Yet another owner with no control

tk123

I was in the park earlier with my 2 and a half year old little fella. He was walking just ahead of me when a puppy came running from it's owner on the path onto the grass to chase some birds. Next thing he was running towards us trying to catch my little fella. The owner was shouting at him to come back but he ignored him and went to grab little fella by the neck - he froze unsure of what to do..then the puppy went to grab at his waist/legs. The owner stayed where he was and just kept calling him back but didn't come and get him. I told my little fella who was terried at this stage to stay where he was and that everything was ok. He is nervous of anyone touching his legs after having operations on them at an early age. Eventually the puppy went back to his owner. I didn't say anything even though I was a bit annoyed as it was off lead time and it was just a puppy with no manners and an owner with no control- as long as my little fella was ok that was all that mattered.

NOW.. replace little fella with dog, puppy with child and owner with daddy..;)

Zapperzy

Ridiculous, and people wonder why children get attacked by dogs. :mad: It's always the dog in the wrong too. :mad:

Like what you've done there with the play on words! Might hopefully make some people think.

Kali_Kalika

I can sympathize! I had to tie my girl up outside a shop for literally 2 minutes - its something I never, ever do - but I had to in this case as there was something I needed at that moment and I had no one with me to mind her. My girl I trust - its the world I don't trust!:D

I tied her securely and raced into the shop and into the back to get the item I needed and raced back to the front and had a look out and she was just calmly sitting there Got into the queue and with a few people ahead of me it took a wee bit longer than I expected when I went out the door of the shop I had tied her a fair bit away from the door so she wouldn't be in the in/out flow of traffic and there were two kids in front of her - which is fine - she loves kids (they're tasty in her opinion so she loves to lick their faces! :rolleyes:) as I was walking towards them I realized the situation wasn't as innocent as it appeared - the two kids (ages approx 4 and 7 but I'm useless with kids and their ages - one was quite young, but the other was well old enough to know better!) the older kid was holding out bits of a doughnut towards her, offering it to her (no problem there in my book) but as she'd lean ahead to take it (gently - as she's always been taught) he'd whip it away and lean in and laugh in her face! :eek::eek: He did it 3 times that I saw - thank god my girl is a very meek little thing who woudn't dare snap or get aggressive over food - NOT every dog is like this!

It really scared me how he was taunting a dog with food and then leaning right into its face to laugh at it - how easy it would have been for a dog to completely savage the child - and of course - the owner of the "Vicious" dog and of course the "vicious" dog its self would have been blamed in this situation.

I had to race into the situation and came right up behind the little boy and turned him around by his shoulder and asked him what he was doing - he replied "feeding the dog" - I asked him if it was his dog to which he answered "no" (obviously) I then asked if he had permission to feed the dog - again he replied "no" (obviously) and taking in what I assumed his age to be I said to him I'd been watching him and he wasn't feeding the dog he was teasing the dog and being mean to it - and that not all dogs would like that to be handed food and then have it taken away - that a dog could get very mad at him and bite him and then even though it was his fault for making the dog mad the dog would be blamed and have die because he had been mean to it!" - I know I know - probably harsh for a child - but it really scared me what he had been doing - and to think he'd do it to another dog was even scarier - I knew my dog and I knew she wouldn't do anything other than try and take it when it was offered and then look pathetically sad when it was taken away - she doesn't have a mean or dominant bone in her body - I know she'd never even attack or react if she had to - she's been attacked by other dogs in the past and she just crumples into a ball. But I figured - if nothing else - my harsh words might have some impact - maybe they were too harsh but I'd rather him "suffer" my harsh reaction rather than a full face bite from the next dog he decides to tease. There was no parent within sight and I waited around for as long as I could to see if there was an adult I could find who owned them and speak to - both were young enough there was no way they could have been out & about on their own - so whoever owned them weren't responsible owners! All the talk of dog licences and little beasts like that need no license or leash :rolleyes::rolleyes::D:rolleyes::rolleyes:

are you serious

Brilliant Tk just ffffing brilliant

Solair

Just walk over to the owner and calmly explain that you will be suing them for the vet bill if there's any damage to your dog.

That usually encourages them to keep their dog on a lead!

