Dogs not on leads Post Reply

[KatherineHepburn]

Sorry but I have a wee gripe this evening.

I was at the Bandstand Cafe this morning with another mum and a group of small children. My daughter and her friends were playing on the grass next to the chairs of the cafe.

All of a sudden I hear a scream and turn to find my daughter on the floor holding her head, the wind knocked out of her, crying hard. There was a large black dog bounding around her.

According to those than witnessed what happened the dog leapt at her and knocked her absolutely flying into the air where she then fell flat onto her back, hitting her head hard on the ground.

She was in pieces. I picked her up and asked loudly whose dog it was and that it should be on a lead, a few people walked forwards looking confused and one lady said 'It's not my dog...', then placed the dog onto its lead..

My daughter was crying and in great discomfort. We hung around for a while, long enough to see the lady let the dog off its lead again to run around again just on the other side of the bandstand. Still around playing children.

We ended up in A&E on the advice of 111 as she was terribly disorientated and in a fair amount of pain. They did a brain scan as she had a bleed in one ear. Fortunately the scan showed up fine but she does now have a perforated ear drum and a follow up appointment at ENT.

My issue, quite clearly is this, if your dog cannot be called back or controlled it needs to be on a lead. If you cannot see your dog - why not? Put it on a lead.

We are all absolutely fed up of dog mess on the Common, of picnics being destroyed, of food being snatched out of toddlers hands and of incidents such as this occurring. Surely if the situation does not improve then it is time to use the 'dog free' zones as dog off-lead running zones and then leave the rest of the Common free for everyone else.

It was a pretty horrible day. So please, keep your dogs on a lead, especially around areas that children eat and play.

[Jen66]

Glad your daughter is ok - but how frightening for you both.

out of control dogs and their selfish, stupid owners are my current bugbear. Just walking home tonight I saw a dog run right into someone's picnic in the park. Dog owner seemed to think the family were overreacting when they complained.

The dog mess is also a real issue once again because it's a law so rarely enforced. I'm convinced most dog owners will not pick up their dog's poo if they think they can get away with it.

[sid_seal]

Hello,

This must have been really frightening for both of you. Hope your little girl makes a quick recovery.

On a related note, I remember seeing signs in our local parks about the maximum number of dogs on/off a lead a person can walk (was it 4 dogs/person, with only one off the lead at any time?). I haven't seen them recently though, and I have noticed an increase in the number of people walking 4 dogs and more, and leaving them off the lead at the same time. I personally never experienced any incidents (apart from a small dog almost tripping me during a run!), but I find it quite frightening seeing two/three large dogs running in my direction, with the person in charge of them often busy on their mobile phone.

I know that there are many responsible dog owners and walkers, so I hope it is clear that I am not tarring them all with the same brush!

[KatherineHepburn]

Thanks guys. Much appreciated.

I would be interested in any comment from Wandsworth Council or Lambeth or indeed the Friends of Wandsworth Common / Clapham Common.
How can we improve this situation?

[BFW]

How awful - your poor girl....

I train on the common once a week and so many of the dog owners just let their dogs run around unsupervised while they are having a chat. They are not watching their dogs so they often don't pick up the poo. ITS DISGUSTING. Last week we literally had to chase after these two ladies to ask them to pick up the mess their dog had just made - they clearly hadn't noticed because they were to busy chatting.

In danger of being shot down here - but personally I think having a dog has become a little bit of a "status symbol" in NV and there are too many inexperienced owners that don't really know what owning a dog entails.

Hope your daughter makes a speedy recovery.

[papinian]

personally I think having a dog has become a little bit of a "status symbol" in NV and there are too many inexperienced owners that don't really know what owning a dog entails.

True statement.

[danijeanne]

I really hope your daughter is okay what a horrible experience for both of you.

I do believe there are some terrible owners out there but there are also decent ones. I agree that you Shouldn't have dog off lead by bandstand there are too many incidents that could happen little ones with ice cream and lots of food about. Dogs should be made to be on the lead. However I do believe they should be able to run in tech common freely as long as they can be called back. Also picking up poo non negotiable ! Disgusting to leave it! But some owners out there are responsible!

