I’m so tired of people with dangerous dogs ruining the park for everyone else.

[Purplehat123]

I’m so tired of people with dangerous dogs ruining the park for everyone else.

Every time I take my children and our small cavapoo to the park, there’s always someone with an intimidating dog off the lead. Yesterday it was a man with a huge German Shepherd (and I mean huge), a bully breed on a lead, and an Akita off the lead just wandering around.

This is a busy, very suburban park, full of families and young children. And there I am, trying to scoop up my two toddlers, push the pram with the baby, grab the dog, and move away as fast as possible because I am not taking the risk of one of those dogs attacking. And let’s be honest, if something did happen, I’d have to sacrifice my dog to protect my children.

Even the two dogs that were technically on a lead, if they decided to go for another dog or child, there’s no way he could have held them back. They were enormous, powerful breeds.

And don’t get me started on the Akita. It was off-lead, trotting around freely as if that’s totally normal. Akitas were originally bred to guard property and hunt large game, including bears. They are strong, territorial, and known for being aggressive toward other dogs. They can be incredibly unpredictable and are not the type of breed you let wander freely in a public park full of children and pets.

Today it was a woman with a giant Rottweiler off-lead, paying absolutely no attention while she scrolled on her phone. Again, no control, no awareness. Rottweilers were originally bred to drive cattle and guard livestock, and they are incredibly strong, protective dogs. They have a natural guarding instinct, which can easily turn dangerous when not properly controlled. It’s no coincidence that they feature in so many fatal dog attacks, especially involving children. The number of child deaths caused by Rottweilers is horrifying and well-documented. It doesn’t matter how sweet you think your dog is at home but when a dog like that turns, it’s too late to stop it.

Far too many times my own dog, who is a total wimp and literally gets bullied by a chihuahua, has been attacked by dogs whose owners claim, “Oh, they never normally do that.” It’s always after the fact, once the damage is done.

And honestly, it’s the complete lack of awareness that really gets me. You might think your dog is friendly, but when you’re letting it freely wander up to children and other dogs, especially massive, powerful breeds, it’s terrifying. It might not scare you, but to everyone else, it’s incredibly intimidating.

I love dogs. I grew up with them. But this constant anxiety when I take my children out is exhausting. I shouldn’t have to be on high alert every time we go to the park because someone refuses to take basic responsibility for an animal that could cause serious harm.

Just ban all dogs. Then there would be no more deaths by dog, no more barking. It would literally be a win/win situation.

People don't bother training their little yappy monsters because they can pick them up. It is lazy dog ownership.

ALL dogs should be well trained, not just big dogs.

I say we ban humans. They are the cause of the most deaths (and noise).

But we are humans. Who would enforce the ban?

Dogs 😆

The biggest threat to a child's life is not a dog in a park but males within their 'family' be it related or not. Maybe look at Uncle Bob instead of Rex.

I work in the Pet industry and see more bites and savage attacks from cockapoos that any other breed

Agreed. This 'the breed is irrelevant' nonsense is getting old. I can kick a yappy little terrier away if it starts snapping at my kids. I couldn't do the same with a Rottweiler.

You’re funny 😂
I mean, by all means start a petition if you want to waste your time. It’ll never happen.

😂

Thing is, you can all argue until you’re blue in the face but dogs aren’t going anywhere. They’re allowed in many more places than they used to be allowed and whether you agree with it or not, it’s kind of tough shit.
So you have a few options

1. go to places where dogs are and tut your heads off and then start a thread about it or
2. avoid places where dogs are or
3. lighten the fuck up

Spot on.
it makes me laugh when people go to a place that has a massive sign saying 'Dogs Welcome', photos of visiting dogs on the wall, a jar of biscuits on the counter - and they go on to complain that dogs are there, and that people who take dogs there are "entitled and selfish", oh, and "brainless idiots".
And they come out with crap like "just because you can does not mean you should" etc

I’m a dog owner and believe dogs should be on a lead and under control.
Most dog owners have no control over their dogs and often don’t even care what they do.
Many dogs are easily spooked and will behave like the animals they are ie bite/attack or run off after a squirrel and end up in traffic.

People need to boycott shops and eateries that allow dogs. Instead of moaning about it online, take your business elsewhere to businesses that put the needs of paying customers above the "needs" of dogs. Because it's not like dogs actually enjoy being taken to shops or restaurants. They'd rather be in a nice dog enclosure at the zoo where they can be outside with other dogs.

i agree that too many owners don’t pay attention to their dogs and that some can cause more damage purely due to size and strength, I would like to point out that the two worst injuries to humans I witnessed were from a cockerpoo and pug. Both these injuries needed extensive plastic surgery.
i hear your concern about bigger dogs, they can cause greater injury in a faster time period but other than bullies I don’t think they are likely to be more aggressive.
Aggression is more complex than many realise as it’s often reactive and once explained personally understandable, ie if a dog has an injury and in pain, barking is the only way of telling other dogs to back off.
Best practice is to have dogs always under control and assume the worst and work backwards. I have also witnessed bad behaviour in Labs but owners tend to be completely blind to this possibility. In a nutshell, there are too many clueless owners but bigger dogs are not necessarily more dangerous.

