Dogs off a leash in parks

[Psycho Sonny]

Hades/PS/R-evans. I understand your points of view, but how can you guarantee that a dog will treat a stranger in the same way when its off the leash (assuming said stranger is acting normal/passively)?

I am walking with my twin 2 year olds and 7 year old and a couple of dogs come running towards them, my kids freak out and start to hide behind me, they are not used to animals in such close proximity (we are not a pet family).

How do I know these dogs will not treat my kids any differently to say your Alsatians, Hades?

I understand your comments that they are lovely dogs and wouldnt harm a hair on you as you mentioned, but we wouldnt know this if we were walking towards your dogs. And stating that the dogs will not harm anyone to us, doesnt make it "gospel".

This is not a jibe at the responsibility or irresponsibility of dog owners, but vouching for an animal (who despite being taken care of and bred in the right way during their lifetime), is still an animal and as such can potentially act unpredictably at any given time and under certain situations which maybe inexplicable to human beings.

I do not condone any violence towards animals at all, but I do have to say that if my childrens lives are in danger, I will do what I must to protect them, be it a dog, human being or whatever.

I don't like dogs or any pets for that matter. I feel exactly how you do.

They are animals and shouldn't be kept as pets but be out in the wild being free.

Some were bred for specific jobs though and now they are essentially a fashion accessory.

I think it's disgusting how we treat animals as meat, objects, things, etc.

We are just lucky to be smarter, more organised and at the top of the food chain overall as now if a bear comes at you, you can kill it with a shotgun.

I wouldn't want any dog coming near my kids. I don't care how well it's been looked after. Why take the risk?

Problem is dog owners have a completely different viewpoint and don't care about yours in the majority of them.

All they care about is themselves and that is why they have a dog in the first place to make themselves feel better for their flaws.

 

[Ayahuasca]

I don't like dogs. I feel exactly how you do.

They are animals and shouldn't be kept as pets but be out in the wild being free.

Some were bred for specific jobs though and now they are essentially a fashion accessory.

I think it's disgusting how we treat animals as meat, objects, things, etc.

We are just lucky to be smarter, more organised and at the top of the food chain overall as now if a bear comes at you, you can kill it with a shotgun.

I wouldn't want any dog coming near my kids. I don't care how well it's been looked after. Why take the risk?

Problem is dog owners have a completely different viewpoint and don't care about yours in the majority of them.

All they care about is themselves and that is why they have a dog in the first place to make themselves feel better for their flaws.

 

[Hades]

For the record as this keeps coming up. My response was because of the suggestion that we caused the situation. My response was flippant and I wouldn't go around kicking dogs... But I also don't want them near my children when we are minding our own business.

OK, fair enough

 

[Energize]

Dogs should never ever be allowed to jump up at strangers like that, utterly abysmal obedience training.

All they care about is themselves and that is why they have a dog in the first place to make themselves feel better for their flaws.

Why people would pay to see comedians when they can just read posts like this in GD I don't know.

 

[Foghorn Leghorn]

Genuine question to dog owners who say something to the effect of "my dog wouldnt hurt anyone" or similar.

Again, genuine question (in the context of when dogs running around a park unleashed for example and come up to someone, be it a kid or adult)....

How do you know they will 100% not hurt or harm them?

Again Im not trying to troll here. I know many friends who are dog owners who have made such comments in the past, but as someone said earlier, I am one of those people who feel that if I say or ask anything that remotely seems "anti-dog" I would black-listed so to speak!

Cheers folks.

You don't, and your friends are wrong.

They're a domesticated wild animal and should be treated as such. The main problem with dogs are the owners, a lot are weak and/or ineffectual with training and commands, it's too much like hard work (to be fair you see this with a lot of parents too)

 

[robj20]

I really don't like dogs either. Annoys me that some owners think it's okay for their dog to jump at you.
Had one go nuts at me once on my bike the owner asked if I minded getting off my bike as the dog didn't like bikes. I just carried on riding and the dog must have followed me for over a mile before wondering where it's owner was, for address the owner was screaming the dogs name. So yeah well behaved dog.
I have a cat, it lives in the house with us and only goes on the garden I wouldn't subject my pet on anyone else.

Regards kids im with the few on here of a dog were to jump at them the dog will be getting a boot to it's head.

Doesn't help that I was bitten by a dog when I was a child always been weary of them since.

 

[Fubsy]

If we can start booting dogs then it's only fair to be allowed to boot kids when they are naughty on the bus, supermarket queues and restaurants.

 

[Cavallino]

Had one go nuts at me once on my bike the owner asked if I minded getting off my bike as the dog didn't like bikes. I just carried on riding and the dog must have followed me for over a mile before wondering where it's owner was, for address the owner was screaming the dogs name. So yeah well behaved dog..

Hang on, had to do a triple take here....

You are on your bike, owners dog is unleashed. Dog comes running up to you and goes nuts. Owner says, get off your bike?

...

On your bike (to dog owner).

 

[Psycho Sonny]

If we can start booting dogs then it's only fair to be allowed to boot kids when they are naughty on the bus, supermarket queues and restaurants.

Only peasants use buses so fine with me

 

[Cavallino]

If we can start booting dogs then it's only fair to be allowed to boot kids when they are naughty on the bus, supermarket queues and restaurants.

Sure if they start to scramble/climb up you, scratching you or potentially bite you, you have my blessing.

 

[Fubsy]

Better still, ban kids from those places in case they are badly trained (most are) and can't take the risk.

 

[robj20]

Hang on, had to do a triple take here....