[Ftw]

The OP's experience was clearly distressing, however beyond that, from reading this post and many others, it does seem there's an element of Clapham Neurosis developing about dogs and there's another side to the argument which I feel hasn't been fully addressed.

On Clapham Common, particularly by the bandstand, there are plenty of children out of their parents' sight, running amok and unknowingly exciting/terrifying dogs. Since when should the world bend to accommodate a toddler running around a park with a croissant? Sit down and eat it at the table. And whizzing past on scooters/waving sticks around? My children quickly learnt that around dogs any low hanging food gets munched/sticks get snatched. And if you have a sense of humour rather than an intrinsic sense of entitlement and ownership of the parks then you'll deal with it in a reasonable way. If not, there are plenty of other dog-free areas around NV to feed your children/drink coffee/have lunch.

I deliberately flout the rule of dog on lead at the bandstand cafe, because if I tether my poor cute-looking terrier, invariably he will be accosted by children attempting to cuddle him. Note to dog haters out there - terriers don't enjoy being cuddled by strangers. A creature advancing on them face first is a sign of aggression, something I spend my time imparting politely to children every day while their parents/nannies enjoy a coffee and a chat. If the poor dog is on a lead/tied to a post it feels vulnerable, threatened and is unable to move away.

Dogs are innocent and so are children. It's our responsibility to educate ourselves and each other to ensure the welfare of both.

[hawkes]

FTW – I love terriers as well and had many growing up in rural Cumbria. They are for the countryside and not cities, even large common areas. Don’t be selfish and cruel to your pet, you’ve clearly got a dog that shouldn’t be in the city

[this_is_cat]

Hawkes, what an utterly ridiculous sweeping statement!
It is total nonsense to say FTW is being 'cruel' to their dog simply by virtue of living in the city!

That is up there with my mother in law suggesting people are 'neglectful' to bring children up in a city rather than a rural area

[Ftw]

Terriers should live in Cumbria?

My dog is very happy here thank you Hawkes. At least when he's not being manhandled by a child with a pastry...

[hawkes]

Without wishing to offend anyone, terriers were bred to kill rabbits and game in the countryside. They are not suited to be city life, even Clapham Common. I’ve had this discussion with various vets who agree

[papinian]

My children quickly learnt that around dogs any low hanging food gets munched/sticks get snatched.

It's not my job to protect my children/food from your mutt. It's your job to keep your mutt out of our food and our faces. You chose to raise your children with a dog in the house. I have chosen to raise mine without a dog in the house.

A creature advancing on them face first is a sign of aggression, something I spend my time imparting politely to children every day while their parents/nannies enjoy a coffee and a chat.

It's a dog owner's responsibility to control his or her animal. Yes, it's up to parents to explain to their children to ignore strange dogs and not interfere with them and believe me that my pre-school children know well to avoid any dog they see.

Dogs are innocent and so are children. It's our responsibility to educate ourselves and each other to ensure the welfare of both.

The fact that you put dogs on par with children suggests that you are not a rational person or have values radically different from mainstream norms.

I deliberately flout the rule of dog on lead at the bandstand cafe

The only person posting on this thread with a sense of entitlement is you. Frankly, my thought after reading your post was to hope that your dog would be killed by a car at the earliest possible moment.

[Ftw]

I clearly do have very different values from you, Pap (and a few others on here too it seems). I certainly wouldn’t respond to a person with a differing opinion from my own by wishing their pet dead.

I could respond to each comment in turn, but quite frankly I can’t be bothered. What I hoped (and clearly failed) to get across was that dogs share a space with children on the common. And that shouldn’t change.

Dogs are wonderful animals when treated appropriately and with a little education about their body language and their nature, children can enjoy being around them, not have them segregated and feared.

That’s all.

[Mingg]

"Frankly, my thought after reading your post was to hope that your dog would be killed by a car at the earliest possible moment."

WOW - a bit extreme don't you think??