A dog enclosure at the zoo? 😂

People here will argue until they're blue in the face that breed doesn't matter. It absolutely does. ALL animals are unpredictable. They are still animals that have things like prey drive and guarding instinct. It's genetics. You cannot love or train ingrained genetic instincts out of a dog. That's why people buy different breeds. Because they are known for different traits. There is a reason you don't typically get Labradors mauling people.

No one should be letting an animal that is capable of killing someone off a lead, especially in a place with children. I like dogs and dogs like Rotties and German Shepherds can be great dogs, but that doesn't change the fact that they can kill. People love to compare breeds and say 'but chihuahuas' etc, but the reality is that even a child could boot away one, and grown adults certainly could. That being said, I believe all dogs should be on leads, and certainly at public parks designed for families.

You're not crazy to be wary of a large animal capable of mauling and don't let anyone make you think otherwise. I have a 1 year old, and I avoid big dogs if I see one coming. I don't let any strange dog at all close to my baby's pram. It's not worth it.

As for me, I like dogs and will stroke them all lol, but still believe animals should be treated with some wariness and respect, and also believe owners should stop their dogs going up to random people.

Let me get this right.

So the dogs didn’t approach your dog, gave you no reason at all to think they are aggressive and in fact 2 of them were on a lead?

But because of their breed you’re not happy? Wow!

It's not daft to pick up a small dog around a large dog that has a notorious prey drive (your cold greyhound doesn't mean most are to be trusted). One bite will kill a small dog, a small cocker or bigger could take a thrashing from a greyhound but in toy breeds a shake will break their spine/puncture their organs/disembowel them. Sighthounds are wonderful and my dog of choice but after hunting with them and seeing what they are when they're not in bed mode I'd never judge someone for picking up their small dog around mine - to do so would be to expect them to bet their dog's life on my dog's good nature and why should they.

Greys aren't socialised to other breeds of dogs when bred for racing and it often manifests in prey drive or aggression towards unfamiliar breeds aswell as an affinity for their own kind. You're not special for having a big dog - there's so much snobbery towards small dogs from people who have large breeds. A true dog lover imo can appreciate all breeds and appreciation means what the dog was meant to do vs just it being attached to a human. A small companion breed dog's job is being a happy friend in a typical home and typical garden while not burdening their owner with OTT exercise/behavioural needs and they typically do this much better than big dogs judging from the posts on the doghouse.

This is the most sensible thing you’ve said!!
Yes, PLEASE can all the dog haters fuck off elsewhere. That would be lovely

Spot on!!

I run regularly with my medium sized working breed off the lead. She wouldn’t scare you too much OP as she’s not a large typically aggressive breed. She has no desire to interact with other dogs and doesn’t want small curly things chasing her, jumping and barking. Which very often happens. Of course then it would be my dogs fault if anything happened as she would be the larger dog, even when she’s been jumped, nipped and barked at by a small dog with no recall for some time without reacting.

the worst behaved dogs in my experience are the fashionable cockapoo, cavapoo type dogs and dachshunds. They tend to be poorly trained and because they’re cute people let them get away with stuff they shouldn’t and because they’re small they let them get away with bad behaviour that wouldn’t be tolerated in larger breeds.

I got chased and bitten by a cavapoo when out running. It had zero recall and gave zero shits about its owners feeble attempts to call it back. They did apologise and I just told them to keep it on a lead as it clearly wasn’t trained. This has never happened with a German shepherd!

I have had a little dog, gorgeous but very reactive and a big dog, gorgeous but a complete scaredy cat. Literally hides behind us when approached by anything. So I'm not sure it's a breed thing, it's a dog thing. Having said that, far more scary to see a huge dog running towards you than a tiny one. And with a tiny dog at least you stand a chance of booting it out of the way. It can be nerve wracking if there are lots of dogs off lead because of course you only know your dog. We have started booking a dog field much more often because it's less stressful.

I’m on about my challenged migrant teenage son who likes to approach strangers and dig his nails into their chests while yelling at them and occasionally licking their faces.

Sometimes he yells at children and now and again attacks them. He doesn’t stop when I shout his name.

Most days he defecates on the floor in public, and regularly urinates on playground equipment.

And it’s fine, right ? He’s allowed to do this stuff. My definitely real challenged migrant son.

I’d have kicked it in the bouche.