I was walking my Yorkshire Terrier from about age 10 by myself and then when I was about 13 1/2 years old I would walk my Yorkie with our Alsation - I was brought up to respect my dogs - and I would have been devasted if I hadn't been allowed to walk those dogs - I have a lot of really happy memories from that


I think it should be an individual thing - and where do the kids learn to treat their dogs like that - normally from their parents - I have seen more adults act unappropriately with dogs than I have children

yep i agree steve,, sounds like these kids are not old enough to be in charge of dogs
im glad you told them why they shouldnt shout at the dogs, they probably get shouted at, at home themselves and didnt know any different

parents should act more resposable and the kids might too

And neither would I have been, you did the right thing educating them on how to look after the dog. Just wanted to make it clear that some kids are nice and respectful. They're rare but they're out there, honest!

Too true!

my children are not allowed to walk our dogs alone
even though they always ask

and when we are walking the only one they are allowed to hold is amber our patterdale terrier as she is old and hardly bothers with anything or anyone around her
but still wouldn,t let the kids walk her alone

i see kids around here with their dogs,hitting them or shouting at them,it is terrible

I allways worry when I see children out on their own with dogs. It's not because I don't trust the children, it's because I have met some very unsavoury, irresponsible adult owners out there! I can deal with them (just about) no way would I let a chld. For that reason I will not allow any of my children to take a dog a walk without adult supervision whilst their under 16.

i was walking my dogs at the age of 15 on my own, but not to far from my house, before that i went with my older brother or my parents! But then at 16 i could go for long walks!

See steve ur right to step in and tell these kids off!

I dont trust hardly anyone walking my dogs let alone kids!

as long as the kid is respect the dog and other people and dogs around him/her as is over the age of 14 IMO then i think its ok!

But these kids that steve told off (lol) shouldnt be walking a dog till it knows how to treat one.

I wouldn't allow my kids to walk our dogs unsupervised as we have a lot of dogs left to wonder on their own round here, and i don't know many kids who could handle a situation when a loose dog attacks one on a lead.

Why 16 years old? Is this a magic age that suddenly they become mature and adult-like in their ability to deal with the world?

In my opinion, it depends on the child, the dog and the area that is being "walked" - many neighbourhoods look out for each other and so a child is "cared" for by the adults (particularly the parents) that live in a whole village/community without the child even being aware of it

I hate to see this sort of situation, crowd of young teenagers with a poor dog or dogs in the middle and good on you Steve for taking the time to explain things to them. I saw a very young girl out the other day in my village with a big g.s.d. at the end of the lead! It was almost bigger than her, surely that should not be allowed.

I walked my g.s.d. at the age of 12 every morning and night, I could never have held him at that age if he decided to chase something or someone! Luckily he was always by my side even off the lead, but I never ever took him anywhere with any of my mates in a group as I knew I would not be able to look after him properly even at that age I knew not to take him. A lot of them nowadays though don't care about their dogs do they, and I notice it seems to be the "in" thing for a group of teenagers to be dragging a staffie around with them, poor dogs. Again, I blame the parents!

Steve i would have thought the same as you and would have properly told the kids to grow up and that the dogs are behaving naturally, but i must say my kids used to love going out with my dog and i used to let them when i saw they knew how to do it of course they went with me at the first times. i think some children are capable of such things especially when they grow up with the dog and under normal conditions there are of course different types of dogs which you could not give to a child to take out. i don´t think we should put it down to the children when there are so many adults who are not even capable to take a dog for a walk. When the children are sensible enough to do these things we should let them do it if we think they can. Sorry it took me so long to wright this the thread is properly finished when i post it and i hope i am staying to the topic otherwise get told of again and it´s only an opinion