What is the law regarding dogs on leads in parks hassing small toddlers and slobbering over them please?

[oliveoil]

Do they have to be on a lead in parks or "under control" in some way?

I am sick to death of having something the size of a donkey come lumbering over and scaring my children, whilst the owner yells (from a distance) "ooooooh it's ok, he's lovely!!!".

I DON'T CARE! GET IT'S STINKING FACE AWAY FROM MY CHILD!

And they shit everywhere.

So. Can I complain to anyone or is that it, put up and shut up?

Thanks.

Moon66's friend is a '6ft burly gentleman' threatening to kick something smaller than him hard in the ribs when it hasn't threatened him. That creature is a member of someone's family.

It's hardly the same as a dog attacking children.

I certainly understand themoon's running mate. It's not hard to hold the dog's collar whilst you pass but a minority of owners just can't be bothered. And if you ask them to, politely, you get the stock 'it won't hurt you' answer. Or in the case of the last woman I asked, 'Piss off and run somewhere else!'

As I said further down the most docile dog may bite if it's trodden on. And my friend broke her shoulder tripping over a loose dog whilst running.

Agree Booboo, I take great care to stop my dogs jumping up at people, and if children are around I keep the unpredictable one on the lead and make the other walk to heel.

But if I was walking my two dogs on my own, and one of them approached a "6ft burly gentleman", and then he threatened to physically hurt my dog, I would not only be angry but also myself would feel threatened.

A "verbal warning" is "can you make sure your dog doesn't jump up?" not threatening the dog with violence!!

I don't think that's being overly sentimental.

Then you are a considerate owner 3rd and themoon's mate wouldn't need to yell at you.

For the record.. I always make a point of thanking owners who hang onto their dogs when I pass... either jogging or with my kids.

And my running partner only says what he says to the owners who are making no attempt at all to get their dogs off him. Perhaps he comes across as aggressive, but then so does a leaping slobbering dog which appears to be totally out of control.

I would agree that kicking a dog for no reason would be a vile act.

But SMBK, he shouldn't be yelling something so aggressive anyway. I've often felt threatened by large men who happened to be scared of my dog, and took it out on me.

One threatened to 'break [my] dog's f&cking legs' because she was playing with her ball near him. I was terrified, and thought about calling the police, tbh. (I am 5'3, and my dog weighs 15kg).

People need to keep things in proportion, frankly.

It may well come across as aggressive, but just becuase he's a bloke it doesn't mean he's not afraid of dogs. And politeness doesn't always work as I've experienced.

And for the record, the last yapping, barking dog dh and I tried to ignore (he's afraid of dogs as he has been bitten) bit me on the calf. I still have the scars.

After the usual claptrap of "he/she/it won't touch her/him/them", my dc were hysterical when an old english sheepdog (massive and about 3 times the size of my ds) kept circling around my dc snapping at them, the owner laughed when they started to cry!! Dh was less than polite to the owner at that point. It is getting to the stage we can't go out as a family anywhere for a walk without coming across dogs off the leads jumping up at us.

I do think it is harsh to threaten to kick an animal for jumping up. Agree that a dog jumping up at an adult can be scary, even if you are a six foot tall man, but the fault is the owner's for not taking steps to control the dog.

I have myself (as a five foot five tall woman btw) been jumped up at by a big, uncontrolled boxer, and was actually a little frightened, but it would never have occured to me to threaten the owner with hurting his dog.

The guy was a complete twunt and wouldn't control his pet, but it wasn't his dog's fault.

3rdTriMossTer, are you suggesting we shouldn't defend ourselves against animals that may be attacking us? I quite agree it's the owner's fault not the dog's, but kicking the owner isn't going to achieve very much.

So are we saying he should be threatening to kick the owner if the dog attacks him?

No, not suggesting that at all! If a dog actually attacts you good grief yes you have to defend yourself!

But threatening the owner that you're going to kick their dog is a bit intimidating for the owner, especially if they are out on their own.

Themoon - as for kicking the owners - well, I'd like to kick people who don't clean up after their dogs, and leave huge masses of dog poo right in the middle of the path in the park where I walk mine!

But then again I'd also like to give a big kicking to the people who hang around in the park in the evening drinking and then leaving glass lying around everywhere for my dogs to cut their paws on!

Just typed a long post in response, but have deleted it, as actually a lot of these posts show a fundamental misunderstanding of dog-psychology, and it's too complicated to explain in a post without banging on forever.

If you're interested, I suggest you read something like 'the Dog Whisperer'.

If you're not (and I suspect quite a few people on this thread couldn't give a toss), there's no point discussing it anyway.

X posts Mossy. You are clearly feeling less hormonal than me today! Either that, or you're just more balanced. .

I am very hormonal, but in a good mood because it's time to go home (where my greeting party will include two lovely dogs)for the weekend!!

I think the bottom line is, be a considerate dog owner and you won't get yelled at or kicked..........who needs dog psychology.

Booboo good luck with any repercussions (sp) I will think of you when I'm on the train home!!

i am always very careful when i take the dog out for a walk, ialways make sure that there are no kids around before i take him off the lead for a run and always keep him close.

SMBK, as your post clearly implied that I am not a responsible dog-owner, I will spell it out to you.

I have a small, well-behaved dog. She ignores children in the park, and is great with my friend's kids and babies. When we are out she is only interested in her ball or playing with other dogs.

Despite this, I have suffered very scary verbal abuse from several large men over the last 2 years I have had her.

This may have something to do with the fact that I live next to Brixton.

Hence my strong reaction to moon66's posts. I have felt victimised and completely helpless.

Life is not that black and white. Some people are so blinded by their fear of dogs that they act irrationally and badly.

Where did I imply that BooBoo?

'I think the bottom line is, be a considerate dog owner and you won't get yelled at or kicked'...

It might not be that they're blinded by their fear of dogs booboo, just that they've already had 2 jumping up at them and putting mud on their clothes already that morning, and have got to screaming stage. So they unfairly take it out on the next dog-owner they come across.

I think the wink mid sentence was a clue there BooBoo.

It was an attempt to lighten the thread .

Booboo, that's true (about people acting irrationally, I mean).
My dh is scared of dogs and always gets wound up when we are jumped up on by them when we are out for walks with dd in a backpack (this seems to attract them). It makes me sad that she has already picked up on this and is developing her own fear. I wish he could stop himself giving out those signals but he can't and the dog owners who just expect people to put up with being jumped up on make it hard to avoid .

It's such a shame to see this transmitted through the generations.

Fair enough. I'm 7 months pregnant and my dog is sick, so it's just possible that my reactions are a little overwrought atm.