So, I'm not a fan of children, but I tend to tolerate them when they are around, and try my hardest to be nice, I smile, be polite, and don't say anything, because I remember I was probably like that as a kid.
Well, I really dislike children that whisper REALLY loudly about your dog, and somehow deciding you aren't a good dog owner.
A few days ago I was with some friends all day - running errands, socializing, and the like. It really cut into Finnley's walk schedule, and when I got back, I had to go take him for a walk, but they really wanted to go to the park that's by my house. So, it was moderately late in the evening, and I thought, "Okay, I can bring Finn, it'll be fine, he won't get overstimulated since not many people are there at that time." (There's a baseball field beside the park that I run Finn in) but when we got there it was child Valhalla. I really wanted to turn back, but my friends pressured me into staying, and what's worse is that I had Finn's retractable leash, so I couldn't properly tie him up safely.
During the course of our short visit, I made the choice to sit on the bench beside Finn as my friend's went onto the swings, and I had lengthened his leash up and then tied it off, so that he couldn't go far and my hand could take a break from being out in the cold air. As I was there, I had to deal with my friend's being a bit irritated with me, saying, "Why don't you just leave him there?" Well, I was nervous to do that because while he's good with being left tied up alone for a while, here were small kids at the park, and I didn't want to risk them coming up to Finn and him accidentally hurting them with his exuberance. So I stuck there. So as I was sitting there just talking to Finn, my friend's doing god knows what at this park, these two girls, about 11, kept walking pass us and looking at my dog and whispering. Eventually they whispered loudly at the fourth time around when Finn started to move because he got antsy, and they said, "HIS LEASH IS TOO SHORT FOR HIM TO RUN AROUND. THAT LADY SHOULD REALLY LENGTHEN IT SO HE CAN RUN."
To say the least I was irritated because he had about two to three foot of lead, and I wasn't going to let him run around and hurt a child. I was about to leave when I had Finn from the post, leashed and the like, when a small child, probably about two, starts running towards Finn, and Finn was so happy to see this kid, that I could feel his energy bubble up. I gently grabbed his collar and had him sit beside me, and the mother came running down to grab her child and as she was doing so, she smiled at me and Finn, and said, "Thank you for doing that! Sorry if he gave you a scare." And that was that. I told her it was no problem, that Finn is just a bit too friendly and doesn't know his own strength, and she seemed more at ease.
The mother did calm my nerves a bit, and I didn't care so much about what those girls said, and left. Afterwards I took Finn for a long walk and came home late.
It just frustrates me when children seem to think they know more and have no concept of respecting other people when they don't know the full situation, but I can't really fault them because I was probably the exact same way. Overall, though out the whole situation I felt embarrassed, ashamed, and peeved.
Well, I really dislike children that whisper REALLY loudly about your dog, and somehow deciding you aren't a good dog owner.
A few days ago I was with some friends all day - running errands, socializing, and the like. It really cut into Finnley's walk schedule, and when I got back, I had to go take him for a walk, but they really wanted to go to the park that's by my house. So, it was moderately late in the evening, and I thought, "Okay, I can bring Finn, it'll be fine, he won't get overstimulated since not many people are there at that time." (There's a baseball field beside the park that I run Finn in) but when we got there it was child Valhalla. I really wanted to turn back, but my friends pressured me into staying, and what's worse is that I had Finn's retractable leash, so I couldn't properly tie him up safely.
During the course of our short visit, I made the choice to sit on the bench beside Finn as my friend's went onto the swings, and I had lengthened his leash up and then tied it off, so that he couldn't go far and my hand could take a break from being out in the cold air. As I was there, I had to deal with my friend's being a bit irritated with me, saying, "Why don't you just leave him there?" Well, I was nervous to do that because while he's good with being left tied up alone for a while, here were small kids at the park, and I didn't want to risk them coming up to Finn and him accidentally hurting them with his exuberance. So I stuck there. So as I was sitting there just talking to Finn, my friend's doing god knows what at this park, these two girls, about 11, kept walking pass us and looking at my dog and whispering. Eventually they whispered loudly at the fourth time around when Finn started to move because he got antsy, and they said, "HIS LEASH IS TOO SHORT FOR HIM TO RUN AROUND. THAT LADY SHOULD REALLY LENGTHEN IT SO HE CAN RUN."
To say the least I was irritated because he had about two to three foot of lead, and I wasn't going to let him run around and hurt a child. I was about to leave when I had Finn from the post, leashed and the like, when a small child, probably about two, starts running towards Finn, and Finn was so happy to see this kid, that I could feel his energy bubble up. I gently grabbed his collar and had him sit beside me, and the mother came running down to grab her child and as she was doing so, she smiled at me and Finn, and said, "Thank you for doing that! Sorry if he gave you a scare." And that was that. I told her it was no problem, that Finn is just a bit too friendly and doesn't know his own strength, and she seemed more at ease.
The mother did calm my nerves a bit, and I didn't care so much about what those girls said, and left. Afterwards I took Finn for a long walk and came home late.
It just frustrates me when children seem to think they know more and have no concept of respecting other people when they don't know the full situation, but I can't really fault them because I was probably the exact same way. Overall, though out the whole situation I felt embarrassed, ashamed, and peeved.