Fellow dog owners if a child approaches your dog without asking can you do me a favour please?

[DooinMeCleanin]

do not say "Oh it's alright sweetie, you don't have to ask. S/he loves kids" when I am clearly telling her "Dd2 ask first" or "Dd2 do not disturb that doggy or I will take you home" because the next dog they meet might not love kids.

Dd2 no longer asks before running off to meet a dog, because she has heard this so many times.

This a big problem to me. I can no longer walk my dogs on the school run because it is prime dog walking time and I cannot walk my dogs, aid The Devil dog with his socialistion and fetch dd2 back from the dog and child aggressive Collie she is trying to pat because the collie owner further down the park told her all dogs love kids

I am considering leashing dd2 for our next walk.

I understand that some people like children petting their dogs and owners of larger breeds or 'dangerous' breeds might find it refreshing to meet a child who is not fearful of their dog and a parent who is not hysterical, you can let her pat your dog. I don't mind that. Just make sure she asks first. And make sure she asks everytime, even if Jake the GSD is her 'friend dog' because Elvis her 'friend' the Boxer only likes her petting him when his tummy isn't poorly.

It's no use me telling her one thing and 90% of dog owners telling her differently.

Hear hear! I quite agree and can't tell you the amount of times I've lectured children about not approaching my or ANY dog unless they've asked if they may do so first.

Vall she is prepped before every walk and evertime I tell her she must approach the dogs slowly and always ask the owner before touching it and she must walk away if they tell her no. But then the first eejit she sees tells her it's okay, she doesn't need to ask, or they see her apporaching and say to their dog "Oh look a little girl, you'd like a cuddle" etc.

She used to ask, but has now clearly decided that all the other people must be right and I am a meanie telling her she can't have 'friend dogs'.

I always pull my dogs away and tell any strange child they must ask first, then I'll ask my dogs to sit and they can pet them, or not, depending upon The Devil Dogs skin.

On the VERY rare occasions that children ask to pet my dogs, I always say "Yes, you may - and well done for asking". Shocking how many kids DON'T ask. I wouldn't DREAM of saying "You don't have to ask" - what a stupid thing to do!

I always insist my DCs ask before approching any dog, AND remind any other children who run up to my dog. And it say it loudly too!!

Trying to understand you.

If a child just comes up to my dog I hold my dog away but it's hard as some parents just don't care and it's not my job to parent their kids. I tell them not to get near my dog but if they don't listen what should I do? Very hard as some parents just let their kids do as they please. It's very annoying to me as I want a quiet walk with out brats coming up and pestering my dog.

I really appreciate it when children ask and always say so

Dessen, I know it is my responsibility if she does not listen (she always does walk away if she is told to by the owner), but so many people either just tell her or me that it's okay, she doesn't need to ask or they just simply say "Oh h/she is friendly" without agreeing with me and waiting for her to ask and she presumes that is what everyone will do.

It's not so bad if dd1 is with us, as dd1 knows the drill and will hold dd2's hand and show her what to do.

The last time we were out not only did an elderly couple tell her she didn't have to ask, but they then approached my dogs without asking, and to top it all of they unleashed their nightmare of a Yorkie x to come and 'be friends' with my bombproof Whippet and not so bombproof, still in training Terrier, who were both still leashed.

They then told me they were surprised at how many 'bad dogs' they meet who growl at their Precious. That is what their dog was called

I always do this. Our sheltie looks very, very pretty and therefore tends to attract lots of children, who often forget to ask. If they start petting him I always make a point of telling them that although he's fine, you can't tell that just by looking at a dog and they should always ask to pet in future. I always really praise children who ask.

Mind you I got pretty annoyed with some stupid mother a few weeks back. Her small daughter (maybe 4 years old) said to me "can I touch the doggie?" and before I had a chance to say a word the mother screamed, "no! Get away from it! It might bite you or lick your face or give you a disease!" No praise for the girl for asking first, just a huge tirade of abuse at the child. I said as she went by, "you did the right thing to ask" and smiled (though, of course, I didn't let her touch the dog). The mother glared at me as though I was poison .

Maybe people like that shouldn't have pets OR children.....

The latest thing at my younger daughter's primary school is for people to tie their dogs up outside then take their child in. There are usually about 5 dogs at different points with lots of kids approaching them and parents letting them.

I would never tie my dogs up outside anywhere let alone the school.

I always tell my kids to ask owners before touching their dog and if an owner isn't around, then they are not to touch the dog.

I don't think anyone has asked to stroke my pup, he is a loon walking/dragging me down the street. He jumps up at everyone but I am doing my best to deal with this. It does look like a dog trainer will be needed though as it's a real struggle at the moment.

My dog is unpredictable around children he doesn't know so I have to be very, very careful in public. He is never off his lead in parks etc (luckily my house backs onto moorland so he can run off-lead where there aren't any children). But even though I have him on a short lead I often have kids running up to him, obviously intent on stroking him, and I have to tell them very sharply that they mustn't touch him. I do make a point of telling them/their parents that they must always ask before stroking a dog they don't know. Once though I had a girl come marching up to me obviously intent on stroking my dog, and when I told her not to touch him her mum got upset and said to me "she wasn't going to hurt him, you know!" in a most offended tone. What a bloody idiot! She got a suitably cutting response...

My mother used to have a rescue poodle with a very difficult past, but the face of a furry angel.

She never had any problem stopping children from touching him, but many adults ignored her when she said he might bite, and just carried on scratching his little nosy-wosy, 'Oh, he won't bite me, will you my darling?'.

Of course the little bugger never did, but my mother had scars...

I'm really firm with my children about not touching strange dogs, however cute.

