opinions please..................off lead dogs and kids

so today i thought i would get my son out for some fresh air as he been poorly, the weather was lovely (i only went in a jacket!! ) and thought it would cheer him up to play fetch with tyke! as a rule we tend not to walk tyke and take ryan on our own but i thought i would give it ago. so off we pop onto the field and i see a man with two small dogs of the lead so i thought ill go further into the field wait till he a good distance away from us, on are way to do this these two little ones spotted us and ran full pelt towards us. Well they weren't happy and started yapping and growling hackles raised, tyke was still on the lead and for one split second i did not know if they were going to get ryan or come for tyke, so as bad as this sounds i i had to get ryan out the way so shoved him to the back of me and pulled tyke in, luckily they didnt come close enough to do anything tyke could sense this was not a playing moment so he had his hackles risen and was sort of going left to right in front of us, this sounds very bad of me but am glad about this in away as i was pretty scared and the guy was at the other end of the field. After much shouting they finally went off but this is not the point. Ryans parting shot was, 'i didnt let them get tykes bouncy balls'!!!

What would you have done if this had a been you and also when you have your dog of the lead and when u see a kid/family do you put him/her back on the lead? I always put tyke on the lead if its dog, man, women or child

ta

I hate it when people just let their dogs run up to either another dog or a human (adult or child) without checking that it's ok first!

I would probably have done the same as you, but there would have been several choice words for the owner of the other dogs, even if he was at the other side of the field!

If I'm out with Dempsey & there are young children around I keep him with me. If we have to walk near them, or they come towards us I put him on a lead. He loves children, but he loves them to excess - he gets way too overexcited & spins/bounces etc. Kids find it funny, but the parents often don't! he can also forget his size/weight & can knock children over.

I just don't think people think. I personally don't mind when dogs approach us as its me and her and she couldn't care less, if she doesn't like it gives a growl. But its not fair for people who do care Xx

I ALWAYS put Loki on the lead as soon as I see a person or dog. His recall's good but I know it'd be non-existent if he saw a dog, and I'm not too sure if he'd run up to a person or not. I know if the person's not very close and I call him, he'll run back to me, and then I'll put him on the lead. I wouldn't be so paranoid but he still jumps up and bites, so I'm never going to even risk him running up to a person, especially not a child.

I honestly don't get why people think it's OK to let their dogs run up to random people/dogs. Even if their dogs are friendly, who's to say the other dog is? Or that the people aren't terrified of dogs? People are mad with that, completely inconsiderate.

We put Solly on the lead whenever there are people children or dogs around, he is muzzled. He is people friendly but you never know if the people are dog friendly!!!!

If the other dog wants to approach, and the owner is okay with it, they're allowed to meet and have a little play. But I always make sure they come back to me before I send them to go and say hello. If they don't behave, on the lead they go. If the other dog (or mine) are on lead, it's a blanket ban on playing, but if the owner wants them to say hello I'm more than happy to let mine.

Around people, it's the same really. I ask if it's okay for Roger to say hello, and if it's a yes I let him go. If they don't want to talk to him, then he stays by my side, usually off lead although of course he does sometimes forget himself.

Lizzy has to be on lead around GSDs or dobermans, but other than that they usually stay with me if told.

In terms of other people, it astonishes me the number that let their children or dogs approach without warning. Although I know that mine are friendly, I wouldn't blame them if they snapped at someone suddenly patting them from behind (which has happened many times). It's just common courtesy to check first, particularly if dogs are on lead.

I've became a real militant when it comes to telling people to put their dogs on the lead. I used to not mind it but in the past 6 months I've had nothing but horrible experiences with owners that plainly don't care.

I don't feel like I should be responsible for someone else's dog when it runs up to me, as others aren't responsible for Logan. It's literaly impossible to know if the dog if safe to be around others or not. I've came across a few owners who would be happy enough for their dog to fight with Logan.

I think you handled it the best way possible. I'd have persoanlly found it very frustrating. Then ten times worse because you had to think of your child's safety above all else.

It worries me that so many owers are just too confident that their dogs are "fine" off lead. They have no idea if Cassie will attack or if i am going to kick their dog for coming too near. My oh says i am paranoid and should relax but i don't know if people have phobia's or if their dogs that will harm Cassie or if they are insured. I feel as stafford owners we have a duty to keep our dogs on leads and under close control, because any kind of confrontation our poor dogs get blamed instantly

I agree keep them on the lead unless the person says it is fine to let them off. A big GSD ran up to my son on his scooter a few yrs back ... It really scared him as it was barking and growling , apparantly it didn't like wheels on scooters but the owner made no attempt to get it back and I was really cross .
Some people are scared of dogs and you have to respect that , I think you did the right thing

racamoe wrote:I agree keep them on the lead unless the person says it is fine to let them off. A big GSD ran up to my son on his scooter a few yrs back ... It really scared him as it was barking and growling , apparantly it didn't like wheels on scooters but the owner made no attempt to get it back and I was really cross .
Some people are scared of dogs and you have to respect that , I think you did the right thing

HOW dare you let your son play on a scooter? What on earth was the dog doing off lead if the owner knew the dog doesn't like scooters? If i saw a dog "attacking" (because thats what that amounts to) a kid on a scooter i would ring the police, a gsd barking at me i would be scared too

dave742 wrote:It worries me that so many owers are just too confident that their dogs are "fine" off lead. They have no idea if Cassie will attack or if i am going to kick their dog for coming too near. My oh says i am paranoid and should relax but i don't know if people have phobia's or if their dogs that will harm Cassie or if they are insured. I feel as stafford owners we have a duty to keep our dogs on leads and under close control, because any kind of confrontation our poor dogs get blamed instantly

totally agree there, our family always say 'he will be fine' but you just never know.

werein the process of teaching ryan that not all dogs are nice, as he grown up with dogs he thinks he can pet everyone, its slowly sinking in. But i also think parents have a duty aswell to keep there kids a little under control!

I know Dave , my hubby rang the police when we got home and gave a desription of the owner and the dog but I don't think we ever followed it up ... Should have done really .
I grew up with my parents owning boarding kennels and am still scared of sone dogs running up off the lead :/