Reply to Stop bringing your dog to elementary pick up!

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Non dog owners, I have a question. Do you object also to parents who bring the fog to the neighborhood bus stop? What about the lidless person who walks their dog past that bus stop in the morning? Isn’t the real issue whether the fog is friendly and well trained?[/quote]

No, the issue is space and activity. A dog on a sidewalk, even near a bus stop, isn't a big deal because we're just waiting for the bus and can easily choose to stand further away from the dog if we need to. And once the bus comes, the kids get on or off and then it's over. It's not a stressful situation most times, plus at a bus stop the likelihood of knowing the dog owner (and the dog) are high because they live nearby. So it's easier to communicate "oh, Larla is a little fearful of dogs these days" and as neighbors people are inclined to be respectful and maintain distance.

If someone brought a poorly behaved dog to a school bus stop, I'd say something if/when the dog started causing issues and expect my neighbor/fellow parent to make good choices to make that situation as comfortable for everyone as possible. The kids don't have a choice of not going to the bus stop, the dogs do. So the kids get preference.

Drop off/pick up is a totally different deal. It's the entire school community. It can sometimes be chaotic. It's lots of ages of kids mixing together, including often ECE kids who might be the same height as the dog. Often families have to do certain things that they might not have control over -- check in with a teacher, drop something off with an admin, do a Covid screening, etc. So you can't just choose a spot away from the dogs. Especially if people with dogs are in the crowd, weaving through people to find their own kid. And the situation can be exciting for the dogs, too -- so many people to see, things to sniff, possible surfaces to lick! Even a well-behaved dog on a leash with a well-intentioned owner can get in the way, unintentionally frighten a very small child, etc.

I think the dog owners who have talked about bringing dogs to pick up  but standing on the perimeter and just letting their kids come to them are not the issue. I doubt anyone really cares about that, and I get why it would be nice to do. But I'm talking about a mass pick-up situation like the one at our school (where dogs are not allowed) -- kids from age 3-11 lining up with teachers, families criss-crossing the field and playground, often to pick up kids from different classes, often with younger siblings in tow (meaning strollers everywhere, which is also annoying, but you can't expect people to leave their babies at home). People joke about the leashes tripping kids but it happens so easily unless people keep a short leash, which lots of people (and dogs) don't like doing.

I'm glad our school doesn't allow it and that people don't flaunt the rule. It's just not a good place for a dog and while I'm not usually a big "rules are rules" person, this is a situation where the rule is there to prevent any manner of issues and is probably best followed.[/quote]

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