What would you think of this...

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Abacus

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Sorry if this is more a dog question but you all know about dogs anyway...

Walking my 5 year old son to school on his scooter - we do this every day - 5 min walk along the village high street. A dog passing on a lead barks and jumps towards the child.

I know the dog as it has attacked my dogs before - I had to pull it off one of mine before when the owner was standing there asking it nicely to stop.

So I said politely to her 'I am worried about your dog if he is aggressive towards children'. She said that he won't learn unless he 'practises' and he particularly doesn't like scooters.

Personally I'm all for 'practise' with, say, de-spooking a spooky horse - but practising with an aggressive dog near children at school drop-off time? Is this reasonable? The dog didn't snap or bite, but barked in my son's face and jumped towards him.

What do I do if it happens again?
 
Had the dog been running free i would be upset. With it being on a lead im not sure how i would feel, i suppose it depends on whether it could reach a child if it lunges or whether the owner does their best to keep it at a safe distance. Getting out and about in all types of situations IS how dogs learn though...
 
You could report her, but it will have no effect, in my experience both dog wardens and police are pretty useless when it comes to vicious dogs (and the ones I have had problems with have been out loose on the road in our area) their opinion is that they can only act once a person (not another dog or horse, or indeed any other animal) is injured by the dog in question-otherwise their advice was to walk another way!
 
Can you have a chat with other mums in schools? If a few complain, probably something somewhere can be done?


If a dog attacks my dogs, it gets my boot up its arse, ribs or jaw. You will be surprised how quickly owners (even drunks) come back to theirs senses.
 
Disgusting. Apart from the risk of biting, this could scare the child for life of dogs. Horrendous thought of any child being bitten. This dog needs to be stopped before any child does get hurt
 
The woman with the dog should have more sense. Are you allowing your child to ride the scooter on the pavement? I do wish people would not allow children to use wheeled vehicles on footpaths!
 
I like the water pistol idea. I'd have a friendly chat with the dog owner suggesting the water pistol idea. I've had immediate results from a dog showing too much interest in an elderly cat. Only had to squirt the dog once and afterwards just picking up the garden hose was enough to make the dog walk away in the opposite direction.
 
I just wanted to reply to thank everyone for their thoughts. I am glad that so many of you would be concerned and I do plan to speak to her again next time I see her, which will probably be walking dogs rather than children now that school has broken up. Having had difficult dogs myself I don't want to be heavy handed but when children are concerned can't be too careful.

On the question regarding a scooter on the pavement - yes, he does ride on the pavement. He is 5, and I walk alongside at the same pace and could just as easily get him out of the way of anyone else as I could if he were walking. I have just been googling to see if this is actually illegal and it seems that it is unclear. They aren't covered by the same law as bikes but at the same time 'it is not advisable to use scooters on pavements that are busy or narrow. Any place where they could be an inconvenience or result in danger or fear for other pedestrians is also out of bounds. Busy pavements are less than perfect, too, and any raised slabs or potholes can cause nasty accidents.' I am pretty careful never to get in the way of anyone. In the case I described, he was not heading straight for the dog, which I can understand might have startled it, but was probably 3 foot to the side.

Thanks so much for the replies. x
 
Dogs should not bark at children or scooters! Next time carry a walking stick if it comes near your child!!!!!!! The owner is obviously a moron.
 
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