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Five-Year-Old Girl Was Bitten By Dog Inside Bunnings Store


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I don't get the big deal to be honest (in regards to Bunnings). An incident like this could happen in any public area dogs are permitted - in fact bites like this happen all the time because dog owners and parents don't understand canine body language.

I take my dogs out in public all the time, they are well trained and socialised and behave impeccably. I would happily take them into Bunnings, but the lack of dog savvy by other owners, parents and kids is the reason my dogs always wear a 2.5" wide military style dog collar that says "DO NOT PET" whenever we go out somewhere.

Edited by huski
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I think the European attitude where dogs are allowed most places, shops, restaurants, apartments, public transport - mean it's more likely that dogs and children have plenty of experience with each other, the dog would be more accustomed to the behaviour of five year olds and the child more used to how dogs are.

The shop staff would also be more familiar with dog comfortable vs stressed dog body language.

I never saw any children trying to persecute or pat a dog in Europe. I did see some children running amok in one of the palace grounds but they were not chasing the dogs that were also there. All the dogs stayed close to their owners (within 10m), it was always clear who owned the dog. Not always clear who was the parent of the naughty children.

I had a scary experience of my own recently - fortunately my dog coped without chomping on anyone but five yo girl decided my dog needed a hug. My dog did not like it and both myself and the parent said don't do that but me short of manhandling the child - couldn't do much. My dog was on a chair outside the vet next to a busy road and we were effectively cornered by this family.

I'm pretty sure if the parent had pulled the child off my dog - there would have been a temper tantrum. And that would have been even less fun for my dog and everyone.

So now do I block all children from going near my dog because one would not do what it was told by either myself or her parent? Probably not. But I might test child's ability to do what they're told before they get near my dog. Eg wait a second...

I think it's sad that all dogs are banned from so many places because some are badly behaved or badly supervised. On that basis - we might ban all cars from the road because some cars run people over and all men from everywhere because some hit women. So many rules we have - punish the majority for the bad behaviour of a few. And blanket bans happen even when there are rules that cover the misbehaviour of a few. Eg in most cases (bunnings) - it's not legal for dogs to bite people.

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To those that think the child is not at fault, how would you feel if you were happily walking along with your two year old toddler and an older child (let's say a 4 or 5 year old) came up from behind and pushed them over or did something else threatening, would you then blame the parents for not having their kid under effective control or would would you believe both kids are at fault.

Edited by Rascalmyshadow
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....Willem if you go to the chemist you can buy Chill Pills I suggest you buy a jumbo sized container. Clearly the kid on leash comments were jokes, although I actually think it's a good idea given that most of our dogs are better behaved than the average 5 year old

ah, I get it now...it is ok to make jokes about kids getting bitten, but 'poor little bird' stories have to be taken seriously...

Man you are so uptight I could play you like a harp

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To those that think the child is not at fault, how would you feel if you were happily walking along with your two year old toddler and an older child (let's say a 4 or 5 year old) came up from behind and pushed them over or did something else threatening, would you then blame the parents for not having their kid under effective control or would would you believe both kids are at fault.

...you draft here a total different scenario: in the incident that happened in Bunnings the girl only attempted to pat the dog, however was called off...when she walked away the dog bit her. That is what was published so far in the media, everything else is speculation. She was called off and responded to it in as it seems an appropriate manner...

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To those that think the child is not at fault, how would you feel if you were happily walking along with your two year old toddler and an older child (let's say a 4 or 5 year old) came up from behind and pushed them over or did something else threatening, would you then blame the parents for not having their kid under effective control or would would you believe both kids are at fault.

In this case I don't think the child was at fault. She only walked up to the dog. She didn't even touch the dog. (according to reports).

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....Willem if you go to the chemist you can buy Chill Pills I suggest you buy a jumbo sized container. Clearly the kid on leash comments were jokes, although I actually think it's a good idea given that most of our dogs are better behaved than the average 5 year old

ah, I get it now...it is ok to make jokes about kids getting bitten, but 'poor little bird' stories have to be taken seriously...

Man you are so uptight I could play you like a harp

nah, I don't think so ... saw your comment and video in the 'Managing Prey Drive' thread...maybe that's a good idea: if your want to take your dog to Bunnings make sure you have your camera with you and running all the time to record all the naughty kids that want to tease your dog :laugh: ...

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According to reports the child tried to pat the dog, likely over the top of its head or directly towards its face, very threatening especially for a small dog. No different to pushing a younger child. Why can't people teach their kids to keep their hands off other people's kids, dogs and property.

I have raised my voice to the odd child while out walking thinking they can touch my dogs without asking, I have also given a mother a mouthful for letting her feral little kid put their hands into the pram and touch my daughter when she was about 4-5 weeks old. Really not fair to be put in the position to discipline other people's kids.

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According to reports the child tried to pat the dog, likely over the top of its head or directly towards its face, very threatening especially for a small dog.....

