Why does it seem...

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Jake10

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That there are more kids that are scared of dogs :( I took Jake out on his own for a nice long walk to the river. On the way back we came across a little girl and her mum, Jake's in heel (obviously no small fluffy things to distract him :rolleyes: ) as we got closer little girl started to cling to her mum, then when we got a few feet away she screamed, actually screamed :eek: . Her mum told me that I HAD to cross the road as my dog is dangerous and obviously is scaring her kid (Jake was sitting in heel at this point :rolleyes: ). I wouldn't mind if he actually was aggressive, my 2 and 4 year old cousins can hand feed, take things out of his mouth, give him commands and generally rough house with him. I did have to point out that if her daughter had a problem then she should have crossed the road to avoid me as I didn't know she was dog shy. Anyway got a load of abuse, along the lines of dogs are dangerous and he should be musselled (sp?). Honestly how is the kid going to get over it with a parent like that?

Still probably won't move for her if I see her again :rolleyes:
 
There was a thread on here about kids and dogs a while ago, wish it had been stickied.

Lost count of the times I've had to tell people not to let their kids squeal, run, panic, wave their arms etc...those are all things that will make a prey-driven dog chase.

My dogs are under control, not everyone's are.

Agree, probably all magnified and projected by the mother. And that child probably will, one day, get bitten, unfortunately, she is basically a walking advert to the wrong dog :(
Is there any way if you meet them again to encourage her over to stroke your dog?
 
Yep I'm not sure my other dog would have remained in heel once she screamed (would probably have had to investigate :rolleyes: ) It's irritating though and she didn't have to label him dangerous :(
 
It's not just kids.
Where we walk Otto there are loads of joggers, it's hard to see them coming and if they come from behind not one of the shouts to let you know they want to come past (path isn't wide enough for two people to walk side by side).
So quite often Otto will be off the lead when we encounter them, if they ignore him and run past he has no interest in them, if they say hello and stop to talk to him he goes giddy and wriggly on the floor, however so many of them throw their hands in the air/leap away from him/squeal or do something else that instantly gets Otto's attention and makes him want to investigate further :rolleyes:

So many times they have run up behind us, so I've called Otto back, but they've kept running so Otto has ended up passing them whilst coming back to me, quite happily ignoring them and they have shouted at him and waved their arms :rolleyes: If you are scared of dogs, give me enough warning to get my dog back or keep out of the way until I have! :mad:
 
It seems to be two extremes, either they behave like I've got a lion on the lead, or they dive on him and get him in a headlock:rolleyes:

When we went to the beach that time, I had to run into the pub for change for the machine and it's quite posh in there so left Henry tied to a picnic table in the beer garden. Came out to find some kid fussing him with her dad:eek::mad:

So many people have no dog sense at all:rolleyes:
 
We passed a guy on a narrow path once, who was inching past with his back to the wall and raising his arms up to protect himself, hmmm, what do you think the dog did?!

Oh well, can anyone top a fully grown adult man taking his eight year old daughter into the run of a 6mo GSD pup that he had never met before, while we were out?
Padlocks. It's the only way. Can you IMAGINE what would have happened if things had gone wrong?????
 
CaveCanem said:
Oh well, can anyone top a fully grown adult man taking his eight year old daughter into the run of a 6mo GSD pup that he had never met before, while we were out?
Padlocks. It's the only way. Can you IMAGINE what would have happened if things had gone wrong?????
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He let himself into your kennels?!? with a kid :eek:
 
Yep. Still flaming mad about it. No sense whatsoever.
The deal was, our old bitch wasn't great with tall men, when in her kennel. Like many GSDs, a bit of a mouthy cow when behind a barrier, but perfectly nice when introduced properly. He just thought that she hated him, personally....

So when she passed away and it was just B on his own, he decided to go in and 'make friends' with him. Took pictures of him and his little girl inside the run cuddling him and everything.

