I have seen it all now..... Discussions

I love seeing children walking well behaved dogs, but what I saw today shock me & if it wasn't for the quick reaction of a motorist, one little boy & 2 big powerful dogs would of been killed or seriously injured.

This boy who was roughly 7/9 years old was being dragged along the pavement by 2 big powerful dogs (Rottweiler X Boxer & an BullMastiff) there was no adult with him, just the boy & the 2 dogs, the dogs spotted a cat & charged straight across the road pulling the little boy over in front of a van, how the van driver managed to stop is a miracle, less fortunate was the cat who the dogs killed.

I don't even think I could of managed to hold either one of them dogs let alone both together, its no wonder these big powerful dogs get bad publicity all the time with thoughtless owners allowing their children to walk them alone.

Like I said at the beginning I love seeing children walking dogs ...... but only if the dog is well behaved & not to powerful for the child to walk.

A lucky escape for all concerned. I hope that someone who knows the boy has a word with his Mum. She really needs to know that he is not able to cope with such strong dogs.

I was told the little boy went to hospital & the dogs the police took away, I didn't hang around to see what happened afterwards.

Oh I'm sorry Tina, I just didn't register the bit about the cat - poor soul.
I would imagine that the parents are found to be at blame, and suspect that they may have trouble getting the dogs back. I hope the child is OK now, the van driver must still be really shaken up.

I see two similar cases of powerful dogs being walked by inappropriate people often near me.
One is a Mastiff x Staffie being walked by a young (10ish) girl, fortunately the dog is well behaved and walks nicely alongside the girl, but the potential for something to go wrong is there.
The other is a middle aged woman who walks a GSD which drags her all over the pavement, and ties to attack any dog it sees, I'm 50 years old, 6ft tall, 16.5 stone and have been around/ owned dogs for 43 years, but if I see or hear this pair out together I make a quick diversion to put as much distance as I can between them and me and Pippa.

I would say this is a job for child services. Good Lord, and it's not even the age of a child it's their size. A fifteen year old can be too slight to walk even one strong dog. I am an adult and wouldn't attempt both of my pups at the same time.

I let my daughter walk Callie because she can more easily gallop along with him. But I am always a few paces behind...and always on high alert in case a human stranger might appear. We all get some together time though, so it's enjoyable.

I'm proud of her. I've taught her to remain calm and speak in a low calm voice to him if someone approaches. And to hold him mega tight till I grab the leash. But I would NEVER let her take him out on her own.

I do think it is important for kids to go out with the dogs and have a chance to hold them and feel responsible, a lot depends on the kids and how much training they have had along with the training the dog has had and the area that you live and walk.

I used to walk a couple of gsd’s when I was 10, and I was a skinny little thing and would hate it if someone judged me on the way I looked or because of my age.
I have seen many young children in total control of large dogs, which would put some adults to shame.
As an adult I am 5ft tall and weigh 7st and had no probs walking two Akitas and gsd together, yes there were some hairy times with irresponsible owners, it’s not so much the size and strength of a person but how authoritative they are.

I think what needs to be asked is would you allow a 7-9 year old walk two two year old toddlers along roads with no adult to take charge? This to me would be easier for the child than to be in charge of two very strong dogs who are easily distracted.

Horrific incident. I do hope some measures are taken to ensure that it can never happen again

Yes I agree I love seeing children walking dogs but the dogs must be well behaved & not to powerful for the child to handle.

I am just touching 5 foot & have owned 9 Rottweiler's over the past 30 years but there would be no way I could control that Rottweiler X Boxer simply because he was totally out of control.

I sometimes walk four of mine at once, but they're pretty well trained. I'd never let anyone else do the same, even an adult as they'd be capable of just pulling someone off their feet. These days Guilty gets a few walks on her own as she doesn't like peeing in the dog yard, but the others get a couple of walks per day, in pairs.

I could walk 4 of my 6 together that's K9, Ziva, Zeus & Skye (but don't as I am now unsteady on my feet) but can only walk the other 2 on their own, not because they are powerful (they are JRT's) its because they are not dog friendly Dottie will go for any other dog she see & Kobi will suddenly lunge at a dog if they get to close when he's on his lead.

I have to say that Vee's post chimes with my own experience. I, and quite a few of my (still) friends, worked part time in kennels from being pre-teenagers. We knew what we had to do, and did it, often without any adult supervision. It amazes me to think back and realise that we were trusted with the care of valuable show, and even visiting dogs at such a young age. I wouldn't expect any child to assume this degree of responsibility these days.

This may be a little off topic but I wonder, what is it that has changed over the last 60 years or so? Have we made children less capable of dealing with the routine care of dogs, or is it that the dogs themselves have become more difficult to handle? I find it hard to believe the latter, as one of the breeds I handled was Dobermanns, and pony owning children soon learn how to handle their relatively strong mounts. Maybe it is the way we live now, which allows much less freedom for kids to develop their interests. There are more built up areas, and a lot more traffic on the roads. I would be really interested to know what anyone else thinks has gone wrong with our childrens' ability to handle animals effectively.