...and that's why she got bitten in the knee?...maybe the dog owner should check the eyesight of his / her dog....

The reports said that she was bitten when she walked away...

Edited to add: podcast ...there is an interview with the mother...can't get the link to the podcast working directly?

Edited by Willem
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Even taking in to account the idea that children should be taught to ask for permission to pat someone's dog before approaching them, the article also says the other dog was being patted by someone when the girl made moves to pat the dog who bit her. So either the owner had already given permission for someone else to pat her dogs or didn't do anything to stop it when they did. I suspect in that case, that even if the girl had asked first, she likely would have been told it was okay. Obviously I'm speculating but I think it's a reasonable assumption. That the dogs were barking as the owner tried to leave the store suggests they were worked up and I would be surprised if there weren't a lot of clues that they were feeling stressed in that environment, before the bite happened.

There were 2 dogs and the other was getting the pat I thought

Yes, that's what I said. I'm assuming both dogs belonged to the same person?

When I have kids wanting to pat my dogs I let them pat Poppy but not Amber.

Yeah we don't allow kids to pat Lili but Mosley is fine.

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This just popped up on my newsfeed :mad No idea if it's real or not but I wouldn't be surprised if it is.

WARNING

BUNNINGS - NTH GEELONG

I've received a report of snail bait pellets found scattered on the floor in the aisle (presumably the garden aisle where the bait is for sale). Apparently the amount was fairly substantial. Snail bait can cause serious harm and possibly death to any animal that ingests it.

Staff were notified but understandably, they can not monitor at all times.

Please - avoid taking your dogs to Bunnings unless completely necessary - it's an introduced policy by Bunnings as a good will gesture - a convenience for those that need it so they don't leave their dogs in the car.

It shouldn't be treated as a novelty outing for you and your pet - it's not a dog park !!

Keep your pets safe.

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If the child was bitten on the knee it was obviously facing the dog not walking away, if the dog felt threatened it probably reacted either before the child touched it or after it pulled its hand away, clearly a sign of a frightened dog.

...did anyone listen to the interview they put up in this link?....anyone?

Edited by Willem
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If the child was bitten on the knee it was obviously facing the dog not walking away, if the dog felt threatened it probably reacted either before the child touched it or after it pulled its hand away, clearly a sign of a frightened dog.

...did anyone listen to the interview they put up in this link?....anyone?

Well seeing as how I said it wasn't the child's fault I obviously did.

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I do think people are seeing/treating it as a bit of a novelty and I don't believe people should be doing that.

The only reason I would take mine is if we had been out somewhere and I needed to call in on the way home and it was to hot to leave them in the car. Our nearest bunnings is a good 20 min away so it doesn't make a lot of sense to drive home and then drive back again.

I certainly wouldn't be calling in just for an outing which is what it appears some are doing.

Edited by ness
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This would have been great when my girl was a tiny 10wk old puppy! She was able to jump over the compost panels we bought to contain her and I was by myself needing to get a baby gate for her (at the end of my tether with a crazy hyper peeing everywhere puppy. It was the middle of summer (couldn't lock her in the bathroom as it is windowless a stinking hot), took her to bunnings with me, a 700gm puppy under my arm and was refused entry, I was almost in tears as I was so desperate for that baby gate for her and knew where they were and told the lady I was just going to get it and come straight out, but no she wouldn't budge.

Thats a shame ;it wouldn't have hurt her good customer service to get someone to go and get it for you.

I was wondering if it would be a dumb idea if these places like Bunnings , Ikea and major shopping centres had a separate supervised area where you could pay to leave your dog in a run with a key given to you and you could do a quick shop and not have to leave the dog home or in the car.

then i guess you would get people leaving the dog there for hours or forget to come back for it but obviously there would need to be a time limit on them being there.

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where you could pay to leave your dog in a run with a key given to you and you could do a quick shop and not have to leave the dog home or in the car

This would be great. I sometimes want to leave my dog in a crate in the shade near shops so I don't have to leave her in the car but scared someone will let her out or someone with another dog will let their dog pee on my crate (has happened before).

And I'm pretty sure some parents would love to leave their kids in a play safe zone while they shop too.

Personally I avoid Bunnings, have nightmares about the place - not being able to find a way out (tho that's what happens in IKEA). And occasionally when I do go there for something specific - they don't have it, or not of adequate quality.

If I took my dog there I think she'd eat the blood and bone... urk.

Edited by Mrs Rusty Bucket
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What is this popping into Bunnings thing? I can't remember ever getting out of there within an hour :laugh:

One day I'll teach you my ways :p

I'm in and out in 15 minutes! I go in knowing what I want, first thing I do is ask someone what aisle, grab the cheap range then bugger on out! I've learnt my lesson about loitering - leads to more expensive purchases ;) I have to exercise that impulse control lol

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