To as you to teach your child how to act around dogs?

[ToBeOrNotToBee]

I'm gobsmacked, truly, still around an hour or so after this event.
Dog and I have had a busy day travelling and exploring the countryside.
On our way home, coming off train 3 of 3 on the return leg, having been out for 12 hours, I walk to the lift (which is around a corner and obscured by a stairwell) at the end of the platform with dog to heel besides me.
We're waiting with a few others when this 5-6 year old child appears around the corner, running towards us, hands outstretched, literally beelining for the dog. I see what's about to happen and immediately put the dog behind my legs and put my hand out telling the child a stern 'No'.
The child then tries to go behind to reach my dog, who is cowering between my legs. I have no choice but to grab hold of the child's coat and physically stop them, letting go when the child stops trying to reach my dog.
After a moment or two, the Dad appears and then screams at me for touching his child. As he's midscream, the lift appears and I go into it with a few others and doors close as everyone else looks awkwardly at their feet.
The doors close, we go on our merry wall.
But I couldn't stop this feeling that the child will one day do that to the wrong dog and end up a dog bite statistic.
Say for example, I wasn't as switched on, and my dog as placid as he is, or in pain that day, and the child did poke him painfully causing him to snap and bite. Child would have been hurt, my dog potentially put down, and I get a conviction for having a Dangerous Dog Out of Control.
It's something I've noticed over recent years, people treating strange dogs as public property and not animals with sharp teeth and their own minds.
So please, teach your children not to run whilst on busy train platforms (or any train platform), to not approach unknown dogs, and if someone says no, to respect it.

Is that too much to ask???

Well the obvious example is guide dogs. When they are out with their handler they are working hard and need to concentrate (they also go out for leisure walks but generally if you see a guide dog around town it is working). It's a real problem when children bother working guide dogs or guide dogs in training (and it does happen).

There are also other kinds of service dogs and in some places you may encounter dogs working with the police etc. In the countryside you may encounter working farm dogs, but I'd hope countryside children would know better than to disturb them while working.

Although they are now a minority of dogs, working dogs play all kinds of roles in our society.

So dogs should be muzzled. Then, it stands to reason that if a child is running amok because Mum and Dad can't be responsible, they should either be charged or perhaps, lose their child since they obviously are incapable of raising them correctly.

Sounds fair. 🙄

People who allow their dogs off leash anywhere but a dog park should be cited and if it becomes multiple times, they should have their animal rehomed and told that if they get another dog they will be prosecuted.

A dog on a lead, beside its owner with some curtain-climbing rug rat trying to provoke the dog because it has parents that are entitled and quite stupid, should also be cited for allowing their child to disturb other people. That's what parents fail to realize as they let their kids run wild. YOU may like and love your little precious child, and think the rest of the world would be awed by their "wonderfulness", but that doesn't mean the rest of us do, and often do not want to be bothered. Especially if we are out with our dogs on a lead trying to enjoy ourselves. Control your kids or keep them harnessed/leashed or in your yard if you cannot control them.

See how it goes both ways? Funny, that.

But if some little brat kid had ever hurt my dog, the parents would pay dearly for it. If a child hurts a dog, that is probably because they aren't being cared for, so they need to be put where they will be taken care of and taught to be a decent person.
Kids that hurt animals are showing one part of the triad of psychopathy. Nice to know you approve of that kind of behavior. Speaks volumes. VOLUMES!

@Nanaof1

My son doesn't engage with anyone except me, he doesn't like to be near anyone else so this isn't an issue for us. We go to the woods and he likes to sit and play with the leaves and sticks, we are constantly approached by dogs during this time, he doesn't approach them as he likes distance. But I see what you're saying.

YANBU. It goes both ways.
I've seen kids follow a stranger's dog, cooing at them and hands outstretched when the animal clearly wants to avoid them. Incident waiting to happen, but only the dog will get punished. Of course, also had dogs that just leapt all over me with owner laughing it off, in case I seem 'anti-children' 🙄

Never been a dog owner but I have taught DS to respect them, and the proper way to 'greet' one if the owner is happy with it and the dog is friendly.

Out of curiosity what is the proper way to greet a dog once permission is granted? I find a lot of people stick their hand in my dog's face and he doesn't like hands suddenly appearing there but is fine with a stroke on the head, neck or torso.

all that's required for that to happen is for somebody to feel threatened, which can be as simple as the dog growling.

There is nothing simple or benign about a dog growling at someone. It is a threat sound and I have to ask whether it is reasonable that people going about their daily lives should have to put up with this? This amply demonstrates the skewed thinking of some dog owners. They like/do not mind their dog growling, so everyone else should think/feel the same. Not so.

Yet again...it is not always a threat. In the scenario I presented (which is the part you conveniently left out), it's a plea, and the human is the aggressor. It is not something to be "put up with", it's something to take note of. In other contexts, it's an invitation to play. It's very rarely a sign of aggression unless accompanied by other signals.

