no idea what post your on about! The only people who wear bodycams in my part of Scotland are the police and traffic wardens
There was a post on a different thread where a small loose dog approached 3 big leashed dogs and attacked them, one of the leashed dogs lost patience and bit the offending dog and the owner lied to the police claiming all dogs were leashed and the big three and attacked him and his dog.

The police came up believing his story and told the leashed dog owner that their dogs could be seized and PTS as they had reacted aggressively to the man but the cam footage meant it could be proven that actually the little dog was loose, had harassed the big dogs who eventually lost patience and the little dog owner was no where near.

Round and round we go. Threat of violence again now too. This thread should have been deleted

@Draineddraineddrained

gets close enough to me to touch me, or whooshes past me at the much vaunted 30mph and makes me jump

I wasn't referring to a dog stealing food from your baby, I was referring to this. You are essentially saying you want everybody to know that you don't want dogs to walk or run past you.

Then you said

If it passed us by, it's not a problem

You've not been clear. I agree that dogs shouldn't be taking food from anybody. But it's not their fault, or their owners', if you're jumpy when they run or walk past you, or if they approach you in a friendly way. If most people agreed with you, laws about this would have been created a long long time ago. Most dogs are friendly/indifferent, most people are ok with them. We can't make laws just for you and the few who share your feelings, to the detriment of everyone else in the park who is simply having a nice, friendly time, living and letting others live.

This was posted this morning on a FB site local to me. This is after going out for a long walk yesterday with a friend. Had one bog dog jump up in a "friendly way" and plaster me with mud and another that didn't jump up but stood snarling until the owner rushed over, apologised and expressed her view that he is normally friendly!. The time has really come for it to be mandatory for dogs to be on a lead in a public place

"Total long shot... but if anyone knows a lady with a few dogs, one been a Jack Russell called Charlie, I’d be grateful if you could inform her that after her dog attacked my three year old this morning he actually bit her hip and we’ve been in hospital all afternoon waiting for a tetanus jab and antibiotics.
I appreciate you were very apologetic after the attack and it wasn’t apparent how much damage he caused to my little girl at the scene but perhaps you need to keep Charlie on a lead as I don’t want him performing anymore unprovoked attacks on anyone never mind small children"

@sunflower in your opinion and many many don't agree. The instances you have mentioned are dick head owners and they shouldn't have pets let alone have them off the lead.

@LST
But the problem is that clearly there are too many "Dickhead owners " as you describe them as this is a regular problem just based on posts in my local area. Innocent kids should not be put at risk of being attacked by dogs. The argument is always about the owners being irresponsible. That's no different to saying drink driving shouldn't be illegal, it's just the car owner is irresponsible?

@sunflower completely different. None comparable at all. You can think what you like anyway. This thread will be finished soon and I am done arguing with people. I will continue to legally walk my well trained, fully recallable dog off lead 3 times a day as normal on my local fields. I just think it is mad that people think he should be on a lead just because of the idiot few.

I will continue to legally walk my well trained, fully recallable dog off lead 3 times a day as normal on my local fields. I just think it is mad that people think he should be on a lead just because of the idiot few

No dog is fully recallable. Except for perhaps guide dogs and police dogs.

And even then, even the loveliest gentlest dog can lose it in a situation they've not encountered before.

Well he is 9 and hasn't failed me yet so pretty fucking close to fully recallable to me. He is a collie and I am his world. His whole existence is to please me and my dp. So again, I will continue as I am.

@Sunflowergirl1

This was posted this morning on a FB site local to me. This is after going out for a long walk yesterday with a friend. Had one bog dog jump up in a "friendly way" and plaster me with mud and another that didn't jump up but stood snarling until the owner rushed over, apologised and expressed her view that he is normally friendly!. The time has really come for it to be mandatory for dogs to be on a lead in a public place

"Total long shot... but if anyone knows a lady with a few dogs, one been a Jack Russell called Charlie, I’d be grateful if you could inform her that after her dog attacked my three year old this morning he actually bit her hip and we’ve been in hospital all afternoon waiting for a tetanus jab and antibiotics.
I appreciate you were very apologetic after the attack and it wasn’t apparent how much damage he caused to my little girl at the scene but perhaps you need to keep Charlie on a lead as I don’t want him performing anymore unprovoked attacks on anyone never mind small children"

This thread is a proof of how many entitled dog owners are out there and how there are enough apologists for them to muddy the water. Why didn’t this lady and her child try to stand still, eh? This I have said earlier that I have faced four different incidents and I have shared three here. The forth one is so outing I don’t want to share it here. I am frankly sick of it.

Problem is this militant lot (just about four posters here so not a big number!) will never acknowledge that they can’t give a 100% guarantee for even their own, apparently entirely well-trained dog. None of them is a dog expert/trained trainer any other sort or specialist.
And nearly all of them have smug posts on how understaffed police will never listen to aggrieved parent so we might as well complain away!

Please have a look upthread. There are a number of self-defence techniques that have been shared here. Another great option is a body camera. I hope the child recovers soon and the dog owner is identified and charged.

