To ask dog owners to be extra vigilant around younger children?

[ponderingthisthing]

At the weekend, we were out in the meadows and having our family photos taken by a professional photographer.

A dog came near us and started jumping on the DC, who are 2 and 4. DH tried to fend it off until the owner came and dragged the dog away with some difficulty. By this time both children were extremely scared and upset and were screaming and crying. The owner may have muttered a quiet "sorry" before leaving quickly. No genuine apology or word to check if DC were OK, even though they were obviously extremely disturbed at that point with tears flooding down their faces. She just didn't seem to care.

For us though, it really put a damper on things and unsurprisingly the photography session did not go well. Both children felt unsafe following this (there were other dogs around, many not on lead) and clung to us.

It's not the first time that it's happened, DD was already afraid of dogs due to similar episodes in the past. We try to reassure her that dogs don't normally harm people and that she should just behave normally around them, but I wonder if we should also think more now about safety. Just yesterday, I came across a photo on social media of a little girl who was mauled in the face by a dog. Of course no physical harm came of this episode involving DC, thank goodness, and the dog was probably just over excited. However, the incident is making me feel somewhat uneasy about taking DC to places where dogs can run free.

AIBU to ask that dog owners be extra vigilant with small children around? And obviously, if the dogs are likely to jump up at people, to keep them on lead around small children in public places?

Why quote me and then make a point I have said I agree with. I see that quite a lot od dog threads. It's like anyone who owns a dog and says that they too see badly trained dogs behaving bady are re-written, interpreted out of anything they have actually said.

Stop it!

Nobody disagrees that poorly trained dogs are a bloody nuisance.

YANBU my youngest is petrified of dogs (we have no idea why, she has always been scared of them) to the point that if she sees on she screams and clings to me, it is slowly improving but every time a dog comes bounding up to her, sniffing and wanting to play it sets her back. I completley understand that the dog is probably just very friendly and excited, my elder DD loves dogs and she has been taught how to behave around them and to ask for permission before talking/stroking dogs. We can understand that some dogs are nervous so why can't owners understand that some children are nervous?

My DD has been too scared to walk in the park because of other dogs, I don't expect there to be no dogs obviously but if you can't trust your dog to come back when called then it should not be off the lead - at least not near play grounds.

if a dog comes up to me and jumps up, licks me, puts its filthy claws on my chest, I go up to the owner, put my hands on her chest, lick her face and mouth and pant my foetid breath into her face.

And that’s fine because I am being friendly.

YANBU my DC are scared of dogs after similar experiences.

So many dog owners seem blind to the fact that if their dog doesn't return to them when called, it is out of control. These are the dogs that should be on leads. But these are the clueless owners who let dogs jump all over small children.

I'm so over the "just being friendly" line. If I wanted a dog to jump up and slobber all over me I would get my own.

That is awful @MadameCholetsDirtySecret, I'd be really furious, very nasty. But luckily, children like that are few and far between, but most of us can recall being jumped on or ran up to by a dog. (I'm fine and don't mind, but for someone who's afraid it's unpleasant)

YANBU unreasonable. I was out for lunch recently and someone’s dog was constantly under my baby’s highchair and jumping at her. She was screaming her head off because it was in her space and touching her feet, I was trying to shoo the dog away and the owners just didn’t give a shit.
I was absolutely furious.

YANBU. I'm lucky in that my dog isn't remotely interested in approaching people he doesn't know, and is quite wary of small children. It would be good if adults and their small children would refrain from approaching dogs without asking too.

Ugh. So many dog owners are awful.
My poor elder child loved dogs, until at 2 a dog tackled her down whilst owners shouted 'it's okay, he's friendly!' Whilst leisurely strolling down. Obviously picked up the toddler instantly, owners seemed to think it was funny. Still petrified over them years later.
Now I just say, don't worry, if it comes any closer I'll whack it with that stick. Dogs are now retrieved promptly as they ought to be. I would as well.

