Dear friends with kids
Jun. 23rd, 2009 09:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
baronessekatI have a request. A serious one. Teach your kids to respect dogs.
I have lost count the number of times on my walks with Grimm how many crotch droppings (as opposed to the children with manners) don't bother to ask me if they can pet my dog before the come running up, screaming "Puppy!" and shoving their hand into his face.
Yes, he is small, cute, and will be wiggling buddle of wanna meet you, but still. Not all dogs have his personality. Big or little, not all dogs like to be approached like that.
If you don't teach your kids to at least ask first, do not blame the owner of the dog if you kid gets bitten.
And even if they have received permission to pet in the past, ask EVERY TIME. YOu never know where in our walk we are when we run into you. Grimm and I walk between 1.5 to 2.5 miles a night. If you meet us at the start of our walks, he's going to be hyper and rather jumpy and might accidentally knock your little kid down (yes he is under 5 pounds but to a three year old that's still enough to knock them off balance). If we are at mile 2.125 he's going to be tired and perhaps a bit cranky and might just not want to be social. Sometimes I will have to say no to the petting because of how he's feeling.
What gets me more is when I pick him up because the small human does not take "no" for an answer and I look to the parent as I'm walking away and get "He/she can pet the dog if he/she wants to" and then looks at me horrified when I say "but I don't want them to pet my dog".
Seriously, little dogs do not mean they are necessarily friendly just because they are small. Little can be tough. And most do have Napoleon complexes. And you don't really hear to many accounts of Napoleon being warm and cuddly.
I have lost count the number of times on my walks with Grimm how many crotch droppings (as opposed to the children with manners) don't bother to ask me if they can pet my dog before the come running up, screaming "Puppy!" and shoving their hand into his face.
Yes, he is small, cute, and will be wiggling buddle of wanna meet you, but still. Not all dogs have his personality. Big or little, not all dogs like to be approached like that.
If you don't teach your kids to at least ask first, do not blame the owner of the dog if you kid gets bitten.
And even if they have received permission to pet in the past, ask EVERY TIME. YOu never know where in our walk we are when we run into you. Grimm and I walk between 1.5 to 2.5 miles a night. If you meet us at the start of our walks, he's going to be hyper and rather jumpy and might accidentally knock your little kid down (yes he is under 5 pounds but to a three year old that's still enough to knock them off balance). If we are at mile 2.125 he's going to be tired and perhaps a bit cranky and might just not want to be social. Sometimes I will have to say no to the petting because of how he's feeling.
What gets me more is when I pick him up because the small human does not take "no" for an answer and I look to the parent as I'm walking away and get "He/she can pet the dog if he/she wants to" and then looks at me horrified when I say "but I don't want them to pet my dog".
Seriously, little dogs do not mean they are necessarily friendly just because they are small. Little can be tough. And most do have Napoleon complexes. And you don't really hear to many accounts of Napoleon being warm and cuddly.
