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.

All dogs realistically capable of killing people (because it's not just children) should be banned from private ownership. It's not worth the risk. Why is one maimed or dead loved one worth the risk for someone's right to have a fur baby of a size and power to kill? Bollocks to that.

If you banned everything that has the potential to kill, humans wouldn't survive.

No fire to cook, no central heating or boilers in case of fire or gas leak, no electricity in case of fire, no construction because quite a few construction workers die each year, no cars, no beef because cows can kill, no industrial farming so only food should be home-grown, except no shears/knives/sickles because they can kill, no spades to dig because you could whack someone on the head, no horse-drawn transport because horses kill, no sport...

So back to pre-pre-historic because we couldn't even hunt, only gather.

It's all about measured risk. A yellow lab technically has the potential to kill, but no one in their right mind is scared of a guide dog. A well-trained dog is a very low risk. You're more likely to be killed by another human than a dog. You're more likely to be injured by another human than a dog.

Dogs, not 'everything'. Dogs. Private citizens don't 'need' killer dogs.

This is a very good point. People get worked up because they perceive a dog attack to be worse than any other thing that could kill them because of a biased fear. It’s a primal, ingrained fear that you can trace back to our cave man days. We didn’t learn to be scared of, for example, construction, because our brains have remained largely unchanged in 10,000 years - before construction existed. I mean, stairs kill more people than dogs do but because they weren’t a thing when we were in the process of evolving to where we are now, there is no primal fear.
However, one thing us humans are capable of is logic. Logic can overide fear. Something sorely lacking on this thread. You’re more likely to die or be seriously injured by a freak accident in the home than you are at the jaws of a rogue dog out in a park.

I understand why you have tapped out. And you may not even read this. But if you do, I have a feeling that if I was to ever bump into you and your dog on the street, I would want to give her a good old ear scratch… as long as I am worthy.

As an owner of a GSD x Akita I agree. Mine has a very large/loud bark and it’s always the little dogs that start barking at her “oh there scared of you’re dog” is what I get from owners - there the ones with dogs off lead and running up to my dog. My dog is not aggressive, just loud! I always put my dog on a lead when out and there are other dogs about. It’s not the breed it’s the owners!

I think it's more the fact that huge dogs aren't necessary, not actually needed for private citizens, and that on the odd occasion when it goes wrong it goes so horribly wrong. Dog attacks also aren't that rare. Clearly small risk overall but there is no shortage of pretty regular for incidents and deaths. Just pointless.

Most of what we have/do as modern day humans is unnecessary. And much more risky than walking past an on-lead dog in the park.

Much of it voluntary. Why are we allowed to have killer dogs around strangers? It's a shit idea.

Why are we allowed killer cars around strangers? It's a shit idea.

Why are we allowed alcohol near strangers? It's a shit idea.

Why are we allowed to smoke near strangers? It's a shit idea.

Why are we allowed toasters? It's a shit idea.

All of the above cause more harm than dogs.

Yes, I also think some posters on here have been unreasonable, and muzzling for all breeds is OTT imo. But the fact is, some people are afraid of dogs, and while muzzling or keeping a dog on the lead all the time is often overkill, social compromise is necessary when out in public and I do think sometimes keeping a dog on its lead (whether or not the owner thinks it's necessary) plays a part in reassuring others, especially if a dog is of a dangerous breed. It's basic consideration. Saying things like 'Don't mind him, he's a real softie', as many people do, doesn't always cut it - you may know your dog is as soft as your pocket, other people don't. And that's before I get started on people who don't even bother to watch what their dog is doing once unleashed.

I do think dogs of any size should be on the lead most of the time while being walked and should only be let off in parks/fields, on beaches etc, and even there I would exercise some judgement and not let them off if someone's clearly looking scared/they might knock a toddler over or start bothering another dog, etc. My parents once had a Yorkie and I can't tell you how many times that dog was pestered by much bigger dogs as their owners stood by chortling despite our dog being visibly scared. Which really wasn't much fun for the Yorkie as she was terrified of big dogs, having once been savaged out of the blue by a Dobermann which literally jumped over its garden wall while she was being walked and started shaking her like a toy. (Note: I'm not making a comment about all Dobermanns there, before I'm besieged by angry Dobermann owners, but I do think it's a good illustration of how unpredictably dogs can behave.)
What I'm getting at is that you never know exactly what's going on, either in terms of other people's dogs, or why any particular person might be afraid of them, and leashing dogs in most public places doesn't feel like a terribly egregious ask.

Aside from alcohol and excessive cars, you've nailed the point pretty well - we do need and get immense practical benefit from the things you list.

I’m back with some common ground which I’m going to mention before I ‘bore off’ as I’ve been told to do.

I’ve noticed that quite a few of the dog owners here are really fed up of owners of small dogs whom they don’t control. So there we are - common ground between many on the thread. There are shit, anti-social owners who cause problems for others. Personally that’s all I thought the thread was meant to be about all along and it’s hardly a controversial statement.

Whatever, I’ll leave it there.

What a series of unbelievably reasonable statements. What on earth are you doing here? 😊

I really am going now.

😄😄