That is so cruel of the owner. You just can’t say that kind of thing about dogs. I hope the dog is treated better at home, although it makes you wonder

He was probably trying not to make your daughter feel bad as he may have thought you were telling her off for touching the dog.

All dogs are different. It is sensible to teach your children to be cautious around all dogs, just in case.

I would be furious too! What a stupid thing to say to anyone, let alone a child. That poor dog, the mind boggles at what it suffers at home

Your approach is a most valuable and excellent one. I totally agree with you though, when you are trying to teach kids the right things and others undermine your efforts, it is incredibly frustrating. Perhaps, in this instance, he didn’t want to upset a little kid – badly chosen words on his part.

Dog owners sometimes don’t seem to grasp that not all dogs are like theirs.

Maybe he was just saying with his dog it was okay. I uses he didn’t want you to feel badly.

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  • • mum4107 replied
    • 30 Apr 2016 , 10:05 pm

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  I think that’s what he meant. Still not a smart thing to say to a child

Teaching children safety around all animals is important and good on you for teaching this lesson. This is somewhat surprising behaviour from someone at a dog show, they should be teaching all ages to respect animals and to ask permission to touch animals. Not all animals tolerate being touched by people.

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  • • june11 replied
    • 31 May 2016 , 8:37 pm

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  A dog may tolerate from those he/she knows but not others too. Everybody’s touch is slightly different. A dog can’t see its tail without turning and is more likely to be defensive.

Thank you. I’m trying my best

Good on you for telling that. I think you are teaching very valuable lessons to your kids. You don’t allow your kids to go around and touch other kids they don’t know. The same applies to dogs.