rottweiler at school gates - opinions?

sexandthecity

It doesnt matter what the size of the dog or whether the woman looks like Mother Teresa or a crim really.

Common sense says dogs are not allowed in schools for a reason, therefore why is it ok to stand with a dog at the gate, where children pass in and out at large volumes ?

I have a large dog and I love to walk my dog after I drop my children at school.
Guess what - I leave my Dog in the car with his head poking out the window so he doesnt overheat, he has a special doggy strap so he cant leap out or bash anyone in the back of the car whilst driving or attack anyone, not that I think for one second that he would. He is there for a few minutes whilst I safely see them into school. If I didnt have a car then I would leave him at home and fetch him after, if I was too lazy to walk home and fetch him after I had collected or dropped off my kids then really I shouldnt have a dog as walking is in the job description.

Simple really. No child or parent/carer should have to contend with other peoples choice of animals when they only want to ensure their child gets to school safely

System

Using your logic then, dogs should not be outside the house between 08:15 - 09:00 and 14:30 - 15:45 in case they meet a child.

Should we ban vehicles for those periods as well. They kill and injure more children in a day than animals do in a year.

sexandthecity

!!!!!! wrote: »

Using your logic then, dogs should not be outside the house between 08:15 - 09:00 and 14:30 - 15:45 in case they meet a child.

Should we ban vehicles for those periods as well. They kill and injure more children in a day than animals do in a year.

Not all all, my dog is great with my kids, but I choose to have him with my kids and thats my choice, he is bigger than my smallest child but again that is my choice. My dog is well trained and has a lovely temperament but its simply not worth the "what ifs" is it ?

This isnt about the dangers of animals V the dangers of motor vehicles lol.

Wasnt trying to say that dogs shouldnt be allowed outside, why not use some common sense and not walk them in front of a busy school. Whether I had kids or not I wouldnt walk my dog in front of a school or stand with my dog outside the school when it was near a start or finish time, hardly rocket science is it........:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

starnight_2

Firstly I admit to not reading every single post here, but I want to say I can see where the OP is coming from.

Now I LOVE animals, I grew up around them and so has my son, but no matter how well behaved your dog is every day, you just don't know how they are going to react around that many childrec, especially if they are ill or sore and you don't know it.

I'm all for taking your dog for a walk to the school, but I personally think you should stay out of the school grounds, and away from the gates. Now this is based on what I have been through. Many people where I live walk their dogs to the school, both in morning and at home time. But when my DS was in nursery, he was bit by a 1yr old boxer. This dog had been walking to the school every day for the previous 3 months, yet today it decided to bite my DS, he still has a scar just below his eye.

Now after that incident dogs were banned from the school grounds, this doesn't stop the parents though. But as I said I don't mind dogs being walked to school with the children, but you have to have control and remember there could be children there who haven't seen large dogs or are scared of them (for whatever reason). I'm advocation common sense to those who do walk their dogs on the school run, not stop doing it, just awareness that you may not know your animal as well as you think.

sexandthecity

starnight wrote: »

Firstly I admit to not reading every single post here, but I want to say I can see where the OP is coming from.

Now I LOVE animals, I grew up around them and so has my son, but no matter how well behaved your dog is every day, you just don't know how they are going to react around that many childrec, especially if they are ill or sore and you don't know it.

I'm all for taking your dog for a walk to the school, but I personally think you should stay out of the school grounds, and away from the gates. Now this is based on what I have been through. Many people where I live walk their dogs to the school, both in morning and at home time. But when my DS was in nursery, he was bit by a 1yr old boxer. This dog had been walking to the school every day for the previous 3 months, yet today it decided to bite my DS, he still has a scar just below his eye.

Now after that incident dogs were banned from the school grounds, this doesn't stop the parents though. But as I said I don't mind dogs being walked to school with the children, but you have to have control and remember there could be children there who haven't seen large dogs or are scared of them (for whatever reason). I'm advocation common sense to those who do walk their dogs on the school run, not stop doing it, just awareness that you may not know your animal as well as you think.

Indeed, you can still take your dog on the school run just dont leave him or her directly at the gates :T

supermezzo

So all those people who don't want dogs at school never take their kids to the park where there are far more dogs, and usually off their leads as well?

Katie-Kat-Kins

Forget the breed and the intelligence/mouthiness of the owner.

The fact is that some people, children and adults have a fear of dogs. Some people have a very severe irrational fear, others are nervous of strange/large/loose dogs. Dog owners should respect this.

The dog was not on school premises and was on a lead so the owner wasn't doing anything wrong. However out of consideration for those who may have been nervous it would have been polite to have stood out of the way of the gate.

I would suggest that OP asks the school to pop a note in their next newsletter acknowledging that people do sometimes bring their pets (could also be ponies, or ferrets or cats or rabbits that walk on leads!) to school and asking that out of consideration for those who are nervous of some animals that they ensure that they wait well back from the gate.

If she stands in the gateway again just ask her politely to move back and explain that you are afraid of dogs after a previous bad experience. You can't make her and she is doing nothing wrong so be nice, and appeal to her better nature.

borokat

If she was blocking the way then I would just ask her to move aside. But I understand how the OP felt nervous and uncomfortable, as I would feel the same regardless of the type of dog.
A lot of posters mention incidents about dogs just wanting to greet/lick; personally I hate being licked or sniffed at by a dog (by humans too, unless I know them well!) so perhaps just keeping your dog on the lead really isn't that great a hardship. Every dog that bites does it for the first time at some point so you can't be 100% sure that your pet will never do it.

janninew

I remember when I was a child my Mum use to pick me and my sister up (there were not many parents with cars in them days!) and she use to bring our 3 boxer dogs with her. There was never any problems, she use to wait outside the school gates for us and I use to love coming out to greet my 3 best friends!
I sometimes think the world has gone mad, this women was stood with a dog on a lead, not showing signs of agression on a public street, what was she doing wrong?! I could fully understand if it was being aggressive, but from what I can understand the dog was just stood there, under control.
As mentioned above cars and parents cause more harm to children than any dogs do. Children need to be taught to respect dogs and vice versa, no child should ever approach a strange dog without the owners permission, if a child is to scared to pass a dog in the street I think they should be receiving some help, as they are bound to come across dogs in some aspect of their lives (at parks, in the street etc.) I am a dog owner, and a soon to be parent and I can in all honesty see both sides, we all need to be tolerant of each other, as dogs are always going to be on the streets.

sexandthecity

supermezzo wrote: »

So all those people who don't want dogs at school never take their kids to the park where there are far more dogs, and usually off their leads as well?

School is compulsory

I take my dog to the park, the childrens play area has railings and gates round it, and you are not allowed to take dogs in it.