dogs at school gates

[southeastastra]

hi im really livid but would like to hear all sides.
took my ds4 to school this morning - outside the school (not in school grounds) someone had tied up a dog I would say it was a cujo type dog (sorry dont know much about breeds). It was tied right by the entrance that we have to go in which is very small and also the nursery entrance.

im not saying this dog is dangerous it just looked big and to my son scary. I am so fed up of people taking these animals, even tied up, to the school.

Am i over reacting? my son is scared of dogs, and i have tried to tell him they're nice etc, but this is now getting on my nerves, it seems so irresponsible for parents to do this, should i call school? this dog was not on the school grounds but very near!

Thanks Im just so angry.

canine partners aren't taking anyone on.

Fio dogs for the disabled is in oxfordshire which is why we're too far away. Tell m more about your friend though :)

oh thanks btw 2labs- sorry feeding ds3 so brief typing..

Quite aside from the cruelty aspect, I can't see why there is any virtue in claiming that one would kick in a dog's head just for licking...? A pedigree dog costs several hundred pounds - plus vet fees, feeding, equipment etc.

Would you (Donnie) think it ok to destroy another person's property worth, say, £1,000, just because you didn't like it?? I don't like those noisy, polluting, unregistered excuses for motorbikes that young men ride round my area, but I'm not about to torch one (even though their owners can't be trusted to ride them responsibly).

agreed rz, honestly some peoples' attitudes to animals amaze me.

Whooaahhh, this thread has taken a weird turn. I would probably go a bit loopy if a dog licked me or my kids. Some of us really can't stand dogs, sorry but it's just an instinctive thing.

anyone else think this has all the classic ingredients of a great mn thread. anrgy op seeking answer to am I over-reacting? school gate related; lots of different opinions; semi-private conversation about dogs and special needs; conversations about dogs being battered to death (clearly offensive to some) and others bing bashed with a lap top (not nice but it sis make me smile)and over a 100 posts. I love it.

just to add to the wierdness, now the idea has been put into my head I am seriously thinking about torching some of those motorbikes.....but i think the owners might then torch me!! (8am this morning ffs)

Saadia you're perfectly entitled to go a bit loopy if a dog licked you or your kids; it is not everyone's cup of tea...but I am sure that you wouldn't personally exact the death penalty on the poor mutt for doing this.....

Usually a "Gerrroff!" suffices

no hmc, but what worries me, and correct me if I'm wrong, but dogs can sense fear and if someone is giving off the scent of fear then doesn't that make dogs likely to attack?

No, not attack (unless they are that way inclined), they are more likely to be disinterested and or wary of you (back off / ignore you etc)

Yes, but sometimes dogs - even well-trained 'oh he wouldn't hurt a fly!' family dogs with no 'previous' - have been known to take a chunk out of a child.

Happened to me as a kid - friend's dog bit my leg for no reason. No big fuss made about it, but I've not been keen on dogs since. Equally, a mate of mine had a dog when SHE was a child, which bit a family member out of the blue - & was promptly put down. Whole family obviously v upset.

So, I'd prefer my children to treat dogs with respect & keep their distance unless they are introduced 'properly' to the dog by its owner. Again - not possible if it's tied up right at the school gate & the route past is narrow.

why on earth did I write 'sense of humour favour'????

I meant failure, obviously.....

that is reassuring hmc, I always thought they were more likely to go for you if you were afraid.

I love dogs, and so do both my kids. I'd love to have one. Unfortunatly ds is very allergic to them, and patting one outside the school gate could be enough to trigger an asthma attack.....depending on the type of dog. He is so allergic to cats that he has had an attack just because he was in the car with someone who had a cat!

So I would prefer that any dogs at the school gate were not within 'touching' distance.

Ds's allergy isn't as sterious as a peanut allergy, but his attacks are very unpleasent and debilitationg for him.

So owners, please, not right by the gate?

I like dogs but treat ALL dogs no matter how friendly they appear to be with both respect and caution. I won't for instance go up to any dog and stroke it unless I've been previously introduced to the animal by the owner or the owner is present. They are instinctively pack animals. Even small dogs can turn on bigger dogs and I have seen instances where both owners are frantically tugging at the leads to keep their warring animals apart.

If dogs are well trained and know their place then fabulous but not all dogs and their owners are this responsible.

Would personally like to see mandatory dog training/obedience classes for all new dog owners.

Wow, what an interesting thread. Sorry, I couldn't resist joining in. I have a dog and wouldn't dream of tying him outside school gates for a number of reasons - someone might steal him, but also because when children are around I want to be there to make sure everyone (including the dog) has a good experience. I never leave him unattended with children as someone might frighten him and whatever the child does, it's always going to be the dog's fault if something happens.

I agree with mandatory dog training/obedience for new dog owners - for the benefit of the dogs as well as society in general. And I hate it when people don't pick up their dog's poo - it gives my dog a bad reputation. Honestly, I hate this even more now than before I had a dog. When I take my dog out, he frequently has to sit quietly and wait for children or pushchairs to pass. It doesn't do him any harm and mothers of nervous children always appreciate it.

