About dogs on beach

[benten54]

We live in a beachy holiday area in Australia. It's local to a big city and it's the kind of place where people come with their family for a long extended break in the summer holidays from the city. They either come to their family beach house or rent places.

I live here all year. In the summer there are rules about when dogs can be on the beach which is until 10am in the morning and then after 5pm. The rules are there so holidaymakers can enjoy the beach without dogs. That's all fine. All of us who live here respect that and the beach is dog free for 7 hours in the day. We all have to rearrange our day so we and our dogs are off the beach at 10am.

Over the past month virtually every day there has been several holidaying families who have arrived with tiny children or toddlers and set down their beach blanket well before 10am. For context the beach is 2k long and there would probably be 40 dogs and their owners getting their morning walk in. Running after balls and playing with each other

These dogs walk that beach every morning, winter, rain, storms yet everyday in the sunny weather there has been an altercation because dogs have been running around and 'scaring' their kids. Most of them go nowhere near or just have a sniff and wander off but today a mother kicked one of the dogs because she got close to her wandering toddler.

Every day some parent has had an issue with dogs running around near their kids and made a massive fuss about it. Today I threw a ball for my dog and a toddler suddenly threw himself into the path of her running. There was no contact, and my dog has no interest in other humans but both parents came flying up and screamed at me about 'too many fucking dogs on this beach, keep your dog on a lead when there's kids around'.

AIBU for shouting back 'dogs allowed before 10am, kids allowed after that, keep your children under control'? Surely if you don't want dogs around your kids, come after 10am!!

This is what I expected. All of us who walk our dogs on this beach everyday know each other well (it's a tiny community) and all the dogs are off lead, they get exuberant but very very well controlled.

Summer brings thousands of holiday makers to our little community and we tip toe around them as we know the businesses need it (esp post Covid) but it's annoying when people who are there for a few days think they can call the shots when we are already so restricted.

Just come later! It's so stressful.

I'll say it again. My dog did not approach any child. My dog was walking next to me and the child then ran up to us. My dog continued walking but had a sniff of the kid for about a second and carried on.
Child then ran off and that's when the yelling started.

Could you not persuade your council to discuss this? Sectioning off part of the beach as dog-free for the tourist season? Or perhaps changing the times so it's earlier for tourists for the two (?) months - if it's hot I can see families with young children wanting to go out early before the mid-day sun to get 3 hours on the beach before midday. Or easier still, making larger signs saying "dogs are allowed on this beach before x o clock and after y o clock. If this disturbs you, come between x and y."

Like other posters, we have a coastline where it's possible to have dog free and dog friendly beaches in the holidays.

There's no easy answer.

@LlynTegid

'Any restriction by time of day brings arguments, ask any bus driver for example.'

I can understand restrictions for postman because dogs and postmen have never really seen eye-to-eye. but it seems a bit unfair to bus drivers. 🤪

i agree with you OP. While I do think the dogs should be under control, it’s quite clear there will be dogs there at the designated times. There should be space for all users and if someone is scared of dogs they have a big chunk of time they can go without them there.

Dogs are banned from certain beaches here for five months of the year,but they are allowed on parts of some of those beaches after 6pm.

Probably because of all the disposable barbecues and beer cans they leave in their wake.

One of our favourite beaches allows dogs year round, but they must be on leads from June to September. That seems a reasonable compromise to me.

In your case @benten54it does sound difficult to share the beach if people don’t accept the fact that dogs are allowed at certain times. And some people can be very precious about dogs just minding their own business. However, I do agree with PPs that dogs shouldn’t approach anyone (even for a quick sniff) without express permission. And equally no one should approach an unknown dog without the owner’s agreement.

A dog approaching and ‘taking a wee sniff’ at a child (or another animal or human using the beach) is not ‘minding its own business’? It’s being a nuisance to others and the owners need to keep it under control.
your scenario is not the same, both child and dog were doing there own thing and unfortunately almost collided. As a dog owner it’s probably best that you don’t throw your ball within metres of a young child, especially not near the waters edge as an accidental collision could mean the child falling into water

She didn't throw the ball near the child - the child ran towards it. And maybe the parents of said child should be ensuring he/she doesn't run near the water. It's not the OP's responsibility.

When I had young (very fair skinned ) children we stayed out of the sun between 11-3 so it doesn't surprise me that responsible parents might be at the beach before 10.

In the UK we have dog free beaches at all times in the summer, and I think that's better because no one wants to come across dog mess on a family day out at the beach (and I say that as a dog owner! There are plenty of other places we can walk)

OP should have walked further down the 2,000 km long beach (as it was only 10m wide) so avoid throwing balls near children.

You're assuming there were no other families further down the beach.

You're assuming there were.

Over a mile of beach and packed full of children? Poor OP's dog.

But why do humans have priority over dogs? We all share the same world. What if it was a wild animal? Should they stay off the beach too? Even if it’s their natural habitat? It’s very arrogant to think that humans take priority over animals.

YANBU.

@HandbagsnGladrags how far and how fast do you think this small toddler ran so that OP had no time to intervene? And bearing in mind OP says the beach was only about 10 metres wide? And OP says the ball stopped near the toddler?
and the point about the dog was that a collision with the dog could quite easily upend the toddler with force into the water.

Holidaymakers are just fucking annoying in the summer, thinking they own the beach and messing up everyone else's routines.

YANBU. Yelling is rarely a reasonable response and it wasn't to what your dog did. If you're throwing a ball, the ball and dog are going to be traversing the beach- toddlers are also mobile so their paths might cross. I don't like it when dogs after their ball gallop Iiterally over me/my towel or barrel through my toddler because they're going the quickest route, but if they run past me or my children, what's the big deal?

YABU. Entitled selfish dog owners yet again.

Kids come first. Keep your dog away from people who don't like dogs.

No you still need to control your dog when out in public.

What a odd question! If you think dogs are more important maybe they could operate and run the hospitals, produce and transport our food etc.
I have very occasionally seen someone kick a dog away when the dog wouldn’t leave them alone. If they did it with a child they would be arrested because humans are more important. We do not need dogs. Yes I know there are lots of things we do not need.
Wild animals are different but yes they come second to humans and if they are causing a nuance anywhere they will be removed.

I live with this exact scenario OP and I avoid the beach in the summer. It's just not worth the hassle.

I revel in the 44 weeks of the year that I don't have to share the beach with the rest of the world.

This

Not that it affects me as I am not a beach person anyway (and not in Australia!), but it sounds amazing and very sensible. And how nice that the dog owners actually comply with the rules.

During the time that dogs are allowed, do you they have to be on a leash or can they be off-leash? It’s not clear from your posts. We also live on a beach, but in the USA. Dogs are permitted at certain times but they still have to be leashed. There is one off-leash section and that is the only place they can be off-leash.

”Dogs allowed” is one thing. “Dogs running off-leash” is not the same thing. I have 3 large dogs, including an American bulldog/pitbull mix. They are fast and strong. Not aggressive but for people not used to dogs the speed of them can be frightening. I wouldn’t have them off-leash on a beach with children playing there.

I’m not Australian but here in Scotland a dog must be “under control” at all times. For some dogs, that means in a lead, for others that means that they have perfect recall. My dog is often off lead but always under control (even if she’s quite a distance away - she’s from working border collie lines so her recall is amazing, even at distance)

Yanbu at all.if parents don't like it tough,they have all day when the poor dogs can't access the sea.🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐕