Children in dog parks....thoughts?

I'm totally against it!

When Jaia was about 6 months old, a lady had brought her 4-year-old autistic child to the park because he liked interacting with dogs... I had socialized Jaia properly with children, but not everyone had. And this boy ran around screaming... Dogs were chasing him and the mother sat back in the full knowledge that her boy wouldn't get hurt by a group of large dogs chasing him. []

Jaia was perfect. I was able to call him off, but she said, "It's ok." [sm=asking03.gif] How does she know it was OK? I had to leave. I was so uncomfortable.

They make dog parks so dogs don't have to go to the children's parks.

One of the dog parks here has an age limit. No kids under 13 and they must be with a parent.
 
I totally agree with that.

Jewliee,
 
I think signs are a good idea. There is a meeting next weekend for the dog park users and I think I may bring up my concern and see if the city will get a sign....
 
 thanks for mentioning that!

This is a huge personal issue for me so I'll try to keep a lid on it and act rational []

I do not mind children in dog parks IF they stay seated on the outskirts of the park or in their strollers or in their parents arms. I understand that if you have both children and dogs it's going to be necessary to sometimes bring your children to the dog park, but the children, in order to be kept safe, must not interact with the dogs. It is not the time or the place for that.

Unfortunately while our local dog park is generally excellent as far as the dogs being there being good dog-park material, there is a children issue and one of my dogs is NOT good with young children. Some he is afraid of and reactive to and some he just bowls over due to his size and not knowing his strength. It just completely freaks me out when I see kids running around with the dogs and I do not understand how parents are allowing this. I once had to chase out two unaccompanied young children (I'd say about 9 and 6) from the section of the park I was in because they kept coming in and purposefully antagonizing the dogs--running at them full speed, throwing things at them, jumping around and waving their arms, screaming. Their parents were somewhere else in the park and had just dropped their kids off at the dog park. Parents treat it like it's a dog petting zoo. It makes me FURIOUS. This is the one place where my dogs get to be dogs. There are children's playgrounds all over the same public park where the dog park is, and dogs are not permitted in them, yet the kids have to come to our one sanctuary and force me to recall and sit my dogs for fear of an accident happening--in which case of course it would be my dogs' fault, not the childrens'.

So, kids are fine at dog parks as long as they and the parents understand that it is a DOG park, not a kid park. The kids can have a seat off to the side or if they're a bit older, on the other side of the fence, play some tick tac toe or something and let the dogs play like dogs for a little while.

I will amend my response

I was talking about children running around basically unsupervised at dog parks. If they sit or play quietly in a 'protected' area with supervision, I have no problem with it. I agree with houndlove.

I do not mind children in dog parks IF they stay seated on the outskirts of the park or in their strollers or in their parents arms. I understand that if you have both children and dogs it's going to be necessary to sometimes bring your children to the dog park, but the children, in order to be kept safe, must not interact with the dogs. It is not the time or the place for that.

 
I have never been to a dog park, but I agree with the above.

Well I'll weigh in from the perspective of someone who has no access to "dog parks". We just have parks here, and dogs are allowed off-lead if the owner chooses, but it's the owner's call, there are no rules regarding it.

Now, having said that, my local park has a fenced-off kids play area. My little doggie "group" that gets together every evening for playtime gathers at the opposite end of the park from the playground. There is really no need for anyone with kids to come near us, and we are visible a mile off. Anyone with kids who does approach the group gets warned by the owners of dogs who are not kid friendly.

Since that is not the only park we go to, Ben is trained to ignore kids entirely (and other people, but kids especially) unless given permission by ME to approach, so that if we are walking through a park, round a corner and a kid is there I do not suddenly have an issue on my hands. He's too friendly and too strong for me to EVER trust that he will not knock over a child if allowed to approach them whenever he likes and I would feel unbearable guilt if he ever hurt a child. He's friendly with kids and loves to be fussed over, but it only happens with kids we know, or the rare child at the park who politely asks me first if s/he may pet him, which buys me time to put Ben in a downstay and show them how to pet him nicely.

If I lived in a place with dog parks, I would very likely have an issue with unsupervised kids in there. It's a place set aside for dogs and they should be allowed to play in peace.

I have kids and a dog, and I would NEVER take my kids with me to a dog park. My attention would be too dispersed. I actually only relax with my kids and my own dog. Our neighbor thinks I am paranoid, but I know my kids can be a lot less predictable than my very reliable boxer. Even her brittany spaniels are more predictable to me than my children. (No sleight against brittanys, just not a dog I have learned much about.)

So, I'm thinking of dogs in a situation that COULD turn on a dime into something scary, and then I throw in my kids. My kids are normal, they run scream, jump, randomly touch other people and dogs- you know, just the sort of thing that could throw almost any unfamiliar dog into a stress reaction.

