Dog burst my son's football

[Maverick99]

Took my 5yo football mad son to the park today to play with his new football that he got for his birthday. It cost £45 and was the first time he'd used it, after months of begging me for it.

He was kicking it through some goal posts when a dog (I think it was a staffy of some kind but know nothing about dogs so could be wrong) ran up to the ball which was about 10ft away from him and bit it, causing it to burst. It then started running around in circles around my son then back to its owner. Didn't seem dangerous but son was hysterical over his football.

Owner put the dog lead on and apologised, and I asked that he replaced the football. I was v pissed off and vocal about his dog and the fact that it wasn't on a lead. He said he couldn't afford it and refused to exchange details or tell me his name but was v apologetic.

Just feel pissed off that there was nothing I could do and nobody else helped me out as lots of people saw.

Can't afford to replace the football myself but thankfully my dad is going to buy him a new one tomorrow.

Not sure what I want from this thread, just a vent because I feel so irritated still and like I could've done more or handled it better.

What a prize you are 🙄

ditto

You should be able to take a £200 ball to the park and not have to worry about dogs chewing them! Dogs should be under control especially where there are kids running about.

A dog that is playing with a football is not a dog that "bites on the loose".
You may as well report every dog that is chewing on a stick in the park too.

Going to the police for a popped ball is an astronomical waste of time and resources.

@XenoBitch not playing with 'a' football, playing with someone else's football. Destroying it actually. Because it wasn't on a lead.

A stick lol....how can you compare? Absolutely bonkers.

PP said OP should report the dog to the police for popping a ball, and say it was "biting on the loose"... which is bollocks. They are implying that the dog is dangerous.

Dogs play with balls all the time (and I feel like a broken record now). A dog biting a ball is not dangerous or out of control. Honestly, you are all talking about this dog like it was running about with the head of a toddler in its mouth.

And a malicious report on a dog that was doing nothing wrong could still end up with it being seized... dogs that seized by the police come back skeletal and scared... they are kept for months whilst investigations are ongoing.

OP said the owner apologised. She has not come back (funnily enough), but I would hazard a guess that she is over the whole incident... whereas some people want the dog PTS and the owner lynched.

@XenoBitch I woudlnt want to dog traumatised or the owner shaming on social media or police involvement. I just want people to put their dogs on leads in public. I don't want dogs running up to me and my on lead dogs. I wouldn't want clothing or other possessions ruined by a 'friendly' dog jumping up at me. It's not ok. Why are you so hell bent on defending it?

On one hand you say the dog wasn't out of control and didn't do anything wrong. On the other you're congratulating the owner for apologising profusely. Why would he apologise if he thought the dog had done nothing wrong? It doesn't make any sense.

The whole debacle could have been avoided if he had just been responsible and put the dog on a lead.

The dog obviously did something wrong but not 'follow the owner home and get his address - then call the police and tell them there's a dog that bites on the loose' wrong, as suggested by a PP.

I'd put it down to a bad experience and buy cheaper ones for the park

Throughout this entire thread @XenoBitch has never entertained the idea that the dog did anything wrong. She thinks that a dog approaching people and 'playing' aka destroying their possessions is fine. The dog wasn't out of control and this is all acceptable behaviour. It isn't.

I'm not saying I'd call the police or follow the man home or shame him on social media but I would be incredibly annoyed. As I'm annoyed on the frequent occasions other people's dogs stress me out and upset my dogs when we're trying to have a quiet walk. Maybe the OTT response from some posters is because they're fed up of it too. There are so many entitled dog owners who think this behaviour is ok and it really isn't. At best it's fucking irritating and at worst it can lead to injuries for both dogs and humans.

Instead of minimising the event or blaming the op for buying an expensive ball, perhaps you explain why there is such a complex issue with putting your dog on a lead?

Yeah and it's usually dog shit

FFS, no, I do not think a dog destroying possessions is fine. I just think that people reacting with "call the police" etc is OTT and not needed at all.
And I also think that someone could be apologetic for the behaviour of their dog. But people here want the dog destroyed and the owner jailed (OK, a bit OTT, but fucking near enough).

I am also pissed off I get called an "entitled" dog owner, when my dog does not chase ball, other people, other dogs etc. I guess I am on edge at the moment because she is old and it is showing, and our time is limited 😥

I mean, I personally don't have a problem with keeping my dog on a lead when required.

Dogs aren't all sunshine and rainbows, and not all dog owners are responsible. I get that.
I also find some other owners to be tiresome, and actually bloody irritating - I actually had a bit of a to do with another owner yesterday over their dogs behaviour towards mine.

I do think that some posters have wildly over reacted, it was an accident, nothing more. But this is Mumsnet, where 9 out of 10 people hate dogs and can't bare to even cross paths with one. No, it shouldn't have happened. Hopefully the owner will take steps now to make sure it doesn't. we will never know what steps the owner would have suggested to right the situation, as the OP got loud so he rightfully walked away.