**headdesk**
 
I think I've been fairly lucky so far, most people around here ask before they approach the dog which I really appreciated when she first came home and her behaviour was still a bit unpredictable. Thankfully she's great with kids, she's exactly face height to my youngest cousin and adores going to visit him as he always has jam on his face... :eek:

I think we have the Daily Mail to blame for the scaremongering for bull breeds and large dogs in general. There's also been some corking threads on mumsnet re: dogs, I'll try and dig some out... infuriating reading, lots of overbearing mothers creating dog-shy children with their own selfish behaviour. :rolleyes:
 
I blame the parents.
There's 2 kids i know who are so scared of dog they run crying and hide and its all because there mum is scared she wont let them anywere near a dog.
Mine is playful when the kids first come into the house so i just sit them on the pool table until he's settled down and then they can go play with him. Its not that he would bite them hes just a big dope and jumps up and will knock them over.
It upsets me that people brand all dogs the same. Most a friendly and they wont give them a chance.
Mine is always on a lead when out as he's not good with other dogs but people run a mile when they see him as he's excited thinking someone is going to play with him
 
Not that people who project this sort of thing onto their poor kids will come on here to give an answer, but do these people not realise their behaviour will make it more likely that their children will get bitten?

Fear+tension+stress+running+screaming+waving = getting a chunk taken out of you :(
 
On a slight tangent...

OH was watching a program last night, Cops on Cameras or something, they were having a brief before doing a house raid and were warning the team that they had lots of reports of a dangerous dog on the premises, so extreme care needed to be taken...


Cue them bashing the door down to find a little squiggling Springer Spaniel giving them the welcome of their lives :D I've never heard OH laugh so loudly!!
 
When I was little the head teacher of our little village primary school often brought her husky into work with her :D She taught the 'top' class- the teacher, not the husky! (contained years 4,5 and 6- tiny school with only 3 classrooms!). Said dog would poddle her way about the tables for a little pat and flop herself down on the floor with us all for the story at the end of the day. This was in the early/mid-90's so even then probably a rule breaker.

Point of ramble being I've heard of other schemes recently where dogs are taken into schools, and the children are taught how to behave around a dog. All away from any moronic parents' influences, while watching less timid peers enjoying patting the dog. IMO it would be good if this was mandatory.

On a side note, the biggest /facepalm moments we've had was with the horses. The absolute best being when we lived in the pub. There was a small paddock at the back, grazed down for the fatties. One fella took it upon himself to wander into the paddock with his two year old daughter and then proceeded to plonk her straight on the back of one of the ponies. Happily ignoring a padlocked gate and two enormous signs warning people not to feed them, that all horses may kick and bite without warning, and to keep out :eek: To say mum gave him a piece of her mind would be a slight understatement.... :D
 
I live in an area which has an increasing number of Muslims. I'm not sure they are afraid of dogs, more that Allah tells them they are dirty animals.

I wouldn't be exaggerating if I said more than one senior school child has jumped into the road to get away from my pointers.
Their reaction to them is so extreme that I don't often walk them to school as I fear they will get run over rather than pass us on the pavement.
 
This sort of thing happens to me a lot. Weirdest occasion was when a terrified teenager began backing away from my (leashed) dog with a look of purest terror on his face. As he turned and fled he explained that he wasn't usually scared of dogs but mine was just SO black.:confused:
 
quirky said:
I wouldn't be exaggerating if I said more than one senior school child has jumped into the road to get away from my pointers.
Their reaction to them is so extreme that I don't often walk them to school as I fear they will get run over rather than pass us on the pavement.
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At least they don't try to demand that you cross the road :rolleyes::o
 
quirky said:
I live in an area which has an increasing number of Muslims. I'm not sure they are afraid of dogs, more that Allah tells them they are dirty animals.
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I've had the misfortune to twice go hill walking in a spot with good coach parking and thus encounter coachloads of school kids, many of them inner-city schools with a large proportion of Muslim children, and I've found the same with the Muslim kids leaping out of the way and loudly declaring that they don't like dogs. Bit awkward when you come across them on a steep narrow path! Not a lot you can do though if the dog is on a lead anyway.
 
