Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5

Original poster

To think this dog should not have been brought to school?

123 replies

sb6699 · 25/02/2009 11:05

Took ds and dd1 to school this morning. Standing right in between the two gates was a mum with a pit bull terrier so everyone had to squeeze past it.

Some of the smaller children were obviously very nervous of the dog but she still didn't move.

Given the breed of the dog AIBU to think that this mum should have left the dog at home or at very least dropped off her dcs outside the gates (our school rules stipulate that if you have a dog you should be no closer than 50 yards to the gates anyway!).

OP posts:

PurpleCrazyHorse · 25/02/2009 11:34

YANBU as she's being very inconsiderate of people who are nervous of dogs. I'd speak to the school about it if she's ignoring their policy.

Well done all parents stopping their DCs stroking strange dogs. People used to do this to our very cute puppy but he could be quite boisterous and it shocked me that parents didn't think to ask. He was a collie-cross so not a dodgy breed but he had never encountered small children.

Original poster

sb6699 · 25/02/2009 11:54

Didn't know pit bulls were banned tbh - thought they just had to be muzzled and on a lead.

Thinking of speaking to the school to ask them to remind parents of school policy.

OP posts:

DrNortherner · 25/02/2009 11:58

People who can't leave their dogs at home for half an hour while they do the school run shouldn't have dogs imo.

As a dog owner (we have a 1 yr old black lab) I feel I must respond to this ridiculous comment. As far as I am aware, it is not ilegal to have a dog and to take my family pet with my child on the walk to school (normally we have exercised him off lead for a good 30/40 mins and go to school on the way back from this walk)

I tie mine well away from the gate and I stay with him, but even this draws critisicm from some parents.

It's not ideal taking my dog on the school run I know this, but sometimes need must and I have to.

It saddens me that even as a nation of dog lovers (supposedly) there is so much hatred and fear towards dogs around, especially on MN at the moment.

Dogs are a fact of life, they are wonderful creatures and will always be around in public places, we can not and should not expect them not to be around.

Original poster

sb6699 · 25/02/2009 12:07

But Dr Northerner, if you stay well away from the gate and stay with your dog you are being a responsible dog owner.

Standing with a very powerful dog in between 2 smallish gates (about car width) while 300 school children and their parents are trying to get past is totally irresponsible imho.

OP posts:

onagar · 25/02/2009 12:38

Print some pictures from the net of a mauled child and hand them to the dog owners at the school gate to get the point across.

Not sure we are a nation of dog lovers. We are a nation with a lot of dog lovers and the rest of us spend our time cleaning up their shit and trying to stop their beloved pets getting near our children.

wotulookinat · 25/02/2009 12:42

Really? A pit bull? I doubt it.

However, the dog should not have been so near the gate at all.
I have two dogs and I don't even walk one with me to pick my son up from the childminder in case the other kids get scared (or are allergic orsomething).

That dog owner is behaving incredibly inconsiderately. I would speak to the school if I were you.

MamaMaiasaura · 25/02/2009 12:47

yanbu. Agree with onagar as well about the time spent clearing up the shit that some dog owners cant be bothered to clear up.

I grew up with dogs, loved them but i dont get the 'fashion' of staffies and similar or the fact that completely irresponsible people ruin the reputation of dog owners.

I am constantly saying to the kids look out for dog poo, invariabley i have to clean buggy or shoes and it is disgusting.

wotulookinat · 25/02/2009 12:48

Hey, let's not turn this into a Staffy argument. I have 2 staff crosses and I always pick up their poo.

wotulookinat · 25/02/2009 12:49

Am I the only person who has never managed to wheel the pushchair through poo?

Sassybeast · 25/02/2009 12:54

Wotulookinat - I would say so yes.

SheSellsSeashellsByTheSeashore · 25/02/2009 12:54

Akitas are not banned breeds they are highly ntelligent and loving breeds, when cared for properly.

If they were banned I'd have been arreste walking my fathers when a police car stopped to ask which breed of dog he was as they stunned by how beautifull he looked.

There is no such thing as a bd breed of dog imo only bad breeders and ba owners. A Poodle coul do as much damage as a pitbull if brought up wrongly.

wotulookinat · 25/02/2009 12:56

Now I'm worrying that my pushchair wheels are actually caked in poo and I just haven't noticed!

