Was I wrong?

[Cdn1050]

I don't think you were in the wrong, but I would of handled it differently. Instead of talking to the girls, I would have just asked them where their parents were. Then went over and had a talk with the parents. Parents are always telling their kids not to talk to strangers, I know I do. With a big dog with them, if the kids started to feel uneasy and you being a stranger, what if the dog had lunged and bit you. You just never know how a dog that you are not familiar with will react. Good for you for at least trying to get the message through the mother's thick skull.

[julsquincy]

An opinion is never wrong.

Children should not be walking dogs unsupervised. There have and always will be irresponsible people that allow their dogs to be unleashed in their yard and/or roam the streets. That's when accidents happen.

[livertw]

You were absolutely right to speak up. There was an incident here some years ago. A young girl of 11 was dragged into a busy street by a "wonderfully behaved, docile" Golden Retriever that she "always had under control." The dog lunged after a rabbit. The dog and girl were both struck and killed. I cringe when I see kids walking dogs.

[freakygoldfish]

I would like to know why mom wasn't with her kids. Seems that would solve a lot of problems here. The dog is being walked by (or at least with) an adult, the kids are being proplerly protected and supervised and the family is spending quality time together. If you are worried about "perverts," it not a good idea to let your kids roam the neighborhood. A dog should never be used as a babysitter. Not to mention the are getting exercise and would have had a chance to meet a fellow dog lover. I too, think it's a bad idea for kids to walk dogs. The story above made me cringe. Just yesterday I almost hit a Great Dane and his owner. She was walking him across a busy street and was waiting in the turning lane. Not the most intelligent idea. The dog saw something at the park and pulled the girl, which he had almost a 100lbs on, in front of my car. After I passed them, I saw him drag her the rest of the way to the park in my rearview mirror. I'm guessing this girl was in highschool or possibly college.

I say give give your neighbors another chance. I have had neighbors who made an absolutley horrible first impression and they turned out to be great friends. We even took turn dogsitting for eachother.