Whoever you are, you had no right to vanish and leave your dogs to terrorise us and our grandchildren

Dear Formby Bubble:

The pinewoods on a summer’s day is a beautiful place, and today we were fortunate to have all four of our grandchildren with us for a walk and a picnic. They were excited, laughing, and soaking up the setting, and importantly, a rare chance for all of us to be together.

Literally within a minute of sitting down on a bench in a clearing, handing them snacks and drinks, it all changed. Out of nowhere, two golden labradors pounced, snatching food straight from the hands of our youngest (just one year old) and dragging other food from our bag.

Two of the kids are already frightened of dogs thanks to a previous incident, and within seconds, they were screaming in panic. That set the other two off, so now we had four terrified children, all because someone couldn’t be bothered to control their animals.

These dogs weren’t just sniffing around, they were relentless. They kept coming back, snapping at our picnic, up close to the kids, ignoring every attempt I made to chase them away. I was literally dragging them by the collar, at one point pulling food from one of their mouths, all the while wondering, where is the owner?

The answer? Nowhere.

Not a soul appeared. Whoever they were, they clearly preferred hiding in the trees, no doubt watching from a safe distance as their animals caused chaos. Despite us shouting for someone, anyone to come and take control, the dogs stayed for over five minutes, traumatising the children and upsetting me and my wife, before finally wandering off toward an old asparagus field.

We know this area is popular for letting dogs off the lead, but here’s the reality: if your dogs can’t behave, stay in sight, and not terrorise people, you have no business letting them run free. We think we may have spotted the likely owner moments earlier, a woman a few hundred metres away, coming down a slope from the Larkhill direction with multiple dogs, glued to her phone. We didn’t see anyone else with more than one dog during our time there.

Our special morning, a picnic and quality time with our grandchildren was over. The kids were still shaken on the 10-minute walk back to the cars. We went straight home, trying to distract them from what had happened, but the mood was gone.

Whoever you are, you had no right to vanish and leave your dogs to it. You reawakened a deep fear in a seven-year-old, and terrified a four, three, and one-year-old. 

So here’s a warning, if you’re in the woods off Larkhill and see two similar dogs, keep your distance, especially if you’ve got food. Some owners don’t care what happens. Oh, and I will be on the lookout for those dogs again, and be having a special word with the owner.