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.

I don't think any dogs should be off lead in parks, but I'm not seeing what the dogs you mention were doing wrong? It sounds like you don't like big dogs, which is fine, but assuming they are all dangerous seems misguided.

I have a massive GSD who is ridiculously passive, but she gets lots of people giving her a wide berth purely judging her on her breed rather than anything she's done. On the other hand, I have a small whippet who everyone assumes is really cute and friendly, but she is still very nervous bites if she feels threatened, so is always on a lead and muzzled in public.

The poster you have replied to has said why it’s not a phobia, and you have ignored that. It’s not a phobia to want dogs to be under proper control and to feel unable to enjoy a park in the same way when there are off lead dogs, including, to use examples from the OP, Akitas and Rottweilers. There are loads of examples on this thread of anti-social behaviour by dog owners. To suggest those on the receiving end of it need treatment is offensive frankly.

Where’s the anti social behaviour from dog owners on here? The anti dog lot have threatened to poison and beat dogs to death with walking sticks or some such shite. Dogs are allowed to exist and are allowed to be off lead on occasion whether you like it or not.

Again - where in the OP does she say the dogs she witnessed weren’t under control?
Also - OP has a problem with dogs she doesn’t like being on a lead as well.

If I was as anxious around dogs that are minding their own business as the OP is - scooping up her dog and children and legging it out of the park just because a dog she doesn’t like is in her vicinity, then I would consider that a me problem.

Incidentally, I had my first experience of an ‘off lead out of control’ dog yesterday when I was walking in my local park. My first experience of it in my entire life. A giant staffy came running over to me and my friend and jumped up at both of us. Owner tried to recall, dog ignored him.
Was it ideal? No, of course not. Did I get hysterical about it? Of course I didn’t. We had a normal life (I.e. not a MN embellished version) exchange where the owner apologised, said something about him being desperate to play with everyone, we said don’t worry about it and we all… y’know… moved on. No harm done.

The point is there is no way people will know which big breed dog they come across is aggressive or not. What do you suggest? They ‘wait and see’? Not really a reasonable plan when by the time you find out it might be game over for their small dog

the fact is the small dog owners are taking responsibility by picking up their dog. You taking exception to it is a you problem.

i don’t think anyone has ever been savaged to death by a Pomeranian.

Christ alive. You posted at almost midnight. Do you think it’s reasonable to accuse a poster as ‘not bothering’ to rely when it’s that late at night?

I have an Old English Bulldog - he is really scared of small dogs, they bark at him and he doesn’t understand why. He is incredibly gentle with kids, and all humans, but is wary of other dogs, especially little ones.
he is always on the lead in public, even though he has better recall than DH & DC!!!
you can’t blame the breed, blame the training and the owners, but also, all dogs are, of course, animals and you wouldn’t ever leave them alone with your little ones, no matter what the breed.

Yes, they really can.
Dog wandering about, sniffing, minding their own business, ignoring you = not aggressive
Dog baring it’s teeth, growling, snapping etc = aggressive

Dogs (with the exception of the XL Bully) that are aggressive are actually afraid dogs. They think they’re under threat by something - usually brought on by a bad experience or improper socialising when young pups.

They will (again, with the exception of an XL) give several warnings before actually attacking you in the majority of cases. A random off lead Rottie running over to a stranger in a park simply to maul it is vanishingly rare. As others stated, most serious dog attacks happen in the home.

She also gave me precisely 11 minutes before telling me I hadn’t bothered to reply 😂

I mean the ones picking up their little dogs might well be doing so to prevent a situation where your dog gets bitten, picking them up keeps them under control and stops that happening.

My little dog takes exception to snuffly snorty breathers having been hurt by a staffy before, anything that breathes that way she's going to have a reaction to, so I pick her up to prevent the situation - because I know how she is, not because I automatically think that the other dog is going to eat her and am clutching my pearls over a 'bully' type dog.

She doesn't react to any other dog like that, and in the same way yours has learned the hard way about small yappy rats, mine has learned the hard way about dogs who breathe a certain way.

It's not always because people are worried about your dog, it may well be because they know their dog has an issue and wants to prevent that escalating. But because you own a big dog you automatically assume the only reason for the owner to pick up their dog could possibly be because yours is a big dog and they're making assumptions.

You seem to dislike it when small dogs are not under control and come and bite your dog (totally understandable btw!) but also dislike it when they are under control by being picked up and thus prevented from doing that.

@Maverickess I completely agree with you. I think picking up a small dog to prevent a situation is a responsible thing to do.
The irony is, if it stops the small dog attacking the big one, that in turn leads the big one to be less fearful and reactive going forwards.

I know someone who has a GSD x Akita. He is a big boy. They did so well with him, socialising and training etc but he was attacked when out by a westie I think it was. GSD is now fearful of all small dogs and they have had to change where and how they walk him quite substantially. And would also be one of the dogs the OP would against being in her vicinity… the irony being if the original owner had picked up their westie to avoid the attack in the first place, the GSD would have continued to be non-reactive.