Ptero I try to be really firm with her, but she is often too quick for me. She is suitably chastised for approaching strange dogs and if happens more than once on a walk she is forced to hold hands (which she hates) and is frogmarched home, but it doesn't sink in (possible SEN we are waiting for her referal) and it certainly doesn't help when other owners encourage her.

Dogs are one of her 'things'. She is very particular about the way ours are looked after and seems unhealthily obsessed with them. She can also tell which of her four GSD friends is which even though three of them are walked by the same person and to me look identical. I am told this is unusual for a three year old.

Very tricky if she's got a bit of a passion.

I guess people are trying to be kind, if unthinking - can you be quite direct with people who say she doesn't need to ask and say that she is apt to be over-confident with strange dogs and so you encourage her always to ask in case she meets a dog which isn't as loveable as theirs? They might then change tack and back you up.

Oh Dooin, I have this all the time at school.

Yes my dogs are friendly, yes they like being stroked, but sometimes I just want to do a bit of socialisation/quiet training and it really irks me that children come up and launch themselves at the puppy!

There is one child in particular, who's mum should know better (they socialise for a dog charity) but she lets her run riot and of course the puppy is teething and anything is fair game, hands, coats, scarves... you know what its like.

I try to keep Lolly close to me and get her to watch me which she does, but kids just start prodding and stroking. Does my bloody head in.

Have started being quite firm and saying "You MUST ask before stroking any dog"

I do get some looks, but I dont care.

OK, serious question (am not taking the piss) - is it OK if the mum asks you first? My DD2 loooves dogs (would like one of her own, but I work so no-go on that). I usually ask the dog-owner myself 'Is it OK if she pets him?' rather than rely on DD2 (nearly 5) to do it herself.

Good reminder.

I do tend to say that my dog is very friendly, but don't follow up with "well done for asking", which tbh I could not say in French anyway.

And I always tell my DC not to pet dogs without asking permission first.

Poledra
Start teaching your DD to ask herself. You won't always be with her.

I wait for the parent/adult present to say that it is ok for them to touch.

I am well aware that not everyone loves my dogs so I keep them close to me until I know they are welcome.

Our dcs have got a habit of asking us if they can touch someone elses dog. We always tell them that they must ask the owners not us.

We have got an 18 month old border collie who like most collies is a bit of a loon. But the ammount of people who come up to him and start stroking him without asking really bugs me.

I can get quite growly and snarly if children rush up to our dogs, especially if they are on leads, because I do not want anyone getting hurt. I have told the dcs that they are categorically NOT allowed to approach any dog, especially one on the lead, because if it takes fright and snaps, they could end up with a nasty bite, and the dog could end up being put down.

When children ask if they are allowed to pet one of our dogs, I can then tell them which ones are safest to be with.

Sorry I sound so harsh. We went to a fantastic dog training class in North london and kids made very important contributions.

Not harsh at all silentcat, that's what I try to do with her. Until recently it worked but I tended not to walk at prime dog walking time as The Devil Dog was not ready for that stage of socialisation. He gets a bit giddy when he sees groups of dogs, so I was advised by my trainer to walk him where he would see just a few other dogs, until he learnt how to behave calmly as I needed to concentrate on other areas of his training and could not do that while I was trying to stop him from diving on the head of a dog three times the size of him.

Now he is upto the stage where we are concentrating more on the social side of his training and obv I need to see other dogs to do this.

It would seem that just seeing one or two dogs per walk is something dd2 can process and act accordingly but seeing 1-2 dogs every few minutes is too exciting for her and she forgets what she should be doing.

I always try to make sure she asks and walks up slowly, but as soon as I say "dd2, you must ask, that doggy might not like little girls" I am told "Oh, it's fine, she doesn't have to ask he is safe" or they ignore dd2 completely and tell me it's okay. Very few people wait for her to ask. This means the next dog she meets she thinks she doesn't have to ask as she didn't have to last time.

All I want is for people to either give her a chance to ask instead of interupting me when I am instructing her or tell her she needs to ask first/next time. If I was training one of the dogs people would not interupt me halfway through and tell them they didn't need to sit/stay/heel etc. so why do it when I am trying to teach dd2?

I remember having this point hammered home when I was in Brownies. We had a talk from a lovely lady who trained Guide Dogs for the Blind, who said that dogs should never be disturbed when working, but that it would be polite to start a conversation with the owner and ask if you may touch their dog. She also talked about how to attract a blind/deaf person's attention etc... It has lasted me well into adult life

I have noticed that my dds often take NO NOTICE of what I say! Sometimes it is better for someone else to read them the riot act! At home, I think children push against the boundaries, sometimes as hard as they possibly can!

The best thing I ever did was take my puppy on the school as soon as she was allowed out. As a cute 12 week old lab alots of children came up , most of them asking , which I thanked them for , those who didn't were politely reminded

She is now 7 months old and sits outside school with me and is not bothered when children come up to pat her , most of them know her name . She just sits and watches the road waiting for her other 'doggies friends ' on the school run to arrive .

One little boy did get the huff the other day when he asked if he could stroke her and I said no as she was having a good old sniff and play with another older pup. Last thing I wanted was a younug child in the middle of two boisterous pups !

I do ask children to remove any food from their hands before they pat her - otherwise you know what os going to happend !

I would never tie her up outside the school (or anywhere ) and leave her , one dog nearly got taken the other week at our school right on front of some parenst - one parent approached the guy who was untying it from lampost and challenged him and he buggered off.

That is interesting purplepidjin. Only a few months back I used the Kennel Club's Safe and Sound teaching resource for a session with my Rainbow Guides. I hope some of it stuck.