LucyBliss

Kali_Kalika wrote: »

I can sympathize! I had to tie my girl up outside a shop for literally 2 minutes - its something I never, ever do - but I had to in this case as there was something I needed at that moment and I had no one with me to mind her. My girl I trust - its the world I don't trust!:D

There was a court case here last year, I think, where a dog was ordered to be put to sleep because it had been tied up outside a shop while the owner was inside buying the paper, like they did regularly, and the dog nipped a child. Not sure what age the child was but the dog was a Golden Labrador.

Now, while I'm sympathetic to any kid who gets bitten, having been bitten myself by a dog when I was younger, I don't believe in going all "WHY WON'T SOMEONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN??!!" either because I really wonder who the hell thinks it's a good idea to let a child up to a dog they don't know! AFASIK, the dog had no history of aggression, was a family dog and that leads me to think that the kid hassled the dog in some way and the dog reacted.

tk123, your story reminds me of when my cousin and his young children came to visit us last year. They hassled the dogs wholesale, wanting them to come over to them and sit with them and wanted them to do tricks - as if, unless you count their ability to know when you're thinking of giving them a treat - and basically made the dogs life a misery. The dogs ended up sitting me on my chair - three of them! - to hide from them and when one of the kids grabbed Jack by the collar tag and yanked him over to her as he walked past her, I told her never to do that again and put the dogs out into the run for a bit of peace and quiet.
I am extremely lucky that Jack, while a bit of a barking loud mouth when he gets excited, is completely non aggressive and I bless the time my grandmother spent with him, generally lying on him and grabbing him to give him kisses. He never snapped at her, just sat there waiting for more attention.

It was a bit...well, not scary, that's too strong a word...eye-opening is better, perhaps, to see that even though I was policing my dogs and making sure their behaviour was appropriate for the situation - we had a lot of people in the house that day - and making sure that I could see any signals that meant the dogs were getting very uncomfortable and about to go bonkers, it was the kids that day who were the wild cards.
The only reason I didn't put the dogs out earlier was because we don't often have a lot of people in the house and I want them to continue having as many experiences as possible. But I tell you, if I could have put those kids into the run instead, I probably would have! And I like kids!

Zapperzy

Wonder could we put signs up in parks and other public areas 'All children must be kept on a short leash and under control at all times'? I don't like strange children approaching me making me feel uncomfortable, I was in a shop on Thursday and one even stood in the middle of an aisle playing with a rubber ducky blocking the whole aisle and wouldn't let me pass. :eek:

doctor evil

Dogs and children are not on the same footing. Bring a stick with you next time to poke the children away...

Shanao

Here's a scenario for you. Four year old child runs straight up to ten stone akita (on lead) in the middle of the park and grabs hold of the side of his muzzle and pulls on it, dog reacts by pushing child away or snapping. Who's in the wrong? Thankfully he didn't push the child away, or even react beyond just standing there, but imagine if he had. And the mother was just standing there watching :rolleyes: More than annoying.

Saw a great sign last week that I want to put up outside:
'All Pets Welcome. Children Must Be On Leash At All Times'

evilmonkee

I know how you feel! I won't get into it because I'll get so angry I won't be able to sleep! But in short, there is a dog nearby who is never under control, and although friendly, harasses my dog trying to play and sniff her every time we meet... The owner walks away, out of ear shot so as not to be confronted , think by now, they'd just use a lead

Also, walking my little lady in the park one day, on her lead as always and a child ran over to her and tried to pet her! :eek: I quickly bent down to ensure nothing happened (she was an abuse case and will growl if she doesn't appreciate your attention), the mother just ran over, said thanks and walked off! The only reason I didn't lose my cool was it would set my little girl off after her being so good about the whole thing.

Wibbs

Kali_Kalika wrote: »

It really scared me how he was taunting a dog with food and then leaning right into its face to laugh at it - how easy it would have been for a dog to completely savage the child - and of course - the owner of the "Vicious" dog and of course the "vicious" dog its self would have been blamed in this situation.

Nail on the head.

