>is not so much about how I am raising my kids, it's about how I am with my dog.

im with you on that one - my friends laugh because I will trust my OH with the baby (when its born) but I wont let him walk the dogs

So you dont trust your kids with your dog?? ok I trusted mine and always have thats the difference between us. I think thats my last post I hate going around in circles.

A ten year old is quite capable of training a dog, if given the right guidance. 

>Society we not we meaning you and me. Im being general here I hate this atmosphere of fear that "some " parents are bringing up their kids in. Im village born and bred, we wandered around all day, I allowed my boys to sleep over, bus to school ( no choice there no secondary school in our village).

Society changes so quickly Whistler, I'm 39 and when I was 7 I started walking my neighbours dogs, by 11 I was walking them in pairs even a pair of bigger than Lab size entire males who used to scrap on occasion.  It didn't freak me out, It just seemed normal dog behavour that could be expected.

My mother also used to let me out from dawn till dusk from this very young age (I also lived in a village). When it was dinner time she used to go upstairs, hang out her bedroom window and ring a brass cow bell as the signal for me to come home which I could hear from miles away and I would start the trek home (often 2 or 3 miles).  She had always told me to stay away from strange men and was aware of 'perverts' although not with a true understanding of what they were, I was wary but not fearful.

Would I let my neighbours children walk my dogs? ....no I just wouldn't trust them to be responsible enough.  I don't have kids but if I did I wouldn't let them wander like I used to.

Society has changed and I don't think it is just down to being PC.  Young people don't seem to mature as early as they once did.  In my job in a bank call centre I regularly speak to young men in particular aged late teen to mid twenty's who are unable to speak about their own accounts and banking needs and put their mum on the line.  My own cousin droped out of Uni at age 21 because his parents split up and he couldn't 'cope' with the stress, he didn't even live at home.

A couple of generations back people were very much an adult at 18-20 now they are often still acting like children. 

I wonder myself how much the media has shaped our society as I remember being such a carefree child but as an adult I have many fears that I didn't used to have.  I never used to fear walking alone now I wouldn't go out after dark without my dogs and in the day I 'keep my eye' on people around me.  As an adult I lock myself in my car when driving, just in case. The possibilty of running into a pervert or flasher has now been replaced with a possible rapist or drug crazed murderer.  Have I seen so much violence on TV that it's conditioned me to expect it in real life?  Things have changed for sure.

>Young people don't seem to mature as early as they once did.

Exactly. They're not allowed to. They're kept in a state of learned helplessness.

Can you partially accept that children do not mature as early because we do not allow them to?
We do not allow children to take responsibility,  take risks controlled (not um say use a chain saw at 10 year old but light a fire!).
My OH is a scout leader the new rules are strangling the Scouts parents are horrified that Scouts use an axe to chop wood. Why, very few over the last 100 years have ended up chopping off their arms or legs or becoming an axe murderer. I have read today that some parents have rejected snow white ect as scaring their kids..... Red Riding Hood ect... I agree totally with regard to bank accounts Mums have taken over kids lives, not all, but why? where we did "we" stop teaching the basics about life! life skills when we turned the control over our kids, education, religion, discipline over to politicians and educators (note I have not said teachers!!)
Ohh sorry I said I would not post again, honestly thats it... I must get off this soap box, I must get off thios soap box, I must.....

Hi debby1 I've seen similarly inappropriate couplings - madness :(

Apart from the obvious in the scenario you describe, young children don't always have basic common sense - even say a reasonably sized 10 year old with a small and lightweight breed.  Allowing a child to take charge of a dog which could easily have the child off it's feet is a recipe for disaster no matter how sensible the child or well behaved the dog.  Things happen - too risky IMO.

