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!

There are people advocating kicking dogs on here. Just for being near them. Nobody said that about children.

Yes please point out where its the law

Well, we need kids to look after people when they get old!

I'm a dog lover and dog owner and don't disagree with this 🤷🏻‍♀️

My dog is always on a lead in public and under my control. I've had numerous toddlers run up to us with an ineffectual parent either encouraging it or telling them in a really pathetic tone to come back to them.

Keep your kids away from my dog too please. Thanks.

Their dogs

People should keep dogs and children under control.

No-one should be kicking dogs or children.

I like dogs more than children.

Anyone who thinks it’s ok to kick a dog who hasn’t approached them, just for being near them, is a terrible person - that’s not ok!

Another one saying it’s often kids that are the problem, not dogs.

I have four dogs. Never bother anyone. On the other hand, kids? Constantly running up to them, stroking their backs as they walk past them in the street and, this morning, coming up behind my dogs whilst we queued for a coffee and wrapping their arms around my dogs throat and trying to hang off it from behind.

Naturally if my dog had snapped at the child for doing that, it would have been my dog that suffered - not the ill-behaved, feral, child.

Dog owner here - YADNBU

Also though - there are lots of parents out there who view my dog as some sort of socialising experience for-their children.

I really love dogs and can't wait to have one again. We are holding off until my toddler is older. I hate dogs jumping up on me or the children though. A wee yorkie jumped up on my dc in the buggy the other day. Thankfully, she loves dogs and loved it, but even small dogs can really scare young children.

I agree. We're puppy training at the moment and I wouldn't dream of letting ours go up to someone's children knowing full well she might jump up and scare them. Likewise, until her recall is sound, I only take her off lead when no one is around.

I think a child has approached my dog maybe twice in 4 years, dogs approach my dog several times a day. If you are being approached by children, you're in the wrong environment with your dog.

Going shopping in the city centre? Leave your dog at home.

Going to a cafe? Leave your dog at home.

Going on the school run? Leave your dog at home.

Going to a play area? Leave your dog at home.

Dogs are allowed in these places, because it makes economic sense for businesses, not because it is socially acceptable. Use some common sense as a dog owner and have some respect for the fact that people will have well-founded fears of dogs due to the proliferation of bad dog owners.

Children are fairly regularly being killed by dogs in their own homes and attacked in public, yet it is still more socially acceptable on MN to set up straw man defences about people needing to control their children better, than engage with the issue of poor dog ownership.

It really should not be, for the welfare of your dog. Even if a child provokes a dog, one bite and your dog will be in bother. You need to maintain control of the situation.

Why? I’m a dog owner & voted YANBU

My dog is my assistance dog. He wears a harness to indicate same and he has been trained by an accredited dog trainer to the appropriate level and passed a test for same.

He is allowed shopping, in a cafe, I don't do a school run but he's allowed on the boat with me for example when I travel by ferry.

You are being ableist.

Couldn't agree more op. Everyone swears blind their dog is "so friendly" until it isn't.

If a dog is going to attack a child then it should be muzzled.

Children’s safety trump dogs’ comfort every single time.

Yes, children shouldn’t be approaching strangers dogs. But dogs should be under control enough so that they don’t react like that.

We avoid anywhere that kids maybe, when walking our dogs.

There are 13.5 million dogs in the UK, 7000 of them are assistance dogs. My crap maths skills makes that 0.05% of dogs are assistance dogs. I don’t want to speak for anyone else in the thread but I IMAGINE the majority of us are talking about the 99.95% of dogs.

If you didn't mean assistance dogs you should have said so.

I was not intending to be ableist, assistance dogs have historically been allowed in places pets are not, as they should be. They are always harnessed and beautifully trained. I do not include assistance dogs in my rant above, thank you for pointing that out @Baileys

I literally did in my only other reply on here! I said the Jack Russel in Waitrose who jumped on my child did not have a bib and was not well behaved - I apologise if that Jack Russell was indeed a service dog

Thank you.

To be clear, my dog has never jumped up at a child (or anyone else for that matter, except in the house when he is "off duty" and being played with).

Not just children.

I go walking by myself and it's a rare walk where I don't have at least one dog jump up at me. With the owners far too far away, either shouting ineffectivley for the dog to come back or shouting "oh he's friendly" I don't care . Bloody keep your dog under control!

Most decent owners don't allow it to happen but that minority who do is getting bigger.

I was out walking a few weeks ago and the dog was trying to herd me. Owners just laughed as said oh he's friendly and likes to do that. Well I don't. I don't want to rounded up by an untrained dog. He came from behind me and almost tripped me up on a narrow path. Bloody menace was what him and his owners were.