reds Posted February 8, 2009 Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 Something that always baffles me when out walking with the dogs is how few children and parents know how to behave. I know that sounds awful but for instance, if a child screams when a dog approaches, I never hear the parents tell them not to or say anything at all in fact. If a child is throwing something, for example, there's never a word to wait for the dog to pass. Or the child who runs up to and reaches out to touch a strange dog and the parents just stand there anticipating nothing but a Walt Disney moment. Sadly with public open spaces diminishing and fewer places being dog friendly, it is unavoidable that conflicts of use will occur. Even families with their own dogs seem totally 'behind' when it comes to knowledge about responsible action. The young child holding the lead of a dog who reacts to others being another example. It just seems to be something that isn't given enough thought, at least not until after something has happened. Either I am being a Victor Meldrew and over-reacting to what I'm seeing almost all the time, or there is a genuine lack of awareness here. So what do children and parents get 'taught'?, do any organisations do anything, do they even get 'taught' at all, where is the advice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neoclassic Perk Posted February 8, 2009 Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 In my experience, parents and children don't get "taught" anything Actually, that's not true - what the children and parents at my daughters school get *taught* is that dogs are a risk to health (a large notice on every gate declares "for the sake of our childrens health No Smoking and No Dogs) There are education programmes offered by the Blue Cross and other charities; trained, volunteer educators are available to talk in schools, youth groups and similar in the hope they will take up the offer) - and some school staff take the time to integrate dogs and pet care into their classes if they have an interest......but generally, there is nothing offered to support parents unless they go looking for it..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PennyB Posted February 9, 2009 Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 In my experience, parents and children don't get "taught" anything Sadly some just don't want to learn either (don't know if this is sometimes down to arrogance) or they have their own ideas about it regardless of what you try to teach them - I often take Roobs with me fundraising and see 1st hand how some parents think how well their kids are behaving around dogs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ailsas mum Posted February 9, 2009 Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 I've taken to yelping DO NOT TOUCH THE DOGS at children when I see their hands reaching out to my two. Ailsa used to freak out when she saw children running towards her, I lost count of how many of them would scream ''ooooo fluffy dog'' and lunge at her. My seven month old grandson who is crawling everywhere has started taking tantrums cause I won't let him touch the dogs, that bairn is gong to be a right handful . Terri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathyM Posted February 9, 2009 Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 Parents are not taught how to teach their children dog safety, so you rely on parents having dog savvy. I don't think even the "worst" parents are "arrogant" about dog safety. Complacent maybe, ignorant definitely in some cases. I think it's bound to look disproportionally bad in places where there are high concentrations of children and dogs. You're well within your rights to ask people not to approach your dogs, and if they don't listen, more fool them. I wouldn't dwell on it too much, as we're not all bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suzeanna Posted February 9, 2009 Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 We seem to be lucky round here, in that a lot of people have dogs and the majority of children will ask "do they bite?" and when told no, then its "can I stroke them?" Dylan loves the attention, but Rosie finds it a bit overwhelming when about five kids at once try to pet her. I don't know if it's the parents or the school who are doing the educating, but they are doing a good job, whoever they are! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amanda Jvv Posted February 9, 2009 Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 (edited) I seem to come across a lot of unsupervised kids and any that run up to my dogs I've taken to teaching myself, telling them to always ask permission first etc etc. It is also amazing how terrified some children and adults are of dogs. I feel for them because they are missing out on so much good stuff. Edited February 9, 2009 by Amanda Jvv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiri_tc Posted February 9, 2009 Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 Totally the opposite round here LOL My children and most others i know always ask first before touching any dog. If someone is walking down the street with a dog my children will step to one side to allow the dog and owner past. YET.................saturday night (so it was dark) a lovely little black dog came hurtling out of a side