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!

This is the incident which lead me to post I was walking in the woods yesterday and a bouncy dog (possibly greyhound esk) ran up behind DH who was holding DS 1s hand and promptly licked baby's face reducing him to screaming fear tears. Owners about 200yards behind shouting 'dotty' (hence why I turned) to no avail. They catch up to said dog leash it say oh you've made the baby cry walk. For 500yrds and take leash off......
I'm fuming at DH for not acting quicker and scooping DS but in reality, shouldnt we be able to take a walk also without being bothered by other people's animals. On this occasion it was 'harmless' in most people's eyes tho, assuming the dog is well looked after doesn't have worms or anything else which can be passed of through saliva.

Yeah I don’t disagree, but I’ve seen many toddlers that probably should have been on reins, their parents couldn’t cope with them either. Is it a legal requirement to have a dog on a lead? I’m a cat owner.

No, it’s a legal requirement that dogs aren’t dangerously out of control.

Seems fair. I’ve seen children behave abysmally with all parents staring on. A walk in the woods seems exactly the sort of place you might find a dog off lead. Round our way kids play parks forbid dogs, so that’s the place one could fully expect to be dog-free.

Yanbu.
Our dog is back on his lead the second we spot children. Regardless of whether we are on a beach, park or woodland walk?
Why? Cos many children are scared of dogs.

L

Furious at your husband for what, essentially, is a none event. I was on your side but now I see you’re one of those. Yes the owners in the wrong, but your DH hasn’t done anything wrong. Why didn’t you react quicker 🙄

Your children are safe, it's incredibly rare for dogs to attack random children while out on a walk with their family. There are other humans around too, and I would say they're as much of a risk.

I do think that people are more afraid of dogs now than they used to be. I think it's the XL Bully attacks on the news. The thing is that the less time children spend around animals/animals spend around children the worse both will behave towards each other. We're all making the problem worse.

Agree 👍

Quick Google search will show you that it is in fact not incredibly rare at all. ...

In 2022/23, 1,100 children under the age of 10 were admitted to hospital in England for dog bites and strikes.

Dog bites are a significant health issue for children in the UK, causing more severe facial lacerations than measles, whooping cough, and mumps combined. In the UK, around 28,000 facial dog bites are reported each year, with over 19,000 requiring plastic surgery

Why should a dog be more important than a child. They are animals

https://www.dogster.com/statistics/dog-bite-statistics-uk

So 70% of dog attacks happen inside the home, and 80% of children who are attacked are attacked by dogs they know. Attacks happen when dogs feel threatened or are possessive, like when children take toys or food away and don't understand warnings given by the dogs, such as growling.

Dogs on a walk have passed loads of people, have the means to escape stressful situations and are generally happy enjoying themselves. They have none of their possessions with them. The risk of a dog happily passing by other families and all of a sudden attacking a random child who hasn't approached it, is really really small.

I don't understand the stats on them causing more lacerations than viruses because viruses don't generally cause facial lacerations. It's an odd comparison.

A quick google also suggests there are around 6.5 million under 10s in England.

I’m not sure what you mean by facial lacerations in reference to measles, whooping cough and mumps.

Thanks for sharing that's an interesting read. I took lacerations to mean any kind of markings left on the face but agree it's bizarre wording

My dd, as a child, was bitten on her hand by a passing dog in the street. She wasn't touching it. It does happen, if infrequently.

Sorry, sent too early. You said free for all. That was wrong to me. My children (even the toddler) has been taught safety around dogs, because in my family we love animals and have dogs, cats etc.

But you said free for all! That is unacceptable and not reflected by your response.

Good luck with trying that, OP, don't you know that dogs are considered more important than mere humans and should not be told what to do. According to many threads I've seen here, if you don't like it then you are the one in the wrong and should get therapy so you will learn to like it, better dogs than children, blah blah. The country's gone fucking mad.

Not unreasonable. I have two well (professionally) trained dogs that I bring out in public but I keep them on their leads and with my husband and me at all times. We never let them approach people or other dogs on their own. I do however get frustrated when people come up and touch them or encourage their children to touch them without asking first. Just not a good or safe practice with dogs you don't know and potentially sets up the dog for a situation in which they'll be blamed if they respond poorly (bark or growl at the strange person approaching them).

Completely agree! My dogs are social and friendly, but I'm still uncomfortable with people approaching them without asking first. It leaves too much possibility for confusion or stress on my dogs.

I've had this happen as well. One of my nieces once kicked my dog (she was 5 so old enough to know better) and her mom just laughed and commented that she's glad that her daughter isn't scared of animals. This was ~18 months ago and they haven't been invited back to my home since. Editing to add, she's very very lucky that my dog is well trained and didn't react. It could have ended very badly if he had.

I don't like dogs but one of my siblings had a huge fluffy one and it was a magnet for small children. It was a rescue with a very nervous temperament, didn't like kids. It was always on lead and frequently if not almost always muzzled, but this didn't seem to make any difference. Every time I was out with them, they'd be constantly having to prise small children off him and the parents would be utterly hopeless. "Oh but of course she wants to pet him, he's so fluffy!" "She was just saying hello to the gorgeous doggy!" etc. etc. On more than one occasion a kid would be trying to climb on his back and ride him, parents just looking on smiling as if it was a Disneyland meet and greet.

He never snapped or bit but it was a constant fear for my sibling because in all cases where a child is scared or hurt, the dog faces the (usually lethal) consequences even if it was the one being poked, prodded and climbed on.

Sibling now has a very unattractive-looking dog which is much better as the kids don't like it and it doesn't like them. All parties stay away from one another and it works just fine. I wish it could be more like that as that would suit everyone better.

As a dog owner and dog lover I feel "dog owners" should respect the fact that not everyone wants to know your dog. We have a gorgeous Bernese Mountain, a spaniel and a Golden Retriever. All super friendly family dogs. However I respect that not everyone would appreciate them running over into someone else's space even though they're no threat. It's a shame that respect for other people can be seen by some as old fashioned.

We have a very big loving dog but I would never put him near a child nor allow the child too close to him. If apprpriate and the parent is there I show the child how to feed him with a treat in a flat hand. It tends to go well but of course it's very controlled.

A responsible dog owner wont let their dog approach children, adults, or other dogs unless they have been given permission to do so.
Sadly, I have had other dog owners let their dogs run up to mine, and frighten her. I have also had a child come up to my sleeping dog, and try to hit her with a toy. Thankfully, mum came and took the child away.
On the whole, parents do tell their kids to ask to pet my dog, and that is fine.

However, to me, my dog is more important than your kids. I think that line in your OP is getting some people's back up.

Excellent point. I have horses (as well as dogs and children!) and sometimes ride at the beach. The recall of some of the children there is terrible and yet I would be blamed if my horse stood on the toe of a small child that won’t leave it alone.

Again?