@OP if you're classing me as militant now because I think my well trained dog should continue to use the field he has been able to freely use for 9 years and to say that people who cannot control their dogs should have them leashed, you need your head looking.

I have never once said the situations you have described are acceptable. Not once. So to call me militant is fucking nuts!

This thread is a proof of how many entitled dog owners are out there and how there are enough apologists for them to muddy the water
Sigh. The thing is OP all you're doing is saying:
Some people in life are irresponsible
Some people in life are selfish
Therefore the whole world should revolve around my personal feelings about dogs because they just should, because I am right.

LST
The OP will consider any dog owner to be militant if they don't agree the world should run according to the OP's preferences.

Literally no amount of reason or sensible discussion will change their view.

There's loads of great posts on this thread from dog owners and non dog owners, who agree that dogs should not be approaching people. Unfortunately that's not good enough for those with their own hangups.

@lolasmiles I dont know why I keep coming back. Its making me irrationally frustrated!

LST
It's only going to end up with the OP spending day after day collecting things from Facebook to try to argue that the world is full of meany dog owners and everyone else excuses terrible owners.

Most people I know, including dog owners, have had encounters with poorly trained dogs or irresponsible owners. Most people accept the owner was wrong, selfish arseholes exist in life and some owners are irresponsible.

Then you come on Mumsnet and you have a handful of hysterical posters (and i used to be terrified of dogs so that's saying something) who apparently can't leave their front door because of all the feral animals, every time they go to the park they are covered in mud from rogue dogs, they are always approached by poorly trained dogs, they can't visit the park without half a dozen out of control dogs bounding up to them at 45mph to say hi (obviously the owner always says the dog is friendly and is subsequently exceptionally rude or aggressive,bonus points are available if the poster describes how they were shaking with fear), their picnics are stolen several times a year, a dog half a field away was too close because although it was minding it's own business the poster just knew the dog had a psychopathic personality and the owner walking 10m behind only allowed their dog off lead to engage in power play with strangers etc etc etc.
It seems most unlucky that they apparently have every element of outdoor life ruined by all these terrible dogs that are everywhere and these awful owners who are everywhere, yet the vast majority of people don't seem to be affected.🤷‍♀️

@Thewithesarehere

After that, one elderly dog owner took to carrying a stout stick that he vowed to poke through the spokes of any bike being ridden on the footpaths, and he said he wouldn't care if the cyclist came off and broke their neck as a result. I thought this was a bit iffy, given that he was a retired police chief superintendent! Like me, they must have had enough.

They are an absolute bloody menace.

The countryside near my house is a mix of bridleways and public footpaths. If the cyclists stuck to the bridleways, where cycling is allowed, it would be fine, but they don't. You can be walking through the woods and a cyclist will come pelting full speed down the hill on a narrow path and you don't even hear them coming till it's too late.

I took to taking my walk in the opposite direction, so that I walked in the same direction as the cyclists, even though the views were nowhere near as nice.

@LolaSmiles you have just summed up a 900 post thread in one single post brilliantly 🤣

I must admit, yes I've had the occasional dog run up to us. But I go to a relatively busy field 3 times a day 365 days a year and I have never experienced what I read on mn. I live in quite a rough area too, so you'd expect to be accosted by out of control staffies (not slating Staffies. Had 2 myself before anyone jumps on me, or 'rough' areas, as I am from one!) Every corner you turn, but no!

@LolaSmiles

LST It's only going to end up with the OP spending day after day collecting things from Facebook to try to argue that the world is full of meany dog owners and everyone else excuses terrible owners.

Most people I know, including dog owners, have had encounters with poorly trained dogs or irresponsible owners. Most people accept the owner was wrong, selfish arseholes exist in life and some owners are irresponsible.

Then you come on Mumsnet and you have a handful of hysterical posters (and i used to be terrified of dogs so that's saying something) who apparently can't leave their front door because of all the feral animals, every time they go to the park they are covered in mud from rogue dogs, they are always approached by poorly trained dogs, they can't visit the park without half a dozen out of control dogs bounding up to them at 45mph to say hi (obviously the owner always says the dog is friendly and is subsequently exceptionally rude or aggressive,bonus points are available if the poster describes how they were shaking with fear), their picnics are stolen several times a year, a dog half a field away was too close because although it was minding it's own business the poster just knew the dog had a psychopathic personality and the owner walking 10m behind only allowed their dog off lead to engage in power play with strangers etc etc etc.
It seems most unlucky that they apparently have every element of outdoor life ruined by all these terrible dogs that are everywhere and these awful owners who are everywhere, yet the vast majority of people don't seem to be affected.🤷‍♀️

The hyperbole is quite astonishing. I recommend you go to AIBU and see the number of threads that have appeared in the last few days on out of control dogs. People have posted on this thread the very steep rise in dog incidents in the last few years. I highly recommend coming up with your own evidence that all these resources are wrong, including the NHS one.

You know why you are worried? You are worried because you have heard the rise in incidents, you have seen the pattern and, for whatever personal reason, refusing to acknowledge that your dogs don’t take preference over other people’s children and that there are quite a few people out there (even on this thread) who have had to resort to take matters in their own hands and that resolved it very nicely.

