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Dog barked at someone who was afraid of dogs
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TheChizler wrote: »So if someone is scared by something they so literally can't avoid then why make the situation worse for them by putting them in the same place as a dog they might feel is not in the control of its owner?
People who have a genuine fear of dogs still have that fear even when they're on lead, particularly an extending one. It may be somewhat lessened but it's still there. That's why I mentioned guide dogs, service, police dogs etc. All on lead but all still capable of doing anything a dog does.
I was having a similar discussion on a restaurant thread where people who were afraid of dogs would still be afraid even if they are on lead under a table in a restaurant. A true fear is not negated by the presence of a lead.0 -
I was once walking down the road with my terriers, both on leash, when a young man coming the other way began screaming and literally climbed over a wall. What can be done in that situation?
In that situation? Absolutely nothing, you done everything right and whatever that person does thereafter is their own problem0 -
One poster has been infracted for being uncivil towards another poster. In this forum you are required to be respectful of each other's opinions.
This thread has gone wildly off-topic. If anyone wants to continue the general discussion of off-lead versus on-lead dogs, please do so in a separate thread. This is not a general discussion, this thread is about the specific set of circumstances outlined in the OP. Please address the OPs query or find somewhere more suitable to post.
Do not reply to this post on-thread.
Thanks,
CB.0 -
NatashaB16 wrote: »Hi all,
This is a strange situation but I just wanted to see what the thoughts are regarding what I should or could have done, and whether this woman is correct in saying that my dog attacked her.
I brought my dog on a walk today, he's a medium sized mongrel and has a great temperament, but something strange happened. Dog was off his lead as usual, just slowly walking beside me, sniffing trees and basically had his nose glued to the ground.
We had passed one or two people with no problem as usual, but then this woman was in front of us and she started moving very erratically and kind of shouted "I'm terrified of dogs!". I immediately went to put my dog onto his lead but he was sniffing a tree a bit ahead of me and he started barking at her, which was the weirdest thing as he has only ever barked at people on bikes when he was a puppy, years ago.
So I say, "I am so sorry! This never usually happens, he never barks at people, I'm so sorry", to which she replies kind of aggressively, "oh, so it's my fault? I'm entitled to feel safe in my own area", which I took to be her still freaked out from my dog's barking and so I just repeated what I had said before, "not at all, I was just telling you that it's weird because he never does this and I just wanted to apologise."
So my dog's on his lead now, I'm crouching down making sure he's alright, he's grand again, giving me his paw and his attention, not acting strangely anymore. She shouts a few things at me from a distance, my back was turned so I couldn't make it all out but what I could hear is the phrase "your dog attacked me!" and so I turn and I see her standing across the road staring at me with a man who was across the road trying to comfort her or say something to her I assume. I said "excuse me?" in a fairly shocked tone and then I just walked away after she didn't answer, and the man walked over to me and said something that I can't really remember, he didn't seem to be saying anything negative but his English was poor so I didn't really understand him.
What could I have done better? I put him back on the lead straight away of course; but the reason he was unleashed is because for the 6 years that we've had him, he's never barked at a stranger and his recall is really good, and even this time when he barked he was wagging his tail and more confused than anything. I'd say about 70% of dog owners in my area have their dogs off lead so it's not an uncommon thing here, and I've yet to come across an aggressive dog, which is obviously not indicative of others' experiences, but it's generally a good area to have a dog.
I'm just a bit shaken over her reaction, I was afraid that she'd call someone or report me or something because she was quite aggressive and she'd stated that my dog had attacked her. Has anyone had any experiences like this? I probably sound madly dramatic but I'm still worried that she might live around my area and I could bump into her again. Dog's staying on his lead until we get to the park/field now but still, I'm fairly freaked out.
Put your dog on a lead in future in a public place otherwise you can be sued if your dog bites anyone or he could run off in front of a car and cause an accident, so your at fault here in my opinion, keep your Dog on a lead, that's the law, your supposed to be in effective control of your dog at all times in public place. See Control of Dogs Act 1986. I was bitten by a dog in a public park years ago and I got the Park warden involved and sued the owner in court successfully.
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/environment/animal_welfare_and_control/control_of_dogs.html0 -
clairewithani wrote: »I am sympathetic towards OP in fact I think a person acting as she did is verbal aggression, akin to a dog barking. But come on, surely it is sensible for a person to teach a child not to touch strange dogs.
