Don't bring your kids to the dog park!

[BobbiB]

Easy to point out the childless in this post. Lol.

It's a lot harder than raising dogs. Just saying.

[BobbiB]

Originally Posted by MauiGirl

I had my fill of misbehaved kids today too. Schools were out, so everywhere I went people had kids with them, and they were literally bouncing off the walls.

I was at a clinic for over 2 hrs. for lab tests, and could not leave.... kids were running around, jumping on the seats in the waiting room, snotty noses and fingers on every surface in the room, throwing fits. Then I went to vote at a gymnasium/polling place, and again..... out of control kids everywhere; it was like a daycare but with no supervision.

I was so happy to get home to my almost perfect kids.... the ones with fur, and I am so happy they were not subjected to the brats I encountered today.

Wow. Not meaning to kick up dust, but don't you think that is a bit uncalled for? As a parent myself, I guarantee that the parents weren't thrilled their kids were acting up. Kids are a bit tougher than dogs though.

[Draco]

I don't mind kids at the dog park as long as they're being pretty well mannered. Draco draws the attention of a lot little girls. If I see a little girl eyeing him I'll tell her in which ways he likes to play and be petted.
I like kids though and know how difficult/stressful parenting can be though I have no kids. I do have a neice and my sister and her husband just had twins and boy are they two handfuls.
If it were me, I'd probably would have asked the kids if they wanted to learn how to play with the dogs without scaring them or make them upset. Then if things didn't go so well I'd left. I just feel someone has got to tell them.
Otherwise I'd worry that they might agitate the wrong dog, or someone tries to tell the mom about her children and parenting habits and that never goes well.

[BobbiB]

Originally Posted by Draco

I don't mind kids at the dog park as long as they're being pretty well mannered. Draco draws the attention of a lot little girls. If I see a little girl eyeing him I'll tell her in which ways he likes to play and be petted.
I like kids though and know how difficult/stressful parenting can be though I have no kids. I do have a neice and my sister and her husband just had twins and boy are they two handfuls.
If it were me, I'd probably would have asked the kids if they wanted to learn how to play with the dogs without scaring them or make them upset. Then if things didn't go so well I'd left. I just feel someone has got to tell them.
Otherwise I'd worry that they might agitate the wrong dog, or someone tries to tell the mom about her children and parenting habits and that never goes well.

I completely agree with this.I don't want to come off like I think it is okay for kids to act up, but I do feel like sometimes people are too tough on kids. They are KIDS. They only know what they are taught. I think that I would really respect someone who would handle a situation the way you described.

Regarding previous replies (not yours), I feel it is wrong to call kids "brats" based on a single experience with them. They may very well be very good children, good children who haven't been taught how to behave appropriately around animals. That is the parents' fault, not the child's.

[yorkietalkjilly]

I raised a son and he never acted like that anywhere and he had a totally normal, fun-loving kids life, but he had boundaries, just like all kids need. No need for kids to be allowed to run wild, destroy things or make everyone within earshot's life miserable just for their own amusement. Just sayin' kids are not that hard to manage.

[BobbiB]

Originally Posted by yorkietalkjilly

I raised a son and he never acted like that anywhere and he had a totally normal, fun-loving kids life, but he had boundaries, just like all kids need. No need for kids to be allowed to run wild, destroy things or make everyone within earshot's life miserable just for their own amusement. Just sayin' kids are not that hard to manage.

Lol...whatever. They are harder than dogs, and people need to be a little more understanding. Kids USED to be allowed to be kids. Now, they are expected to act like little adults. It's unreasonable.

(and I'm raising three boys...sometimes it IS hard to manage. Not everyone's life is just like yours, a bit of understanding is never too hard to muster)

[kreuer]

Originally Posted by BobbiB

Lol...whatever. They are harder than dogs, and people need to be a little more understanding. Kids USED to be allowed to be kids. Now, they are expected to act like little adults. It's unreasonable.

(and I'm raising three boys...sometimes it IS hard to manage. Not everyone's life is just like yours, a bit of understanding is never too hard to muster)

I have one 3, almost 4 year old boy and 2 puppies. The puppies are a lot easier than my son and he is a pretty well behaved little boy, but he's still a little boy and can misbehave. I find myself sometimes saying I wish my son listened as well as my puppies do!

[BobbiB]

Originally Posted by kreuer

I have one 3, almost 4 year old boy and 2 puppies. The puppies are a lot easier than my son and he is a pretty well behaved little boy, but he's still a little boy and can misbehave. I find myself sometimes saying I wish my son listened as well as my puppies do!

