Dog ate my picnic

[givingitupok]

Had a picnic with my child today in our local park. Random dog (Shar Pei) appeared out of nowhere and ran over to us. I stood up and picked up my child and ran in a panic and stood behind a tree (probably looked like a total fool doing so but there was nowhere else to go without running towards the dog!). No idea where the owner was at this point. Watched the dog eating our food and also drooling all over our lunch box. Owner suddenly appeared from a path that lead into the park screaming at her dog to 'get here now'. Dog totally ignored her and she had to grab it and literally drag it away and put the lead on it. She apologised but when I asked her if she was going to pay for our food she actually had the gall to say 'you should have picked it up when you saw him coming' !!! I have just got home and this literally only happend 45 mins ago so am still fuming. She did not pay for our food and despite initially apologising, was incredibly arsey and walked off in the opposite direction. My child is very upset and the worst bit is, he has SEN and made everything in the lunch box himself (spread the sandwiches, cut up the apples, broke the chocolate into pieces to fit it in the container, etc). This was quite a big thing for him and he's really upset. I am also on a low income and spent a lot on the food. I took a photo of her and it clearly has her face in it. Not sure why but I just felt like I had to do something. I am not going to name and shame, but I'm just so angry.

Not sure what I want from this thread. Just rather pissed off.

i did criticise the dog owner
but i also criticised the shitty attitude of photographing people and shaming them on facebook

Oh no! The original middle class sin! Never write of an experience that has been reported in the Daily Fail.

Our Ddog is always on the lead in public so he wouldn't have have been able to approach you. However as far as he would be concerned that was unattended food so fair game.
I appreciate that not everyone likes dogs and one running towards you was probably scary if you aren't used to them but hiding behind a tree seems a bit extreme. It probably would have buggered off if you had shouted at it and you could have enjoyed your picnic.
Owner should have appologised though

A-star trolling.

The only irresponsible person here is the dog owner who didn’t have their dog under control.

If the dog had been under control then it wouldn’t have been anywhere near the food.

It is not for the general public to make sure that everywhere is safe for dogs. It is down to the dog owners to make sure dogs don’t get into anything they shouldn’t.

OP I’ve only read your posts and the first few responses which seemed mostly sensible but it was totally not your fault. I’m sorry the dog owner ruined your son’s hard work and upset the day.

It made sense you picking up the kid and moving away, if you had been bit or your child reacted badly to the dog no doubt the critics would say you should have moved away. From your responses I am guessing the irresponsible entitled type of dog owners have found your thread.

FWIW a few years ago we had a work picnic, there were about 8 adults all sitting around food. No one ran when the dog came up so it wasn’t left unattended but it still quickly stuck its head inside a share bag of crisps - gross!

The owner was standing around looking on no apology -my manager noticed I was looking tense and told the owner very assertively to take its dog away immediately .

It also happened to be a pitbull looking type of dog. Small-ish but very muscular. I was very uneasy even though I didn’t shout or move etc.

It really frustrated me so many public spaces are impacted by dogs. I don’t want to have a picnic and have to watch out for dogs or watch where I walk because of dog
shit or sit somewhere and smell dog piss everywhere.

I honestly feel we need more dog free spaces. It’s no use saying keep them on the lead or pick up after them because while most owners will comply - many won’t and it ruins things for everyone.

We need some parks that are dog friendly- but some parks that are dog free. Same goes for coffee shops etc

@Gardeninrags why the hell should the OP pay the vet bill. If the idiot of an owner had had it on a lead the dog couldn’t have ate the grapes
if you know your dogs liable nick peoples food, put it on a lead

If the dog was going to bite them, it wouldn't have stopped to eat the picnic.

It may be ‘fair game’ but if a dog is on a lead it’s irrelevant as a well-trained dog won’t be able to eat the food.

Anyway I am not scared of most dogs. But have still had a picnic ruined by an out of control dog who rampaged through and nuzzled all the food we were sitting down eating. We did not run but it still ate the food or slobbered over it.

4th brandish of the shitty stick. Most people have rumbled you now, off you pop.