We always taught our daughter (2-4 years), not to touch a strange dog, as it might bite/nip her, because she does not know them, and the dog does not know her.
We told her to ask the owner first if it is okay to rub their dog and to slowly leave the dog smell her first before rubbing him/her.
She is now 4.5 and has her (Our) own little puppy. A Bichon Frise (4 months), and she is learning how to take care of her own dog now along with us.
While I do think the lady in the OP story over reacted, I do think dog owners should be aware of people around them as there maybe a fear there for whatever reason. Other than that as long as he kept the dog out of her space then there is not much else he could do, besides maybe considering it maybe best to keep the dog on a lead.
The accusations after the event does should a potential other side of this particular lady.0 -
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About a month ago, maybe near 2 months my Dog barked at a guy and his young daughter. I was with my 3 year old Nephew who scolded the dog by saying "bold girl, sit down". It was incredibly unusual, and she backed down when my Nephew asked her to. Luckily for me, and my dog, the guy was okay about it, and seemed to acknowledge that it was unusual for her. (A 3 year old scolding her and her obeying seemed to have helped). She seemed to be barking directly at him (she was on her lead as we were very close to traffic). I can not explain enough how out of character it was for my dog to do that.
The guy and his daughter walked away and we continued on the walk, my dog went nuts again, but this time there was nobody there. About 5-10 minutes later we saw what she was barking at. A Seal was in the water. She seemed to calm down when the seal surfaced, but she was barking when the Seal was underwater. A lady we know saw the seal and has videos of the whole thing. I will not share them as my Nephew is in the videos, but it was crazy to find out that is what my dog was barking at.
Was there anything your dog may have been barking at? A Hedgehog or a Rat, or more likely a Fox/Badger depending on where you were?0 -
Not any more. I have worked hard to get over my fear of spiders and, ridiculous as it may sound, beards and masks.
Yes, I was terrified of men with beards. I would have screaming panic attacks. Christmas time was hell, as was halloween. However I worked to get over it because I recognised it as ridiculous and it impacted negatively on my life. I certainly didn't allow it to fester and then insist that all men should be clean-shaven to cater for me.
.
And that's great, but what happened every time you meet a man with a beard *before* you got over your fear?
How do you know what stage someone might be in their treatment for their fear of dogs?0 -
Folks,
There has already been a mod warning to stick tightly to the topic of the op, but there are still posts that are going wide of the mark.
It is regrettable that we have to clamp down on more open discussion, but unfortunately some posters don't appear to be have been able to express themselves without getting personal or hot-headed.
So... Again... Stick to the op please. If you wish to discuss any of the side issues that have arisen, please open a new thread.
Thanks.
DBB0 -
Dogs are an excellent judge of character. Your one was clearly a balls.0
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About a month ago, maybe near 2 months my Dog barked at a guy and his young daughter. I was with my 3 year old Nephew who scolded the dog by saying "bold girl, sit down". It was incredibly unusual, and she backed down when my Nephew asked her to. Luckily for me, and my dog, the guy was okay about it, and seemed to acknowledge that it was unusual for her. (A 3 year old scolding her and her obeying seemed to have helped). She seemed to be barking directly at him (she was on her lead as we were very close to traffic). I can not explain enough how out of character it was for my dog to do that.
The guy and his daughter walked away and we continued on the walk, my dog went nuts again, but this time there was nobody there. About 5-10 minutes later we saw what she was barking at. A Seal was in the water. She seemed to calm down when the seal surfaced, but she was barking when the Seal was underwater. A lady we know saw the seal and has videos of the whole thing. I will not share them as my Nephew is in the videos, but it was crazy to find out that is what my dog was barking at.
Was there anything your dog may have been barking at? A Hedgehog or a Rat, or more likely a Fox/Badger depending on where you were?
As far as I could tell, it was when the woman sort of shrieked and started moving around so frantically that he barked at her, I assumed that her being so loud set him off and then her jumping around kept him going. He didn't move towards her or anything, he might even have thought she was playing a game because he was wagging his tail and seemed more confused than anything. I didn't want to say that to her of course! But in hindsight I wish I could have politely mentioned to her that her actions weren't great; even if he were on a lead he would probably have barked at her because thinking back she probably would have seemed a bit threatening to him.0 -
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NatashaB16 wrote: »As far as I could tell, it was when the woman sort of shrieked and started moving around so frantically that he barked at her, I assumed that her being so loud set him off and then her jumping around kept him going. He didn't move towards her or anything, he might even have thought she was playing a game because he was wagging his tail and seemed more confused than anything. I didn't want to say that to her of course! But in hindsight I wish I could have politely mentioned to her that her actions weren't great; even if he were on a lead he would probably have barked at her because thinking back she probably would have seemed a bit threatening to him.
