Do you ask before letting your small child pet a strange dog?
 

I am amazed that the amount of people with small children that just let them walk up to a large dog to pet it without asking if it is OK. My dad and boyfriend are out golfing right now and I have my dads rottie Xander here with me, so I thought since we have an eventful evening planned I would get my run in now. I take Recon and Xander and put them on the coupler (thing that makes 1 leash into 2) and go for my run. SInce I am used to running in the early AM and late PM the heat was affecting me so I stoped at the gas station for some water for myself and the dogs. As I hook them up and go in, there is a lady with 2 little kids. I would say they were maybe 2 and 4 years old, and she starts walking up to my dogs. Well, I hook the dogs up on the side of the gas station where not everyone can walk past them because Recon is not good with little kids. I paid for my water and walk out and head back to the dogs, just as this lady is getting close with her kids. The one kid lets out a screach and Recon just about jumps out of his skin, hes trembling. The kid starts running towards the dogs as Recon is now showing his teeth. And do you think that woman does anything?? SO I right away step between the dogs and the kid and the kid KICKS ME IN THE SHIN!!!!!!! YELLS "ME PET DOGGY NOW!!!!!"
I look at her and I am now more concerned with my dogs then her kid, then say, Do you not have any f-ing commmon sense?? and she looks at me as if i am from another planet. Then says, all she wants to do is pet the doggie.

DUH, THE DOG IS ABOUT READY TO RIP YOUR KID IN TWO LADY!!!!!!!

So I (haha) nicely tell her to take a walk. And she then calls me a B**** as she is walking away and says all she wanted to do was pet the dog.

GGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!

kicks you in the shin!!!!>....... omg, i would have gotten her info so that you could send the potential "doctor bill" to HER house for youre poor battered limbs (lol) what a jerk...... i know it woulda got recon in trouble, but it woulda served her right to get a little nip

I would've let Recon take a bite..Don't get me wrong, i love kids but if the parents aren't responsible and they are stupid, NOT YOUR FAULT. What a b***h...COMMON SENSE. Not only did she not care that her kids came to pet A DOG but two BIG dogs...as a mother I would be concerned. Not offense to Xander and Recon because they rock but they could scare me if I didn't know them.

I was scared that Recon was gonna take half the kids face off since they were the same height. Xander just sat there the whole time with that big dumb look on his face. As Recon is growling Xander just kept cocking his head from one side to the other. But come on, who lets there kids run right up to strange dogs like that. Especially since one was a rottie??? Good thing the rottie is the nice one.

The kid was barefoot so it didn't hurt.

Kelly: That was a crappy thing that happened to you :( I am constantly amazed when parents let their kids pet dogs without talking to the owner. Not only is it rude, it's dangerous for their kids. When kids come up and pet Chewy over his head (which I hate) I have to practically yell at them to stop and then when he starts nipping at them parents get mad. Well what do you expect?

My only answer for it is irresponsible parenting.

Stupid people...the kids probably just reflected the parents..:( The worse is, if a dog attacks he is vicious...and what about the kid????

Just so you know not all parents are nuts. I had logan at the public pool talking to a friend. I was holding him and these two small children were with their mom and obviously wanted to pet him so she told them to come ask nicely if they could pet him and of course i said yes and logan loved it and was giving kisses. When then the little boy kinda grabbed him around the neck to give a hug. The mom told him no that he shouldn't grab the puppy. So he stopped petted him one more time and then they took off. I thought she did a very good job. There was another little girl in the pool, i don't know where her mom was and she got out to pet him when the others came over which i didn't mind and then she asked to hold him and i tried to be nice and explain he's kinda wiggly and she proceeded to try and talk me into it and she wouldn't give it up so i finally had to get a little short with her, obviously she wasn't used to hearing no very often.

My 5 year old daughter has to ask me and the pet owner before petting a dog. It sounds like irresponsible parenting to me also. Children shouldn't be allowed to always have their own way.

When my kids were little I always had them ask if they could pet the dog but it wasn't that often that the kids were really interested in petting some one elses dog. They had thier own at home.

But some one had a good point here. I know that Recon doesn't like little kids. that is why I hook him up around the side of the gas station so that little kids aren't near him. When we walk and there are little kids, I cross to the other side. So because this mother is stupid, my dog could potentially be vicious?? To me that is a load of crap. But it is the truth. Sad huh??

Recon is everything you could ask for in a dog and more. But he has that one little issue about kids. They scare him. I cant help that. But what am I to do? Keep him in his yard and that is it? Im not willing to do that. So I guess I just get labeled as a B**** and move on. Isn't the first time wont be the last.

you should get him a caution may bite, pet at your own risk t-shirt. Then if someone pets him you're not liable. Probably still would be I'd imagine, but a lot of places post at your risk signs to free the owners of liability.

Here where i live, if you have anything posted about your dog potentially biting, it makes things worse for you because they claim that you know that the dog is dangerous. Good idea though if i lived anywhere else.

That sucks, what are you supposed to do if you have a dog that gets snippy when someone tries to take food from it or startles it. Put it done. You are trying to protect your dogs and others and you get punished for it.