Are you serious? I am dog phobic but it's nothing to do with when I was a child, it happened later on. If a dog was running towards me I would probably freeze but if I had a child with me I would likely run away to protect them. You might not like dogs but you're clearly not afraid of them.

Thats is precisely what the first sentence of my post said.

I know. So what is the point of saying food is fair game to a dog? It’s irrelevant if the owner is good.

Haven’t read the full thread but if anyone is saying OP should pay a vet bill thats idiotic and I sincerely hope they don’t own dogs as they’re clearly not aware of the rights and responsibilities of dog owners.

Dog owners are required to keep their dog under control - running up to strangers and scoffing a picnic would be considered as being “out of control” under the dangerous dogs act legislation which applies irrespective of the breed of animal.

The owner was the one who acted in breach of legislation. Not OP. No criminal or civil court in the land would award the dog owner damages for their negligence which if anything resulted in a financial loss for OP or punish OP for anything.

I had a resident in my apartment block let her dog run full pelt and jump on me while I was checking my mail. It scratched me (by accident no doubt) and she didn’t apologise. The second time I saw her and the dog approaching, I said keep your dog on a leash and away from me - if you’re not able to control it off leash it’s in breach of legislation. Fact.

Daft woman tried to argue with me so I reported her to the building management and they sent a note to all dog owners asking them to keep their dogs on a leash. But it’s ridiculous they even had to be told that.

Tbh I am renting now but if I ever buy an apartment I would make sure they don’t allow dogs since I’m basically forced into sharing the communal spaces with often poorly trained dogs,

Some owners have let their dogs urinate in the lift and not cleaned it up and a neighbour told me she seen a shit in the carpark. In my former flat we used to get emails asking us to clean up after our dogs in the rooftop garden. It put me off so much I never went there as based on the frequency of the letters it seemed like it was full of shit 😆

And in fairness to the dogs I don’t think it’s the best environment for dogs to be living in an apartments with no garden. Which is probably where some of the problematic behaviour comes from.

Oh dear, I'm afraid my naughty hound once snaffled a cheese sandwich from a fisherman! I didn't know the fisherman was there (hidden in a wooded bit at the side of a lake in one of those little tent things) and I was mortified! Couldn't stop apologising and offered to buy the gentleman lunch. Fortunately it was a left over sandwich, he loved my dog and found it all very funny but I now don't allow the hairy one off the lead in that area until I am sure there are no hidden fishers!
Rotten experience for you OP and I'm sorry your day was ruined. I hope the dog doesn't get ill either. The dog was just doing what dogs do. The owner wasn't doing what she should have been doing.

Righty ho. Child, tick; ND/with SEN, tick; low income single mum, tick; dog; tick; dog off lead, tick; shouty unapologetic woman owner, tick; dog eats poison chocolate, tick; dog eats even more poisonous grapes and a WHOLE punnet, tick; poor OP has no idea, tick; real time updates….. yeah, ok Felicia. 🙄

Don't be daft, the owner let her mutt run wild in the park therefore she takes responsibility for all it does, vets bills if any should be paid by her.
If anything the irresponsible owner should pay for the picnic her mutt stole and reported to NSPCC for frightening the bejesus out of a small child

Anyway I think you're on a wind up

Just think of all the situations that could be avoided if by law all dogs were muzzled and kept on a leash in public.

Ah another below par dog-owner. You give the good ones a bad name. Do better.

Both grapes and chocolate toxic to dogs, so I imagine the owner will get her just desserts. Likely the dog will need a visit to the vet for explosive tummy - and grapes can even kill some dogs.

Well, that’s where the karma lies.. if the dog ate all the chocolate, chances are she may be at home wondering what is wrong with her dog or at the vets very soon.

I have every respect & tollerence for assistance dogs and their owners. The rest I could do without,especially owners who allow their dogs to run wild in childrens play parks. There should be a law against this.There are plenty of empty fields in the area I live which are far more appropriate for exercising dogs yet they insist on taking them to our local play park.

🙄

It's fine to feel bad for the dog, it's not the dog's fault it hasn't been trained properly! I'm sorry for you and your son, particularly as he'd put so much effort into it :(.