'Don't worry, he's friendly'

[PraiseBee]

Too flippin friendly. Yet again, another dog running up to my four year old DC with a chunk of a branch in its mouth, firmly ignoring it's owners recall whilst they yell at me 'don't worry, Fluffyballs is friendly'. My DC loves dogs but hates dogs rushing up to him and is obviously scared. Large dogs are the same height as him and can easily knock him over. Imagine as an adult being rushed up to by a horse with a bit of tree trunk in its mouth trying to lick your face. I think most adults would be perturbed by this. It seems to be happening more often. Are dogs getting less well trained? I think the thing that makes my blood boil over is that the dog owners seem to think their dog is the most amazing thing ever so of course me and my DC want to bowled over by Fluffyballs. No we really don't and no, I give a shit what your dog is called. AIBU to be so annoyed by this happening every time we go to a children's park?!

YANBU last time we went to the park a dog came charging over and knocked my ds over in a huge muddy puddle. He was sopping wet, his welly fell off with him trying to get back up out the mud, so I take to take his sodden socks off to go home. But it was fine because the dog was just being friendly apparently! The owner looked at us like we were mad for being upset

At the park Friday night I watched a woman who's dog pooped walk off. I showed her the poop and she said oh I was looking at my phone and didn't see it. Oblivious to what dog was doing
See to me, this is just a dramatic response. The same happened funnily on Friday. The woman was in the phone, the dog behind, quite old, slow, and she didn't see it pooing. I pointed it to her nicely, she immediately got the bag out, apologised and thanked me for pointing it out. I said no problem. For all I know it was a ferry important call. No need for lectures and assumptions on her.

@vivainsomnia

And children top dogs, yes If a child was to hurt my dog, because he approached her and acted negligent whilst their parent did nothing, I can assure you that their kid wouldn't top my dog' need. I would push them if I had to.

How likely is it that a child hurts a dog?

Im a dog owner and I absolutely hate this! Its bad manners and i dont want your dog slobbering all over me! My dogs are trained not to do this so I don't understand why people can't train theirs properly!

But it was fine because the dog was just being friendly apparently!
I would have gone beserk!

I think the owners who say this are dangerous and forget that their dog is an actual animal. It might be a member of your family , but it’s still an animal and animals aren’t always “friendly”. They still have instincts no matter how much you pamper them.

Honestly I don’t care if you think your dog is friendly. I don’t want it near me so get it away.

My auntie who is 76 (so more fragile skin) and on blood thinners bled for three days after a dog jumped up and scratched her leg. She had to check her tetanus was up to date too. The dog was friendly, that's not the point!

And children top dogs, yes
If a child was to hurt my dog, because he approached her and acted negligent whilst their parent did nothing, I can assure you that their kid wouldn't top my dog' need. I would push them if I had to.

Yes because that happens.

If you pushed a child (and let’s face it by your tone you don’t mean a gentle little push out of the way do you?) you could expect to be done for assault.

How likely is it that a child hurts a dog?
A toddler almost fell on mine. She approached behind and went to touch her, my dog got startled, this led to the toddler losing balance and falling down on her, thankfully she just about escaped.

Kids could pick her up and drop her. Or run after all and she trying to escape could fall from a ledge, or bump into something.

YANBU. When dd was about 3 she twice had large dogs, bigger than her, bounding over to her 'being friendly' , which left her scared of dogs for a long time. I worked hard to help her get more comfortable if we had to pass a dog on a lead etc, but it took a long time. If she'd have been at the top of a slide and a dog had ran up it, like a pp above said, she would have panicked so much she'd have fallen off.

Yanbu. I have a black Labrador, very very friendly, but doesn’t know her own strength, and if she runs at me she can knock me over. For that reason, I never let her off the lead in a public place. If a child was running, she’d want to play, and I’d never forgive myself if she knocked a child over.

I love dogs but when I get a “don’t worry, he’s friendly!” I always reply “well I’m not. Call your dog back please.”

I’ve also been known to say “so is my toddler but I won’t let him run over and try to lick your face/grab your legs/steal your sandwich” etc it’s so aggravating

They usually huff and look really offended but I’m fed up of worrying what people think of me! It’s got so much worse since lockdown as well

If you pushed a child (and let’s face it by your tone you don’t mean a gentle little push out of the way do you?) you could expect to be done for assault
No, I wouldn't push hard, but if I had to take action to avoid my dog being hurt, I would.

Assault! When the kid was assaulting my dog in the first place?

Are some parent truly believing that I should let a child hurt my small dog because they are a child and my dog's welfare doesn't count?

How likely is it that a child hurts a dog?