FWIW I don't even allow the other adults in our household to walk my dogs :-p :-p :-p

I think it all boils down to "Risk asessment" some kids, some dogs, some situations..there is no black or white, some 8 yr olds are quite able to handle some dogs whereas some 15 yr olds have no idea.
I think the 8 yr old with two such powerfull dogs is dicing with danger but in another situation ie smaller dogs she could be quite able and in control.
Aileen

Only the other day my mum was walking her Rottie up the field when 2 girls walked in with family members.  The 2 girls were holding the leads of 2 labradors...within 1 minute the oldest girl was flat on her face labrador charging towards our young Rottie (who was on lead).  In the next second the younger girl let go off her dog both dogs proceeded to jump off all fours and land on our Rottie.  The girls then shouted at their Grandad to get the dogs.....this is when children should not be walking dogs!!!

I used to walk our GSD's from a young age with mum supervising and then from about 14 by myself.  I trained these dogs everyday and walked them everyday occasionally by myself but more often than not with my mum.  I really think it depends on the maturity of the child and their natural ability with dogs.  Some are capable some really aren't.

Tooolz...your post really made me laugh, I thought I was the only control freak partner !! I dont let my OH walk our dogs either, although they are very much 'our' dogs, he is not allowed to walk them at all! He also lets them off their leads too early, lets them pull (they dont pull when I hold them, only when he has them!), lets them run up to any other dogs etc. It drives me mad and I am so glad its not just me!!

Ive found this thread really interesting, I started walking other peoples dogs at a very early age, I was 11 when I got my first client, Petra a very dog aggressive Border Collie. I'd like to think I was a sensible 11 year old and had a basic knowledge of dogs - if I saw another dog approaching I would put her on the lead and stand and wait for the other dog to go past. I dont think the child in the OP's post should have been in charge of two powerful dogs like that at all - but I dont personally have a problem with children walking dogs, as long as they are sensible enough and can effectively control the dog they are in charge of.

Having said that, I wouldn't let a child walk my dogs, but as you can see from the above I wouldn't let many people walk them!!

Personally i think on this matter that sometimes children no matter the age can handle a dog perfectly well, and other times in certain situations i agree it shouldnt be allowed
For example, our 2 german shepherds, i am 20 years old and my mum would never let me at this age now alone as a child handle any of them, they pull off when they see dogs, at certain times (due to the youngest only being a puppy) and the other one doesnt mix too well with dogs or people! so for me to take them out and not fully understand the dog (as its my mums) would be a hazard! However, we have had GSDS in the past and i grew up with one she was mine (like sparky my yorkie is mine now) and you get to know their temprements and what they react too, what they are scared of, like a human!! And my mum quite happily let us out with her as she was great with people, dogs alike and was very obidient! Even to us children as we had been taught to handle her properly and she had been taught to obey us!

On the other hand giving a child a dog without that child and the dog having some sort of bond and some understanding for each other i think is silly! Whereas if the child (and they have i would say to be around teenager age) so around 12+ then had grown up wtih this dog, bonded, understood the dog and what scares it and their parents helped them with this and taught them (which i was) about the breed and circumstances etc, i think this is fine, thats just my opinion though, not sure if i am coming across right lol

I guess it often comes down to the maturity of the child(ren).  I remember as a child myself and my friend used to walk her lab.  It was getting quite old and one day had a stroke in the sea.  we had no idea what to do (didn't even know what a stroke was) and had no idea of the risks to the dog.  This was in the days before mobile phones so we walked the dog home again but as an adult I would have responded differently.

Another example I often see in my street is 2 young girls who take out their papillion and I have seen them with it tied to their bikes as they ride their bikes and them carrying it while riding bikes.  Clearly this is totally unacceptable but these girls are trusted to look after the dog and usually drag it along behind them.

People have to make hundreds of value judgements every day of their lives and it is often only by making mistakes that we learn what was the correct course of action.  Although for many cases, it is too late after the event...

Right then 'ladies'....
Would you sell a dog to a child?

I watched a showing family buy a pug puppy for their little girls to show and that poor puppy was treated like a toy train...up and down...up and down..then the other kid...up and down etc etc................... I used to get so irate with them.

This pup was taken to every show...up and down..up and down -
ok poor parents but Mum was in the ring and girls were free to do what they wanted with the pup. :-(

I'm sure many of you wouldn't have kids who would do anything like that....