Childless dog owners at kids park

[Canisaysomething]

My DCs school has a children’s park right outside. There is no fence around it and nowhere does it say “dogs not allowed”. Dog owners with children at the school let their dogs walk about the play area and this isn’t normally a problem at all.

Here is my AIBU. There’s become an increasing number of childless dog owners going to the park before and after school to let their dogs “socialise” with the children using the park. I had to ask a dog owner the other day to call their dog away from my child trying to use the swing and was shouted at by the owner who said “she’s just excited and trying to play”. The dog at one point chased after my child who got scared and upset.

Here’s my AIBU. Who was right? Me or the dog owner?

There were no signs saying “no dogs” but aren’t dogs meant to be trained NOT to bother strangers? Especially children in parks.

The play area should be fenced - I would write to your council and ask them to put up the usual France, gate and sign.

Blimey,

Dog, bone

Dictionary definition of childless

childless
/ˈtʃʌɪl(d)lɪs/

adjective
adjective: childless

1. not having any children.
2. "a childless couple"

It literally means what it says above. Using it to mean unaccompanied by children is bound to lead to confusion.

Fence not France!

I have never heard any such advice. If merely existing in the same space as children was a health risk them we'd have legions of sickly children from dog owning families.

In reality, the research shows that children from dog owning households have lower rates of asthma, ear infections, colds and allergies.

Toxocariasis is only a risk if the animal has worms - fairly rare in domestic pets thanks to modern deworming meds. It's associated with dogs, cats... and foxes. I wish you luck keeping urban foxes and cats out of playgrounds. You also literally have to eat affected soil or sand, and even then most people still don't get it. Your best defence against toxocariasis is to teach your children basic hygiene.

OFGS

But how many playgrounds have washing facilities?

Not only is it clear what the OP meant, she clarified it herself, in actual words, several pages ago. The people going on and on about “childless” and choosing to take offence are making themselves look very foolish, almost like irrational dog owners who treat any criticism of canine behaviour as a personal attack.
YANBU OP - I have a dog but he is always under control and on a leash. Those bloody dog owners who shout “he’s friendly!” as their enormous dog bounds up to my nervous leashed dog make me so cross. And no way should that be happening to children.

If dogs aren’t banned it’s ok for them to be there but it’s not ok for the owners to let their dogs bother kids, especially allowing them to chase a child when they clearly don’t want them to.

Socialisation is about exposure not allowing meetings. We are childless so took our puppy, in a sling to begin with then on a lead to areas where there would be children and just let her see them. I work in a school so I took her around the site when the lessons were changing over so she could experience noise and movement and not be worried. She was never allowed to greet the children and we do not allow her to pester them.

We also took her on trains, to busy shopping centres, to see livestock and other things she would encounter as an adult.

Doing this goes a long way to ensuring a safer adult dog and is not unreasonable. Allowing the dog to interact with strange children is.

Email the council and tell them.

I did the same at a play park that was weirdly half-fenced off. It did have signs saying no dogs, but because it was half open, people let their dogs wander in (and piss in the sandpit. No, I am not making that up).
I emailed the council, and they swiftly installed proper fencing, and made bigger signs stating no dogs.

I’ve come across people with dogs waiting outside my DC’s school or just opposite it to socialise their dogs with young children. One woman actually spoke to me when I looked at her and said she didn’t have young children so wanted to make sure her dog was used to them. I thought that was ok. However, those dogs were on leads and I’ve only come across a handful of people doing that.

OP, why don’t you contact the local council and ask if the play area could be fenced off? You can mention the dogs but there might also be other issues such as safety from traffic, etc, that you could also mention. Is there a poo bin there? If there isn’t, perhaps one could be installed along with appropriate signage, whether that be No Dogs Allowed or Please Keep Your Dog on a Lead.

Basic hygiene like not sticking your fingers in your mouth (disgusting anyway, they then spread saliva onto the play equipment), and washing your hands before handling food - which is the advice regardless of what you've been doing beforehand.

If you feel the need - take some wet wipes for grubby hands, and stick to snacks that can be eaten without touching the food directly (e.g. yoghurt pouches rather than crisps)

Playgrounds are never sterile regardless of if any animals have been in there.

Ultimately it’s a bunch of adults without children hanging out in a play area and harassing kids. Doesn’t matter if they have dogs or not or what’s their motivation. I’d report it to the police.

I think the OP means that they do not have any children with them at the play park, just a dog.
It's one thing to be walking your dog and happen upon a play park, or to time your dog walk so that you can see the children playing and maybe bump into a friend at school run time; it's another to make a decision to take your dog to the park for the sole reason of socialisation. I don't know how the OP can distinguish though, not w/o asking or the dog owner offering up that information.

OMG please don't kick the dog!! It is the owner's responsibility to train the dog, kick the owner. What is wrong with you people to abuse animals?? Let's solve everything with violence right? And what lessons will your child learn from this? That it is ok to kick and abuse animals. Horrible, just horrible. God forbit you equip yourself with knowledge how to approach a dog, how to speak to them and how to socialize the children to understand animal's body language? Yeah, too much work.

YANBU OP... this is not a place for dogs to socialise at, period

Oh go on, I'm sure the police require a giggle, and fodder for the annual story about ridiculous 999 calls - normally it's things alone the lines of "the kebab shop sold me a cold kebab" and calling the ambulance because they've got hiccups, but this has got to be up there too.

You let your dog play on kids' play equipment? Dogs are not members of society, that's why we don't collectively fund and provide for them. It's bad enough that any grassy area has become a glorified dog toilet, now you want to play areas too. Unbelievable.

@Canisaysomething I think this is better raised with the council and see if the play area can be fenced. You could also propose a dog park so dogs from the area have a designated area to socialize. This way everyone would be happy but bitching about it to two or three dog owners at the park will not solve anything. Ultimately, sadly, not every dog owner is a responsible adult who will actually socialize their dogs but let's make it clear - it is never an animal's fault, it is a human who makes the wrong decisions and doesn't take responsibilities. So perhaps coming forward with a suggestion that will benefit both, children and dogs, is the best way out of this.

You do realise that 999 is not the only number to contact the police on, don’t you?

I have raised 2 children in my village (well, one is ongoing actually...). My oldest is 24. We have spent trillions of hours at the little fenced off play park geared towards the under 9s I'd say.
In the last month the parish council have erected signs telling people not to let their dogs play in the park. It seems that some owners have allowed their dogs to take priority over the children playing (i.e. ignorant), or there's been a problem with dog mess. Whatever the reason is, these selfish owners need to have it spelt out to them. Dogs were never banned from there, but the owners would keep them under control, and it was lovely for the children who did want to pet the dogs.

Every day there seems to be a post on our residents' FB page about a loose dog running about.

There are too many people who are not up to the responsibility to dog ownership these days.

YANBU. Just needs a no dogs allowed sign. I've had dogs and children with me at the same time and the dog still stayed outside the playground fence.

And do children and their parents get any say in being used as a training aid for an animal?

Yet more entitlement from useless pet owners. KEEP YOUR DOG TO YOURSELF. It's not hard, is it.

Get the council to put up no dogs signs ..
im sure some dog owners would take notice of them