The woman probably would not have felt as threatened if the dog was on it’s lead
I’m sure your dog is lovely, but if your dog has a reaction like this to a third party, then you need to control it better, without having to educate other people on how they should act around your dog0 -
Deleted User wrote: »The woman probably would not have felt as threatened if the dog was on it’s lead
I’m sure your dog is lovely, but if your dog has a reaction like this to a third party, then you need to control it better, without having to educate other people on how they should act around your dog
I'm not sure that you read either of my posts. My dog was fine until this woman started shrieking. As soon as he barked, I called him and he came straight over and was put on his lead. Lead or not, he would have barked, because I'm sure you're aware that loud, high-pitched noises and wild gesticulating are threatening behaviours to not only dogs but humans as well. When she started shouting at me, I felt threatened myself. He did not bark in an aggressive manner (I understand that she may not have been able to interpret this at all), but nor did he move toward her at any point; he came straight to me and sat down. I disagree - it's absolutely a case of education; not obviously a case of me educating anyone, but people should educate themselves about things they will likely face in life, especially if they're afraid or unsure about them, it's a social responsibility.0 -
NatashaB16 wrote: »I'm not sure that you read either of my posts. My dog was fine until this woman started shrieking. As soon as he barked, I called him and he came straight over and was put on his lead. Lead or not, he would have barked, because I'm sure you're aware that loud, high-pitched noises and wild gesticulating are threatening behaviours to not only dogs but humans as well. When she started shouting at me, I felt threatened myself. He did not bark in an aggressive manner (I understand that she may not have been able to interpret this at all), but nor did he move toward her at any point; he came straight to me and sat down. I disagree - it's absolutely a case of education; not obviously a case of me educating anyone, but people should educate themselves about things they will likely face in life, especially if they're afraid or unsure about them, it's a social responsibility.
Hi there,
I did read your posts
My point is, the whole fact that your dog was off the lead can be threatening enough to some people
You said in your original OP that your tried to put the lead on immediately, but that your dog was not beside you as he was at a tree. So there was some distance between you and your dog. This can cause people to be afraid. To some people they would not believe that you had control of your dog.
I think it’s unfair to expect the onus to be on other people to educate themselves. Most dog owners will never know what their dogs are thinking, how is a complete stranger going to know0 -
Deleted User wrote: »Hi there,
I did read your posts
My point is, the whole fact that your dog was off the lead can be threatening enough to some people
You said in your original OP that your tried to put the lead on immediately, but that your dog was not beside you as he was at a tree. So there was some distance between you and your dog. This can cause people to be afraid. To some people they would not believe that you had control of your dog.
I think it’s unfair to expect the onus to be on other people to educate themselves. Most dog owners will never know what their dogs are thinking, how is a complete stranger going to know
I understand that, but the distance that this woman was from me was pretty far away, and my dog was closer to me than he was to her by a long shot. I called him and he came immediately; in the whole situation he was never less than about 10ft away from her. I completely understand fear, having dealt with severe anxiety from a young age, but her aggression towards me was why I made the post in the first place, and her reaction was nothing short of terrible. In her situation, she should absolutely educate herself if she knows that she's so terrified of dogs that she lashes out. People have spoken about children and dogs in this thread too; would you not expect a parent to educate their child about an animal that they are extremely likely to encounter? I don't expect anyone to know what my dog is thinking, but I do expect that people educate themselves at least basically, i.e. don't utilise threatening behaviour in front of animals, because that's just common sense.0 -
A similar thing happened me a few years back, I had Bob off lead and we came round a corner on a track, and there was a woman with abiut six kids. Some of the kids started running at Bob, arms outstretched to grab at him, so he took off like a scalded cat and ran past them until he got to a safe distance and then lay down and waited for me to catch up.
When I got to the woman she was shrieking about dangerous dogs and calling wardens... I was a bit astonished as the kids had clearly scared the life out of my dog and tried to engage in a rational discussion but she was beyond reasoning. I think sometimes when someone gets a fright but does know that their reaction caused the situation they instantly get on the defensive to avoid admitting they were wrong.