I know what you mean about being blamed before your dog has done anything wrong!

I have a rottie and some of the reactions to him are extreme - I can understand if he was loose and charging up to people (they are big dogs with a bad rep after all) but this is often while he is on a short lead:confused:

The thing that actually cracks me up is the amount of people who will walk up to you and start lecturing - often in an aggressive manner - how they are dangerous, banned, shouldn't be allowed, natural born killers, must be muzzled in public (delete/add as appropriate). My answer is always "if the dog is so dangerous, how come he hasn't ripped your throat out by now?" They can't really answer that question:rolleyes:

There appear to be a lot of children (and parents) that have no experience of animals and no knowledge of how to behave around them which IMHO is a receipe for disaster. Either all animals are fluffy toys to be pulled about or dangerous and will kill on sight - neither attitude is safe and sadly dogs and dog owners are finding that restrictions are being put in public places as a result of these attitudes.......which really annoy me :mad:
 
I think a lot of it is due to all the negative publicity dogs get, and nowadays dogs don't go everywhere like they used to. I always used to take my dogs round town, into shops , pubs etc but nowadays they are banned from so many places. When my kids were at the local primary school I used to take the dogs with me to pick them up, all the children on the playground loved them, then they got a new head who decided dogs could no longer go on school property, health and safety strikes again.:mad:
 
MurphysMinder said:
I think a lot of it is due to all the negative publicity dogs get, and nowadays dogs don't go everywhere like they used to. I always used to take my dogs round town, into shops , pubs etc but nowadays they are banned from so many places. When my kids were at the local primary school I used to take the dogs with me to pick them up, all the children on the playground loved them, then they got a new head who decided dogs could no longer go on school property, health and safety strikes again.:mad:
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Completely agree, a lot of good dog walking areas in Newark are now dog free zones :(

I remember going to and from school with the dogs in tow, wouldn't have had it any other way :) Jake goes to Uni with me and is even allowed in one of the cafe areas.
 
Jake10 said:
Jake goes to Uni with me and is even allowed in one of the cafe areas.
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:eek:

I need to transfer, clearly! All of our local pubs allow dogs (the one I used to work in keeps water bowls and biscuits behind the bar :D) but that's about it, I can't even take her to buy a Sunday paper.
 
My lord, my dog used to go everywhere with me too. So glad I live in the country now with no one to bother us or tell me my dogs are 'treacherous' 'killers'.

I think a lot of the problem also lies as well with people getting big, cool, status dogs, not training or socialising them then allowing them to run off, lunge at people, behave in an antisocial fashion and as a result the rest of us suffer.
 
CaveCanem said:
I think a lot of the problem also lies as well with people getting big, cool, status dogs, not training or socialising them then allowing them to run off, lunge at people, behave in an antisocial fashion and as a result the rest of us suffer.
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Yep my friend doesn't do herself any favours (she's in my dog training class at Uni) she has two mastiff x rotti bitches. They drag her around, bark, one is very dog aggressive etc (she relies on the lads to control them for her though even the lads get dragged). Have to say if I came across them on a walk and didn't know better I'd think all dogs of that type were dangerous.
 
blackcob said:
:eek:

I need to transfer, clearly! All of our local pubs allow dogs (the one I used to work in keeps water bowls and biscuits behind the bar :D) but that's about it, I can't even take her to buy a Sunday paper.
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He even gets his own personal water bowl :D
 
Jake10 said:
Completely agree, a lot of good dog walking areas in Newark are now dog free zones :(
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oh I live not far from there, its so bloody annoying, now when I say "walkies!" it actually means "we're going for a 10 minute so I can take you somewhere legal!"
Which has lead to excessive amount of squeaking every time we drive down country lanes :rolleyes:

On the plus side, fewer kids :)
 
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