Increased dog ownership – plusses/minuses ?

[halfmanhalfteapot]

I am an owner of two welshsheepdogs ( you now the type – like shep off blue peter( ask your gan or grandad)).
Anywayst, I use a lot of local parkland tom excercise them and on the whole most people are great with them and others are obviously concerned that they may attack and/or they will leave a mess – fully understandable of course.

What about having a dog and people workshop once a month a LLay park or Alyn waters were people and dogs and children can all sit down and share the concerns and if some are willing, try to get to meet some of the dogs to understand why some are on their lead and others run free ?
this might bring a hopefully better relationship through gaining understanding of why some people are scared and how some owners can put the dog on a lead to help that person feeling safer and hopefully eventually get know the dogs and build an element of trust?
We will still get some owners and people who will not want to meet – but we can try and help each other in the parks to try and be sympathetic and respectful to all other users of the parks..

Any thoughts whether good or bad, lets have them – I for one have got plenty to learn and welcome purposeful, friendly debate.

Till the next time fellow WXMRS

Halfmanhalfteapot

[Welsh Dresser]

I don’t have a dog at the moment but have in the past. It seems like a good idea to familiarise yourself with dogs if you have no experience of them or owned one. It might help if someone could help to educate regarding a dogs body language as it is difficult to interpret at times.

[zinger]

I always think that it is a good idea to teach children not to touch a strange dog. All children should however have a pet so that they can learn how to love & care & look after a fellow creature. I am sure that it makes them into better adults. But there again, it does depend on the parents in the first place. Children should learn their nurturing skills from them.

[NJones]

Following some less considerate owners allowing their dogs to run all over the place our son is now scared of dogs, particularly big dark coloured ones. Why do owners seem to think its acceptable for a big strange dog to run around off a lead in a park or at young children in a play area? I’ve often heard ‘Its okay he won’t bite you’ which isn’t much reassurance to a small child. I’d would be more than willing to intervene and stop the dog if I had to and have often demanded owners put the loose dog on a lead whipping out my mobile to take pics if they refuse to send to the police. My answer to anyone who says the dog won’t bite or hurt anyone is that the dog needs to be on a lead for its own protection, not mine.

Maybe its the owners that need the workshop more to realise why children who aren’t familiar with such animals are scared of them and how to control them around children.

[halfmanhalfteapot]

I think that’s probably a good idea – it should be made that all owners go to some sort of session that gives them the do’s and don’ts especially for when and where to let their dog run free and to realize that not everyone likes dogs.

[wrexview]

Could someone explain why some dog owners clean up after their dogs but then deposit the plastic bag and contents in a hedge , on the grass verge etc ? On a recent country walk I was confronted with numerous bags hanging off bushes , at least if it is not picked up and bagged nature will eventually decompose it and wash it away. Why take the trouble to bag it but not dispose of it in a proper place?

[zinger]

I find that a lot of frightened children are ones who don’t own a pet. I have a dog but always introduce it gradually to strangers & also advise children not to touch dogs unless they know them. I have grandchildren. I too hate to see bags hanging from hedges. There is no excuse at Alyn Waters as there are plenty of bins.

[dewi73]

@wrexview 8422 wrote:

Could someone explain why some dog owners clean up after their dogs but then deposit the plastic bag and contents in a hedge , on the grass verge etc ? On a recent country walk I was confronted with numerous bags hanging off bushes , at least if it is not picked up and bagged nature will eventually decompose it and wash it away. Why take the trouble to bag it but not dispose of it in a proper place?

I agree, on many walks I now see small bags of dog waste discarded in hedges etc.
The Council need to introduce more dog waste bins in my opinion.

[thunderbirdskid]

I walk with my dog on the Moss every day, I see very little dog mess, but loads and loads of general rubbish dumped by inconsiderate members of the public, which I’ve evidenced on here before. I would also request a litter/dog waste bin somewhere central within the Moss Valley park, possibly down by the small bridge that crosses the stream at the mid-way point of the park. At the moment the bins are at either end.

I agree that dog owners need to understand that not everyone likes dogs, its common sense, unfortunately a small minority of my fellow dog walkers seem to lack that.

The parks and open land are so important to our well-being and sense of pride in our area. Its a bit like the broken window policy in New York years ago, once you let them become wastelands and places of disrepair, the community then feels that’s exactly what the’re living in.

[AMA Express]

Getting councils to supply and install bins isn’t too difficult. Getting them to empty them regularly is the problem. Have you seen how they ignore the emptying of the many bins installed in lay-bys around the country ?

[Author]

Posts