You are on your bike, owners dog is unleashed. Dog comes running up to you and goes nuts. Owner says, get off your bike?

...

On your bike (to dog owner).

Yep my reaction also. They obviously knew their dog was going to ignore their commands and follow me.

 

[neil_g]

Genuine question to dog owners who say something to the effect of "my dog wouldnt hurt anyone" or similar.

Again, genuine question (in the context of when dogs running around a park unleashed for example and come up to someone, be it a kid or adult)....

How do you know they will 100% not hurt or harm them?

Again Im not trying to troll here. I know many friends who are dog owners who have made such comments in the past, but as someone said earlier, I am one of those people who feel that if I say or ask anything that remotely seems "anti-dog" I would black-listed so to speak!

Cheers folks.

Spending a lot of time with the animal you can be a reasonably good judge of their character. However, obviously you can never tell how how your dog will react if felt threatened or scared. Hence my comments earlier about kids running up to a stranger's leashed dog. Even a leashed dog could get anxious about a noisy, flailing mini person coming at them.

Although we have a massive softy and haven't had any issues we don't let ours off the lead with other people around, there's too much scope for an issue or misunderstanding to arise. Luckily we're pretty rural and have several areas where we can let him off. We've also ended up booking private dog parks over lockdown due to the rise of people going out for "exercise".

For what it's worth I've been bitten several times by uncontrolled dogs when walking and cycling (always the damn ankle biters!) so hate unruly animals as much as any normal person.

And for the other posters, poo always goes in the provided bins or comes home in the car for disposal.

 

[hyperseven]

It seems like every time I'm walking through a park with my kids that someone's dog will bound towards them being overly friendly. I know the dogs aren't being aggressive but it scares my 4 and 2 year old when the dog jumps up and puts it's paws on them or tries and steals some food they might be eating.

Often were just on our own, minding our own business away from other people.

I now feel like dog owners shouldn't come near young children if their dog is off a lead, as I'm fed up of it happening and I don't want my kids to be scared of dogs.

So nearly every time you go to the park:
-a dog bounds towards you and you kids
-said dog puts its paws on them and steals some food.

What a load of roblox What's next every time you have a family picnic in the park a friendly neighbourhood bear, let us call him Yogi, tries to steal your food.

Simple, dont go to the park.

 

[robj20]

I do have to say the majority do look after their animals properly. Like with all things you get idiots be them animal owners, cyclist or car driver.

 

[Street]

We have a border collie, we pick up all her mess and she follows every command we give her so are fine letting off the leash in an open space as I always know she will stop and come back if I shout her.

We are extra careful when there are children around, as we know she doesn't like them that much (her breed doesn't generally) but most of the time she sticks with us and doesn't go near them. We have on occasion had problems with idiot kids running up to her, out of nowhere and bothering her, even sometimes hitting her. Parents should take more responsibility for their kids when not on a leash too.

Our collie doesn't like kids either. I keep him away from kids and he would never run up to one as he keeps himself to himself. However, once, we were in a cafe with the dog laid down under the table minding his own business. A guy came in with a kid, saw the dog and came over. I specifically told him the dog isn't good with kids but he said it would be OK and before I realised what he was doing, pushed the kid under the table towards the dog! The dog was cornered and air snapped at the kid and the kid was in tears. I've had other parents since and sometimes I've had to be flat out rude to them as they just don't listen.

 

[Cavallino]

Spending a lot of time with the animal you can be a reasonably good judge of their character. However, obviously you can never tell how how your dog will react if felt threatened or scared. Hence my comments earlier about kids running up to a stranger's leashed dog. Even a leashed dog could get anxious about a noisy, flailing mini person coming at them.

Although we have a massive softy and haven't had any issues we don't let ours off the lead with other people around, there's too much scope for an issue or misunderstanding to arise. Luckily we're pretty rural and have several areas where we can let him off. We've also ended up booking private dog parks over lockdown due to the rise of people going out for "exercise".

For what it's worth I've been bitten several times by uncontrolled dogs when walking and cycling (always the damn ankle biters!) so hate unruly animals as much as any normal person.

And for the other posters, poo always goes in the provided bins or comes home in the car for disposal.

I like your approach, thank you.

@Hades private dog parks could be a solution to allow dogs to roam freely?

 

[Nutty_Death]

Simple, dont go to the park.

So nearly every time you go to the park:
-a dog bounds towards you and you kids
-said dog puts its paws on them and steals some food.

What a load of roblox What's next every time you have a family picnic in the park a friendly neighbourhood bear, let us call him Yogi, tries to steal your food.

What are you even on about?

 

[Cavallino]

Spending a lot of time with the animal you can be a reasonably good judge of their character. However, obviously you can never tell how how your dog will react if felt threatened or scared. Hence my comments earlier about kids running up to a stranger's leashed dog. Even a leashed dog could get anxious about a noisy, flailing mini person coming at them.

Although we have a massive softy and haven't had any issues we don't let ours off the lead with other people around, there's too much scope for an issue or misunderstanding to arise. Luckily we're pretty rural and have several areas where we can let him off. We've also ended up booking private dog parks over lockdown due to the rise of people going out for "exercise".

For what it's worth I've been bitten several times by uncontrolled dogs when walking and cycling (always the damn ankle biters!) so hate unruly animals as much as any normal person.

And for the other posters, poo always goes in the provided bins or comes home in the car for disposal.

Whereabouts in hants is this private dog park bud?

 

[inogen]

I don’t mind dogs. They’re alright so long as you’re firm and friendly.

i ****ing hate kids in the park though. Noisy little ****s.