Would people be suggesting that the OP follow home another parent if their child had kicked the ball in to a stream? Would they be calling the other parent a bad parent for not being able to afford to stump up £45 to replace it?

"Dogs play with balls all the time (and I feel like a broken record now). A dog biting a ball is not dangerous or out of control. Honestly, you are all talking about this dog like it was running about with the head of a toddler in its mouth."

There are 2 scenarios here - 1) the owner was doing the "oh he is just playing" and didn't bother calling the dog back (sadly not a rare occurrence) or 2) the dog was ignoring its owner trying to call it back,

But in both cases the dog was out of control of its owner. That's what that means. If the dog doesn't have good recall, should be on a lead in the park. If the owner just can't be arsed training their dog - then they shouldn't have a dog.

Either way, the incident was the fault of the owner. A dog chasing someone else's ball - is the dog being out of control.

Sadly irresponsible owners are everywhere and I do think that's got worse since Covid.

I actually feel sorry for the good owners ie not Xenobitch Because they get tarred with the same brush and people’s tolerance now of entitled owners and their poor dogs is at a low. So people may react negatively against the decent owners and their animals, of which a fair few are on this thread. Unfair really. It never used to be this way.

"Would people be suggesting that the OP follow home another parent if their child had kicked the ball in to a stream? Would they be calling the other parent a bad parent for not being able to afford to stump up £45 to replace it?"

If it had been deliberately then probably. If it was an accident then it would be different. Accidents happen. But letting a dog loose in a public place isn't an accident, it's a choice. A choice that sadly many selfish, entitled dog owners make everyday.

And it is entitled because it's basically them thinking that their dogs right to run around trumps the right of other people who just want a peaceful walk. And if someone gets annoyed or injured or something gets damaged it's just tough. That is the height of entitlement.

"actually feel sorry for the good owners ie not Xenobitch Because they get tarred with the same brush and people’s tolerance now of entitled owners and their poor dogs is at a low. So people may react negatively against the decent owners and their animals, of which a fair few are on this thread. Unfair really. It never used to be this way."

I agree that good owners are tarred with the same brush as the bad owners these days.

It sadly just seems that the bad owners are everywhere. Letting their dogs jump up etc. happens so often.

Xenobitch comes across as a lot more measured than some.

“Sell the dog to pay for the football. Shame him on social media. The height of entitlement. The worst kind of owner.”

My dog has never failed to recall and had never bothered another person or dog in his life.

I am not allowing shit dog owners have any negative impact on my dog.

He should have paid the whole amount. It doesn't matter that it was an expensive ball. Of course, proving it cost that much is a different issue, you're unlikely to walk around with the receipt for it!

If you don't want big bills, you keep your dog under control and you don't allow it to damage other people's property (or people). Too many dog owners think the rest of the world should pander to their lifestyle choice to have a pet.

@K0OLA1D that's fine, yours isn't the sort of dog I have an issue with. It's the ones that bother us uninvited.

There are plenty on this thread calling for all dogs to be on lead all the time or even muzzled.

The lead I agree with if the owners have no control of their dog and the muzzle too if it has history. But there are still a lot of owners out there who train and socialise their dogs properly.

I do feel sorry for the collie. Mine is a collie, he's old now, but he still lives for his time off his lead. He loves the beach.

@K0OLA1D I'll be honest, even seeing an off lead dog puts me on edge because I don't know what their recall is like and I've had one too many stressful moments where off lead dogs have circled, terrified at once or twice even attacked my dogs. It's disgraceful.

However I'm reasonable enough to understand that if it's a well behaved dog that has 100% recall then it's not a threat to us.

But so many badly behaved dogs are loose simply because their owners don't care. I would say ours have about 75% recall but they are easily distracted if they see other dogs or people so I will always keep them on lead in public parks.

You've trained your dog well, many people don't bother. But they still want them to be able to run free and annoy people. It's not acceptable and it's no wonder people are becoming OTT in their response to it.

Totally understandable. We have lots of uninvited dogs approach our dog, just because he is off lead they see him as 'ok'. Which he is, but he doesn't like it or want other dogs to approach him. He is very happy to just play alone with his ball. He actively avoids other dogs.

We put a lot of training in with him but to give him credit, he was piss easy to train as he would do anything to please us, it was mostly 'just him' rather than us training him beyond what is normally expected. He likes to ask permission before jumping in long grass for example. We've never trained him that he just looks at us, doing happy feet waiting for us to say 'go on then' so he can dive head first into it.

I will never be able to have another dog, mostly due to disability, but also because another dog will never replace him

Some of you people are absolutely barking mad. Pun intended. Just completely crackers. I hope I never have the misfortune to run into any of you in real life.