It would seem you are not a dog person, body language could be causing them to react to you in a way you don’t want.

You sir, are an idiot. No winky face either.

Some real anti dog feeling on here – but I feel the blame lies firmly with irresponsible owners out there.

The other day I saw someone’s dog poo and the owner just walk past it – I have to admit I find that gross so I asked them nicely if they were going to pick it up (it’s a playing field behind our house).

They looked a bit angry with me but they did go back and bag it up. Lazy!

This is refreshing to get such a consensus for once, bar an idiot or two, but is this because its a child rather than an adult? Would anyones’ view have changed had it been the OP on his bike and getting nipped?

I suspect that we’d be hearing more MTFU comments, when this discussion has really highlighted the need for control rather than any particular outcome.

For me, both dogs, kick in the balls (or slats). In those circumstances you simply wouldn’t be thinking “I wonder if Fido will think this is a game” when I despatch its nuts into the sea.

If you cant control a dog, it shouldn’t be off lead, end of story.

I wouldn’t condone hoofing a dog in a slats, I’ve seen someone do this when a dog ran near him, he thought it was being aggressive but didn’t notice the massive ball whizz past him, he booted the dog and got smashed in the face by the owner. Not right on any account.

I hope your son is ok, I agree with some positive dog meetings with a hope not to create a resentment or fear of dogs in the future.

Owners need to be far more respectful of other people when walking dogs, not everyone likes/loves them.

Sorry to sound harsh but you not reporting it makes you part of the problem

I agree with the sentiment, but how does that work in practice?

“Hello Mr(s) Complete Stranger, can I have your name and address so I can report your dog as being dangerous?”

“No.”

“Erm…”

a dog beach

This is a great one. When my missus has the kids she looks after down at the beach, when dogs come sniffing around stealing the kids food or pissing on their beach toys, it’s her fault for being on a dog beach.

I guess you take fotos and call the police straight away? I would.
Also I do not think it is your responsibility to make your kid “dog friendly”, if a dog misinterprets your kids hand signals that means the dog is not under control. Dogs should not be allowed to just wander around and jump up on anyone.
However, it might make sense to habituate the kid with dogs so he can prevent them hassling him by being more dominant.

Having a “positive” experience of dogs, unfortunately doesn’t stop some of their owners from being entitled a holes though.

Like the OP I’m fed up with dog owners who can’t control Their dogs, sadly becoming more common

you should have executed the dogs there and then.

You joke, but I got chased and bitten by a small dog while out running and it took every shred of self-control not to beat it to death with a handy brick.

So given you had the additional threat of having your young son in danger I think that your response was incredibly reasonable.

Don’t be afraid to call the police in these circumstances.

but I feel the blame lies firmly with irresponsible owners out there.

Obvious statement is obvious.
I’ve had my (big, black) dog staying over the weekend. Got to take her over the nearby fields, short walk there and there’s dog shit every 10 feet on the way there. Left right in the middle of the paths. This ain’t the dogs’ fault.
Neighbours have a dog that howls and barks at regular intervals throughout the day. Also not the dog’s fault.
Some people are pathetic, filthy, scum, who shouldn’t be allowed to own dogs, some aren’t.
What can you do (apart from rant on the internet)?

agree with the sentiment, but how does that work in practice?

“Hello Mr(s) Complete Stranger, can I have your name and address so I can report your dog as being dangerous?”

“No.”

“If you don’t give me your details I’m going to kill your dog to prevent it attacking anyone else.”

Probably won’t work if they’re bigger than you.

We were out yesterday and got run at by 2 big dogs (not interested in breed, but big). The owners tittered, and said, they’re ok. When I suggested they should be a on a lead as they clearly weren’t under control – the language changed to **** **** **** **** ****.

“Hello Mr(s) Complete Stranger, can I have your name and address so I can report your dog as being dangerous?”

“No.”

“Erm…”

Had an incident a while back in Rivington. Was riding along and a border collie came running up to me and started nipping at my foot on the pedal. The owners came into view and I shouted that if your dog bites me one more time, I’ll kick it. while cycling past, the bloke mumbles “I’ll kick you then mate”. Pulls on brakes circles round and said “tell you what, i’ll follow you back to your car, get your reg and report you for having a dangerous dog, how about that.”

