Bloomin' dog owners!

[dirtydog]

My dog used to walk off the lead but now he's deaf he doesn't hear me calling him back now! Not that he's fussed about going out on walks these days. Shook his lead at him the other and he just looked away and went back to sleep!

I agree with mark as long as he's prepared to have me do the same with his kids if I think they are looking a little bit feral.

[Mark_h]

@ Spank. You could try but they'll have your watch wallet and phone if you let them get close enough.

Exactly, you may say they're fine with real humans but how do I know they aren't secretly replicants or even chavs in fancy dress.

Safest thing to do is to tazer them really but I'd be content with holding their collars until you can get a lead back on the little blighters.

[Fallout]

Dogs and kids is a separate matter. No kid should have to endure even a friendly dog running up to them and licking them, pushing them over etc. Mistakes happen though. If someone is chucking a ball for their dog and kids appear afterwards and the dog runs up to them, it's hard to avoid that scenario. If someone walks their dog into a public rec and lets there dog off when there are loads of young kids and people having picnics, then that's the dog owner's fault.

Duke is a lovely dog and has never bitten anyone or shown any aggression (he hardly even barks and has never growled), but I'd never leave him alone with a young child, nor let him run around where young kids are playing. The mrs on the other hand does that all the time, but she's a pleb and can't be told.

[Mark_h]

Originally Posted by Spank86

Exactly, you may say they're fine with real humans but how do I know they aren't secretly replicants or even chavs in fancy dress.

Safest thing to do is to tazer them really but I'd be content with holding their collars until you can get a lead back on the little blighters.

Nah, You're OK, he'll just tickle you with that stanley knife, it's just his way of saying hello.

The trouble with dogs and kids is when you get to places like your woods that are local dog walking spots.

The dogs are gonna be there, they are gonna jump. The only way round it is if your kids can't handle it to find somewhere else to walk but there's no telling where would be safe if you're out in the country.

[21QUEST]

It's too much effort to read all the posts..on the phone...but people who are unable to keep their dogs under control do get on my tits.

Keep your dog on a leash in a public place, if you can't control it. I really don't about how nice you think it is......it's not that difficult really......

There's almost 2billion kids in this world and only 500million dogs so realistically it would take 4 kids to be more important than one dog.

Given as mark only has two kids they are as a group only as important as half a dog, not having met them I wouldn't care to speculate on which half.

[widepants]

Originally Posted by Mark_h

Problem is every dog owner believes their dog to be super friendly and great with kids.

My two (kids not dogs) were both terrified by dogs because of a couple of dogs who jumped up at them and knocked them over when they were little. We've gradually introduced them to dogs again and they are now mostly fine unless a dog jumps up at them when they are not expecting it.

Now when we go for walks they will ask if they can stroke a dog, get the sniffing done and give strokes all very nice and friendly. However we still get the odd dog who jumps up and frightens the life out of them and the owner will just say "it's fine, he's great with kids he's just exited". Actually, it's not fine. You've got a dog who we don't know jumping up uninvited to my kids who are often smaller than the dog. At this point we don't know if it's a friendly dog or a badly trained face ripper.

So have a bit of sympathy with the other side. No dog should be let off the lead and out of controlling range if it's not trained well enough to not jump up at children (or adults for that matter). I'm all for seeing dogs running and messing with other dogs but if your dog jumps up and scares my kids I'm not impressed. How do I know it's not a kiddy mauler just by looking at it?

I have on occasion grabbed a dog by it's collar and held it down while it's en-route to my kids and on occasion been critisised by the owner as "it's OK, he's great with kids". Well I'm not prepared to take that risk and I'm also not prepared to have the hard work of getting my kids to be calm around dogs put back again.

Happy to be flamed by the dog-lovers but I see the safety of my kids as far more important than the freedoms of your unknown dog.

+ 10,000 on this one.To put it bluntly , if a dog came bounding up to my kids without a lead on it , Id kick it in the face .
My lad is Autistic and it would drive him crazy and could put him back for months