Like you’re gong to kill a dog, you sound quite deranged!

Do you want to go back and look at the times of my posts that I’m talking about, rather than the time of this one where I said they hadn’t responded? Christ alive.

Both you and yakkity are misunderstanding. Of course I wasn’t complaining about not responding in eleven minutes!

Look back at what I said in that message 11 minutes before. When I said about my response to posters saying ‘but the dogs were on leads’. My message 11 minutes later was a follow up to that, saying that poster hadn’t responded, who I had replied to hours earlier. And the one mentioning private parks who I think I responded to the day before. Common sense would dictate I’m not going to complain about 11 minutes at 11.30pm.

The OP wasn’t talking about people with dogs on lead and under control, they were talking about dogs the owner has no control of, as I am.

So based on that I’m not actually sure if you’re agreeing with me or not 🤷🏽‍♀️

Actually, I do base my opinion on how people look, and if they look like they’re up to no good, not particularly friendly, of a certain age or sex that tend to be more likely to commit crime (based on statistics and a quick gander at prison inmate demographics, not ‘my biased opinion’) I use caution. That’s common sense. Nothing to do with race or origin, before I get jumped on.

Humans and dogs are different species, and I’m fairly sure dogs don’t get offended when people ‘judge them’ 🙄

Incidentally, how many fighting or guarding breeds have you seen that look typical of the cute dog image? Type ‘cute dog’ into Google and very few will be fighting or guarding breeds. So yes, certain dogs that behave in a certain way, also look a certain way, and act a certain way and for the safety of myself and my children I can and will make judgement on dogs based on what breed they are and how they look. I’m more interested in not getting mauled than I am in offending people with my ‘judginess’

you are NOT being unreasonable at all. Some dog owners are so entitled and ignorant. They wouldn’t be able to control a large dog if it attacked and should recognise this😡

@crumpetswithcheeze

So what would you say about my dog?

It sounds hard with toddlers and a dog, but I don’t think you can generalise.
I have a staffy would you judge me?

Where on earth are you all in the country if you’re living under constant threat of being attacked by other people’s dogs the minute you step outside the door

If you have children, I do hope you tell them never to approach a dog they don’t know and never to bother or irritate any dog.

I doubt you’ll get an answer to that as OP posted and ran…
But I would imagine she would, yes. Even if your dog is on a lead 🤦‍♀️

I agree but xl bully are the same, don’t believe the media nonsense around them. I know about 4/5 and when people say “the dog never done nothing like this before” it’s a pure lie they just don’t want to get in trouble.
dogs always show signs.
I personally think in parks around playgrounds all dogs should be on a lead, in a forest or large field they can be off. Therefore it’s fair to everyone.

i forgot to quote the post for this! Oops!!

Really? I’m not claiming to know all that much but from what I read, they’re all fighting breeds that can just snap with no warning and once they go, you can’t get them off. I’m sure I read that they were bred this way to lure other dogs in to a false sense of security - I.e. behaving in a seemingly placid way but giving no warning and then just snapping. Like a ticking time bomb. Happy to hear if that’s been debunked, though. Especially because it means I don’t have to be scared of them!

I see someone walking one regularly around here and he’s always on a lead and muzzled and seems placid enough.

Read the first post again. The OP was complaining about dogs that were on leads. Dogs that were not exhibiting anti social behaviour.

No, I am not agreeing with you. Far from it.

I have a very cuddly, fluffy dog. A dog that is a child magnet. A dog that everybody tells me is beautiful, cute, looks like a teddy bear etc etc. She also happens to be a 50kg livestock guarding breed. She doesn't bark outside of her own garden, never growls or grumbles, gets along with other dogs, adores children. She doesn't go about posturing like small dogs do, she is calm, placid and well mannered. She's a Gentle Giant. These dogs have to be, because they live alongside sheep and lambs.

So yes, you are offending me greatly with your judginess, because your comments come from a place of ignorance.

I know your question was basically a goad, but the answer is in my case, a corner of SE London.

And again, I know you’re trying to take the piss as if it can’t possibly be that bad, but I am genuinely fearful about my older children’s walk to school because of the large numbers of awful owners and XL bully types. I can prepare them for stranger danger and give them independence but I can’t prepare them for an out of control dog very well.

So damn right they know not to approach dogs, they wouldn’t dream of it. Sadly their experience of dogs growing up has been of total pains in the arse stopping them from doing things, and that’s the owners’ faults, not mine. Like the ones who let their dogs run around the children’s playground and tell me to fuck off, or the one who couldn’t control it’s muscular breed crazily circling the basketball court so that my child was trapped inside it.

Yes I know that’s not exactly what was in the OP, but you asked where I lived and that’s where I live. Right next to a lovely park which is being ruined.

Here we go again with ‘the OP’s complaining about dogs on leads’. She referred to 2 dogs on leads, yes, but read the rest of the post properly as you’re telling others to do. Maybe the bit about her own dog being attacked numerous times? Those dogs aren’t under the proper control of their owners are they?