Stupid, ignorant witch!!?

Question

When I was out with my doggies this afternoon I passed a woman with two small children. They weren't keeping up with her so she told the to hurry up, then said "There's a doggy, hurry up or it will get you" and her children ran after her, screaming. Why are some parents so ignorant that they feel this kind of comment is a good idea? She'll end up with children who are obsessively paranoid about dogs. Am I over-reacting, or was that a very ignorant thing for the woman to do?

I'm assuming she said it to make her children move a bit faster, but even so, it's a very stupid thing to do. I would have said something but I was literally gobsmacked and couldn't think of anything!

Answer 1

imagine someone saying that about my shiz tzu, and my mastiff!!!

my mastiff won't hurt a fly.

she is stupid and ignorant.

Answer 2

I think that this is why so many dogs end up biting people! If parents taught their kids how to behave properly around dogs, then bites would be fewer and far between. Let's just say that your dogs weren't leashed or they were dogs that got out of someone's yard.. Here are these kids, screaming and running away. What a way to cause an accident. A lot of dogs see screaming running children as a play thing or as prey. Children should not run screaming away from a dog! I am not saying that the owner/dogs would not be at fault, I am simply stating that many accidents could be avoided if people didn't act like freakin morons!

Sorry about the nasty woman. I imagine, as her kids get older they will have friends with dogs and learn that dogs are not creatures to be fearful of. But who knows. Perhaps that woman is breeding the next generation of kids that blindly support BSL . . .

Answer 3

Yes I'm afraid the world is full of people who are ignorant, but we have no control over this. However, your anger would have not been a better example for those kids. If you were allowed to say anything, it might have been Oh Look My Doggies want to make friends with you, they like you -or- something sweet like that. Or, No my doggies won't bite you, don't be afraid. It may not have stopped the situation, and the lady should not have used your dogs as a way to speed up her kids, but apparently that's all she could think of to get them to listen. Instead of using your anger try a different approach to these situations to make them positive.Try not to feel offended by others so easily. I think You'll fell better that way.

Answer 4

I say people should be STUPIDITY TESTED before being a dog owner and I also think the same test should be applied for parents to be, that woman has got big problems, what is the world coming to? I was in a shop one day and overheard a woman telling her child to stop crying or "the bogyman will come and get you", How ridiculous! Next she'll be wondering why her child can't sleep at night! I'm sick of people who obviously DON'T LOVE animals giving dogs a bad name (like this lady you have just told us about). It's not a dogs fault if it LOOKS scary either, I take my dogs for a walk and people quickly move out of the way, and one lady actually told her child to move because the dog will bite her (then pushed her aside as I walked past, come on lady, do you think we would be walking our dogs in public if they were vicious? Makes me angry!

Answer 5

It really annoys me when ignorant people do this, as you said it is putting fear into the children of all animals. I had a neighbour who constantly said it to my son if he was playing on the front. I confronted the neighbour and said i was not impressed, does he want to put all kids of ALL animals, if so, there would be no vets or animal workers in the future. I bet this woman has no pets of her own, and possibly never had any, its quite likely her parents did the same with her. I would just say to the kids, if it happens again, "its okay, the dogs dont bite, they are lovely and friendly, and the wont get you". It may make this woman think again of what she is teaching her kids.

Answer 6

Unfortunately parents instill fear in their children over all kinds of things, not just animals, all of the time to justify their own actions or feelings.
My lip was completely bitten off by a St. Bernard when I was three years old. That particular dog was mean and had bitten five people before me. But my parents NEVER said anything derogatory over any animal at that time or afterward and I am a complete animal lover to this day. And even though I don't know any St. Bernards, I don't stereo type them for what happened to me.
I would just ignore their poor ignorant souls and pray their children will be normal when they grow up.

Answer 7

In my humble opinion she wasn't being a very good mother at the time and yes you may well be over reacting, but maybe the world would be a better place if more people spoke up about such ignorance. I myself am more concerned that a good mother should understand that her children's legs are not as long as her own and less developed so therefore she should walk at a slower pace to appease her children as opposed to making her offspring scurry behind her. I wonder if she employs this tactic whilst crossing the road with them. Throughout a childs life they are always taught at school not to run and rush about as accidents are more likely to happen, yet as soon as they're out of school they are encouraged by poor parenting to do the exact opposite, simply because their parents can not take the time to adhere to their child's needs.

Answer 8

You know, I despair at some people these days. Kids seem to have phobias about everything that moves (and some things that don't). It's not hard to see why either. Parents educate them into thinking there's a child abductor on every street corner waiting to get them and every dog they see is going to attack them if they walk within striking distance, to name just a couple of things.
No, you're not over reacting, the parents are over reacting to things they see and hear in the media. It's something which happens more and more in today's society.
Such a shame for the kids and for dogs in general. The whole world seems to be turning 'anti dog'.

Answer 9

You are so right.

When I walk to Lab and I notice that some children are getting in a panic I always make a point of stopping and talking to them, making the dog sit down and asking if they would like to stroke her. They nearly always do and seem to really enjoy it.

Most children just have a phobia about coming into contact with a dog - I suppose it's a pair of teeth on their level but I feel it's important for children to understand that although they should always ask to pet a dog, that not all dogs are bad.

Answer 10

I definitely see where your coming from! My husband and I have three APBTs that are very well trained and socialized and love everyone, but when people that don't know our dogs see us walking them, they will cross the street, make their kids go in the house, turn around and run away, etc! Why teach you children crap like that?! It would make a lot more sense to teach you children the proper way to act around a dog and teach you children to respect animals and always ask the owner before petting a dog.. things like that. Some people are just too far gone though! lmao! Oh well, what can you do?

I do have to say that I agree with the person that said that she was probably just not having the best day! lol! I doubt that she wants her children to be scared of dogs, I'm sure she was just sick of dealing with it so she said what she had to to get her kids to do what she wanted! lol!

Answer 11

Stupid and ignorant is exactly right! She is a terrible parent, if she has to make up ridiculous junk like that to have her kids obey her. You are not over-reacting---you are correct in believing that her dumb behavior will be harmful to her children down the road.
But I have a similar story that is equally stupid. I used to live in California and worked in law enforcement. There was at least one parent a week who would use the same tactic on their child.

Ooooooh, you better be good/be quiet/behave because there is a police person who will take you away/arrest you and we will never see you again!

Hard to believe, but true! So those kids were afraid of police officers who were there to help and protect them as they grew older... Crazy world!