I think that there can be middle ground, I do think that dogs should be kept under control and that if a dog has a tendency to run at or jump up at people, even in play, then it should be kept on a lead in places where there are lots of children, and that letting it off should be restricted to places where there is wide open space for it to run without harassing the local populous. I also think that it can be very annoying when people tie their dogs up outside shops, because although the dog is restrained it’s not uncommon to hear a dog barking/crying/wining until its owner emerges from the shop to take it home. Also if the dog isn’t necessarily friendly there is no owner to stop the dog from snapping/snarling at children/other dogs while he/she is in the shop. I have been to our local shops on more than one occasion to find several dogs tied up outside all straining at their leads and snarling very voiciforously to get to my guide dog.
However, while I appreciate that some people have fear of dogs for one reason or another, I do think that feeling the need to cross the street to avoid walking past a dog which is kept under control is perhaps a little excessive. Yes there are aggressive dogs out there and there are some very bad dog owners out there who don’t keep control of their animals, but there are also a lot of very responsible dog owners for whom their dogs are like members of the family, and who wouldn’t dream of shoving their dogs into your face. I also think that keeping children away from all dogs because of your own fear of them will only increase their fear of dogs and that is not necessary imo. It’s good to teach children that they should respect dogs, but generally I agree with twoLabs, teaching children to be afraid of dogs can actually make things worse.
I too have a lab (guide dog) and ironically I also get the opposite, people assume that because she’s a lab and a guide dog (retiring on Friday bless her), it’s ok to run up and stroke her, and that has also included one child who ran up and threw her arms around her in the middle of a shop. So I do think that it’s often the children who don’t know better, as opposed to some dog owners – it’s not always the dog owner who’s at fault.
As for not letting a child play with a certain child because they have a dog, imo that is totally ott, what does that teach your child, it teaches her that dogs are bad, and that certainly isn’t the case with all dogs, the same as not all children are bad. Without my dog I would be lost, quite literally, and I would hate to think that people would potentially not allow their children to play with my ds because I have a dog, who has actually changed my life, and without whom I wouldn’t have the kind of mobility/independence that I do.