I had to race into the situation and came right up behind the little boy and turned him around by his shoulder and asked him what he was doing - he replied "feeding the dog" - I asked him if it was his dog to which he answered "no" (obviously) I then asked if he had permission to feed the dog - again he replied "no" (obviously) and taking in what I assumed his age to be I said to him I'd been watching him and he wasn't feeding the dog he was teasing the dog and being mean to it - and that not all dogs would like that to be handed food and then have it taken away - that a dog could get very mad at him and bite him and then even though it was his fault for making the dog mad the dog would be blamed and have die because he had been mean to it!" - I know I know - probably harsh for a child

A lot less harsh than the same child being permanently disfigured because the parents are too stupid or remiss to explain to the kid that you should never approach a strange dog. TBH I'd be a lot more harsh if I saw a kid do similar with my dog. He'd likely jump at them for that kinda thing. Not from aggression, but he'd think it was a game and just play along.

I've had kinda similar in the past with kids with their parents in tow while walking dogs. The kids not having been taught correctly will coming running over and start pawing and grabbing at my dogs. I usually march over to the parents and quietly make sure they know they're being idiots. The amount of these kinda muppets out there with no clue is scary and of course like you say the dog always gets the blame. The same eejits wouldn't freak out nearly as much if a kid made a grab for a cat and it (naturally) lashed out with claws/teeth. They're more likely to have told the kids that this could happen too. Too many people assume dogs will take any sort of abuse and invasion of their space. Word to the wise, they often won't.

Bannasidhe

I remember being at the Kinsale Rugby 7's. Sitting on the grass with my then 4 year old JR, on her lease, sitting next to me. A toddler came over and persisted in trying to stick his finger's in her eyes - sometimes succeeding. JR just patiently kept turning her head away while the toddler's parent's ignore my requests to move take their child away. We eventually had to move. My JR was a model of patience - personally I'd have bitten the little fecker after the 3rd poke in the eye.

On a more positive note, same JR - aged 9 at this point - was sound asleep on a friend's sofa with children aged between 8 and 3 playing away in the same open plan room. Suddenly the 3 year old starts crying saying the dog snapped at her. I was waiting for the child's mother to go off about the dog, but she pleasantly surprised me when her first question was 'what did you do you her?', turns out the 3 year old had attempted to pull the sleeping dog off the sofa by her tail and the dog give a little stop that! type snap growl well away from the child. The child's mother was very clear that she knew there was no way my dog would have snapped at any child unless that child had hurt her.

SingItOut

I was taking Moone (Jack russel) for a walk in the park in town today and half way around a little 3 year old child came up to us and asked "can I pet your dog?" I thought wow! If a 3 year old can ask that without being prompted by her parents then parents with older kids have no excuse not to teach their kids the same manners. I'm lucky that both my labrador & moone love kids.

A few minutes earlier some absolute idiot woman with a narky jack russel on a flexi lead (i hate those things!) let her dog get right up in moones face & jump all over her as we were walking past. Moone is fine with other dogs unless they get up in her face or are too excited then she will take a go at them growling and if they dont back off she will snap at them. She didn't today, she never got the chance because I actually had to ask the woman to pull her dog back. Now I don't mind dogs trying to smell moone when we're walking past them but when people like that woman either have no brain or consideration for other walkers/dogs it really gets on my nerves

Roxbb

Love your post OP so true...

I have 3 dogs no kids myself but their are alot of kids connected to me through friends etc...my dogs don't mind kids they don't really pay any attention to them when they are here...I refuse to ever put my dogs out of the house if kids come in...it's their home and they live here so you bring kids here they have to deal with dogs end of...I am very strict with the kids and lay the law down very fast that the dogs are not toys

I tell all the kids that they can pet and play with the dogs but they are not to pull at them as it can hurt and they wouldn't like if I pulled their hair or their ears etc & if they do hurt one of the dogs I will do it to them...I know bit harsh but it works never had a child come in and be rough with them....I just wont allow it....I know kids are innocent and have to learn but not at the expense of my pets wellbeing....

Roxbb

Kali_Kalika wrote: »

I can sympathize! I had to tie my girl up outside a shop for literally 2 minutes - its something I never, ever do - but I had to in this case as there was something I needed at that moment and I had no one with me to mind her. My girl I trust - its the world I don't trust!:D

I tied her securely and raced into the shop and into the back to get the item I needed and raced back to the front and had a look out and she was just calmly sitting there Got into the queue and with a few people ahead of me it took a wee bit longer than I expected when I went out the door of the shop I had tied her a fair bit away from the door so she wouldn't be in the in/out flow of traffic and there were two kids in front of her - which is fine - she loves kids (they're tasty in her opinion so she loves to lick their faces! :rolleyes:) as I was walking towards them I realized the situation wasn't as innocent as it appeared - the two kids (ages approx 4 and 7 but I'm useless with kids and their ages - one was quite young, but the other was well old enough to know better!) the older kid was holding out bits of a doughnut towards her, offering it to her (no problem there in my book) but as she'd lean ahead to take it (gently - as she's always been taught) he'd whip it away and lean in and laugh in her face! :eek::eek: He did it 3 times that I saw - thank god my girl is a very meek little thing who woudn't dare snap or get aggressive over food - NOT every dog is like this!

