By JONATHON HOWARD
IF THE constant yapping from the dog next door is driving you bonkers, or loud music and endless parties are keeping you up at night, you are not alone, but screaming kids are fast becoming the coast’s new annoyance.
Doonan dog owner, Andrew Bell, says it’s unfair that parents turn their nose up at dog owners while their children are wobblers in public places.
While the challenges of raising a child are numerous, from teething to the terrible twos, Mr Bell said some parents needed to be more assertive.
“I was quite disgruntled as I was ‘harrumphed’ at for walking my dog in a public place and then eating lunch at a dog friendly restaurant,” he said.
“A point to note is that he is a big loveable dog, trained, registered, well behaved in public, fully vaccinated and clean, however, as we were having lunch it suddenly crossed my mind that while our narky neighbours on the next table were bemoaning our presence, their children were acting like wild animals.”
Mr Bell said he was sick of enduring children’s temper tantrums in public places as mum and dad ignored them.
He was also angered by the lack of parental guidance for children trashing the local flora and fauna.
“Watching them break branches off trees and uprooting flowers, for no other reason other than they never get told off,” he said.
“If my dog chased wildlife, it’s a fine or the council threatens to impound the dog.
But a snap survey of parents said it was “silly” to compare dogs with children, despite some dog owners babying their pets.
Noosa parent Kym Summers said “yes” children do throw tantrums and everyone has a different style of parenting.
“Everyone has different parenting styles, just as every dog owner has a different training style,” she said.
“It’s embarrassing for a parent when a child throws a tantrum in a public place, but berating the parent will not help the situation.
“If it was my child, I would remove myself and the child from the situation – but that’s not everyone’s style.”
Mr Bell said he was not saying all kids were bad or that all parenting was poor.
“But from the platform I have been viewing from with my dog, we seem to have a real problem with feral children that do not get told the rules of life by parents,” he said.
Mr Bell said from now on he planned to ignore the callous comments and dirty looks from disgruntled parents.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Do you think it is wrong to compare young children with dogs? Send your comments or emails to newsdesk@noosatoday.net.au
