All those who don't like dogs leaping up at them while they're out, look away now....

[TsarChasm]

Here

And at a 12stone dog too! It'd have totally flattened a child.

Haribosmummy, you admit your dog is too young to be controllable. You seem to be saying that everyone else will just have to take their chances. What would you feel your moral position was if he bit a childs face. Would you explain that he was too young and therefore it was just bad luck?

Don't tell me the answer to that. Tell her

Onagar - I have no idea what planet you are on. My dog is 6YO and is totally controllable.

I have no reason to explain anything to anyone about dog bites.

If I thought for a fraction of ONE second my dog could even possibly be agressive, he wouldn't be within a million miles of my DS.

aggressive even!!!

By Haribosmummy:-

If I thought for a fraction of ONE second my dog could even possibly be agressive, he wouldn't be within a million miles of my DS.

See this is the problem that is what every dog owner thinks - you can't say that, no-one can. Even the most placid docile dogs can turn, it has and will cotinue to happen.

Sorry, Fimbo - this is one we'll have to disagree on. I KNOW my dog (when with me) would never be aggressive.

I've seen him out with other labradors who've caught rabbits, and he just runs the other way.

I'm not trying to negate the need for proper controls (my dog could easily cause harm without intention, and I'm not going to underestimate that) but pure anger / aggression?

Nope, not in a million.

I don't know of one person who's met my dog who honestly thinks he could be aggressive.

"I don't know of one person who's met my dog who honestly thinks he could be aggressive. "

I could say the same of my family dog when I was growing up. I still have the fang scars on my wrist.

You keep telling yourself that Haribo.

fife runner,
31/12/2007 07:25:23
as a postman and also keen cyclist and runner I can safely say the majority of dogs are out of control. Yes some may have a bark worse then their bite but if a dog fails to obey any command it is out of control. I once passed a man with two white terriers and as I ran past, he told them both to heel which they did and never once barked and when I had gone passed he told walked on with them both at heel.

I have lost count of the number of people who have told me the dog will not bite and then they have had to physically restrain the dog. Evidently they do not know their own dogs then. This makes the situation even more dangerous. At least those owners with muzzled dogs know their pets.

One of my colleagues was bitten by a dog which had for ages although barked had never shown any physical agression. This is what I mean by not knowing the dog. This owner now shouts at the contained dog but it shows no heed. Will her kids be next.

OK, I'm going to leave this now.

It's not something I want to or am prepared to argue about.

FWIW, I'm going to put DS in a car this afternoon and drive him to a class. sometimes people die in car crashes and yet, I'm still going to drive him, because having weighed up the risks, I think it's worth it. Ditto about the dog (In my case)

I'm not prepared to argue about a decision I made (perfectly legal) relating to my child / family just because other people disagree.

Sorry, but I'm not. That's so far removed from the OP as to be irrelevant.

This isn't about cars it is about dog attacks.

The dog owner's mantra: "Mine would never hurt anyone"

Gives Nancy a round of applause.

That is the very statement I got from the Rottweiller's owner. Oh and when I phoned the police, the person in the call centre told me a Rotweiller is not classed as a dangerous dog. The policeman who came to take our statement was not best chuffed at that one.

Riven: 'you might know your dog is safe haribo, but others don't. Therefore its a your responisbility as a dog owner to control your dog and not let it run up to people.'

I was just going to let this thread be, as I got stuck into a dog thread at the weekend, and didn't feel particularly keen on getting into another scrap. But I have to take issue with what you said, Riven.

It IS NOT the responsibility of a dog owner to keep it away from any person who might be afraid of it.

I am not saying that dogs should be free to approach anyone they want to. I have mad eit clear on a number of threads that I keep my dogs on leads whenever there are any children around, even in open spaces that are designated for dogs, not children.

However, my responsibility is towards my daughter and my dogs. If we meet children unexpectedly, or (and this has happened) children rush up to my leaded dogs and are then scared or they get licked I should not be expected to drag them away in case the child is afraid. Just as the responsible dog owner should keep dogs away from children, a responsible parent should keep the child away from dogs if there is an issue there.

Or, and flame away, because I stand by this, try to educate the child about dealing with dogs, and address the fear. I have read countless posts about how hard it is to teach a child not to be scared of dogs, or to approach dogs properly - life is tough. There are lots of things out there that children are scared of, and we can't protect them from all of them, or expect those things that children are afraid of to simply cease to exist because a child is scared.

People posting about unpleasant incidents with dogs are posting about INDIVIDUAL dogs and their owners. It seems acceptable on MN at the moment to judge all dog owners as irresponsible and feckless in a way that simply would not be tolerated of any other group in society.