It really scared me how he was taunting a dog with food and then leaning right into its face to laugh at it - how easy it would have been for a dog to completely savage the child - and of course - the owner of the "Vicious" dog and of course the "vicious" dog its self would have been blamed in this situation.

I had to race into the situation and came right up behind the little boy and turned him around by his shoulder and asked him what he was doing - he replied "feeding the dog" - I asked him if it was his dog to which he answered "no" (obviously) I then asked if he had permission to feed the dog - again he replied "no" (obviously) and taking in what I assumed his age to be I said to him I'd been watching him and he wasn't feeding the dog he was teasing the dog and being mean to it - and that not all dogs would like that to be handed food and then have it taken away - that a dog could get very mad at him and bite him and then even though it was his fault for making the dog mad the dog would be blamed and have die because he had been mean to it!" - I know I know - probably harsh for a child - but it really scared me what he had been doing - and to think he'd do it to another dog was even scarier - I knew my dog and I knew she wouldn't do anything other than try and take it when it was offered and then look pathetically sad when it was taken away - she doesn't have a mean or dominant bone in her body - I know she'd never even attack or react if she had to - she's been attacked by other dogs in the past and she just crumples into a ball. But I figured - if nothing else - my harsh words might have some impact - maybe they were too harsh but I'd rather him "suffer" my harsh reaction rather than a full face bite from the next dog he decides to tease. There was no parent within sight and I waited around for as long as I could to see if there was an adult I could find who owned them and speak to - both were young enough there was no way they could have been out & about on their own - so whoever owned them weren't responsible owners! All the talk of dog licences and little beasts like that need no license or leash :rolleyes::rolleyes::D:rolleyes::rolleyes:

He'a lucky that's all you said to him! Little brat! Poor dog would be to blame if he'd snapped at him annoys me so much!

planetX

Roxbb wrote: »

He'a lucky that's all you said to him! Little brat! Poor dog would be to blame if he'd snapped at him annoys me so much!

or would owner be to blame for leaving a dog tied up where kids might be? Bad idea all round.

Roxbb

planetX wrote: »

Roxbb wrote: »

He'a lucky that's all you said to him! Little brat! Poor dog would be to blame if he'd snapped at him annoys me so much!

or would owner be to blame for leaving a dog tied up where kids might be? Bad idea all round.

Oh agree completely hate seeing dogs tied up at shops anything could happen...I'm just commenting more on the actions of the child tbh

gud4u

Unfortunately, it's not just kids. My sister, in her 30s, totally disregarded my request to use command 'touch' before treating. She rolled her eyes and threw the treat on the floor, later the dog snatched a treat from her and she was mad at me. I have RB dogs and would be strict with visitors interactions. Some people just don't get it and then wonder why they get bitten/scratched.

Kali_Kalika

Roxbb wrote: »

Oh agree completely hate seeing dogs tied up at shops anything could happen...I'm just commenting more on the actions of the child tbh

I hate seeing it as well - it would be so easy for someone to just walk off with someones pet - my mind can only begin to think up the horror stories!

I hated to do it at the time myself but it was unfortunately necessary the whole area was quiet (the shop is never really that busy overall) and I knew once I was in the queue (if being behind 1 person is a queue!) I would have full view of her outside again so knowing she's good as gold - the worst she'd do is lick :rolleyes: which we are working on after beating jumping up and play nipping - so it was a lesser of all evils!