Finally got an apology out of them.

Some right internet hard men on here!!
LOL

Nobeerinthefridge – Member
Joe, I wish all dog owners were as responsible as you sound.

The dog’s attacking a 7 year old, in my book the OP had every right to use as much force as he could muster stop that happening.

Some right internet hard men on here!!
LOL

I appreciate that you’re saying that jokingly..but it does seem that in today’s society if you stand up for yourself you’re in the wrong and people become indignant!

Sounds like a pretty shit time for you mate. Really feel for you. I’m not sure how I would react in that situation if my children were threatened.

Anyway, you made sure your child was safe first. You did the right thing and the important thing. Everything else is secondary.

anagallis_arvensis – Member
Some right internet hard men on here!!
LOL

Care to explain?

This is refreshing to get such a consensus for once, bar an idiot or two, but is this because its a child rather than an adult? Would anyones’ view have changed had it been the OP on his bike and getting nipped?

Seems so…

Sympathise entirely with the OP.

I like dogs and don’t have a problem with them. But, dickhead owners who don’t care what their dogs are doing boil my piss.

My little girl is nearly three. Dog owners don’t seem to appreciate that their friendly Labrador is the size of a grizzly bear to a toddler.

She was playing in a big rhododendron on Sunday (it had a little path through it). She went in one side and a Labrador went in the other. She felt trapped by the huge dog and screamed, I had to crawl into the rhododendron and pull her out. I shouted at the owner to control their dog but they paid no heed.

Owner didn’t say a word, not to me, not to my daughter and not to their dog. I felt a full blow rant coming on but thought better of it, there is little point in arguing with the terminally ignorant.

We take her out on local walks where we know there are lots of dogs and most owners are very friendly and patient and we encourage her to interact with the dogs so she isn’t sacred but clueless owners like the one on Sunday are sadly on the increase.

As the (hopefully) responsible owner of two large dogs (one Briard; one OES) I’m entirely on the OP’s side here. My two are never more than 10 feet from my side when off the lead and I’d not let them roam free where there were small children or balls to chase. Idiot owners both of them.

If the worst happens; and one of them did something similar; I’d expect them to get a kicking off someone and I’d be deeply apologetic as it would clearly be my fault for failing to keep them under control.

I’m sorry for your son; it’s not nice to have a fear of dogs.

Agree with every word OP. The air of entitlement of some dog owners really annoys me.

My 6 year-old daughter got knocked over by a dog on the way to school last year, and the dozy cow who’d let it off the lead seemed most confused by my anger as she explained that it was ‘just being friendly’.

Earlier this year, also on the school grounds, I had a disagreement with another self-entitled idiot who let their dog stand in the middle of the school gate so my kids couldn’t get past. They squeezed past it, and I sarcastically said ‘don’t bother moving your dog then’ to which she genuinely replied ‘Well they were in his way too’…!

Thankfully dogs are now banned from school premises.

If you cant control a dog, it shouldn’t be off lead, end of story.

That’s the point I was trying to make.

My dog can either be a complete sweetheart when out and about, or can be a nightmare as anything can set him off so that’s why he doesn’t come off the lead in public areas. The Dog Trainers have said this is the best thing to do.

I had the opposite happen a while ago. I’m doing as much socialisation as possible with him and I took him to a beach that we hadn’t been to before. Since my other Lab died, he has always looked at Black Labs and got excited as the trainers reckon he thinks it’s the one who died.

Saw a black lab and my dog started to pull towards it so I held him firm on his harness. The owner of the black lab, which was off lead layed into me saying I’m cruel for having on a lead. I explained he was training, had no recall and was a rescue and she called me a cruel *******

Her dog then legged it off as she screamed after it……….

“If you don’t give me your details I’m going to kill your dog to prevent it attacking anyone else.”

Probably won’t work if they’re bigger than you.

“I’m going to kill your dog unless you give me the means for someone else to kill your dog” is kinda Hobson’s Choice though, isn’t it.