I wouldn't be worrying to much, sounds like a heat of the moment reaction from her, just be sure to have a lead on before you get to that point in the walk in future!0 -
NatashaB16 wrote: »Hi all,
This is a strange situation but I just wanted to see what the thoughts are regarding what I should or could have done, and whether this woman is correct in saying that my dog attacked her.
I brought my dog on a walk today, he's a medium sized mongrel and has a great temperament, but something strange happened. Dog was off his lead as usual, just slowly walking beside me, sniffing trees and basically had his nose glued to the ground.
We had passed one or two people with no problem as usual, but then this woman was in front of us and she started moving very erratically and kind of shouted "I'm terrified of dogs!". I immediately went to put my dog onto his lead but he was sniffing a tree a bit ahead of me and he started barking at her, which was the weirdest thing as he has only ever barked at people on bikes when he was a puppy, years ago.
So I say, "I am so sorry! This never usually happens, he never barks at people, I'm so sorry", to which she replies kind of aggressively, "oh, so it's my fault? I'm entitled to feel safe in my own area", which I took to be her still freaked out from my dog's barking and so I just repeated what I had said before, "not at all, I was just telling you that it's weird because he never does this and I just wanted to apologise."
So my dog's on his lead now, I'm crouching down making sure he's alright, he's grand again, giving me his paw and his attention, not acting strangely anymore. She shouts a few things at me from a distance, my back was turned so I couldn't make it all out but what I could hear is the phrase "your dog attacked me!" and so I turn and I see her standing across the road staring at me with a man who was across the road trying to comfort her or say something to her I assume. I said "excuse me?" in a fairly shocked tone and then I just walked away after she didn't answer, and the man walked over to me and said something that I can't really remember, he didn't seem to be saying anything negative but his English was poor so I didn't really understand him.
What could I have done better? I put him back on the lead straight away of course; but the reason he was unleashed is because for the 6 years that we've had him, he's never barked at a stranger and his recall is really good, and even this time when he barked he was wagging his tail and more confused than anything. I'd say about 70% of dog owners in my area have their dogs off lead so it's not an uncommon thing here, and I've yet to come across an aggressive dog, which is obviously not indicative of others' experiences, but it's generally a good area to have a dog.
I'm just a bit shaken over her reaction, I was afraid that she'd call someone or report me or something because she was quite aggressive and she'd stated that my dog had attacked her. Has anyone had any experiences like this? I probably sound madly dramatic but I'm still worried that she might live around my area and I could bump into her again. Dog's staying on his lead until we get to the park/field now but still, I'm fairly freaked out.
Here is another view from a parent.
My daughter spent her first 4 years around a boxer dog in our parents house, the dog loved her and she adored him, she had no fear of dogs. The dog died and a few months later in the park a dog not on a lead started barking at her and from that day on she is very nervous of dogs.
So she is nervous when a dog is on lead which is not the owners fault but she is more terrified when a dog is not on a lead. Now i understand people believe their dogs are safe off the lead but the fact is they shouldn't be off the lead unless in a safe environment away from other people.
Some owners are brilliant and actually noticed my daughter is nervous and would ask would she like to come over to the dog because the dog is spoilt and gentle which is great.
But i do have a problem where people let their dogs run around the park with no lead on them when there is signs saying "keep dogs on the lead". Glendalough has a major problem with this.
I am not anti dog, I had two pedigree boxers when I was growing up and the only reason we don't have a dog now is because we are out of the house from 7am - 7pm and our back garden is not big enough for a dog to be stuck there for 12 hours in my opinion.0 -
Keep the dog a lead, it's easier that way. I keep mine on a lead in fear of him hugging and licking someone to death.0
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Again that's not the OP's fault. The dog was under control doing nothing and the woman freaked out for her own reasons.
We can't all be held accountable for everyone else's fears and issues in life.
The dog was running free in a public place. If it didn’t respond to it’s owner, it’s not under control.
Never underestimate the terror of anyone confronted by something that they fear.
Keep the dog on it’s lead in public places and this situation will be avoided.0 -
A similar thing happened me a few years back, I had Bob off lead and we came round a corner on a track, and there was a woman with abiut six kids. Some of the kids started running at Bob, arms outstretched to grab at him, so he took off like a scalded cat and ran past them until he got to a safe distance and then lay down and waited for me to catch up.
When I got to the woman she was shrieking about dangerous dogs and calling wardens... I was a bit astonished as the kids had clearly scared the life out of my dog and tried to engage in a rational discussion but she was beyond reasoning. I think sometimes when someone gets a fright but does know that their reaction caused the situation they instantly get on the defensive to avoid admitting they were wrong.