That's sweet actually I remember as maybe a ten year old I go would down the street to walk a neighbors dog. My parent's didn't want a dog so it let me get my canine craving daily. Poor Zero was hyper and poorly trained but friendly as could be.
We had a big empty lot in the back of our housing development. Perfect for a hyper kid and dog to run with no other people, dogs or cars to worry about.

That does make a difference. If a child is in perhaps a rural area there aren't the same dangers as walking a dog on a city street. Depends on the dog and child too. My dogs are well enough trained for us but they're still strong pullers sometimes.

What the difference is between then and now is a question I've often asked myself. I was bought my first dog, an 8 week old Lab puppy for my 12th birthday on the strict understanding that I was responsible for her training, walking, grooming etc. We lived on a main road in a busy suburb, but my parents never worried that I was walking a young dog on my own in heavy traffic. We'd never heard of obedience classes or training manuals ... in fact, I only bought my first book on training about 10 years ago and went to my first obedience class a year ago .... you just used your common sense and did what came naturally! In the summer holidays my mother would pack sandwiches and give me money to buy a Tizer, and Sally and I would go off and spend the day in one of nearby parks where we'd spend time in the Police stables, swimming in the lake or wandering in the woods. I can't recall ever having a problem with Sally, although I'm sure she must have pulled me over a few times and no doubt misbehaved. One thing I've noticed that despite, books, TV programmes, videos etc on dog behaviour and training, the dogs of today seem to be far more neurotic than when I was a child. Maybe it's just my imagination or my memory letting me down but there seems to be far more dogs who pull on the lead or display aggression these days, and I can only think it's due to the hectic and often stressful life styles many of us live which impacts adversely on our dogs.

Our children/ grandchildren now live in an age of mobile phones, internet, TV and computer games none of which were around when I was a child. When I stayed with my son and his family and was unable to walk the dogs myself, my two teenage grandchildren were always too engrossed in something or other to take the dogs even for a 5 minute walk.I live in the middle of the most glorious countryside which when my grandson came to stay was pronounced to be "utterly boring" as there was nothing to do, and he spent the fortnight in my living room, with the curtains closed watching TV???? I despair at the way children seem to have become dependent on being entertained 24/7 by some disembodied piece of technology and seem incapable of finding any other, more healthy interests, like playing outside as we used to have to do.

I don't know what the answer is but I do know and am grateful for having the freedom to grow up enjoying and understanding dogs and the wonders of nature. It's very sad that children of today miss out on so much that we took for granted.

I agree with you...back in the day where I grew up you got home from school, had a snack and went out to play until nightfall. We had a construction site as a playground for several years. Our Mum's would be angry when we came home caked in mud, but there was never a thought that we were playing on huge mountains of excavated dirt or tossing rocks at the security trailer. We'd get the guard to come out and then run like the dickens...but it was our everyday play time. Or one of the exciting activities was taking a roll of caps...there were cap guns that made a bang. If you hit the caps with rocks they would bang too. Can you feature today's kids in such activities? Child services would be on the scene.

@lovemybull Perhaps I shouldn't admit this, but I still have two cap pistols - and loads of caps. I got them for training Eddie's, 'Steadiness to Gunshot' Test, when he was competing in Working Trials, but do still use them occasionally, (out of their sight - not pointed at them), to keep my dogs 'Bang-proofed', ready for the occasional outbreak of fireworks.
I do have to make sure that there's nobody watching though, Dotty Old Lady Syndrome!

My grandfather was a retired army officer and from the age of about 5 he used to allow me to help him clean his guns. By the age of 10 I knew how to handle a shotgun and we'd go into the fields and shoot rabbits for dinner. His guns where kept in a large cupboard under the stairs which was never locked, but I knew if I went in there and touched any of his guns I'd be in big trouble! Can you imagine that happening today?

I've seen numerous times children walking XL dogs including aggressive ones. One was walking a man biting Pit Bull, yeah real intelligent.

Now I don't think this is a child services issue and I think people need to stop involving them when it's unnecessary. They are there to protect kids and investigate actual abuse and neglect.

My grandfather was a retired army officer and from the age of about 5 he used to allow me to help him clean his guns. By the age of 10 I knew how to handle a shotgun and we'd go into the fields and shoot rabbits for dinner. His guns where kept in a large cupboard under the stairs which was never locked, but I knew if I went in there and touched any of his guns I'd be in big trouble! Can you imagine that happening today?

I remember my grandfather always had a handgun in a dining room cupboard for protection. I wouldn't have imagined touching it though. Finally when he was getting on in years my Dad quietly sold it. Grandpa had started answering the doorbell holding it...not a good thing.