to think that this man was an utter twat?

[fgh]

I took my 20 month old and my 10 week old baby for a walk today in a park, which is also a nature reserve. This park is very popular with dog walkers, but also popular for families with little children.

There are some signs that say that dogs should be kept on leashes. Anyway, noone sticks to it... Some dogs are on leashes, but a lot aren't. I don't really have a problem with this as I understand why dog owners want to allow their dogs to run a little bit.

I think some owners are also probably not aware of this rule.

Anyway, today a man came towards me and his big black dog came running to the pushchair and started sniffing my baby.

My toddler and baby are in the Joie double pushchair which means the legs hang low, so a dog can get a good sniff.

I don't feel comfortable with dogs running up to my baby or my toddler and sniffing them as I don't know the character of the dog and if it's friendly or dangerous.

The owner made no attempts whatsoever to call his dog back. He said nothing to assure me that his dog was friendly.

This annoyed me because people always call their dogs back and/or reassure me that they are friendly.

I then shouted "Can you call your dog back please". He answered in a rather annoyed tone "She's fine". I then replied:"I have a baby here".

He then said: "Don't walk in the park then". I replied :"You're supposed to keep dogs on a leash" to which he answered:"Where does it say that?".

I then pointed out to him that there's a sign outside the park that says so to which his reply was "utter rubbish!" and he walked off.

His face was really angry and red.

AIBU to think that he was an utter twat?

There was also nobody else around at the time of the encounter and I feel like he wouldn't have spoken to me like that if my husband had been with me.

My legs were shaking after the encounter and I feel like I can't go there on my own anymore.

Dogs often have to be on leads because of ground nesting birds
people are twats sometimes.

it was him not you

What about ground nesting birds? Hugely in decline because of dog walkers not putting dogs on leads.

So the OP says NOBODY sticks to dogs being kept on leashes, then says some dog owners keep them on leashes others dont. So which is it OP? As I said, this is nothing more than the third dog bashing thread within the space of a month. The pile on is to be expected. If you really take pleasure from having a go at a species which is loved, around the world, fill your boots. It's nothing more than a pathetic overreaction.

And the twats that don't stick to it are just that twats

I personally wouldn't go there with my dog as he goes off lead

A tip I learned from our dog trainer is that if a dog approaches you that you don't want, should should confidently tell it to go away while gesturing in the other direction. I also taught my DS this. It really is very effective! I don't even give the dog a chance to get to near before I say it. Just be sure to say it forcefully.

Wow. You've visited ALL the parks? How long did that take?

He was a self entitled idiot. His dog, his responsibility to keep it on a lead in this area. You didn’t know his dog to know if it was friendly. I can only assume anyone that thinks it’s unreasonable for a dog to be on a lead in an area with signage to say that is required, is simply looking for an argument rather than being sensible. I don’t blame you being annoyed. I wouldn’t let it keep me from going back as people like this shouldn’t be able to drive you out of a public place. I am a dog lover but an idiot hater. People like this give everyone else a bad name.

I’m a dog lover but that is NOT acceptable, people like that are giving dog owners a bad name.
yanbu

@Labscollie are you a parent? As you post as if you absolutely hate children. The dog was sniffing around the OP's 10 week old baby ffs. If all you have are fur babies you haven't got a clue.

Complete fucking dick

From the government website:

" your dog is considered dangerously out of control if it... injures someone... makes someone worried that it might injure them"

By that definition there are a lot of owners who let their dogs behave in a way that can be considered "dangerously out of control".

You don't know how unknown people will react around dogs. DS1 has ASD and SPD. He can't cope with wearing trousers and the sensation of a dog unexpectedly touching his legs is very distressing to him. He can't read dog body language. He just remembers the hijacked picnics and being knocked over umpteen times as a young child. It's a more logical phobia than most.

It's very easy for an off-lead dog to reach a stranger's threshold on "makes someone worried that it might injure them".

I'd be fuming and I'm a dog owner.

The OP says there was a sign in the park saying dogs must be on a leash.

Now, of course, we are on a forum - we don't know whether that is true, as indeed we don't know if any post on any forum is a complete fabrication.

However, in order for it to be worthwhile engaging in any thread, we have to start from a point of good faith - otherwise there is no point in using a forum at all.

In terms of plausibility, I know of several parks where dogs must be on a lead throughout the park - so I have no reason to doubt the OP.

Our local park has a gated garden bit where dogs are supposed to be on leads. It's definitely not a play area.

Also, OP states that the park is also a nature reserve. But we can't expect entitled dog owners to comprehend that dogs should be on a lead in a nature reserve

No, dogs are welcomed, so long as you clear up after them. The do NOT have to be on a lead.

Well, that's where you're wrong.

In the particular park that OP is talking about there was a sign saying that dogs must be one leads.

As pp said, you have not visited every park in the country.

In the biggest town to where I live there's a large park, just a park, not a nature reserve or a designated play area and all the signs say dogs must be kept on leads.

It's not unusual. If the local council decides that dogs are not being controlled properly in their parks they will put such regulations in place in certain parks.

Unfortunately, like you @Labscollie a lot of dog owners ignore the signs and think they're entitled to let their dogs off the lead but it doesn't alter the fact that the signs are there for a reason.

It's not surprising really that there is so much sheep worrying resulting in the death of so many ewes and lambs when some dog owners have the attitude that they are entitled to have their dogs off lead regardless of all the signs in the area saying otherwise.

Thanks everyone for your comments.

In this particular park there's wildlife and I have seen off lead dogs chase frantic wildlife. This is probably why there are signs like that.

It doesn't matter though if dogs are allowed to be off leash or not.

I think it is common courtesy to either not allow your dog to sniff children by voice control or if you can't control your dog, put it on a leash when you come across children.

I say this as a former dog owner, who loved her dog dearly.

The rights of children to not be sniffed/pestered by dogs outweighs the right of dogs to investigate their surroundings.

It is also in the interest of dog owners to control their dogs around children. If anything bad happens, it will be THEIR dog that is put down.

Well done for sticking up for your dc and yourself.

I agree with pp, he was angry that a woman dared to challenge him and also that you are right.

You don't even have to put up with people reassuring you that their dog is friendly, just ask everyone to keep dogs away when you're not comfortable. I don't have a dog and love petting other people's (with permission) but the onus is on the owner to manage them.

Exactly, it’s entirely plausible that a park/nature reserve is a ‘dogs on leads’ area - dogs can disturb ground nesting birds and so on.

But it isn’t really about dogs. It’s about an angry men who hate being told what to do by women.

I guess labs is just like the twat in the park you encountered, I doubt she will be back to this thread now it's been pointed out what a tit she made of herself.
Entitled arseholes will be entitled arseholes.

You did nothing wrong, nobody should be forced to interact with a dog they don't want to, your dog should not be approaching others for any reason. If they do and you allow it, just bloody stop, you and your dog are a nuisance.
I am a dog owner, my dog is not allowed to go up to random people, I also hate being jumped all over by random "it's ok he's friendly" dogs.

She was also on the thread where an OP's ex was mimicking Chinese people and talking gibberish, and defending the racist ex.

I'm not sure if it's depressing or reassuring that people like this are unreasonable in lots of different ways.

Ah yes, I saw that thread.

That explains a lot.

I suppose it's reassuring that it's just one poster being an arse on several threads rather than several posters being arses on several threads.

What’s a FTM