I wouldn't be worrying to much, sounds like a heat of the moment reaction from her, just be sure to have a lead on before you get to that point in the walk in future!
The simple fact is though I believe she was right,
It is the dog owners responsibility to keep their dog under control
It is the dog owners responsibility to train their dog how to interact in different situations (including when they are provoked from kids with no sense of what they are doing)
This is especially true, if you are going to leave him off a lead, I would say.
And she had 6 kids, what was there age range?
There is no responsibility on the Mother or her kids, no matter what you may think or how you think it should be.
I know I taught my daughter how to interact with dogs from a young age, but that does not mean every parent will do this, will even care, or some simple might not have the opportunity, if they do not contact dogs regularly.
If one of the kids kicked your dog and the dog bites the kid back, who do you think is going to loose in the end...that is the real reason to take the complete responsibility as a dog owner and not expect or assume others will do likewise.0 -
At the end of the day you were wrong to have the dog off it's lead in a public place. Yes she did go overboard with her reaction but the law is the law + they should be on leads. I nearly got knocked over one day by a huge St. Bernard dog when in the local park with my baby. Not on lead + miles away from his owner running fast. If a child was in it's way it would have been knocked over. Now I am very lucky that it's a rare occurance in my park as usually very good owners who clean up after dogs + have them on leads. Public places are there for everyone to enjoy.0
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There's no way to resolve the conflict between people who are afraid of dogs and want to enjoy public spaces without fear, and the people who love dogs and want to enjoy public spaces with their dogs running off-lead, without one or both of those sets of people doing something they consider an unreasonable restriction.
Society's solution is to pass a vague law as some sort of advisory and then let everyone get on with whatever they were going to do anyway. Everyone wants to do their favourite thing.
I understand both sides, having been attacked by a Dobermann as a kid and now keeping dogs. Even now a big dog barking and showing teeth sets off a primal fear. If I was a flappy sort of person it would probably make me flap my arms around too.
The advice to get psychotherapy grates a bit. If I walk around a shopping centre with my pet snake around my neck, and people get freaked out, should I tell them the same? Sure, he's only a corn snake, he won't do any harm.0 -
At the end of the day you were wrong to have the dog off it's lead in a public place. Yes she did go overboard with her reaction but the law is the law + they should be on leads. I nearly got knocked over one day by a huge St. Bernard dog when in the local park with my baby. Not on lead + miles away from his owner running fast. If a child was in it's way it would have been knocked over. Now I am very lucky that it's a rare occurance in my park as usually very good owners who clean up after dogs + have them on leads. Public places are there for everyone to enjoy.
Can you quote the specific legislation that states all dogs must be on leads and that it is the law? Not just the link but the specific wording that you think you are referring to? Not a specific park or CoCo legislation but the law that refers to all public places. Thanks.0 -
ForestFire wrote: »The simple fact is though I believe she was right,
It is the dog owners responsibility to keep their dog under control
It is the dog owners responsibility to train their dog how to interact in different situations (including when they are provoked from kids with no sense of what they are doing)
This is especially true, if you are going to leave him off a lead, I would say.
And she had 6 kids, what was there age range?
There is no responsibility on the Mother or her kids, no matter what you may think or how you think it should be.
I know I taught my daughter how to interact with dogs from a young age, but that does not mean every parent will do this, will even care, or some simple might not have the opportunity, if they do not contact dogs regularly.
If one of the kids kicked your dog and the dog bites the kid back, who do you think is going to loose in the end...that is the real reason to take the complete responsibility as a dog owner and not expect or assume others will do likewise.
If a dog was kicked there is a strong likelihood they would bite, on or off a lead. My point in the above story is that my dog reacted by running away and still got called a dangerous dog.
People in situations they are not comfortable in lash out and the threat of a dog warden is an easy one to fall back on, but the op shouldn't be worrying as their dog is not dangerous and did nothing wrong in this instance.
If it had bitten or otherwise made contact with the woman it would be different but it didn't so there is no issue,the woman got a fright, caused a scene but has no valid complaint as the dog did not react agressively, all it did was try to communicate that it wasn't happy in the situation.0 -
No, but there's a tipping point where if you have a fear that's affecting how you go about your day-to-day life, then there's a burden on you to sort that out, not a burden on everyone else to avoid scaring you.The advice to get psychotherapy grates a bit. If I walk around a shopping centre with my pet snake around my neck, and people get freaked out, should I tell them the same? Sure, he's only a corn snake, he won't do any harm.