Plus I can see the headlines now: MANIC CYCLIST USES BICYCLE FORKS TO MURDER BELOVED FAMILY PET IN SHOCK TERROR ATTACK

“Typical cyclist, he just came out of nowhere and he wasn’t in a cycle lane” said distraught Geoffrey Bollocks, 39, of Bishop Stortford. “And he doesn’t even pay road tax” he later added.

“Probably jumped a red light on his way to bludgeon the dog to death using mid range suspension forks”

Somebody mentioned body language and got flamed. There’s an element of truth in that, ever wonder how police dogs find the burglar chased by police and then lost as they went to ground? When you are in a state of heightened anxiety you smell different to dogs and this excites them. An excited dog can nip. It seems young children are attractive to dogs as they smell different, especially if that dog is not usually exposed to young children in its household. So the idea of getting children used to dogs is a good one, to prevent the heightened anxiety upon sight of the dog. Now I know this isn’t what you might call ideal, the owners should be responsible etc, but this is not an ideal world and we have to adapt, improvise and overcome. PS I do not own dogs but know many people who do.

I’m a little confused by the above?

So, is it a child’s responsibility to learn the appropriate body language to appease someone else’s dog? Or the responsibility of the child’s parents to ensure that they are trained in the correct, non-canine confusing body language?

PJM1974 – Member

I’m a little confused by the above?

So, is it a child’s responsibility to learn the appropriate body language to appease someone else’s dog? Or the responsibility of the child’s parents to ensure that they are trained in the correct, non-canine confusing body language?

Yeaaaaah…..That’s a far better solution than say, training a dog to obey commands and exercising control over said dog.

shoot them all…..

Unfortunately this is all too common. My partner was recently given a fairly deep puncture on her leg from a loose dog while cycling on a shared pathway. The owner wasn’t interested in the attack, despite the owner and my other half knowing each other, and even dismissed it when she later went back to him to tell him she had to have a trip to the hospital due to it.

Unfortunately a lot of dog owners prioritise the freedom of the dog to do as it will over any consequence of its behaviour.
I like dogs, own a dog, hate animal cruelty, don’t eat meat etc but as others have said I wouldn’t hesitate to give one a swift boot if it came for one of my family.

The first dog should be swatted with the cricket bat.

The second dog should have a good kick if you dare to do that.

Whatever you do next time you should bring a thick-ish walking stick just in case it happens again.

Dog got shot not far from our village a few weeks back. Police are on the side of the farmer (it was worrying sheep). It seems a few dogs have been on paths off the lead, then jumping fences into sheep fields.

Self entitled brigade don’t quite seem to understand their responsibilities.

When I go out on my bike, I tend to find that cyclists, horse riders, runners, walkers all get on surprisingly well. A worryingly large number of dog walkers (and their poo bags) don’t seem to fit in. Some of my dog owning friends will complain just as much as the rest of us.

So, is it a child’s responsibility to learn the appropriate body language to appease someone else’s dog? Or the responsibility of the child’s parents to ensure that they are trained in the correct, non-canine confusing body language?

It is the dog owners legal obligation (under criminal law) to keep their dog under control regardless of where they go or who they come across.

That’s a far better solution than say, training a dog to obey commands and exercising control over said dog.

I’m totally against victim-blaming and get where you’re coming from, people have every right to go about their business without being slobbered on or worse but other people’s pets, but there is an element of “we don’t live in a perfect world” here too. It’s a bit like arguing against self-defence classes because you’ve got a right to go around not being mugged.

Is it the OP’s “responsibility” to ensure that their kids are aware of how to act around dogs? Of course not. Doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad idea just in case something goes wrong though.

I taught my kids how to act around tigers too

You never know….

Sensible idea – I bet they’ve never been mauled by a tiger

Is it the OP’s “responsibility” to ensure that their kids are aware of how to act around dogs? Of course not. Doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad idea just in case something goes wrong though.

I agree with this. It is a fact of life that a minority of people are arseholes with their dogs, that is wrong, but it is no good us being right with injured kids, better to teach them how to deal with dogs.

You want me to teach them how to shoot?

better to teach them how to deal with dogs

Okay, quick test for you – aggressive looking dog comes running over.
What is the response you would have taught them?

– Lay dead on the ground?
– run away in a zig zag pattern?
– hit it with a cricket bat hoping you don’t miss?