Pretty likely, actually.

I've seen children who think it's "funny" to kick balls at dogs (as in, directly at their heads or faces), hit them with sticks, chuck rocks at them and more.

And even if it doesn't physically injure them, the last thing you want (as a dog owner) is a dog who is reactive to children because they've learnt that children scare them and throw things at them and hurt them.

Same when you have a dog too, controlled and on the lead. My dog is a tiny 6 kilos and hates anything bigger coming up to her as they tend to try and play too rough she has no problem telling dogs off when they do this but she shouldn't have to and it's causing her to become reactive when this was never a problem before. It's more noticeable now as more people have dogs and a percentage of the owners are clueless. Put yourself between your boy and the dog and ask them to recall. I always say to them my dog is no longer friendly because of dogs running up to her and scaring her when she's on lead. You could say something similar like my child is becoming scared of dogs thanks to large dogs like yours running up to him not under control. A dog doesn't have to be running round biting people to be out of control and a lot of owners seem to forget that

@vivainsomnia

How likely is it that a child hurts a dog? A toddler almost fell on mine. She approached behind and went to touch her, my dog got startled, this led to the toddler losing balance and falling down on her, thankfully she just about escaped.

Kids could pick her up and drop her. Or run after all and she trying to escape could fall from a ledge, or bump into something.

Totally the same as a dog biting a child.

Unfortunate, but not hurt badly if fallen on, and all the other scenarios, really...

I'm a dog owner and don't let him near anyone else! He's a puppy and still thinks everyone is his friend, but, unless someone approaches him, we dont him do it. Love my dog but hate other dogs jumping up me!

I've seen children who think it's "funny" to kick balls at dogs (as in, directly at their heads or faces), hit them with sticks, chuck rocks at them and more.

At people too.

But, surely, one more reason to keep dogs near you when passing children or away from children.

@Lweji you are so clueless. As clueless as stupid dog owners and proving my loi t that it really goes both ways.

A toddler falling over my small dog could break her legs at best or her vertebraes at worse. Small dogs are fragile.

But, surely, one more reason to keep dogs near you when passing children or away from children
Indeed,but it doesn't exonorate parents from taking responsibility for their kids and just as it isn't acceptable for dogs to go to people, it isn't ok for kids to think they can approach dogs to pet them.

Completely sympathise. Too many out of control dogs. I can't step outside the door without seeing a dog. Sometimes people with more than one.

That's it to mention the kids on bikes in the park who pay little attention and can easy miss small dogs.

[quote vivainsomnia]@Lweji you are so clueless. As clueless as stupid dog owners and proving my loi t that it really goes both ways.

A toddler falling over my small dog could break her legs at best or her vertebraes at worse. Small dogs are fragile.[/quote]
Unless it was a huge toddler, I doubt a small dog is that fragile.

But surely, one more reason to keep your precious little dog well away from areas where children are running free.

It's interesting that you said your dog could run away and fall off a ledge or bump into something. Do you not keep him on a lead, if nothing else for his own safety?
How far were you that you didn't notice the child approaching?

I only used the word stupid in relation to a specific dog owner who let her dog approach my baby lying down.

Funny you should call me clueless, and, indirectly, stupid.

@vivainsomnia

AND it makes a mockery of every time I’ve reminded the kids that we never approach a strange dog or try to pet it without checking with the owner first See, you do that because your child is scared of dogs anyway. I can assure you that most kids who are not think it's perfectly acceptable to approach small cute dogs and parents say nothing because they assume it will be reciprocated.

I had one incident a couple of weeks ago when the mum said to her toddler 'look at the cute little dog, isn't he a sweety' as her toddler approached my dog. I explained to her, almost in an apologetic voice that my dog was scared of toddlers. Her response? 'what's wrong with him, you've clearly failed to train him properly, you're not doing him any favours'. Idiot.

There are stupid dog owners but God there stupid parents too.

I do not only do that because my child is scared of dogs. I do it because you don’t approach a strange dog without checking first. Why are you being so weird about this and attacking people who do exactly the thing you want? Personally I’m quite capable of holding both the view that dogs shouldn’t run up and jump at people AND that people shouldn’t run up and bother dogs. I’m not sure why you seem to be having difficulty with this idea and turning it into a #notalldogs affair

I agree with it being very annoying when parents let their toddlers run up to dogs. Many ignore you when you tell them not to let their child try and stroke them too. It's less of a problem though than a big dog. As my dog is under control I can prevent a small child accessing my dog but it's much harder with large boundy dog who will dart round the back of you and jump and bark if I pick her up etc. Usually with dc walking swiftly away is enough but a dog will just follow