Dogs at the bus stop?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, if there is a dog at the bus stop, and it bothers you or your child, say something to the person with the dog.

Like what would you say? Please don't bring your dog on public property? Ridiculous.

No, but asking that the dog owner keep the dog 15-20 feet down the sidewalk from the actual bus stop is not unreasonable. They can come and the dog owners can congregate a few feet down the sidewalk where they can easily see and get to their child (or their child can stand with them slightly away from the bus stop). The children get to be at the bus stop and the dogs stay a little ways away, but the parent is within easy reach and direct eye contact distance from the children at the bus stop. How hard is it to ask for a reasonable compromise?

[Anonymous]

Alternately, maybe the person with the dog phobia could wait a ways away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Alternately, maybe the person with the dog phobia could wait a ways away.

Yes, if the person with the dog does not want to accommodate the person with the dog phobia, then the person with the dog phobia would have to wait a ways away.

My personal opinion is that a child or parent at a school bus stop takes priority over a parent's dog at a school bus stop, but obviously not everybody agrees with me about this.

[Anonymous]

I get the impression that the people complaining about dogs know absolutely nothing about dogs. We have dogs at the bus stop as well as people walking by with their dogs who stop to chat. There has never been a problem or a complaint.

1) Yes, if a dog is a biter the owner should get rid of it. 99% of domestic dogs have never bitten anyone and would never try to.
2) Dogs are not attracted to dangly things on backpacks. They are not fish.
3) Dog allergies are an indoor problem. Nobody is going to have an allergy problem from a dog walking by them on the sidewalk.
4) If the kid has a dog phobia, it's likely due to the parent's negative reaction to dogs. The bus stop is a great place to get to know dogs and lose the phobia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I get the impression that the people complaining about dogs know absolutely nothing about dogs. We have dogs at the bus stop as well as people walking by with their dogs who stop to chat. There has never been a problem or a complaint.

1) Yes, if a dog is a biter the owner should get rid of it. 99% of domestic dogs have never bitten anyone and would never try to.
2) Dogs are not attracted to dangly things on backpacks. They are not fish.
3) Dog allergies are an indoor problem. Nobody is going to have an allergy problem from a dog walking by them on the sidewalk.
4) If the kid has a dog phobia, it's likely due to the parent's negative reaction to dogs. The bus stop is a great place to get to know dogs and lose the phobia.

+1. Stop encouraging dog phobia in children. Even if you don't like dogs, children need to learn not to be afraid of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you think it's reasonable to bad all dog walking during the hours of bus operation? No that is not reasonable.

Banning a dog that a parent walks to a bus stop will not prevent another dog owner from walking past you with their dog.

Yes, that is true. But asking a parent not to bring a dog to the bus stop will stop that dog from being at the bus stop, if the parent agrees.

I wouldn't agree. It's a pole in the ground, on public property. I would agree to keep my dog out of reach of your kid, as long as your kid stays out of my dog's reach, too. I would not keep continually moving my dog if your kid wandered close.

[Anonymous]

Well, I love dogs but my child is terrified. That said, the parent who brings a dog to our bus stop keeps him on a short leash and we stand far away. I wouldn't ask him not to bring the dog.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dogs don't belong at a bus stop, unless it is a service animal. Bus stops are for people.

To those of you who can predict what dogs can do, you are wrong. A mom thought it was safe to bring her dog to the bus stop. These folks lived accross the street from the bus stop. No need whatsoever to bring the dog. Well, one day, several of the kids at the bus stop started taunting the dog while the clueless owner chatted away. When my daughter arrived at the bus stop, the dog was so riled up, he lunged at something dangling from her backpack and missed and bit her on the arm. She landed flat on her butt on the concrete sidewalk. I also had another child who was terrified of dogs. Rightfully so, she had been bitten by one as a toddler. I was so scared that if she saw this dog again, she would launch into panic mode and race out into the street and I let the owner know that. The owner promised that she would not bring the dog to the bus stop after that and promised to get obedience training. She did neither and her husband was a real you know what to me. I called animal control and that put an end to it. It is NOT cute to bring your dog to the bus stop. It is dangerous. Kids wear dangly things on their backpacks that can attract dogs and they shouldn't have to adjust for a dog owner.