Haven't got the baby yet, but I think I'd just leave him at home for the walk to school and take him out afterwards instead. (I know it will take longer, but there's no way I'd tie him up.)

We have a dog next door that growls under the fence at us and I have heard on two separate occasions "Oh fucking hell, he's just bitten me!" from next door.

When I saw it out the front, not on a lead and staring me down, I was scared - not sure what breed it is, but it looks like a stocky black lab if that makes sense. I was trying to get the two boys in from the car and our front garden doesn't have a gate - this dog scares me, but I'm not sure if that's because I don't like dogs much or it's a scary dog iyswim.

Next door have two young children - 3 and 5...

No - it is debateable whether any dog should be left tied up anywhere, both for their own safety and those around them. I don't understand the need for it at all. To leave a dog tied up where there are children is absolute madness. There is no dog that can be guaranteed to react calmly in every situation, particularly around young children. If a dog feels threatened it will trie to protect itself - that is what dogs do!

Which is why I always put a muzzle on mine when left - even if I had to dash into a shop for 2 minutes. He knows the muzzle only goes on when he's tied up - in fact he refuses to walk on if I've forgotten to take it off. It protects him and any child nearby. He much prefers to be muzzled for a few minutes than to be left at home. As soon as I pick up the muzzle, he gets all excited because he knows it means he's going out.

freckle that is all i ask! i would feel better if said dog at least had a muzzle

Not convinced about this muzzle business. I'm not sure they can't give a false sense of security. Mine has only been muzzled once, when we took him to the vet to have an eye problem sorted out. He was terrified, wetting all over the table etc. I was holding him, but obviously not firmly enough and as the vet went to do something to him, he got his front paws up, pulled the muzzle off and bit her.

"If dogs are well trained and know their place then fabulous but not all dogs and their owners are this responsible."
Again - difficult one. Mine dog knows his place amongst humans - and I worked quite hard at bite inhibition when he was a puppy (which might be belied by the above, but really the only time he does use his teeth is when he's hysterical and frightened. The last time was when he was bitten by a wasp.) However, it's that terrier thing again: no one has told them they're small dogs. I saw him cheerfully trying to run off a much bigger dog the other week (growling, snapping etc) because he wanted to play with a third dog alone. I was shocked as he's never done anything like that before. That dog was scared to come near him for a while afterwards. Now they play happily most mornings. Dogs need to establish dominance between them somehow and teeth out and fur flying doesn't necessarily mean that they're vicious. (Having said that, I do keep threatening mine that too much bullying behaviour and his 'nads will be on the line... )

not sure either if muzzles give out the right message. Personally if I saw a dog wearing a muzzle I would think it was possibly agressive, and although I'd be reassured that it would be unlikely to attack me with a muzzle on, and also reassured that the owner had taken precautions to ensure that no harm could come to anyone who came too close to the dog, a muzzled dog would unnerve me somewhat, and I am not afraid of dogs.

Just to clarify about the dog that my dh hit over the head with the laptop, the dog was a staffy that went for my guide dog who was in harnass, and latched on to her throat, realistically it was the only way to get the dog off without running the risk of being bitten. Having said that it must have looked quite a sight, lol.

Oh FGS of course a bloody great mastiff shouldn't be tied up right outside a school.

There's a puppy tied up outside DS's school every morning, and i don't really approve of that either. There is a fence and it could be tied a bit further up away from the gate so that it's not so close to where the children are, but it's excited and eager (very sweet) and it only takes one child to have an incident. Why bother taking an unnecessary risk when there's a perfectly good alternative about 2 metres away?

As for talking nicely to the owner, if they're inconsiderate enough to leave a great big dog like a mastiff right outside a school so that the kids have to brush past it, do people honestly think they are going to be amenable to reason? A reasonable person wouldn't on the whole, have a mastiff in the house with children, let alone take it to a school. Pur leese.

Hi! I do have a dog and take her on the school run and she is tied away from gates, so kids can avoid her. She is gentle but does sometimes give a sneaky lick to small kids (unacceptable, i know! We are working on it, don't kick her head in!! ) I was attacked as a child, and my daughter was frightened by a dog and was scared of all dogs. Thats part of the reason why we got her (dog, not daughter!) There was one child whose mother would jerk him away within 5 feet of my dog, and he was looking very scared, but i think mostly because of his mother's reaction. Way to instill a phobia!!! But lately the mother has gotten fed up with doing that and her son has even stroked my dog as we walked by. YAY!!! Felt like we'd achieved something

Recently at our school, a letter went round saying dogs aren't allowed to be tied up on the gate. Story behind it was a small dog was tied up and "nipped" a child as child went in past it. Mother complained to owner, owner smashed her face into fence and pulled her hair, saying my dog wouldn't do that blah blah. Incident got reported to police on lines of "assault" and "dangerous dogs". Don't know if anyone got "done" over it or not.
No dogs for a few weeks. They're creeping back though, and people are ignoring the rules again.
DS is terrified of small rather than large dogs, so we avoid all of them now outside school - especially in case the "violent" owner walks past us and takes offence at ds shrinking away from them.