Public parks are often the most fun places to be because the fresh air and amenities make a superb combo. They’re also the perfect place for parents to bring kids so that they can have a moment of peace while the children do their own things.

But, as you know so well, entitled people are everywhere and can hijack these beautiful spaces, too. One mom was faced with this when she took her child to the park and was stopped from entering by some people playing with a dog.

More info: Reddit

Pregnant woman with 2YO was told to wait 20 minutes to enter a public elementary school park because some adults wanted to play with their dog

Image credits: Abby Chung (not the actual photo)

Woman lives close to an elementary school park, which has the perfect play area for her 2YO son, she decided to take him there, but dog owners stopped her from entering

Image credits: C.T. PHAT (not the actual photo)

Since she was in her 3rd trimester of pregnancy, she wanted to sit down as soon as she reached the park, but the pet parents told her to wait 20 minutes

Image credits: BabyBirdHasaCDH

When she questioned them, they told her to take up the issue with the elementary school, so the mom decided to take her 2YO on a 40-minute stroller walk instead

Animals and humans can totally get along and have a great time together. However, it doesn’t seem like these dog parents felt like their giant pet could behave itself around an adult and a young child. If they did think that, they didn’t share it with the poster. Instead, they told her to wait for 20 minutes and asked her to take up the issue with the elementary school when they felt she was confronting them. 

Bored Panda interviewed Nicholas Furtado, a canine behaviorist from K9NICK, to get his perspective on the situation and understand what dog owners could do in such moments. Nicholas shared, “it’s very obvious that puppies are naughty and they could jump over someone and hurt somebody. As a caution, if those guys have asked her not to come inside, I think it’s fair to ask something like that. Obviously, is it a designated park for humans, is it a designated park for dogs, is a big question mark here.”

“The solution here is, the government has to be very clear of their stand on something. So you have a park for dogs, you have a park for humans, and make that very clear. Leaving it ambiguous creates a bridge in between society for the animal lovers and [those against]. At an individual level, how well is your dog trained, well-behaved, rather, in social settings? That is the responsibility of the pet parent. It is a powerful animal, it’s got fangs, it’s got nails, it will hurt. We [humans] don’t even have fur to protect us,” he added.

Just like Nicholas mentioned, even if there are no signs stopping dogs from playing in a playground, it’s still unsafe to assume you can bring your pets there. Before doing that, you need to understand how they act around children or how they may react to loud noises. It’s always better to be cautious.

Since it was also a school playground, it’s important to note that not all schools allow dogs on their grounds, usually because of hygiene issues. The poster mentioned that she had brought her dog to the park before, so there was no issue with animals being there. The only problem was how the dog owners had taken over the park. Whether it was for safety concerns or some other reason, the people should have shared their reasons.

Image credits: Phil Nguyen (not the actual photo)

Many commenters wondered why the lady left instead of confronting the adults with the dog. She told netizens, “I should have mentioned, the dog was giant. My son loves dogs and is too young to leave it alone if it’s not friendly, so I just decided not to engage.” This makes complete sense because no matter how much of a gentle giant the dog seems to be, the Center of Disease Control says that children are the most common victims of dog bites, accounting for 50% of all reported cases. So, it’s better to safe than sorry with a young child involved.

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But then, how would dogs and humans ever learn how to live together peacefully? We asked Nicholas if he had any tips for dog owners so that they could create a safe environment for dogs and kids to come together. He shared a few suggestions: 

• “Early socialization is the key. As early as 2 months onwards, have guests over, have small kids over. Let them come and interact with your dog. It shouldn’t become a novelty for the dog at the age of 6-7 months. Get them immune to kids yelling, and screeching, and all of that. [Rewarding] them with a treat once in a while keeps it very positive for a puppy.
• Your foundation training of basic obedience should be very strong before you unclip a dog in a social space. You should be able to have a spotless recall. The moment you call the dog, [he] should be desiring you over everything else in the environment. Basically, if he sees another kid playing, another human calling him, he doesn’t want to go to that human more than you. For that, you have to have a proper training protocol and follow proper training guidelines. If needed, take help from professionals.
• Another thing that I would suggest is [to] look at neutering your puppy if you want to have them be more social more often. That is also another aspect that pet parents should explore. If in the long run they are not looking at breeding the dog then this will be an ideal thing to do. It should be done early around 6 months to 1 year if the dog is very social.”

As always, there are two sides to every story. It’s possible that the dog owners didn’t mean any harm and wanted to let their pet play safely for a bit before the child and mom entered the park. On the other hand, the pregnant woman needed some explanation so that she didn’t have to go out of her way to entertain her child. Netizens sided with the poster and told her to complain to the school. Do you think she should have filed a complaint or confronted the people? Tell us what you think in the comments.

People were outraged on behalf of the woman and they felt that the dog owners were selfish for their actions

Image credits: Samson Katt (not the actual photo)

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