Shoud children be allowed to walk dogs ?

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...-after-3417925

My feeling is there should be some sort of age limit and rules on size of dogs children are allowed to walk. We don't allow our family children to even walk our Chihuahua until they are about 15 and only then when we think they are responsible enough.

Looking at the size of the dog in this story an adult may struggle so why a small child was allowed to walk it baffles me.

Would you impose limits if so what limits ?

My lads were never allowed to walk our GSD on their own. Just weren't allowed. I'd trained her, she was good with me and with all of us. Big powerful dog - teenage boys who have teenage mates and who knows what might occur. Plus we lived in Bracknell and it was quite a busy place. Best dog walking was a short drive to Crowthorne woods or Caeser's Camp.

Jenny was allowed to walk our Cavvy from when we got her when Jen was about 10 yrs old. (But she was going on 21!) and she used to walk a couple of dogs belonging to neighbours before that.

But we lived in lovely Newlyn almost on the beach and with the Bowjey Hill above us.

I think WHERE they will be walking the dog makes a difference. In town or in busy people parks is a lot different to on a carn, beach or open moorland.

I think common sense is needed, I don't think any child of that age (6Years) should be in control of a dog especially such a powerful breed. I have also seen though adults walking powerful dogs who have had no contol or the strenghth to hold their dogs back. Only recently Persia was only cms away from a staffs teeth it dragged its owner accross a cycle path and footpath to get to her I only just pulled her out the way in time.
Responsibility and common sense is sadly lacking in a few dog owners.

I allow my 14 year old son to walk my greyhounds (muzzled) but not both together he would have no trouble in restraining if necessary most of the time tho we walk together.

Children have a shorter attention and concentration span and both are needed these days when walking a dog for the safety of all concerned

I do not let my 13 year old son walk my dogs by himself even if they´re only small dogs with Leo being the heaviest at 3kg.
I trust him perfectly with the dogs but I don´t want to put him in the situation if another dog was offleash and would attack mine. Leo is really bad about offleash dogs running at him and would instigate something. My dogs would not be able to defend themselves agains a big dog and my son would do whatever he could to defend them and could get really badly hurt.
I don´t even walk them around here because of offleash dogs.
I would rather let him walk a bigger dog that could defend itself if it was properly leash trained.

It depends on the dogs temperament, the child's age, the child's relationship with the dog...even the size and strength of the child, does the child have enough judgment to be safe in an emergency or something unexpected happening? For example if an unleashed dog ran up to the dog they were walking, would they panic or know how to safely proceed?

My grown son and I are the only ones who walk Sophie. She is dog reactive, afraid of people and an incredibly strong puller. She also has panic attacks where she will freeze in place. Carrying a 60lb dog any distance is challenging for an adult, a child wouldn't have a chance with her.

Callie on the other paw, for all his brawn, is surprisingly easy to walk. Maybe the bulk slows him down, I don't know. My 14 year old walks him with me. She holds the leash and runs with him. But I'm never out of reaching distance of the leash. That means I'm trotting a few steps behind them at all times.

My daughter is special needs but she can run fast. My shadowing them keeps the situation safe and she enjoys the fun of exercising the dog.

If the child is old enough, responsible enough, big and strong enough... sure thing. I don't see why not? But therein lies the difficulty. Should a 6 year old be walking an Akita? Nope!

See I don't think size and strength really matter so much as being mentally able and responsible. If a dog attacks yours it's hard as an adult to cope so how would a child manage ? If your dog misbehaves again your dog your responsibility and giving it to a child to walk doesn't in my mind seem fair.

Julie, you are so right. I forgot about the aspects of dog fights and strays etc. This is why children so young should never be walking dogs, especially large ones.

Fights etc. are HARD to deal with, I had to break up one when I was younger... and I had a LOT of trouble and both dogs were badly injured. Mind you I was given a strangle collar by my parents to manage his strength and told to "kick" any dogs off if I needed to. Painful...

The dogs would not have made it if nobody could break up the fight.... or if the child ran away etc. he could come to other harm. Not to mention children walking small dogs alone are targets for people who mean them harm.

Children need to be both responsible enough and large enough to properly walk a dog and be able to deal with impending trouble.

Since it is illegal for children to carry pepper spray etc. to ward off dogs, strangers, etc. (and they might have trouble using it anyway) I guess it really is arguable whether they should walk them alone at all.

I agree, not so much the breed but with bigger dogs if a problem were to occur, even something silly like bounding after a squirrel, there's more chance of a child losing control. It can depend on the breed too. Some people are very afraid of both Sophie and Callie just by appearance. My daughter doesn't know enough to pull the leash short around approaching people so I always grab it first.