Sometimes dogs have problems, but some of us choose to love them in spite of this. I had a dog that was abused by big men and dropped on the side of the road. She is my dog and was nothing ever, but nice to me, but if a big man approached and tried to touch her in anyway she would growl and bite because obviously a big man had hurt her very badly and she was scared. I'm not going to put her down or punish her for something some one else did to her. It's not her fault.

I bet you anything that if recon had bitten her kid then she would be telling everyone taht it was your fault for leaving the dogs there whithout supervision! When it is really her fault for letting her kid go near strage big dogs!!!!!! :mad:

My kids have to ask before petting any dog. Unfortunately because they are used to big dogs like thier shepherd they think all big dogs are nice. So i have to constantly remind them not all dogs are nice. Unfortunately i have to disagree with vain chick about the comment she would have let recon bite. Its not the kids fault that thier parents dont teach them about respecting animals or peole for that matter. Not to mention recon would be the one to suffer pretty bad consequences im sure. I have no problem being rude when im walking with my dogs telling people to not pet them. In fact i will usually say he bites just so people leave him alone. You just never know how a dog will react to certian people.

My son is 3 and ALWAYS asks if he can pet the doggies.... I guess since from the beginning I have taught him that not all doggies are friendly...at the dog park it is kinda different but he still asks befoer he pets.....I know that it pisses me off when people (not just kids) come pu and feel that they have the right to pet Gidget and some even feel the need to pick her up. My husband HATES it and will just tell the peple that she doesnt like haveing stragers touch her......I think it all boils down to peoples mideset as a whole now days...everyone feels intitled and it is all about them....urrr
Sorry that you got kicked......I would have "accidentaly" kicked the kid back....I know that is bad but if the parent arnt going to do anything about it....how will they ever learn?

Very well said. SOme one had made a comment about my dogs being unsupervised, I dont remember how it was worded but really they were where I could see them the whole time. I will not tie my dogs up some place and leave them if I can not see them. The gas station that I go to has a few different spots around the building for tieing your dog to it. There is a bike/walking/jogging path right there so its very convientient. It is clearly marked with a sign that says DOG AREA. there are benches and a water fountain right there but I prefer to give my dogs and myself bottled water because its better. This area that I tied my dogs up is not in plain view of the gas pumps so this kid had to see me walk up with my dogs and tie them up since they walked from thier car, around the building to my dogs.

I don't have kids, YET!!! But when I do, they Will be taught to ask any owners of any pet before they try to pet the animal!!!!!
Even now, when little ones come to us while we are walking, they go right for Luigi. I look at the mom or whoever is with them, and say- he's very nice, loves kids and loves to be petted. But I am amazed how many try to pet before knowing if the dog is nice or doesn't like to be bothered with! B/c- what would happen if the dog bit the kid? Of course their mother would probly blame us, the owner. And I would blame them, for not controlling their kids!

Heck yeah!!! That is the first thing I do, b/c my 3 yr old loves dog, and will want to pet it, so we ALWAYS ask to make sure they dont bite!!! I work for a surgeon, but I dont want to see his work!!!

I think that the mother is probably not used to dogs herself and doesn't have one and she probably thinks that if the dog is out then it is probably friendly. I am just speculating. I think she is ignorant and we, as pet owners, have to expect 90% or people to be ignorant with what is the proper way to respond to dogs. It is the only safe way to avoid potentially serious liability.

My kids are all taught to ask before approaching a strange dog no matter the circumstances and to avoid strange dogs altogether if the owner is not in sight, but I think it is because i have owned dogs all my life, trained them and shown them in obedience. But someone who is not familiar with dogs may be totally unaware of the proper etiquette when it comes to what to do.

What An Idiot!
 

OMG! First of all, what kind of person just let's their little kid (2-4?!) walk up to a rot with NO ONE around? Ok, some rots are mean, others are so gentle. WHY would you let your little kid just go up to touch it without asking first-DUH!

Second, what a BRATTY little kid! He kicked you in the shin?! What a brat! Kids aren't the same anymore. They are disrespectful little brats (I shouldn't say that, but many of them are. Their parents don't teach them respect anymore). :mad:

I would NEVER let my kids touch a dog like that. A Yorkie, maybe. But even then, I would probalby still ask because you just don't know. A rot or doberman, no.

You would think that with all of the dog bites that are in the news today people would be a little bit more careful.

I don't let me children around any dog that I don't know. Doesn't matter how cute it is. My daughter got bit once when she was 3 at a vet's office...while I was paying, she walked over to a dog. Not a big one but not small either. She got knocked to the ground and bit on the hand. Not pretty at all. Since then, I've been very leary of dogs that I don't know.

Wow! and in a vet's office yet. Doga re just too unpredictable but non-dog people sometimes just don't know unfortunately.

I might also add that while I was paying, I had told her repeatedly to stay right by me. I didn't even realize that she had wandered not 2 feet from me to go see this other dog. Dogs like that should have to wear a muzzle.

It isn't the rottie in question here its recon. I just wanted to clarify that. Xander the rottie would lick ya to death no matter how big or small you are.

I babysit a 2 year old and a 4 year old and I ALWAYS make them ask before going up to a strange dog when we are out. I don't care if its a godzilla sized dog or a puppy, you never know! But they have a big dog thats a huge suck and sometimes think that its ok to go up to random dogs. I think all kids should be taught to ask - its safer for the kids, as well as the dogs.