To ask dog owners to keep there dogs away from my my children?

[SparklyPeachMama]

I don't dislike dogs what I dislike is dog owners who think there dogs are more important than my children. You dog might be friendly but I'm not willing to test your theory on my babies.
Your dog should never be closer to me/my family than it is you? If your dogs recall isn't good it shouldn't be off lead when other people are around!

Really?

OP literally said " what I dislike is dog owners who think there dogs are more important than my children"

She made it an issue in her opening post.

Kids need good recall too, I don’t want your snot goblin touching me or my dog 😆 at least ask first.

Dogs need some freedom to run around and expend energy, and I would assume it is good and healthy for them. If someone is walking on a footpath with a dog across an empty grassy field, I see no problem with taking the dog off the lead and letting it run free. The problem is not dogs running around, it is dog owners that are not in control of their dog(s) i.e. they cannot call them back or let them loose in fields where livestock are present and cannot/won't stop them chasing sheep. I strongly suspect this has got worse since the pandemic, when people likely got dogs for company during repeated lockdowns but are clueless or couldn't be bothered to train/socialise them properly. All issues like this across the country come down to the same cause:- thoughtless people.

Agreed. However my point is most dogs 'running free' are not under control and totally recallable. The exception to that might be fully trained sheepdogs, working dogs, assistance dogs. Your average pet-despite what their owner(s) might say-will ignore a recall when their blood is up/they are excited/chasing something/someone.
A careful read through the comments on this thread show that a LOT of people have had bad/uncomfortable encounters with dogs who are no doubt much loved pets but which are not properly controlled.
On top of that I live in the countryside and unfortunately it is a regular and horrifying reality that there are attacks on wildlife and farm animals as well as other pets and dogs-all carried out by dogs just 'running free', often with owners who say they have perfect recall and are under control. Until they aren't.

Agree. I live rurally. I run along a track which I always assumed was public, there no signs to say otherwise, it leads to a disused railway line.
I have done this for about 20 years, and know other walkers and runner do, too.
During the pandemic the farmer put a bunch of Private signs up. I know someone who lives up the track and he told me that it's a working farm and people were treating the place like a play park - having picnics, leaving their rubbish, letting their dogs run across the fields etc. Thankfully the owner is happy for a few people he knows to still run along there, but other people who may have respectfully used it less often have lost out due to the ignorance of a few.

Do you know? I feel exactly the same but in reverse. I wish parents would keep their children away from my dog.

I don't see it as dog bashing. Not the fogs fault, the owner is the one that should be in control, and so therefore making the decisions.

Agree with that too.

Some parents and children think all dogs are friendly. Not all dogs are friendly.

Some dogs may be friendly, but frightened by someone getting to close and touching them when they are not expecting it. ( let's face it we wouldn't be happy if a stranger just walked up and gave us a hug, or patted us on the head without warning, do why should a dog be).

Most parents urge their kid to ask permission when they approach my dog. My dog is not the usual cute breed though (as per my username).
I know people with small fluffy breeds, and chihuahuas . They have kids approach all the time, and get pretty pissed off with it too. I know a lady who has a chi who would take your face off if you went near them.

This absolutely. People are becoming much less tolerant of dogs because so many are owned by entitled irresponsible idiots.

and here we have the problem which causes all the issues… no child is going to suddenly cause life threatening or life changing injuries to you or your family or your dog.

My dog is more important than you and your family. She’s mine, I don’t know you or your kids.
once your kids have the same recall and have manners to ask to pet my dog before grabbing at her with sticky kid paws I’ll have the same respect.

Completely agree.

Went out for a walk yesterday and encountered five off-lead dogs in the space of a minute (not all with the same owner/dog walker). Most of them ignored me but of course there is always one that doesn't.

Unless you know that your dog will ignore other people (and dogs for that matter) you keep it on a short lead at all times.

What a stupid comment.

No small child has injured or killed anyone. Plenty of dogs do, it costs the NHS a huge amount treating dog bites and other injuries caused by dogs, including indirect ones like causing someone to fall off their bikes.

Some parents and children think all dogs are friendly. Not all dogs are friendly

Some owners do as well. Even though their pet clearly isn't.

YANBU

I can't bear when people let their dogs near me, let alone my child. I'm not taking the risk. When they say 'oh don't worry, he's friendly!' I just say 'I don't care, get him away from us'

It's the arrogance of presuming someone wants a dog touching them that gets me. No concern whatsoever about people who have allergies, or phobias. I've even had a muddy dog run up to me and put their paws on my clothes, leaving mud, and the owners not apologise.

I have the oppose problem! I have a tiny chihuahua and the number of times young, unsupervised children have come up and tried to touch him and pick him up is awful. Poor little guy is terrified of kids now and starts shaking once they're near :(

No recall, no offlead. Anyone who just shouts "it's ok s/he's friendly!" needs a poke in the eye, and I say this as a dog owner.

Dog owners I think (irresponsible ones)

Tell that to the elderly person who gets knocked over by the kid scootering in the supermarket. A childhood friend's grandmother went into hospital with a pelvic fracture after being knocked over in those circumstances, completely lost her confidence, and had to be admitted to a home after discharge.

Everyone needs to be considerate, frankly, and that goes for parents and dog owners.

Another dog owner here ( dalmatian so very exciteable and crazy) totally agree with you. Mine is reliable until something or someone exciting comes along so he's mostly on the lead.

There has been a surge of new and inexperienced dog owners due to lockdown, and the upsurge in rescues from overseas with hard to handle dogs being sent to inexperienced families.

I keep my dog away from children and dogs, because I am trying to encourage calm behaviour. He's very friendly and good natured but every single dog is unpredictable, so it's not worth the risk.

I agree, it annoys me when other owners have dogs off lead, who come running up, shouting "its ok he/she is friendly", that might be the case but its hard for me to then contain a large breed dog who is tempted to play.

so YANBU, it's an issue I struggle with too, in a different way

You are required by law to keep your dog under control.

I wish it was law to keep children under control too.

(Yes, I have children).

My flu is receeding but I'm still stuck in bed so I'm back on this thread.

Can I ask everyone making this kind of point (I just chose this one post, sorry!)

...regarding the 'my dog is more important than you or your child' type arguments- in what regard is it that the dog is more important than the child?

i.e. is it more important that my dog can run around wherever it likes than having to be tethered/under strict verbal control?

Or
My dog hates wearing a lead so his personal wishes are more important to be upheld?

Or
My dog gets really upset when asked to heel because he knows he's a good boy and he finds it really patronising so I would rather not ask him to?

I'm just struggling to see what it is in the context of this discussion (please keep dogs under control/away from children- and do not allow them to approach) that can possibly mean that the dog is more important.

I've taken on board the 'don't let kids approach dogs' argument and put that to one side, because:

1. I agree and have made that point already, as have many others
2. It's just a different point to the one raised by OP and therefore isn't a direct argument to what is being discussed.

But I want to make it clear that in the case of a kid approaching a dog, I can understand the dog becoming more important, just that's not what we are discussing here.

It would be very interesting to compare how many little old ladies get knocked over by scooters versus how many dogs run at random people - I think we know which is the winner by a long, long way. Of course scooting in a supermarket is unacceptable behaviour - but it’s rare - unacceptable canine behaviour is rife as are the injuries caused by them.