Fucking owner of big growly dog just laughed at my child.

[KingJoffreysBloodshotEye]

Couple with big dog on the other side of road. Toy in mouth. No lead.

Dog bounds across road towards us growling. Obviously just excited to be free with his toy but DS was pretty terrified.

Owner bursts out laughing and says, "Haha, did he make you jump?"

I replied, "Er, no. He made him terrified, it's a big dog off lead running towards him growling."

They mutter and wander off.



I don't give a shite about the dog. The lack of lead. Or the growling - clear to me it was excited growling, not vicious. I don't mind most dogs.

Also aware that to he's a big, fluffy bundle of love. He probably is.

But why did she have to laugh and make fun? Was that really funny to her? That how she gets her kicks - laughing at frightened children? She made DS feel shit.

Bitch. Bet there's stuff she's scared of. People don't think.

[LEMmingaround]

Yanbu. I would have been seething. Do you think they were trying to make light?

[ADHDNoodles]

Could have been nervous laughter out of embarrassment. Laughing when tickled is actually a panic response, so it wouldn't surprise me that this could carry over to other social interactions where you sort of "panic" when you don't know what to do. Or maybe I'm projecting. I laugh when people yell at me out of nervousness.

But.. that said, the owner could have comforted your DS a bit. We had a big dog, who had the heart of a melted marshmallow, that ran over to greet our toddler neighbor children. They both burst into tears, and our dog sulked down like he did something wrong. Our neighbor laughed, and we did too. But, we comforted them and assured them our dog was safe. Made him lie down and let them approach him at their pace.

In any case she should have at least apologized.

[KingJoffreysBloodshotEye]

I don't know what they were doing. All I know is that in their shoes I'd have apologised rather than cackled. Fucking witch.

DS isn't even properly scared of dogs. We have a friend with some of the Media's least favourite pooches (2 x Staffies, 1 x Rottweiler and something else - I'm not hot on dog breeds) and DS is fine with them.

Is just when they're running towards him growling.

[JuniDD]

I've often observed dog owners laughing when their dogs bark/growl/go for other people. I think I'd be mortified but I only do cats.

[InSpaceNooneCanHearYouScream]

YANBU. Some idiot let their large barking dog charge across the road towards my mum, and the owner smirked 'Ooh I'm worried he'll get hold of one of your cats', as though that would be something to be proud of.
My mum replied, ' If it gets hold of my cats I'll cave its head in with a brick'.
Wiped the smirk off her face

[aquashiv]

The dog should have been on a lead. I don't understand this term happy growling I have a dog if mine growls its not happy.
People do like to turn it round though in awkward situations.

[ADHDNoodles]

The dog should have been on a lead. I don't understand this term happy growling I have a dog if mine growls its not happy.

When some dogs have a toy, they make a growling sound that's really just a playful gesture, not an aggressive warning. We have a very vocal dog that makes all sorts of noises, and a growling noise with a wagging tail is one of them. If she ever bore her teeth with hackles raised, she'd be harshly disciplined for it. At the shelter I volunteered at there were dogs that smiled when happy and it looked like they were baring teeth, we had signs telling people this so the dogs still got the attention they wanted instead of being left alone.

[HaroldLloyd]

That's rubbish, DS is a bit scared of all dogs at the moment and owners have been lovely to him, can't imagine them laughing.

YANBU.

[KingJoffreysBloodshotEye]

When some dogs have a toy, they make a growling sound that's really just a playful gesture, not an aggressive warning.

It was totally that. Some of my cats do it while they're eating (they like to pretend I never feed them).

But it still scared DS. He just heard the growling.

If I see her again I'm going to scare the shit out of her and then laugh about it.

[TheRealAmandaClarke]

[RonaldMcDonald]

Perhaps a few deep breaths?

Sometimes people laugh nervously and sometimes they misread situations and act inappropriately

You said your piece, they heard it.

This seems v over the top tbh so YABU

[BiscuitsAreMyDownfall]

Oh no poor DS.

I hate it when dog owners dont control their dogs.

Yes he may be friendly and playful, but you just dont know how the people are going to react to your dog wanting to play with him/her.

