To think a big dog has no place in the wheelchair/buggy area of a bus

[yessirnosir]

I think I may know I ABU, but I've just been on a bus journey that made me very uncomfortable. When I got on the bus with my nearly 3 year old DD I saw someone get on the bus via back doors with a Phil & Ted and two sleeping small children. As I got on the front I heard her say to someone who was in the wheelchair/buggy area, 'this area is for buggies' I thought she was just asking him to move as she saw me coming, but she looked pretty annoyed, and as I got to her I saw the boy she had been talking to had a large dog. When I say large I mean much bigger than a staffie, but with that bull terrier type head. He was the sort of dog I would have steered my child well clear of normally, and while that sounds really predjudiced, I know my kids aren't always as good with dogs as I'd like, they tend to get overexcited. I always make them ask the owner before they stroke a dog, no matter what breed, and take them away if they start getting overexcited and honestly, I would keep them away from a dog with a huge jaw, with any sort of studded harness/collar, held be a chain attached to someone who doesn't look capable of responsibly looking after a goldfish. In this situation if any of the children had started to want to stroke the doggy they were trapped at eye level with a dog that the owner had to hold back throughout the entire journey. I stood with me between my dd's buggy and the dog, but felt uncomfortable with the situation as obviously did the other mother.

I just wonder if a dog like this really has any place on a crowded bus. A crowded bus is unpredictable, children are unpredictable as can dogs be. I know there is a body of people who will say it's about the owner not the dog, but the owner didn't fill me with confidence, he didn't look old enough to be responsible to look after a dog that strong. I would say it would be hard to say one dog is OK, another not, and also probably not appropriate, after all who decides, and who knows which dogs can be trusted and which not, so is there a place for any dog on a bus (except obviously working dogs)? Or should I have just got off if I wasn't sure my child and that dog were not a good mix?

And please can we stick to this point, not the usual dog lover/dog hater thing.

Sorry, you've asked us to stick to the point yet your thread title and your end question are completely different.

Should the dog be in the buggy area? Yes, until somebody who needs it gets on.

Should dogs be on a bus at all? Yes, most dogs are harmless aren't they.

Should you have got off? If you felt really worried then yes I suppose, but is v unlikely your child was at risk.

Public transport is exactly what is claims to be, public. How did you all fit in the buggy area btw?

OMG Dogs, buses, buggies, are there any boxes you haven't ticked? Maybe if you could fit in parent & child parking spaces AND the people with the dog asked you out of the blue to look after it for free every day this would be a perfect AIBU.

Round here i dont think he would have been allowed on the bus with the dog, the official rule is 'Dogs allowed at the drivers discretion' and the drivers dont seem to want any more problems

I wouldnt have been happy about it

what was the problem exactly?
If this is all you have to worry about today, then thank your lucky stars.

yabu.its public transport.if the driver decided to let the dog on-its his choice.

if uncomfortable with it,you could have got off.

For my money, the big, fat, ugly dog was being unreasonable.

Fine with me, there are often dogs on the bus - never encountered an issue.

YABU.
It's at the driver's discretion whether to allow a dog on the bus or not.
It is a form of public transport after all.

Yes and no, perhaps and maybe. It depends.

if it was this dog,would it have been different?

Cheese, had it been THAT dog then I would have been charmed, I am sure of that.

YABU and over-reacting.

BTW staffies arent that big - not sure why you chose that breed to use as a comparison

Sorry you're right, not entirely consistent. The only place for a dog that big is the buggy area, so I guess the question should be should they be on the bus at all.

How did we fit the buggies in? I put my buggy into the exit area - normally a bus driver around here would not have allowed that, maybe he wasn't sure he should have let the dog on.

I think a driver's discretion rule would be good, bus drivers round here are pretty good at enforcing every tiny rule!

I agree risks were probably small, that's why I stayed on, I just thought should anything happen I for one would have always blamed myself for overriding my instinct.

I agree public transport is public, that's why I'm not all that convinced I wasn't BU and if anyone should have got off quite possibly it was me.

I thought this was a slightly different thread to the usual evil dogs as it's quite a specific situation that forces unsuitable companions to be very close.

And finally I do have much more to worry about, but it's not that interesting to other people, though apparently you don't think this is either!

I used staffies as people eg dh, are often irrationally scared of them. People also know what they look like and it was that type of jaw. As I said it was much bigger - about 2-3 times the size.

oh fgs get a grip.

This whole hysterical "my-child-could-be-at-risk-from-nasty-dog-that-wasn't-doing-anything-but-could-just-turn-and-attack- at-any-moment" attitude is very dull.

It's simple really. If the dog was under control it's none of your business.

Public transport is for people, the concept does not extend to dogs.

They should be able to get on at the driver's discretion, but the notion that they somehow have a right to be on a bus implies that they are members of the public, and is laughable.

You should not have got off, the dog should have got off. If the owner wanted to accompany it, then so be it.

tethersend no she should have go off she is the on with the issue.

I have a big dog which also happens to be so soppy it's embarassing.
The bus is the best way to get him to the vet - no parking, etc.
Sometimes we are allowed to bord by the driver, sometimes we're not. This is something I'm happy to accept.
He's never been a nuisance.

No darkandstormy, she has more right to be on the bus as a person with an issue than a dog without one, sorry.

Same applies to any animal.

I'm terrified of Dogs and try not to show it to my DCs so they do not pick up on my fear (attacked as a child, still not able to move on). If there was no where to move the dog to instead (sounds like it wasn't possible for the boy to move with dog on a crowded bus?) I think all that could be done is that everyone squeeze's up a bit, and I would have stood between dog and children in buggy tbh. Even though I'd have been feeling edgy. My fear IS irrational, I try to accept that and despite media coverage of dog attacks, I try and tell myself it's not that usual and to not be so paranoid and to just take usual precautions with my DCs.

I know what you're saying OP but being public transport, unless there is a specific rule saying no dogs, you have to kind of suck it up. So to speak. So maybe being a teeny bit unreasonable imo?

"This whole hysterical "my-child-could-be-at-risk-from-nasty-dog-that-wasn't-doing-anything-but-could-just-turn-and-attack- at-any-moment" attitude is very dull."

I thought I was making a more specific point than that to be honest. I never think this wandering about in parks etc, but in a bus a dog is at eye level with a child in a buggy and it is enforced proximity, not a normal walking past a dog each of you minding your own business situation.

Also, living in London, I would say there are owner/dog combos anyone would just be sensible to avoid and this was one of them and I couldn't avoid them without getting of the bus.

Dogs have no right to be on a bus. They are not members of the public, so do not qualify for public transport.

But the owner does have a right. And if he needs to get somewhere with his dog then the dog has to be on the bus. If the dog was growling and acting in a threatening manner there would be grounds for making the owner leave with dog, but otherwise not.