Well - fwiw, though I don't know either whether haribo's dog is safe, it seems pretty clear to me that she's the sort of responsible dog-owner that most people seem to want - so why is everyone giving her such a hard time?

To claim that you know for an absolute certaintity that your dog would never hurt anyone is bollocks - that's why.

So what is the answer then. For those who militantly refuse to accept that dogs have a place in society, what is your answer? No dogs, ever, in a public place. Dogs only ever on leads and/or muzzled? What about in your own garden/house - if a vistor (invited or otherwise) gets hurt on your property they can sue you. So maybe dogs shouldn't even be allowed in people's homes.

I have never been anywhere that is so stridently anti-dog as MN. I find it quite amazing. I can honestly say, hand on heart that I have never been bitten or seriously threatened by a dog. Neither have any of my DC. Nor many people that I know. That isn't of course to negate in the slightest the experiences of those that have.

Yes, dogs should always be under control. Yes they shouldn't be allowed to run up to people or jump up. But I get the distinct impression that that simply will never be enough for some.

This thread could go on for ever. There are basically two types of people, one type that for some reason feels the need to own a dog and another type that just doesn't "get it". Each type will never convince the other to swap sides, the only exception being, I suspect, the savaging of a child by a dog. If someone had personal experience of that and it didn't put them off, then there's something wrong with them

I'm one of the ones that doesn't get it. I don't see the attraction of constantly having to clear up after a dog and picking up sh*t in a little plastic bags doesn't seem like a good use of our limited time on the planet. As for face to face contact of any kind with something that is capable (and does) of licking its arse, its knob and other dogs' piss off lampposts - where's the attraction in that?

A lot of dog owners are responsible and a lot are not - it's just the way things are. Still I would be mightily pissed off if a 12st hound knocked me over and broke an ankle.

Ormirian....."I have never been anywhere that is so stridently anti-dog as MN. I find it quite amazing...."

I agree, it does seem to be anti-dog around here for some reason. I think it's just one of those issues that polarises opinion.

As I said above, I don't get the point of owning one, but each to their own.....

Me neither brightwell. I don't dislike them but really wouldn't want one.

Plus they make your house stink - but, then again, so do men and babies

As I said yesterday this thread will just go round and round in circles as everybody thinks their point is correct.

All I would dearly love to do is go on a nice walk in the country with my dc without fear that a dog is going to come leaping up to them. That is all.

Whether you want to keep a dog is irrelevent to me, all I want/expect is for you to keep it under control.

You cannot say your dog will not attack because quite simply you do not know. It is also wrong to treat a dog like it is a child.

And with that I am off to enjoy the Easter holidays hopefully without dogs jumping out at us.

just popping back on her whilst tea is in the oven..

As a dog owner..I would never say that any dog is 100% safe. I personally think that owning a dog is a life long commitment that not only entails caring for it but always keeping up training and being mindful of other people. You can't just take you dog along to a few training sessions and say it's trained, it's a continual thing. and yes IME an adult dog can learn new tricks, it just takes a lot of time and hard work from both dog and owner.

Was out on a jog the other day with my dog, as we approached a parent with two small children, the parent asked me if the children could say hello to my dog. I made sure she was in work mode, sit position, on a lead and the children came over and said hi gave her a stroke etc..
All seemed to enjoy the experience, It was brilliant that the parent asked first and I hope that I was thoughtful to the children and parent as well.

just a small positive.. but it can work. and wanted to say this as we're working towards being a PAT dog. ( she's a bit useless at agility tbh.. and she loves working)

yes the make the house stink, yes the poo ( and I have to clean up).. but lots of animals are stinky and they all poo!

I am not a dog owner and sadly becuase of my DS's health i will never be one, i really do love dogs though, although i will say that there should be some sort of compulsery insurece and yearly tests to make sure dogs are socialised and friendly.

When i lived in New Zealand the dog that lived with us had a yearly inspection to make sure he was collared and friendly.

I once had a sodding great lab/alsation jump up at me and knock me over then roll on me when i was preganant i spent the night in hospital, i wasn't annoyed at him though i was annoyed at the owner for not training him.

Its not a dogs fault, no dog is purpously viscious or harmfull they just haven't been trained properly.

Haribo, Ffreckle et al - let it goooooo. Let it goooooo.

Hope most of MN (heaven forbid) never even encounter a dog even if in country or in a park and let it gooooooo.

Honestly, i have never known anyone on RL be so anti-dog and tbh the attitude toward dog owners here is so prejudiced if it were a different 'type' of person the people doing the judging would be flamed.

Give your dogs a nice sloppy lick from me .