Children should be able to play and run ahead in the woods without worrying about dogs! I wish there were dog-free woods like there are dog free beaches.

I agree but not just young children. My autistic DS had a dog run right up to him loudly barking when he was about 8. He was really scared of dogs for many years after that.

Nice victim blaming.

There will always be dog owners who just dont care if their dogs jump up at you.

I was 8 months pregnant and someone watched their lab run and jump up with it paws on my chest. Again I had the do t worry hes friendly. . But if hed jumped at force feet my bump it wouldnt need to bite me to seriously harm me and my baby.

Because their dogs play trumps your boundaries everytime.

YANBU people can’t handle their dogs.

I was at a family friendly and dog friendly event at the weekend and a guy walked so close to us with his husky that he had to yank it back when it went for my toddler. Twice. I don’t really mind dogs but they’re dangerous, keep them away from children and keep your children from approaching them too.

I call my dog to come close to me if I can see people are not confident with dogs. He doesn’t jump up though.
However, friendly dogs are a really normal everyday thing and your children screaming in terror is an unusual reaction. Most children love dogs. Can you expose you children to a friends dog in a controlled way so they become more comfortable around them?

I've also seen a high pitched screaming toddler cause a horse to bolt Kids can be just as problematic as dogs I'm afraid

This is my fear with my giant breed.

He really has no concept of his size. He tries to sit on my lap like a puppy, thinks he can fit in small places like the cat does and destroys things with his arse.

I am so worried if a small child decided to approach he'd unknowingly knock them over by turning to heal.

However I am lucky in that all the children in the street adore him and they like to dress him up during street parties. For VE day he was sporting sunglasses and a bonnet from one of the girls dolls 🤦🏻‍♀️ he just sits there and slobbers on them all and they think it's hilarious. They also decided to paint his nails with chalk they were drawing on the floor with. There's a reason this breed are referred to as "nanny dogs" 😂

I’ve had a lot of problems with unruly dogs as well, don’t get me wrong. When DS was just 2, a schnauzer ran across the park, put his front paws on DS’ shoulders and barked in his face. Nothing triggered this, owner didn’t apologise and I was absolutely terrified/it happened so quickly that even though I was 1m away I couldn’t intervene. The thing is DS isn’t scared because we have a dog so I’m trying to instil in him the appropriate amount of caution (eg not touching or going near strange dogs but not running screaming like an idiot/many children do when anywhere near a dog. Just riles them up)

but people on here saying “Human rights trump dogs” are missing the point. If you let your child come over to my dog and pet him without asking and he bites, it’s your problem. You are supposed to protect your child. There are some seriously shit parents as well as dog owners

Ridiculous

I've also seen a high pitched screaming toddler cause a horse to bolt Kids can be just as problematic as dogs I'm afraid

god, this. I’m at a child free yard for this exact reason (and take my children to ride somewhere else!)

Well my DC wouldn't have been hysterical about a dog approaching them if dog owners didn't let their dogs come charging up barking at him.

Why ridiculous?

if this happened in a park id say fair enough , but in meadows i expect the dog walker felt it was reasonable to let the dog off the lead for a run , i dont expect she thought there would be kids having a photography shoot in the middle of it ,

YANBU and I'm a dog owner.

I have a small breed dog and he's never run up to anyone he doesn't know and if he did I'd be mortified.

That said I don't agree that all dogs should be on lead all of the time, that seems like punishing the good dogs because of a few useless owners.

YANBU but don't expect most dog owners to take any notice. I seem to have noticed that over a number of years attitudes have hardened from dog owners who think that their darling animals now have full protection and assumed rights from the Human Rights Act with all the associated privileges.

YANBU my daughter is now terrified of dogs when one stole her sandwiches from her (off the lead) ..... And yes, sorry to say i took great pleasure in telling the extremely unapologetic owner to be aware that they were chocolate spread!

Barckays
Why should they never be off lead?