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.

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>>

Trying to compare this with racism is nonsense. If you oppose something for no reason that may be prejudice, but there are clear reasons here. If you can't recall what they are go to the link in my last post for the main one.

Haribosmummy, I don't want you to go away upset. You are not the cause of all these problems and perhaps your dog is sweet and harmless. The trouble is that your position encourages other dog owners to regard it as ok to just 'take a chance' so we have to argue it.

I'm not upset Onagar, I'm just not prepared to argue about it anymore or feel I need to justify my having a dog because another totally unrelated dog once bit someone.

That's like saying I shouldn't drive a car because another person once crashed a car and hurt / killed someone.

or I shouldn't cross a road because someone once got knocked over and hurt / killed crossing a road.

The comments on THIS thread:

• dog owners are the most selfish people in the world.
• ALL dogs should be kept on leads at ALL times in public places.

Sorry, but that IS prejudice.

if you said: A black person once mugged someone so I think ALL black people will mug people: That is clearly a prejudiced statement.

As is: A dog once bit someone so I think ALL dogs will bite people. It might not be as politically incorrect, but it is still prejudice.

It can be upsetting especially if you love your pets very much, of course you would stand up for them practically as much as you would a child. They deserve protection too. After all, they can not speak for themselves.

HM.. you enjoy and love your dog flower don't get dragged into this bullshit.

Thanks SA - I will take your (very wise!) advice

er, please don't compare a racial prejudice with a statement about an animal, it is a totally false analogy.

A dog is an animal. As well as you think you know your pet, you cannot totally predict what its behaviour will be at any given moment. To say you can is a dangerous complacency and sentimentalizing the animal you own. I loved my dog,and he was a softie, but I wouldn't presume to know his behaviour at all times.

It is pretty insulting to compare racism with a prejudice against dogs, even though stating that all dogs are potentially dangerous is not actually a prejudice, but fact.

no to mention the unintentional hilarity in comparing hundreds of years of oppression with an opinion on dog owners....

Well said, Ruty.

Guns have to be kept locked in a gun cupboard in this country. Is that prejudice against guns? Not all guns have or will kill people so it's very unfair to lock up the others when it isn't their fault.

In my post at 5:41 this evening at no point did i mention race. Almost every post thereafter did (why?????).

I was not talking about race i was thinking more along the lines of the usual arguments we have on MN - WOHM / SAHM, BF / FF etc.

Race never even occured to me.

Onager - you were the first to mention race and to compare a pet dog to a loaded gun is seriously deluded.

(so much for letting it goooooooo)

"* ALL dogs should be kept on leads at ALL times in public places.

Sorry, but that IS prejudice".

Totally confused. How?

I don't think MN is any more anti dogs than RL
just that perhaps people don't usually say how they feel about dogs in RL, (same as we don't actually go up to mums with tots with pierced ears and say they're chavvy, but it might get discussed here).
If you haven't got a dog the topic doesn't often come up.

Funny enough I have come accross several owners (in RL) oblivious to the fact i we don't all love their dog...."oh he's just saying hello".

how deluded? guns and dogs are not people. They are both dangerous in the wrong human hands.

TheSynOddOneOfWhitby, your post sounded like you meant race the way you said 'type of person' and 'prejudice', but if you now say you meant different lifestyles that's fine. rereading your post and substituting SAHM for "dog owner" doesn't make any sense to me, but then it didn't the other way either.

The gun comparison is quite straightforward. Because guns are dangerous, people are required to keep them under control and supervision. It's not the gun's fault and it doesn't mean we think all guns will be used to hurt people. It's just a sensible precaution.

oh ye i remember a friend's dog licking my 2 year old in the eye over and over and being told 'ah, he just wants to give you a kiss'

Oooh you shouldn't let a dog lick a small child because he'll get worms. And there's nothing worse than a dog with worms...

LOL wotulookinat

yes i know. Just illustrating total delusion of dog owner.

Isn't the delusionality (not a word, but do you get what I mean) a function of the person not the fact that they are a dog owner? A selfish person will be selfish whatever pet they choose, ditto delusional.

seems to be widespread. Every time ds has been knocked down/licked in the face the owner has come up to us and said 'oh he's just trying to be friendly..'
Actually next time i might try to lick someone in the face if they say that to me.

Well, I like dogs, wouldn't have one as I work 3 days a week and it wouldn't be fair to it, but I don't object to them and I do think that some mothers pass on their fears to their children by hysterically clutching their child to them every time a dog appears on the horizon (I've seen it happen on many an occasion!).

I do think that there needs to be responsibility on both sides - whilst dog owners should NEVER allow their dog to run wild if they cannot control it (and I agree there are some severely delusional dog owners out there!) - and I think proper licencing/insurance is a fantastic idea - I have always taught DD that she never approaches a dog without asking the owner if it is safe to do so and to go in low and let the dog sniff at the back of her hand first before attempting to touch it (even if the owner has said it's ok!).

Last week we were in the forest at a popular dog-walking area, there were lots of dogs around, while I was queuing at the tea hut she took herself off to a lady with a staffy-type, I saw her ask about the dog, she then gave it a stroke and had a chat to the lady (who had ascertained I was her mother and was watching the proceedings) before coming back to me pleased as punch, telling me all about the dog and what it's name was.

Fair enough, this particular part of Epping Forest is middle-class heaven, but even so, I thought it was lovely that she had the confidence to go and do that (she's 4) and was sensible about it.

I do think we need to teach our children to interact sensibly with dogs, but that goes hand in hand with teaching dog owners to train their dogs and be realistic about their natures.

People who don't pick up their dog poo, however - they should all be burned at the stake

Seems perfectly reasonable to me, fruitbeard. Actually, I have a book (bought from a museum) about capital punishment - we could work our way through alphabetically, perhaps!

I did tell ds1 that I'd bought the book to give me discipline ideas but that dh wouldn't let me try them! [evil mummy-with-bunny-ears emoticon]

of course we have to teach our children to interact sensibly with dogs, that goes without saying. My son has also petted and walked a rescue staffy we know who has a good nature, even though he has been made very scared of dogs by his experience being attacked/knocked over etc, i encourage him to interact safely with dogs we know and tell him most dogs are nice animals. However time and time again this gets challenged by dogs [or should i say dog owners] that we encounter routinely.