To not want my 18 month old's face licked by a random dog?

[CitrusBun]

Every morning we take our five year old and eighteen month old children to pre-school through a small local park. The park has a concrete path on it, and we do not stray from the path to the grass either side.

Every morning, there are two adults there with Labradors who are roaming off their leads. I don't have an issue with the dogs being off their leads, but I do have an issue with one of the dogs consistently wandering over and licking my eighteen month old's face. We don't know the dog owners, I've never suggested this approach is welcome, and my eighteen month old simply freezes and has never giggled, smiled or welcomed the approach.

I haven't yet overcome my Britishness to say something, but I will do tomorrow. Before I do - AIBU to have a problem with this? I fully appreciate the dogs aren't dangerous (AFAIK) and that some people like dogs doing this. But doesn't my eighteen month old have the right not to just be licked by a random dog? Or by default is this just accepted behaviour?

I should point out that the owners seem to understand this isn't welcome, because they tend to say their dog's name in a disappointed voice. But they don't make a move to stop him or apologise or anything like that.

I was licked on the face by a dog when I was a toddler and was hospitalized (this is when I found out I was allergic to dogs and it was very scary for my parents and I still remember it quite vividly). No dogs should be approaching strangers, let alone getting close enough to lick myself or my child!

I say this in a way that I hope doesn’t come across like I’m having a go, as I understand the passiveness and have done it myself many times when people have taken the piss, made my day harder, and I’ve let it slide out of politeness - you are your children’s protector. They are defenceless and rely on you to keep them safe- even if you won’t say anything about something that only affects you out of ‘Britishness’ (???) you have to cast that aside when you have kids that can’t stand up for themselves. Unfortunately you don’t know if these are safe dogs or not, and this shouldn’t have been allowed to happen more than once (if it has). This is one of those times when you really need to be your child’s voice, and fuck how you look in public shouting at someone to control their dog, your family is your priority not being polite. There’s no place for that in a situation that has risks like this one and you need to show your little ones that you have their back and they never have to be in a situation that makes them uncomfortable like that again.

I would not only say something, I would go bat s**t crazy! This is not ok!

Why would you assume I haven’t?

I'm not sure who is the rudest, OP or the dog owners.....

It's closely run.

Ok don't, but as shown here some dog owners allow this to happen, so don't you just instinctively protect your child?

I would!

I wouldn't put my child at risk to price a point.

But we're all different I guess?

Just here to find out what happened when you told the dog owners!

(YANBU that’s disgusting)

Anyone who allows a dog to lick their face is playing a gambling game. It's not only totally disgusting but can be very dangerous, especially for those without fully developed immune systems.

The problem is, you can only control what you do.
You can not control what other people (& dog owners) do.

So rightly or wrongly, if OP does not want the toddlers face licked, OP needs to prevent it.

I’m sorry but kids do not get worms and diseases form being licked by dogs

On the contrary, multiple studies have confirmed that kids who get regularly kicked by dogs (ie kids who grow up with dogs in the house!) are much healthier than those who don’t, have healthier microbiomes and much healthier immune systems.

interestingly, kids who grow up with cats (like mine) get some of this benefit but not to the same extent, presumably because cats are cleaner creatures and don’t tend to lick.

whenever we’re with dogs I love watching my kids play with them knowing they’re getting a good dose of dog

DIRT IS GOOD PEOPLE

our kids don’t get enough of it.

OP don’t over complicate this. Simply approach the owners and nicely say “please can you stop you’re dog coming over as they keeping my daughters face.” You don’t really need to say much more.

Dog owners who are reasonable and responsible will listen and react. If it happens again then politely say you’d like the dog kept on a lead in the morning because the risk of germs for your toddler isn’t acceptable.

Dogs lick their bums, it’s rancid that anyone lets dogs lick them. You wouldn’t let a human lick a bum then kiss you. Why run the risk of your child getting worms etc? Put your Britishness to the side.

This is entirely inaccurate. Which study are you referring to which says it’s harmless?

I grew up with labs and you have to tell them what's what, esp if they're young. Pick up your toddler so she's out of range and say at the dog / owner NO! NO! NO! At at the moment no one is telling it to stop, sounds like. Silly as it sounds but it is not helping the dog for it to be badly trained. It's actually unfair to dogs to be a shit owner, it's not their fault. And then tell the owner "You need to keep your dog away from my child - it it doesn't recall, put it on a lead." If it was my dog I would be so embarassed.

Just google ‘dogs children immune system’ and you’ll see them all

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18702654/

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2467334

https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article-abstract/130/2/211/29895/Respiratory-Tract-Illnesses-During-the-First-Year?redirectedFrom=fulltext

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6300190/

https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/boston/news/dogs-children-crohns-disease-risk-study/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2045704.stm

Etc etc etc