I hate small kids at dog parks.  Sorry parents.  It's not safe for your kids (under 10) at the dog park.  How do I arrive at that?  I've been slammed into by a 30lb dog and flipped on my back, had a bruised tailbone and possibly a concussion as well.  I wasn't angry about it, it's their park and I was in the runway.  No biggie.  Had that been a smaller child, a scream of pain would have alerted every dog in the park to "injured prey."  Thus adding more injury to an existing one.
 
Then there is just normal prey drive within dogs.  Not all dogs are good with kids.  Kids move a whole lot like prey animals.  Waving arms and rapid, jerky movements are tempting to most dogs.  The dogs might not attack the child, but at the least the dogs will come over to check the children out.  A small kid surrounded by 6 or 7 dogs is a recipe for disaster.
 
On a sidenote, the DP I frequent has a rule of no kids under 9.  Xerxes has within him a silly little "age detector" and would always find the kid or kids that were under 9 and bark at them.  When I was approached and asked why he was barking "at my kid?"  I always said "He thinks your son/daughter is younger than 9."  The reply was "He/She is."  And I'd reply that was a violation of the rules.
 
 

I dont mind kids as long as they are acting appropriately. No running and screaming, etc. Just maybe ball throwing or tug with their own dogs (or the permission of owners of any other dogs). Lucy LOVES kids and part of playtime for her is playing with my boys. It helps that my boys are used to getting knocked down by dogs and take as part of the game. They also know that if they run, dogs will chase and knock them down so they don't do that.

Lucy has issues sometimes with the adolescent boys who walk past our house all day to get the playground across the street. If Lucy acting up toward adolescent boys at a dog park I'd deal with that issue or leave the park when they are present. Expecting people not to bring kids at all because some dogs are afraid would be like saying no men because some dogs are afraid, or no hats because it freaks some dogs out. By the same token, I would leave and take my kids with me if they were running around and acting in ways that could be dangerous around strange dogs.

Expecting people not to bring kids at all because some dogs are afraid would be like saying no men because some dogs are afraid, or no hats because it freaks some dogs out.

 
But would you knowingly put your kids at risk of injury from dogs that could knock them down? 
 
Or if the rules are clearly posted?

The park I go to every days has signs prohibiting kids under 12  that are not supervised by an adult, and also kids running around. 

I can't let my dog loose at a kids park, and I can't let my kid loose in a dog park, the place where I'd been taking my dog and kid just told me to stop, they told everyone to stop, because so many people aren't cleaning up after their dog.  Nevermind that I go out with my scoop and spend the entire time my dog and kid are playing cleaning up all the poop I can find, mine or NOT. 

*sigh* 

I got the dog FOR the kid.  I agree with you guys, I agree that it's not wise to just let any dog loose in a kids park because owners aren't responsible, and visitors can't know before hand which dogs are safe and which aren't, but it leaves people like me in a REALLY tough spot.  lol  

But would you knowingly put your kids at risk of injury from dogs that could knock them down? 

Or if the rules are clearly posted?

Well, I guess the fact that I simply own a dog puts them at risk. Lucy sometimes gets the zoomies and occasionally a kid (or me!) me end up flying. But we laugh it off an calm her down and just chalk it up to having critters. They're boys. They fall out of trees and off of bikes and get back up for more. I don't rate playing in the dog park in the same category as swimming with sharks or handling snakes. I won't let them have a trampoline or ride an ATV, but I have no problem with the dog park. Heck, pound-for-pound my sister has more dogs than most of the dog parks we've visited and the kids just take it in stride when they get whacked by a Golden tail or pinned between two Danes.

Rules? If the rules say no kids under 9 none of us go. The boys are 5 & 8. I have kids and I have a dog and they are all family. If we can't go together, we don't go at all. Should I tell my kids "sorry, me and Lucy are going to play, you can't come?" We usually do off-leash play at my in-laws farm, but if we're out camping we try to find off-leash areas for everyone to have some fun. The boys like to play "hide-and-seek" with Lucy and we always love to watch her play and wrestle with other dogs. They are actually disappointed when Lucy can't go with us to places like the State Fair or the company family picnic.

I even brought my boys to our dog training classes last summer (with the instructors permission) and they learned how to ask her to heel and sit and stay. I get a little upset when people exclude children from dogs because something bad *might* happen. They end up missing all the wonderful learning experiences and plain old fashioned fun that *will* happen if you take the time to train and supervise both the kids & the dogs. kids are never going to learn about dogs and dogs are never going to learn about kids if they don't get together and have some fun sometimes.