I have a staffie who is a bugger with other dogs. Great with people, but not so much with other dogs. I always keep him on a lead when out and the amount of times Ive had to hold him while some other dog owner has let their dog run riot (after all he's very friendly/daft as a brush and all the other sayings) while not really bothering drive me wild.

I used to be petrified of dogs when I was younger. If a big dog came bounding up to me Id be in pieces, crying and screaming. It would ruin my day. Even now I can be nervous if I dont know the dog.

Personally I think if you can't control your dog at a word then he/she should be on a lead while out in public areas. Even the most friendliest dogs will scare someone (human or animal)

[queenofthemountain]

Laughter is actually a response to something unexpected.

[HaroldLloyd]

And an apology is usually in order if it's totally inappropriate.

[SweetsForMySweet]

You're calmer than I would have been op. It's very irresponsible to have a large dog roaming around with no lead on, growling at passersby, Whether the dog meant it to be friendly or not. The dog's owner would have had no control if that dog suddenly decided to maul you dc, it could have been a very different story and no one would be laughing then. It's not the dog's fault, his owner is a twat. Most dog owners would understand that a small child might be afraid of a big dog bounding at them and call the dog back (it's the responsible thing to do). I hope your ds feels better and it hasn't made him fear all dogs after this bad experience.

[Lariflete]

That happened to us yesterday - the Great Dane Puppy was bigger than my 3 year old! And no, I didn't care that the puppy was their DGS best friend, this was an excitable, untrained (didn't return when called) puppy that would have knocked me over, never mind DD.

[Vintagejazz]

She sounds like she's either deeply insensitive or just doesn't have much between her ears. YANBU.

[DogCalledRudis]

Pretty stupid to have a dog without lead in the street, especially if it runs into the street.

However, some dogs do purr like cats. It sounds like growling, but doesn't mean aggressive. Dog was with a toy -- probably wanted to play?

[evalyn]

YANBU

But, of course, the dog owners aren't MNetters. Any dog owner on MN, you'll discover if you read any relevant threads, always cleans up after their dog, and always keeps their dog on a lead, especially around small children.

(Not that they need to be controlled, these MN dogs. Not in the slightest; they're all fluffy bundles of fun who only want to make friends with everyone and not nasty smelly disease-ridden animals with the propensity to attack at random. No, when you read of dogs hurting or frightening toddlers, they're definitely not MN-owned dogs. Never.)

Of course it's up to you to make sure your children love these fluffy bundles rather than taking the rational approach of being afraid of an unknown animal that can seriously hurt them. That's what MN dog-owners think, anyway; not sure about others (like the idiots you encountered).

[AlexVause82]

All dogs should be kept on leads unless in a secire place such as a field. I have a bichon frise and she is the softest thing, doesn't go for dogs, cats or humans but I still wouldn't let her off her lead in a park full of children

[Terrierterror]

And of course MNers children would never run at a strange dog (happily walking on a lead) and throw their arms around it or repeatedly lunge at a strange dog (again, on lead) with the fallen branch of a tree and shout in it's face.

I'm sorry you met an arsehole OP.

[SirChenjin]

What evalyn said. 100%.

YANBU - but of course, it's a dog, and according to some dog owners (MN ones included) that means that you are over-reacting massively.

[Softlysoftlycatchymonkey]

I'd have been angry too.

Me and dd (15months) were having a pick nic and a large dog came bounding over to us straight to were we were sat and was stood on our blanket trying to snaffle sandwiches.

The bloke laughed and shouted " don't feed him, you won't be able to get rid of him!" Don't feed him? How about you get your fucking dog out my picnic ! Obviously I didn't say that but I wish I had.

[DogCalledRudis]

Well, i quite recently had a situation when some picknickers starter throwing ham at my dog, then got very pissy that he wanted more

[HaroldLloyd]

Erm, did they? Well that was pretty rude.

It dosent matter really if the dog wanted to play, if your dog runs at a child and they are scared surely you would try and placate them. Y explaining he was just happy and wanted to play rather than laugh at them being scared.

I live in a happy land me, all the dog owners in the park we walk in seem to be very nice chatty people, laughing at a child who is scared is just not normal.