alley, across the road and jumped at my 5 year old. Luckily she took it in her stride and gave the dog a good fuss and cuddle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cycas Posted February 9, 2009 Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 The kids are generally pretty good round here too, I think. Mostly they ask before petting and don't rush up, and I don't meet many that are fearful either. Occasionally we get the odd pet without asking if we are walking right past, but then they are kids. If you put something very appealing within arms length I kind of expect a few sneaky strokes to happen, same as if you put something really nice in front of a puppy it's asking a lot for him to ignore it.... with mine that doesn't matter so I suppose I'm less sensitive about it. Actually, Az was supposed to be afraid of kids when I adopted him, but he's generally got on with them pretty well while he's been with me, so I wonder if it was some specific children or inappropriate behaviour that he didnt' like. Thinking on, the only couple of occasions where a child has behaved in a slightly off manner, the problem has really been that the kid is not responding to voice commands, so to speak, which I can understand, sometimes people just don't do what they are told, and young things can be a bit silly sometimes... Like, there was a child on a scooter and Az took a major fear of the scooter but despite being asked to by his parents and me, the kid was so overexcited about the whole 'I'm on a scooter!' thing that he wouldnt' stop zooming up and down so we could get past. And the other thing was a little boy whose parents I don't think had a very clear idea about what can be expected of a 3-year-old. Not that I know much about 3 year olds but I'm thinking you wouldn't expect them necessarily to instantly obey orders shouted from a distance? That time I knew the family so I just picked up the child and removed him bodily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranirottie Posted February 9, 2009 Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 I often take Ebbi and Kizzy round the village and to school to collect my grandson Alfie and the kids round here seem to be pretty good and ask if they can touch the dogs. I think the fact that Ebbi will go and sit quietly by them while a dozen kids pat and paw her helps.I always tell the kids outside the school to wait until she is ready and she sits down and they can touch her. If they want to stroke Kizzy they have to squat down and be very gentle because she is scared and they all do as they are told. I still get the occasional mum who will drag her child away from "the vicious rottweiler" tho. I think its important to educate kids on how to approach dogs.x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buddyboy Posted February 9, 2009 Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 Common sense just goes out of the window with some people who happily watch their kids run up to strange dogs etc, and attitudes are also passed on. Toastie and Lucy did some great work (officially thru Pets as Therapy) with a little boy who was scared of dogs - he started by being brave and allowing small fluffy Toastie into the same room and by the end of the work he was able to cuddle Lucy Greyhound. A neighbour's grandchildren were a bit wary of dogs and we had managed to get to the stage where they would stand one side of the hedge while Toastie and Lucy walked past, then stood and had a little pat (Jed was too bouncy for that) .... then one day her brother visited and as I walked past with the dogs and the kids came forward as normal he grabbed the kids yelling "Don't go near the dogs they will bite you"..... I just lost it and told him he was being completely stupid and it was down to people like him that phobias existed. He managed to set them back weeks in their confidence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackmagic Posted February 9, 2009 Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 I was training the park with my two dogs, a dalmatian and a golden retriever, and my friend's GSD. Some local children ran over and started petting my dalmatian immediately, with remarks of 'Ooh, a dalmatian.' They looked at my retriever, who only had eyes for her mum and her toy,which she was busy chasing. After watching her for a couple of minutes one said 'Does she not speak to people?' I replied ' No, she just chases her toy.' He then asked if he could throw the toy for her. Meanwhile the others were watching my friend's gsd, who was also playing at fetching a toy. Their reaction to her( the gentlest bitch you could meet) 'Does that dog bite?' Even after being told she didn't bite they still did not approach her. I think dog owners should take control when a child asks to pet a dog. Ask if they know how to pet a dog correctly and show them the correct way if necessary. A friend was walking her gsd when a woman approached with a young child , who wanted to 'see the doggy.' The woman asked if the child could speak to the dog and my friend agreed, as her bitch was very gentle. She asked the bitch to sit and the child approached and hit the dog over the head with a toy. The mother's response was' Oh, she always does that.' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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