Sassybeast · 25/02/2009 12:56

YABBU - my kids are not nervous of dogs at all which can be as much of an issue. I reinforce the idea that they should never approach a dog that they don't know but it's bloody difficult if some moron is blocking their way through a gate (happens regularly with a snappy little Jack Russell outside our school) Unfamiliar dogs and kids don't mix!

traceybath · 25/02/2009 13:00

We've just had a reminder in the weekly newsletter from school that the school and its immediate surroundings (in the grounds) are a dog-free zone.

I think thats fair enough to be honest.

KERALA1 · 25/02/2009 13:03

Am sure that if the dog started chewing a child's arm off the owner would say "but 'ees only being friendly"

LucyEllensmummy · 25/02/2009 13:05

The breeding of pit bull terriers is banned in this country. Any pit bull terrier has to be muzzled in public, microchipped and tatooed. There really shouldnt be any pit bulls around now. Are you sure it was a pit bull and not just a pit bull type?

I don't mind dogs at the school gate if they are friendly, but would never take mine as i do appreciate that some children are not comfortable with it and its the childrens area not the dogs!

The pit bull terrier is a much maligned breed, they are not intrinsically agressive towards humans although they are naturally aggresive towards other dogs. I am glad they were banned because it stopped the brain dead idiots who were breeding deliberately aggresive dogs.

LucyEllensmummy · 25/02/2009 13:08

Akita are stunning dogs, they are not banned, nor even anywhere on the dangerous dogs list. However, don't be fooled by their cuteness - they are a naturally gaurding breed of dogs and the ones i dealt with as a vet nurse, whilst lovely, we had to be very wary of them as they can be quite unpredictable and possesive.

troutpout · 25/02/2009 13:16

yanbu
(which is my stock answer to any thread complaining about dogs )

Original poster

sb6699 · 25/02/2009 13:28

I know akitas aren't banned but they do need to be muzzled by law.

My uncle had one of these years it was beautiful dog but fairly protective (growled at anyone who approached) ago He had it destroyed when his first dd was born as it turned out 4 other dogs from the same litter who stayed in the area mauled children. Don't know if it was just co-incidence or a problem with the litter but he wasnt willing to take the chance with his or anyone else's dc's even though he was heartbroken to part with it. RSPCA wouldn't accept it for rehoming.

OP posts:

LucyEllensmummy · 25/02/2009 13:31

i wasn't aware akitas have to be muzzled!

Original poster

sb6699 · 25/02/2009 13:34

As I recall, I think there is a few breeds which have to be muzzled. Am I thinking of the other Japanese breed (can't remember the name sorry)

OP posts:

Original poster

sb6699 · 25/02/2009 13:36

(was long before the muzzling laws when my uncle had his)

OP posts:

fryalot · 25/02/2009 13:37

DrNorthener - I wouldn't have a problem with you taking your dog to school as long as the children did not have to walk right past it to get into the school grounds.

My daughter used to be absolutely terrified of dogs (we have managed to get her to be less so and she will stroke a dog now as long as we are with her and she no longer runs away from them as a matter of course, but there are other children who are frightened of dogs) and would run into the street to get away from a dog.

If a dog was tied up at the school gates, she would REFUSE to go in and would have to be carried in screaming with terror at the dog.

If the choice is taking your dog to school, keeping it in the playground while you sort your kids out or tying it to the school gate OR leaving it at home you should leave it at home.

If you are far enough away from the actual school that the children are not bothered by the dog then it doesn't matter.

I stand by my earlier comment.

And I am NOT in any way a dog-hater. We don't have a dog currently because we are not in a position to look after one properly but I am NOT anti-dogs by any means. Just anti-dogs-at-school.

TiggyR · 25/02/2009 13:38

I asked my friend's husband who is a vet to comment on my list of possibles for a dog when I was looking. He also supplied me with a list of what NOT to get, and top of his list was an Akita. A few months later another friend's daughter who was studying animal husbandry for her degree bought an Akita. She said she knew they could be a handul but because she had relevant training she wanted a dog that would be 'a challenge.' Don't quite understand that myself, but there we are...About a year later it had to be destroyed because it attacked her friend and ripped her top lip off. I hope she felt suitably 'challenged' by that.

wasabipeas · 25/02/2009 13:47

sb6699 - "have a look at this page
It IS an offence to own, breed from or sell a pit bull, so if you are really convinced that is what they have, call the police.
There is also no mention of Akitas needing to be muzzled, unless they are out of control or subject to a control order...

Flip

1 2 3 4 5

Swipe left for the next trending thread