To think a child should not be in charge of a dog in a park?

[Elisabeth3468]

Just want to pre face this by saying there's been a couple of dog attacks in my area lately so I am probably more on edge than I used to be around dogs.
I took my 4 YO and 1 YO to the park (big playing field and swings etc) this afternoon and there was a dog running round free (border collie) and I couldn't see the owner anywhere. First thoughts was he was lost?. Then this young girl (around 11 years old I'd say, Called the dog over). It soon clicked that the group of 3 children were in charge of this dog. I was at the park about 45 minutes and no adult was there. The children were around 11 and then a younger boy who looked about 8-9. They were being very silly (as children are) and the dog looked very hyped. The dog was running up to random people. I felt on edge incase the dog approached my children.
Surely children shouldn't be responsible for a dog? These weren't teenagers; they were definitely younger and presumably hanging at the park because it's half term (fair enough).
I just want to add that the dog did seem friendly and appeared to have a good recall when the girl called the dog.
Am I being over the top?
I'm not a dog owner so find it hard to judge if I was being reasonable or not. Maybe most people wouldn't have even noticed?

I didn't say anything and we left the park.

My daughter went flying and really hurt herself when the dog she was walking suddenly bolted, so no, 11 is too young.

Honestly yes I think some children playing in a park with their friendly dog is fine.

Friendly dog not causing any trouble - probably not an issue?

I would say a sensible 11 year old (who could be at secondary school) is old enough depending on how well trained it is and perhaps size/strength of the dog. I would however expect they would keep it on a lead.

I'd say no, not ok, not even because of their dog but what if another dog attacked their dog? Or as you say it sent a toddler flying, or someone got irate at them about it running up to them? They're not old enough to be dealing with those sort of situations.

I was about that age and walking a friend's dog, it pulled her over trying to get away when a dog in a passing car was snarling and snapping and half out the window and she broke her arm. It was horrible.

YANBU. I wouldn’t want to be around any dog off its lead with an irresponsible owner - and in this case no owner, just a child.

I wouldn't let an 11 year old walk my dog. I totally agree with you. Not necessarily because the dog might savage you but more that if it got spooked and fled, got ill or if another dog attacked it. An 11 year old is too young to handle these situations.

The dog seemed very over excited that's what worried me

It depends on the child and the dog.

An 11 year old with an off-lead collie? Probably not.
A 13 year old with an on-lead maltese? Fine

I used to walk our dog in a city park when younger than that. I was sensible and the dog well behaved. But today it would be frowned upon for child protection reasons. In your situation OP as others have said depends on the behaviour of kids and dog. And both probably needed more guidance. Another 11yo might be 100% fine.

Border Collies are typically "very hyped"

I wouldn't leave my BC in the charge of an 11 year old, but of it seemed like a a friendly dog with good recall that wasn't bothering anyone then that seems OK to let them walk it.
Having said that I don't think it's respectful to others to leave a dog off leash in a children's play area.

This.

I used to go out alone with our dog aged 10. He was well trained, friendly and probably used to get quite hyper but he was completely harmless. Just because this dog is excited, doesn't mean it'll come near you. You say yourself it was friendly and had good recall and wasn't being a nuisance. What do you think its going to do? Wag it's tail at you? It has just as much right to be there as you.

Hmm hard to say. Depends on the dog really. I don’t let my 13 year old walk my dog because he is a very badly behaved dog who barks at others and sometimes jumps out into the road to try and fight vehicles. So even though my dc is old enough to walk him, I wouldn’t want him to feel responsible if anything went wrong.

Despite the idea of kids and their friendly dog playing in the park during half term being nice, I think if the dog was running up to people and not under control then it’s not ok. Whoever is in charge of the dog shouldn’t be allowing this and it sounds like the kids either didn’t realise or didn’t care that it was a problem.

YANBU. We were on a beach once and a malamute came over to our tiny dog and wouldn’t leave her alone, it had a young boy at the end of its lead who couldn’t do a THING to stop it, it wouldn’t leave our dog alone and I’ve no idea where the boys parents were.

I think there is too much potential for issues that a child isn’t equipped to deal with, even if the dog in question is friendly and well trained, not everyone else and their dog they may encounter is, and a child shouldn’t be put in those situations.

But as is typical people think if their dog is “friendly” there is nothing to worry about!

I actually don’t think size of dog matters . When I still had our late dog I was walking him home one day when a French bulldog on an extender lead came charging across the road followed by 2 small boys prob 8/10 to get to my dog . They / the dog could easily have been run over if a car had been coming and they had absolutely no clue how to lock the extender lead on short . Totally irresponsible parenting .

Well yeah this is the issue. Dog owners don't understand the fact I don't want a dog running up to my 4Yo and licking him. These kids were too young to control the dog. It was going up to everyone including other dogs. Luckily no fights broke out because the other dogs were on leads.

This is my point. I think the kids were too young to be in charge of a dog. They wouldn't realise where it was for ages because they were being kids and playing on park equipment.

Many dogs came up to us on the beach on Saturday. One DGC doesn't like dogs and she was on high alert because of dogs constantly approaching and touching. It was awful - not a relaxing, enjoyable walk along the beach in the sunshine at all.

They (all dogs) should be under control so that they can't approach members of the public and come into contact with them - if they do then they are out of control. Why do dog owners assume others want to be approached by unknown dogs?

Entitlement at its best.

Depends on the child and the dog. It would be hard for you to accurately determine the child's age too. My DC are in their late teens and they both had friends who looked considerably younger and some who looked considerably older than their actual age.

Depends on the child. I walked out dog from the age of 9, but I knew how to handle him. Yes an 11 year old can walk a dog as long as they can control it.