And - in the end - I was right, my dog was fine, good as gold - it was the little brats who were the problem. :rolleyes: I like kids - well - let me rephrase that - I like well behaved kids who have some cop-on. But these two were at best, dopes, sorry but the little one just stood there through my "lecture" with its finger jammed up its nose :rolleyes: and the bigger one had the attention span of a gnat - I really wanted to wait around for a parent or whoever was supposed to be holding onto their leads :rolleyes: But I couldn't waste my whole day and I wasn't sure I'd be able to control what I said to them about their kids because (most likely) they'd be old enough to understand what a f*ckwit was, where I think that would have been lost on the kids :rolleyes:

Yes - it was partially my fault for leaving my dog outside the shop. But, in theory, is it any different to leaving your car outside the shop and coming out to find the same little "darlings" scraping the side of your door? I, personally, was raised to not touch things that didn't belong to me and if I did want to touch something that I didn't own I had to ask permission of who did own it. I knew from a very very young age that the doggies I loved so dearly might not love me so dearly! So to ask the dogs owner if I could pet them or not - I'm not sure why its such a hard or forgotten concept to teach kids - I guess it just falls under the category of common sense ..... which, unfortunately is not all that common anymore! :rolleyes:

DerTierarzt

Kali_Kalika wrote: »

I can sympathize! I had to tie my girl up outside a shop for literally 2 minutes - its something I never, ever do - but I had to in this case as there was something I needed at that moment and I had no one with me to mind her. My girl I trust - its the world I don't trust!:D

I tied her securely and raced into the shop and into the back to get the item I needed and raced back to the front and had a look out and she was just calmly sitting there Got into the queue and with a few people ahead of me it took a wee bit longer than I expected when I went out the door of the shop I had tied her a fair bit away from the door so she wouldn't be in the in/out flow of traffic and there were two kids in front of her - which is fine - she loves kids (they're tasty in her opinion so she loves to lick their faces! :rolleyes:) as I was walking towards them I realized the situation wasn't as innocent as it appeared - the two kids (ages approx 4 and 7 but I'm useless with kids and their ages - one was quite young, but the other was well old enough to know better!) the older kid was holding out bits of a doughnut towards her, offering it to her (no problem there in my book) but as she'd lean ahead to take it (gently - as she's always been taught) he'd whip it away and lean in and laugh in her face! :eek::eek: He did it 3 times that I saw - thank god my girl is a very meek little thing who woudn't dare snap or get aggressive over food - NOT every dog is like this!

It really scared me how he was taunting a dog with food and then leaning right into its face to laugh at it - how easy it would have been for a dog to completely savage the child - and of course - the owner of the "Vicious" dog and of course the "vicious" dog its self would have been blamed in this situation.

I had to race into the situation and came right up behind the little boy and turned him around by his shoulder and asked him what he was doing - he replied "feeding the dog" - I asked him if it was his dog to which he answered "no" (obviously) I then asked if he had permission to feed the dog - again he replied "no" (obviously) and taking in what I assumed his age to be I said to him I'd been watching him and he wasn't feeding the dog he was teasing the dog and being mean to it - and that not all dogs would like that to be handed food and then have it taken away - that a dog could get very mad at him and bite him and then even though it was his fault for making the dog mad the dog would be blamed and have die because he had been mean to it!" - I know I know - probably harsh for a child - but it really scared me what he had been doing - and to think he'd do it to another dog was even scarier - I knew my dog and I knew she wouldn't do anything other than try and take it when it was offered and then look pathetically sad when it was taken away - she doesn't have a mean or dominant bone in her body - I know she'd never even attack or react if she had to - she's been attacked by other dogs in the past and she just crumples into a ball. But I figured - if nothing else - my harsh words might have some impact - maybe they were too harsh but I'd rather him "suffer" my harsh reaction rather than a full face bite from the next dog he decides to tease. There was no parent within sight and I waited around for as long as I could to see if there was an adult I could find who owned them and speak to - both were young enough there was no way they could have been out & about on their own - so whoever owned them weren't responsible owners! All the talk of dog licences and little beasts like that need no license or leash :rolleyes::rolleyes::D:rolleyes::rolleyes:

You're completely in the wrong here, it's against the law to have your dog not under your control and to be honest it's cases like this that lead to canine aggression. Your defence is weak, placing human characteristics on an animal. Remember, a dog's defence to a situation it is not comfortable with is fight or flight, and the longer you keep tethering your animal in situations where neither it nor you have any control, the longer you are denying your animal the flight response, and sooner or later the dog will have no choice to resort to the fight response. I cannot begin to underline just how many canine aggression cases I have seen that all begin with owners tying their dogs up as they go to do chores. Please do not do this in the future.