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.

Neither do you own the public space and you won’t infringe on my dog walking off lead with me enjoying it either.

It’s not illegal, she’s under control, great recall and I’m not feckless either.

@TheGreatDownandOut
I totally agree.
There are so many myths about dogs, particularly large dogs, more so the guarding breeds. I have a vested interest here, I admit. Livestock Guarding Dogs are ancient, primitive breeds but they avoid confrontation. They aren't attack dogs by nature, they work as a deterrent and don't get into conflict. They bark at predators, but they do not attack.

But to non-dog people, guarding means fierce, aggressive, dangerous. That is so far from being the truth. the natural guard dogs live with lambs from 6 weeks old. They're among the most gentle breeds, but so misunderstood. It pains me. I've lived with them since I was a kid. They never look for trouble. And I say this as an anxious person. I am nervous around certain dogs, mostly small to medium ones.
As you rightly say, there are always signs, always body language with reactive or aggressive dogs. You can almost always tell a potential problem dog or owner.
Aggression in dogs is not directly linked to size or strength.

Just this morning, we took our Doberman for a run on the beach, off lead, excellent recall.

Came off the beach, two small things, they were on leads, aggressively lunging for her, barking, growling etc. She just ignored them!

Now those dogs need to be kept on leads, mine is fine thanks.

Honestly, the owner was just shouting stop, really aggressively at the dogs and wonders why they’re aggressive!

Photo for attention as she’s lovely!!

and still no sign of the OP..
wind 'em up and watch them go, and everyone obliged.

All three times my two 10kg female dogs have been 'attacked' was when I was walking them on a pavement on the lead. Two times the attacking dog had slipped the lead and the third time escaped from their home. Absolutely terrifying especially on the two occasions I had a small child with me in a pushchair, although it was my two dogs the other dog was going for. On each occasion the owner had to intervene and each time very apologetic. All three of the attacking dogs were small to medium breeds. Surprisingly given the aggression, but thankfully, no puncture wounds. I'm fortunate that where I live there are plenty of options for off lead walks, that aren't parks where children are playing, as I know from my own experience how intimidating dogs can be regardless of size.

I’m not muzzling, all this guff about you’re going to beat a dog to death with your stick!

As if, you’ve not got a chance, no matter if they look at you or your grandchildren.

You’re making yourself sound quite hilarious. 😆

Maybe a dangerous dog ate her?

I saw the most amazing large mutt in Tottenham the other day. We were walking from seven sisters to the stadium so thousands of people walking past him. The owner had just bought chips and was shaking them (to mix the salt & vinegar presumably) so no hands on doggo whatsoever. The dog was holding his own lead in its mouth, trotting alongside the owner, eyes 100% on his owner, completely ignoring the massive crowd walking noisily past him.

In RL no one cared one iota because it was so evident this was a perfectly trained dog that wouldn't step out of line, even if it did look a bit scary (not an attractive breed for sure and relatively large). The only attention it got was people amazed at how well trained it was.

What a beautiful girl @BlankBlankBlank14 😍

I agree. The level of misconception on these threads is frightening.

We were faced the other day with a pug owner bellowing to their partner "big dog coming, get his muzzle on, quick!!!" as we walked past the open door of a shop. Our PMD trotted past, silently and didn't even acknowledge the snarling, thrashing, demonic creature.

I find these threads deeply troubling, but it's difficult to ignore the level of ignorance and the amount of misinformation that is bandied about.

That accurately reflects real life @hungryduck , not the parallel universe of MN where every dog is just waiting to kill the next person that passes by 😏

Exactly!! Well trained and easy to walk.

I agree to all your points! The misconception is unreal!

The point you’re so spectacularly missing is that we have no idea when one might change into the other. And also that, no matter how easy it may be to clock whether a dog is currently being aggressive, and even if we could predict when a dog is about to be aggressive, there’s nothing we can do about it.

The only person who can do anything about it is the owner, by having the dog under proper control and making it visible that they are doing so. That should normally involve a lead, and if not a lead, then excellent training and vigilance. Anything less is poor and anti social ownership.

It’s laughable to just say that it’s obvious when a dog is being aggressive. I’d love to see you explaining that to the families of dog attack victims.

This is like the gaslighting you get everywhere these days.
Big dogs, particularly certain breeds,can kill - there is no empathy just gaslighting because you’re cute little Bozo is well behaved and obedient.
You don’t want trans men competing g in women’s sport and say so - oh everyone is anti trans, those poor suicidal people yadda yadda
Anti-semitism is rife and always has been - no, lots of people don’t like seeing innocent children being shot by armed to the teeth Israeli soldiers.
Dogs can and do bite. They can cause serious injury - accept it

But it’s a very very small minority, so accept that?

It’s really not likely to happen that Bozo is going to bite you…

Some would argue men are dangerous, do we think that they should all be handcuffed when out?

Cars cause serious damage, do we ban driving?

Do we say if we see an aggressive driver, who comes close to us or our grandkids, that we are going to kill them with a stick?

@Strawberrri
Small dogs can kill. Jack Russells have killed people. Staffies have killed more than Rottweilers. So why are you singling out big dogs?
Bite statistics have Labradors and Border Collies in the top 10. So again, why are you singling out big dogs?
Any dog can kill, just as any human can. It is not about size.

Labs and collies are big dogs.

Yes you can. A dog is not going to come and attack you while out in public, unprovoked. With maybe the exception of an XL. Which must be on a lead and muzzled by law.

If you’re paying the dog no mind, they will ignore you.

If you’re like @nund and are desperate to hit any dog that comes near you with a stick, you will probably get attacked.

No. They are both medium dogs.
Big dogs are Rottweilers, GSD, Akita etc.
Giant dogs are ones like Leonbergers and Great Danes.
I hope that helps.

Compared to small children they are big dogs. A lab bit my 4 year old nephew on the nose.

31,920 dog attacks in the UK in 2024. At least 23,000 of which were by XL bullies. That includes all bites/mauling/death. (Provisional figures say 7 deaths due to dog bites or strikes for 2024).

Compared to:
• 1,350,428 domestic abuse-related crimes and incidents.
• Homicides remained similar to the previous year, with 583 offenses.
• Knife crime (excluding Greater Manchester) increased by 4% to 50,510 offenses.
• Firearms offenses increased by 6% to 6,447 offenses.

So... Who should you be more afraid of walking alongside in the park? Rex or a human?

I'm sorry your nephew was bitten and yes, obviously compared to a small child they are big. But officially they are medium sized and are both breeds that are recommended as good family pets. So your nephew proves the point that it's not always the alleged "bad" breeds that bite. And it's not always big dogs.

No they’re medium sized dogs.

Furthermore, over 70% of dog bites happen in the home, and in children, that rises to over 80% being inflicted by a family dog. So it is true to say that the OP's children are statistically at far greater risk of being injured by her own tiny dog, than a random "huge" dog in the park.

100% of dog bits are caused by dogs. No dogs, no dog bites.