Mine are 7, 6, and almost 5....Sheldon is much, much, much easier. lol

[ShowGirlLola]

Misbehaving is natural for kids, but in most places the only consequence is annoying people, at a dog park the consequence could be getting bit, scratched, tackled, hurting a dog, etc.

Even if the kid is just running around there's the danger of dogs getting over excited and hurting the kid.

It's also an added distraction for the adult, they need to be watching their dog, not the kid.

I'm not a fan of dog parks anyway, so I wouldn't take my dog or a kid anyway. The enviornment is too chaotic and unpredictable for me.

[BobbiB]

Originally Posted by ShowGirlLola

Misbehaving is natural for kids, but in most places the only consequence is annoying people, at a dog park the consequence could be getting bit, scratched, tackled, hurting a dog, etc.

Even if the kid is just running around there's the danger of dogs getting over excited and hurting the kid.

It's also an added distraction for the adult, they need to be watching their dog, not the kid.

I'm not a fan of dog parks anyway, so I wouldn't take my dog or a kid anyway. The enviornment is too chaotic and unpredictable for me.

I usually take my dog to the kid park...it is just easier for some reason

[kreuer]

Originally Posted by BobbiB

I usually take my dog to the kid park...it is just easier for some reason

All of the kid parks in our town say "No Dogs Allowed".


I only took Lexi to the dog park twice. Both times there were no other dogs even there so I don't even bother any more.

[FryFry]

[QUOTE=BobbiB;4504730]Easy to point out the childless in this post. Lol.

It's a lot harder than raising dogs. Just saying.[/

you're right, I don't have kids, nor do I want them. That's besides the point. I have worked in a daycare with 3month olds - 6yr olds. Yes, kids are tough to deal with at times. However, this Mother of the kids at the dog park shouldn't have brought her kids especially with a 6 month old puppy if the kids were just going to run around yelling, and jumping at the dogs in the smaller side. What if those kids did that to a larger dog, thinking it was "funny" and that larger dog jumped on them? Not so funny. Either your kids need to know how to act around dogs, especially strange dogs or don't bring them. With kids like that you're just risking their safety because meet the wrong dog and things can go south real fast. I'm not the only one who was complaining about the kids being there, I just decided to bring it to an online forum.

[FryFry]

Originally Posted by ShowGirlLola

Misbehaving is natural for kids, but in most places the only consequence is annoying people, at a dog park the consequence could be getting bit, scratched, tackled, hurting a dog, etc.

Even if the kid is just running around there's the danger of dogs getting over excited and hurting the kid.

It's also an added distraction for the adult, they need to be watching their dog, not the kid.

I'm not a fan of dog parks anyway, so I wouldn't take my dog or a kid anyway. The enviornment is too chaotic and unpredictable for me.

Exactly! That's what I've been trying to say. It's a matter of safety for those kids, especially with their high energy. It's even a safety matter for the dogs.

I don't mind the dog park, but I only go on the weekdays, usually in the early afternoon when there's maybe 2 other people there.

[FryFry]

Originally Posted by yorkietalkjilly

I raised a son and he never acted like that anywhere and he had a totally normal, fun-loving kids life, but he had boundaries, just like all kids need. No need for kids to be allowed to run wild, destroy things or make everyone within earshot's life miserable just for their own amusement. Just sayin' kids are not that hard to manage.

Yep, I agree. I actually tried to see where their mother was, and she was just standing there completely ignoring them.

[yorkietalkjilly]

Originally Posted by BobbiB

Lol...whatever. They are harder than dogs, and people need to be a little more understanding. Kids USED to be allowed to be kids. Now, they are expected to act like little adults. It's unreasonable.

(and I'm raising three boys...sometimes it IS hard to manage. Not everyone's life is just like yours, a bit of understanding is never too hard to muster)

Oh, don't get me wrong, I well understand having one child is a breeze compared to two or more. I just really enjoyed parenthood and didn't find it a tough grind at all, probably because there was only one. I imagine having three children at once is an amazing amount of hard work and exhaustion. But still, boundaries are boundaries for each child we bring into this world, and we are responsible not just birthing them but for loving them, keeping them safe and well, how they behave, grow up and imbuing them with an identify beyond that of wild child. It's just those parents who seem to give up on their kids and allow them to run wild in any setting I don't get.