Encountering a snake in Ireland is something that may never happen to you, so if you have a deathly fear of snakes then it's not going to affect your life.
Encountering a dog is something which is likely to happen when you leave the house, so if you have a fear of dogs which is going to cause a major reaction, then the burden is on you to sort that sh1t out, not on everyone else to account for it.
Same if I lived in Australia with a proper freeze-in-place fear of snakes, I'd have to deal with it, either with psychotherapy or moving to another country.0 -
Can you quote the specific legislation that states all dogs must be on leads and that it is the law? Not just the link but the specific wording that you think you are referring to? Not a specific park or CoCo legislation but the law that refers to all public places. Thanks.
Pedantic much???? Do you believe the op was in control of her dog. ???
The answer is NO , btw !
If she had the bloody thing on a leash I'm 99% sure we wouldn't be 8 pages in a thread about it.0 -
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Your argument is that because dog owners outnumber the dog-phobics, the dog-phobics should "sort that sh1t out".No, but there's a tipping point where if you have a fear that's affecting how you go about your day-to-day life, then there's a burden on you to sort that out, not a burden on everyone else to avoid scaring you.
Encountering a snake in Ireland is something that may never happen to you, so if you have a deathly fear of snakes then it's not going to affect your life.
Encountering a dog is something which is likely to happen when you leave the house, so if you have a fear of dogs which is going to cause a major reaction, then the burden is on you to sort that sh1t out, not on everyone else to account for it.
Same if I lived in Australia with a proper freeze-in-place fear of snakes, I'd have to deal with it, either with psychotherapy or moving to another country.
Which conveniently aligns with the self-centred desire (which we all have) to not have to modify our own behaviour.
It's a post-rationalisation.0 -
If a dog was kicked there is a strong likelihood they would bite, on or off a lead. My point in the above story is that my dog reacted by running away and still got called a dangerous dog.
People in situations they are not comfortable in lash out and the threat of a dog warden is an easy one to fall back on, but the op shouldn't be worrying as their dog is not dangerous and did nothing wrong in this instance.
If it had bitten or otherwise made contact with the woman it would be different but it didn't so there is no issue,the woman got a fright, caused a scene but has no valid complaint as the dog did not react agressively, all it did was try to communicate that it wasn't happy in the situation.
I'm not disagreeing in generally and nothing explicitly wrong happen in both situations but,
1) there is the risk something more can happen (Even if provoked from someone else).
2) If she did complain to the warden that your dog ran at her and her kids "aggressively" (Her possible opinion) and was not on a lead, who is the most likely to loose in this situation? There would be a natural (Or purposeful) exaggeration of the interaction from the mother protecting her kids.
My point is a dog can be reported with potential consequences, while the kids cannot be reported or will not have any consequences.
For this reason I believe it is best to be extra cautious as a dog owner, and for some that might mean keeping dog on a lead0 -
Can you quote the specific legislation that states all dogs must be on leads and that it is the law? Not just the link but the specific wording that you think you are referring to? Not a specific park or CoCo legislation but the law that refers to all public places. Thanks.
Pedantic much???? Do you believe the op was in control of her dog. ???
The answer is NO , btw !
If she had the bloody thing on a leash I'm 99% sure we wouldn't be 8 pages in a thread about it.
Prone to exaggeration much?
You cannot state "the law is the law" when there is no such law in place.
All the question marks and hyperbole don't make a jot of difference.0 -
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There's no way to resolve the conflict between people who are afraid of dogs and want to enjoy public spaces without fear, and the people who love dogs and want to enjoy public spaces with their dogs running off-lead, without one or both of those sets of people doing something they consider an unreasonable restriction.
Society's solution is to pass a vague law as some sort of advisory and then let everyone get on with whatever they were going to do anyway. Everyone wants to do their favourite thing.
I understand both sides, having been attacked by a Dobermann as a kid and now keeping dogs. Even now a big dog barking and showing teeth sets off a primal fear. If I was a flappy sort of person it would probably make me flap my arms around too.
The advice to get psychotherapy grates a bit. If I walk around a shopping centre with my pet snake around my neck, and people get freaked out, should I tell them the same? Sure, he's only a corn snake, he won't do any harm.
Or obey the rules of the park, if it has a sign up saying keep dogs on the lead, then obey it or find another park that allows it0
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This discussion has been closed.
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