To think that it isn't safe for one man to be responsible for 8 dogs and a toddler all at the same time?

[MrsBennetsPoorNerves]

Just that, really. Walking in a local beauty spot with lots of uneven terrain and plenty of open water. Saw a man with 8 medium-sized dogs, all on leads, followed by a small child, who was probably around 3yo. I presume he must have been a professional dog walker or similar.

AIBU to think that no single adult can safely take responsibility for that many dogs and a small child all at the same time?

I thought after the awful case of the woman mauled to death by the pack she was supposed to be walking, that numbers were to be capped. 2 or 3 max. But that would of course mean that the dog owners would have to pay more to have their animals exercised safely.

Well he definitely isn't poop scooping...

Big dogs / little dogs? Were they all walking well on their lead? Too many questions to answer without making assumptions. I could walk that amount of dogs if they were trained properly as mine are but would struggle to walk two of my friends useless untrained Covid dogs.

I'd say that they were mostly medium sized. One bigger one and two slightly smaller ones, but no extremes either way.

And yes, as far as I could tell, they were all walking on their leads obediently enough. They stopped when he stopped to chivy along the toddler.

But even so, I felt that it was too much all at once. It's interesting that nearly 1 in 5 people seem to disagree.

Edited to note that it's now more like 1 in 10 that seem to disagree.

I didn't see any of them pooing, so hard to say for sure, but it does seem unlikely!

I agree. I can't manage two labradors on my own and we walk them separately.

Yes, I thought of that awful case. The dogs did seem well behaved, but there is always the possibility that something unpredictable might happen.

I have 4...i can manage 3 and poop scooping.. 8? Local council here banned walking more than 4 owned /as a walker a few years ago.

That seems pretty sensible to me.

If they’re walking obediently I don’t really see the issue. They could potentially all be his - some people do have a lot of dogs! My friend had to call the dog warden here about a dog walker we saw who had her twin toddlers with her and neither the dogs or the toddlers were under control at all. In the end one of the toddlers nearly got hit by a car in the car park as she was trying to get the dogs back into her van (without much luck) - my friend had to grab the child to stop her running behind a reversing car. But your situation sounds really different.

One large -well trained- dog and a toddler is enough for me, wouldn’t be comfortable with another as I need one hand for each of them. How does he pick up the poo?!

I imagine the same way as everyone else. Stop. Instruct the dog(s) to "wait". The dog(s) sit(s) down, you hold the lead with one hand and pick up the poo with another. Give the dog the release command, carry on your journey.

8 dogs at a time without the child is pushing it imo.

I guess that's why I'm asking the question. If the dogs and/or the toddler had been clearly out of control, then it would be a no-brainer.

However, I think animals and small children can behave in unexpected ways, and if something unpredictable had occurred, I don't see how he could have managed things.

I think that with well behaved, well trained dogs and one owner, there is a sense of complacency that is misguided and I wouldn't want a child any where near that.

If the dogs are with a dog walker who doesn't know the ins and outs of each dog, I'd double down on not wanting a child anywhere near that situation.

All it takes is for one dog to get a whiff of a squirrel or prey for example and the others can join in. I trust my own dogs as far as I can but if one reacts unexpectedly, the other can join in and and it ends up with misdirected agression. That can be difficult to predict and impossible to control. Add in another 6 dogs all reacting to instinct rather than training and it becomes clear that control is an illusion. Very few dogs are trained well enough that prey behaviour can be completely surpressed when in a group of dogs all reacting individually. I wouldn't put a child, a dog or myself in that position. It doesn't need to be a sustained attack but simply a poorly placed bite or two to cause fatal injuries.

Thanks. You've articulated my concerns much more effectively than I could have done.

The problem is, 3 year olds are unpredictable. Even the most well behaved child can suddenly get spooked / distracted/ unsure of foot / etc. If they fell over into water, how quickly could he SAFELY get to the child without causing harm to the dogs / other people? If she runs off, how competently can he chase her with all those dogs?

Unless on reins I can still hold, I'd never take a toddler somewhere like that unless I constantly had a free hand for just in case.

Way too many potential lose cannons. 9 unpredictable beings is too many for one person to be responsible for and keep safe.

Okay, if that works, great—but the toddler? Cleaning up after eight dogs, even if they were robotically perfect, would mean regularly taking attention away from the child and leaving no hands free to grab them should they need it.

Holding eight dogs in one hand is also risky. What if one of the dogs were to lunge at the toddler, but the walker had both hands occupied? Not sensible.

Where I live you can only have a max of 4 dogs per person. Ive got a dog & would struggle with 2 so can completely agree that a max of 4 is appropriate.

In answer to your question, I don't think he could safely be in charge of 4 dogs (no matter the size or breed) and a pre-schooler. Utter madness

It sounds like he has a job as a dog walker and can’t afford childcare, or has otherwise chosen to look after his child while working. I don’t think it’s hugely practical or safe no.

I don’t know. Some 3 year olds are very predictable. I had one who I would happily have around water/fire, riding her bike quite far ahead of me, etc because she was extraordinarily sensible from the moment she could walk. My other - not so much!

That said - I’m not a dog owner and @Blistory makes really valid points so I’m going to err on the side of the OP is being reasonable!

I think 8 dogs is far too many - if something really set them off there's no way he could control them all - and also must take up so much space that it's a public nuisance. I wonder if their owners know that he walks 7 other dogs at the same time as theirs? The child makes it much worse but it's not an ok set up to begin with.

Sorry to be a pedant but she was actually killed by her own dog an XL bully. Yes she was walking others at the time and they were there but none of the other dogs bit her, it was proved that it was her own dog that actually attacked and killed her. Very sad though

I agree that it isn’t safe. I have one golden retriever and I don’t even take him out with my toddler on my own because I couldn’t guarantee that I’d be able to keep both of them safe if something spooked the dog and he tried to run away. I can control him if I’m on my own but I would struggle while also being in charge of a toddler. I definitely couldn’t manage 8.