This is going to turn into a legislation at some point hopefully. The journey of a thousand years and all that. If it means I have to spend hours of my life to do it, why not? I am very lucky to be in a position to do that.

@Sunflowergirl1
i forgot to say that I will be writing to a number of authorities, including all local MPs, dog warden offices in the area, police, neighbourhood watch, local parish and a number of dog charities/rescue centres.
I don’t know if this family can do some of this but please post this on your Facebook to let them know about these options in case they haven’t thought of it. I have visual evidence, they have medical proof.

@op I hope you live near me. I really really do. Your little crusade would be hit back so hard it would be a joy to watch.

And you have the audacity to call other people militant who want their dog to have some off lead time 🤣🤣🤣🤣 but you are going to spend every waking hour trying to get the freedoms of dogs who have done nothing wrong taken away instead of trying to get the laws already in place enforced!

@LolaSmiles summed up perfectly!

As for the OP she will continue on her militant crusade and letter writing. In a slim hope she gets what she wants. Reality of laying legislation is that it takes a long old time. It took 5 years for Clares law about domestic violence to get through in a time which wasn't a pandemic or brexit. But what would I know I'm just a "militant dog owner" who deals with policy and legislation daily in the public sector

Militant.
Unbelievable.
The thread honest to god is just so insane.
It makes me seriously fearful for the mental stability of some of the public.

If dear Charlie mentioned had bit my child I would have reported to the police and pressed for the dog to be put to sleep as I would consider it dangerous.
Militant psychotic dog loving people hating person I apparently am

If my own dog bit a child, unless the circumstances were truly extreme, I would PTS without delay.

I watch people’s body language and if I see any indication they are scared I deliberately walk much further than I ordinarily would and if appropriate put her on lead.

She doesn’t approach people and if she did I wouldn’t have her off leash.

I dislike out of control dogs as much the next person and have said repeatedly that owners should have control of their dogs.

The issue seems to me that I don’t agree with well behaved dogs being loose and don’t agree that only teeny weeny dogs should be kept as pets.

That therefore apparently makes me ‘militant’ and the fact I would respond very aggressively and angrily to someone hitting/kicking/spraying my dog makes me ‘violent’ and a ‘playground bully’.
It’s utterly batshit.

I'm new to dog ownership and to our local Facebook page which is very outspoken. Any chance to blame shame, it goes. It has 50k members.

Yet in the 13 months on it, I've only ever read two posts about poorly behaved dogs.

I think some people are just looking for it and maybe their obsession make them target.

You can complain to who you want OP. The authority are used to dog haters like you. They'll do nothing and dogs will continue to run in your local park. You are welcome to take your kids elsewhere if you are so concerned about their welfare.

The issue seems to me that I don’t agree with well behaved dogs being loose and don’t agree that only teeny weeny dogs should be kept as pets

Whoops!
Obviously I meant to put ‘I don’t agree with well behaved dogs not being allowed to be loose’

The batshittery of this thread is melting my brain 😖

Here we go in full circle again. As soon as someone starts talking about real numbers (like I mentioned the stats on the steep rise in incidents), these same posters appear and start calling people with real experiences mentally unstable and what not.
Someone on another thread, very patronisingly, suggested to the OP to change her front door so a dog couldn’t get in! I can’t believe the audacity of it.

@LolaSmiles

LST It's only going to end up with the OP spending day after day collecting things from Facebook to try to argue that the world is full of meany dog owners and everyone else excuses terrible owners.

Most people I know, including dog owners, have had encounters with poorly trained dogs or irresponsible owners. Most people accept the owner was wrong, selfish arseholes exist in life and some owners are irresponsible.

Then you come on Mumsnet and you have a handful of hysterical posters (and i used to be terrified of dogs so that's saying something) who apparently can't leave their front door because of all the feral animals, every time they go to the park they are covered in mud from rogue dogs, they are always approached by poorly trained dogs, they can't visit the park without half a dozen out of control dogs bounding up to them at 45mph to say hi (obviously the owner always says the dog is friendly and is subsequently exceptionally rude or aggressive,bonus points are available if the poster describes how they were shaking with fear), their picnics are stolen several times a year, a dog half a field away was too close because although it was minding it's own business the poster just knew the dog had a psychopathic personality and the owner walking 10m behind only allowed their dog off lead to engage in power play with strangers etc etc etc.
It seems most unlucky that they apparently have every element of outdoor life ruined by all these terrible dogs that are everywhere and these awful owners who are everywhere, yet the vast majority of people don't seem to be affected.🤷‍♀️

Except I find myself affected quite regularly! There have been two sheep lost this year through worrying, We had to go help dispose of them. Not exactly a pleasant job. I've been jumped up at out running several times, been scratched, muddied, torn clothing, had to deal with aggressive dogs rushing/barking at my horse, which is just bloody dangerous. I actually like dogs, I'm not hysterical or clutching my pearls because a dog happened to sniff me. But I'm frustrated by entitled owners who take no responsibility for aggressive or out of control dogs.