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.

Mingg. I have left crowded buses with my buggy rather than fold it up.

It was not my presence, nor my DD's which caused a problem, but the buggy she was in. I chose to leave with the buggy, rather than kick it freewheeling out of the double doors.

I would suggest that a dog owner would do the same were their dog precluding other members of the public from boarding the bus- even though it is not them that had to go; they choose to accompany their dog off the bus in the same way me and DD chose to accompany our buggy.

"No, I would not be happy but you and your monkeys got there before me so fair play. I would not expect you to get off I'd wait for the next one (with my big unfoldable P&T)"

Arf

While monkeys are nit the natural prey of grizzlies they are of course omnivores and fabulously adaptable to whatever food opportunities present themselves

I imagine my bear would thus easily clear a space for me amongst your circus troupe

Hth!

And you see, what this thread proves is:

THIS is why I drive a f*ck-off massive X5 (yes, yes, with blacked out windows and a private plate.. can't do thing by half!!)

You will all curse me for driving a monster 4x4 in a town, but you all hate me for taking my kids and dog on public transport.

At least this way, I don't have to look at the withering stares!

Hmm. I see what you mean, chibi.

On the other hand, that would make a great act. Does your bear have an agent?

Dogs are animals. Animals should be in parks and farms.

Give us a lift, Harimo- I've had three buses go by, all of them full of performing monkeys. Tsk.

In answer to the monkey question, I do not know about buses but on trains it is two dogs per passenger. I expect a similar rule would apply to monkeys. So to take 57 monkeys on public transport you would need 29 people to accompany them.

can I just say...

This is what I Love about MN...

You have made me laugh, made me think (difficult, when all I do is change nappies and dream of sleep!)

I have 7 seats in the X5.. who else is plauged by performing monkeys and monkey-eating-bears?

(I think chocolate labradors are the favorite food of bears so they are banned... even in the buggy spaces)

TCNY, you are post-industrial society gone mad. Perhaps you could enclose your accommodation in some sort of bubble to keep you safe from sparrows and other rogue wildlife.

Harimo - my lab is white with a tiny hint of gold, could we please be allowed?

F8ck me.. my house is a farm

have four kids - 15YO DSD1, 12YO DSD2, 2YO DS,. 10MO DD

Dog is least trouble of all. In fact, I think thte little blighhter keeps me sane!!

Don't worry, MillyR, since chibi and her bear got on, I've only got two left.

Unless you count dismembered monkey parts?

Actually, don't worry, I can probably squash them into the luggage rack.

Mingg - YOu are most welcome. And on the basis we have tan leather, your dog doesn't have to travel in the boot (mine does - but he have a lovely chocolate leather dog bed!)

Is there a Painted Lady?

LOL at tethersend..

Dismembered monkey parts - do you think First South Eastern have a policy on those??>

Thanks a lot Harimo - my husband makes her travel in the boot so she'll love that

Where do we stand on swarms of bees then. Several thousand individual animals would require half that many people.

BTW I don't recommend standing on swarms of bees. Not bare-foot anyway.

I'm pretty sure swarms of bees are allowed- I saw a bee on the 388 yesterday.

What? Unaccompanied? Shocking!

Harimo. It's easy.

Baby in woven wrap on the back. Other child walks and holds your hand, dog is on lead. Handbag over spare shoulder.

Lots manage.

Err... Have you actually read the thread, dorisbonkers???

By Harimo Tue 01-Jun-10 15:56:55
Actually, I don't ever take a buggy. I DO put DD in a sling and let DS walk - he loves it. So it's not an issue for me anymore, now that DS can walk so well.

But there is only 14 months between my two... So, for a while there, I just did NOT have a choice but to take a double buggy. There was NO WAY I could transport a newborn, 14MO Ds and Ddog.

Not to mention the performing monkeys.

Exactly, there's the performing monkeys (all 57 of them, minus the ones the bear got), the bear, the bees, the double buggy and the dog...

Feck. there's probably not room for the driver

So you did take a pram, but you say you didn't?

I'm confused.