So, the real guilty party here are the kids who were taunting the dog!

My dog would never jump at a dangly thing on a backpack. My cat might, though....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you think it's reasonable to bad all dog walking during the hours of bus operation? No that is not reasonable.

Banning a dog that a parent walks to a bus stop will not prevent another dog owner from walking past you with their dog.

Yes, that is true. But asking a parent not to bring a dog to the bus stop will stop that dog from being at the bus stop, if the parent agrees.

I wouldn't agree. It's a pole in the ground, on public property. I would agree to keep my dog out of reach of your kid, as long as your kid stays out of my dog's reach, too. I would not keep continually moving my dog if your kid wandered close.

FWIW, my dog's leash is kept short any time we're around a group of people I don't know. Not because I don't trust the dog, but because I don't trust other people's kids to ask before approaching. I wouldn't keep her close to a group of kids anyway, the get messing around and she could get stepped on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a public street. People are allowed to walk their dogs on a public street, as long as they obey the leash laws.

Get over it, OP. If your kid has a phobia, it's time to see a therapist.

This

+1 one of my children is extremely scared of dogs. It would never occur to me to ask someone to not bring their leashed dog to the bus stop. I would only speak up if the had a retractable leash and they let their dog extend out.

+2. My child is afraid of dogs (all dogs except ours, even tiny ones--she freaked out the other day because a PUG looked at her) but I would never ask someone not to bring their dog to the bus stop. If they let their dog get in my child's face, I would ask them not to do that, but my child needs to learn to exist in a world where there are dogs and realize that most of them are perfectly nice animals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Alternately, maybe the person with the dog phobia could wait a ways away.

So a child who is scared of dogs ( a child, mind you- not a rational adult) should have to wait for the bus " a ways away" so the DOG can stand where the BUS comes.

Makes sense. Dog people are so annoying. Your dog doesn't need to go everywhere with you.

[Anonymous]

I had my younger child strapped in her stroller at the bus stop waiting for her kindergarten brother's bus to arrive. One of the large dogs got right up in my younger child's face before I could block it. I said something and the owner was polite but that is just NOT COOL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Alternately, maybe the person with the dog phobia could wait a ways away.

The child/parent who is waiting for the bus should stand at the bus stop and the parent who brought their dog as a convenience should stand away from the bus stop.

I have no problems with dogs, nor do my children. However, I do have a problem with dog owners who are obnoxious in bringing their dogs places and then making everyone else accommodate the dogs. As a former dog owner, I certainly understand the convenience of walking the dog while walking your children to the bus stop and might do it myself if I currently had a dog. What I don't understand is bringing the dog to the bus stop and insisting on standing there and making a child or parent who is waiting for the bus have to move away from the bus stop to accommodate your over-entitled self.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had my younger child strapped in her stroller at the bus stop waiting for her kindergarten brother's bus to arrive. One of the large dogs got right up in my younger child's face before I could block it. I said something and the owner was polite but that is just NOT COOL.

Dogs get excitable around kids. Then they jump and it can freak kids out. And of course the owner knows he's being playful and says "He's just playing!" but a kid who doesn't know your dog or isn't around dogs a lot (because they're allergic and can't own them or stay at houses with them), doesn't know that. It isn't fair to make kids deal with a dog they don't know when they're just trying to wait for the bus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had my younger child strapped in her stroller at the bus stop waiting for her kindergarten brother's bus to arrive. One of the large dogs got right up in my younger child's face before I could block it. I said something and the owner was polite but that is just NOT COOL.

Dogs get excitable around kids. Then they jump and it can freak kids out. And of course the owner knows he's being playful and says "He's just playing!" but a kid who doesn't know your dog or isn't around dogs a lot (because they're allergic and can't own them or stay at houses with them), doesn't know that. It isn't fair to make kids deal with a dog they don't know when they're just trying to wait for the bus.

It's a public space. If kids are going to be in a public space, its completely fair to ask them to learn to deal with other people and animals and things and events that occur in public spaces. If they don't learn to handle themselves over something that small, they are going to be neurotic messes their entire lives. Stop coddling these kids. It's not good for them.