Kinda goes back to what I originally said about half an hour spent learning the basics of canine communication, for the wellbeing of all. The information is out there in the simplest terms that anybody can passively understand. Not doing so is remaining wilfully ignorant.

There is nothing simple or benign about a dog growling at someone. It is a threat sound

No, it's the equivalent of a human saying "fuck off" once their more subtle hints and requests have failed.

Expecting a dog not to growl is like taking the batteries out of a smoke alarm then being surprised when your house burns down.

I really don’t understand why so many people are abdicating their parenting responsibilities on this thread.( I’m not denying that dog owners have to be responsible as well)

I do not expect dogs not to growl - that is part of their nature. I simply do not expect to have to tolerate them growling at me or anyone else.

I would always put my hand out a little, speak softly and let the dog sniff/make contact with me. Dogs prefer to be scratched under the chin rather than stroked/patted on top of their head, which some will find threatening.

I'd also be on the look out for signs that my approach is unwelcome - ears flat, lip licking, yawning, tail tucked under, hackles raised, anxious expression and, of course, growling.

If they are growling at you it's because they perceive you as a threat.

They are telling you to back off. Listen to them.

YABU - it’s up to dog owners to be fully responsible for their dog at. all. times.
The fact that you even think people need teaching how to behave around dogs says you know dogs are unpredictable and can do harm. Why the fuck is that someone else’s responsibility other than the dog owner ! Muzzle dogs in public.

People can be equally unpredictable. If a child is not being supervised by it’s parents and not taught how to behave around animals then sticks their fingers in my dogs mouth, eyes, ears etc, my dog could react badly.
He is not muzzled and I have no plans to do so

Any animal is unpredictable and can do harm if provoked. It's the most basic of common sense to teach your children not to provoke them. Not least because sure, you might get your day in court and be proven to be completely righteous, but your child would still have been harmed as a direct result of the insistence that it's somebody else's responsibility.

Seriously, when did parenting go from teaching children how to be sensible members of society and become an exercise in teaching the abdication of all personal responsibility if there's a chance that somebody else might be to blame?

Don't allow your children to frighten animals. It's cruel and no parent should condone animal cruelty in their children. That's really basic parenting. The red line of animal cruelty doesn't change depending on whether the animal presents a threat to your child or whether you like the animal or not. Self defense is fine but running up and scaring an animal that is just minding its own business is not cute or in any way acceptable.

Many children don't even know to ignore guide dogs in harness which is really the lowest possible bar. If you'd let your kid run up and grab a guide dog you're a shit parent. And if you wouldn't you can just very easily extend that rule to any other animal.

It's not so much that people need to learn how to behave around dogs, but that they need to accept if they choose to interact with them, without permission, or fail to stop their children doing so, then there may be a risk present. In this situation that risk was needing to be physically stopped by another adult because the adults that were responsible for the child, weren't.

It's really easy to avoid that risk if you're not willing to accept it - don't choose to interact and stop your child doing so as is the responsibility of a parent. Stay away from the dog and keep your child under supervision. Simple.

But I see people are busy deciding that parents shouldn't take any responsibility for their children and they should be allowed to run riot while everyone else has to change to accommodate them.

OP YANBU. Some of the replies on here are batshit. I'm not really a dog person. I hate dodging dog poo everywhere and I'm sick of out of control dogs jumping up at me and my kids, not to mention the rise in dog bites since lockdown. However, a well behaved dog, on a lead, with a sensible owner is perfectly fine. You were not doing anything wrong by simply existing in a public place where you are allowed to be. ANY animal, no matter how well trained or well tempered, has it in them to snap at something that scares them. You were protecting both your dog and the child by keeping them apart. That father should be teaching his child to respect other's boundaries (human and animal) and to understand risk. He's an idiot.

YANBU

Something I've talked to my children about at length (my DD loves dogs and from an early age has always wanted to stroke other people's dogs).

We have our own dog and we have always been very clear about the rules around him, that is is not to be pestered, don't bother him when he's eating, call is name to wake him up before approaching (he doesn't have sleep startle but still best practice) etc. As a result he loves the children as they treat him with respect and kindness.

It's common sense. And even more so these days with so many dog attacks in the news!

That I can't stand either and I feel bad for your son. I do love dogs but unless they are at a dog park or in their yard, they need to be on a leash. The thinking that it's okay in the woods or in a field that isn't fenced and their own is irresponsible. I love dogs but do not want ones I don't know running up to me, jumping on me whether I am in the wood, at a park or in town.

Keep them on their leash and train them to not pull or drag you around and you'll both have a much nicer time out and about.

Oh I get the message and I do back off. But why should I be put in a position where I have to when I am simply out and about going about my business?

@Nanaof1

I don't understand what you're saying, why do you feel sorry for my son? I don't have a dog to keep on a leash... Unless you're talking about putting my son on a leash but that's definately frowned upon lol

I was only making the point that lots of people end up quite far away from their dogs who like to jump up on me and my son when we are playing with leaves.

YADNBU.

That same parent would be screaming blue murder if their entitled offspring received a warning nip.

You should have screamed at him to control his child!

Don't give it another thought.