Dog attacking child - not stopping to help

You, a stranger to the dog, and your dogs would have massively exacerbated that situation. You made the right decision. I would think their reaction is a bit of projection as it's their fault for not reading the signs of their dog and stepping in

I can't believe people would be so irresponsible to have a dog that is dangerous and unfriendly around their child. Border Colliers are normally very loving aren't they. I wonder if its a rescue dog that's been abused in the past. Onto your question though in those circumstances no YWNBU.

You did right to walk on your dogs could become targets to be attacked in the mayhem. You could get a bad rep for you, and your dogs, because they were not on leads. And if they joined in fighting ppl passing may think it was your dogs attacking. They really should have known how their dog would react, and should know not to let a child grab a dog in that way.

From what you have said in one of your replies OP I don't think that they were yelling at you because they needed or wanted help - it sounds more like they wanted to have a go at you and blame you for walking on the beach and upsetting their dog. As a woman on your own you did the right thing by walking away. If they had been shouting out for help you could have stood a distance away and offered to call the ambulance or whatever but from what you have said it really doesn't sound like that's what they were shouting for.

The dogs I have now are complete hooligans and are never out in public without leads but I have had well trained dogs that would walk to heel or sit and wait indefinitely in the past but in a situation like that with an aggressive dog and aggressive adults you did the only sensible thing by getting away.

Be a shit game of catch for my collie if you were in charge

Those dog owners are disguising

Sorry, are you being serious? If you are , I apologise but its a odd question

Let me give you a small example: A dog/s in public can't be controlled by
its owner and drags owner to the other dog it is trying to attack or a human.

That is why dogs and all dogs need to be on a short, none extending lead and a muzzle. Having ALL dogs on a short lead and a mizzle for remove any uncertainty whatsoever if the owner is braking the law if it was to become law like it has on XL dogs.

As you know there are many other dogs that look like XL's or have the strength to drag most owners around

Does that help

I don’t think there was anything you could have done. The owners were just taking out their shit parenting and dog owning skills on you. If you’d approached I’m sure you would have got more of the same abuse you’ve already detailed.
I’m generally all for helping, but I’d stay well away from that. Maybe phone the police when safely back at the car, to report probable child neglect and likely dog abuse too. That’s it.

Why do you believe a dog on a short lead needs to be muzzled?

I agree with all dogs should be on a short lead and physically close to their owners. I don't think there is any need for a muzzle if the dog is less than 1.5m from it's owner and on a lead. If the dog is aggressive, then the owner shouldn't have it out in public in the first place

Sounds to me like the Border Collie has a problem with dogs and got all uptight about the other dogs just walking past and minding their own business, and then the child surprised the dog by grabbing it from behind, resulting in the tension erupting into an attack. Chances are the child hugs the dog all the time without anything bad happening, because it just so happens that the dog is usually relaxed. It's a bit of an unfortunate combination of circumstances, really. More alert or knowledgeable owners might have

(a) not given a reactive dog the full length of its lead to take itself as close as possible to OP's dogs, and / or
(b) seen that it was a bad moment for the child to approach the dog and done something about it.

Either way,

(c) OP wading into the situation with her two dogs in tow

would have made matters worse.

Given parents failure on points (a) and (b), I'm not hugely surprised they expected (c) to happen.

OP you absolutely did the right thing. Before DH and I met he had a German Shepherd called Morgan. One evening DH was playing with his DC and he had placed his daughter over his knee and was slapping his other knee and so pretending to smack her. DD was laughing and squealing and finding the whole thing funny. Morgan heard his DD squealing and fearing something was wrong went running through. By this time DH DD had run off trying to encourage her dad to chase her. Morgan stood there just watching until his DD gave him a hug and then went back to her basket.

DH was out one day walking Morgan when a strange child ran up to Morgan and threw her arms around Morgan’s neck. Morgan was well trained and living with children meant she had endless amounts of patience with them and so she stood patiently until the child let go. DH did have a word with the child’s mother though as you never know how a strange dog will react.

No, I merely took ten minutes to check my facts before pressing "Post", during which time no new post shows up. Not everyone answers every post instantaneously.

Besides, what applies to you applies to anyone who writes "I haven't read all your replies", and they might be quite glad to know there is an easy way to do this without having to read everyone else's posts on the thread.

The dog being cuddled belonged to the child I think.

At 8 or 9 you should have been taught not to cuddle random dogs and especially approaching from behind. Sadly the parents and or child learned something the hard way.

There are times in life where you find yourself in an interaction with absolute morons. Today you were in that situation.

Not if OP's dogs were under her control. I've never had my dog on a ''tight lead'', as tight leads make them tense.

A nice, loose lead, walking by your side is best.

People with those ghastly retractable leads tend to be generally out of control, and the nasty dog was clearly aggressive.

We need to ask ourselves what kind of parents where they shouting all of that abuse at the OP

You did the right thing. There were 2 adults/parents dealing with the situation. You approaching or getting involved would have probably exacerbated the situation and would have put you at risk.
Your responsibility was to keep your dogs under control and report the incident, which you have done.

I don’t see how adding your dog to the mix would have been helpful at all. If your dog started reacting you would have had to keep hold of your dog while trying to help, the other dog probably would have gone even more batshit. Feel for the kid, clearly the parents haven’t trained their dog well but they need to take responsibility.

@AskingQuestionsAllTheTime

Have you deliberately ignored the exchange between me and the OP a few minutes before your post????

I think you acted responsibly. You kept control of your dogs the whole time. Their child's safety isn't your responsibility. If you had intervened the dog might have turned on you and your dogs might have got involved. You definitely did the right thing. Tell your husband to fick off

@DistinguishedSocialCommentator
OP, you say you and your dogs did "nothing wrong." Fair enough but I've not read all of the posts but I get the feeling that in the back of your mind there is something else you have not said.

There is a simple way to find all the OP's posts so that you can be certain you have read everything she has written on the thread. At the bottom of every one of her posts, on the right in my program, the words "OP posts: See all" appear, and if you click on "See all" you do indeed see all the posts on the thread that have been made by the OP.

That way you don't miss any of her replies to other people's questions.

Ridiculous

Ok, thanks

Your OH is in the wrong. Show your OH this thread.

You did the right thing by all accounts.
IMO, the police will act as a child is involved but tracing them will be a problem unless you knew their car reg and you did not

Therefore, nothing will happen unless child goes to hospital for bite marks then possibly soc services may get involved.

I dont like see dogs in public on long leads and worse still off leads and prefer a muzzle on dogs and the dog owner taking the dog for a walk and not the other way around

So tell your OH to glance at this thread and apologise to you

Take care

I think walking away and removing temptation from the attacking dog was the best thing you could have done.

It sounds like these parents would have preferred you to be attacked than their child or that you/your dogs made some kind of contact with their dogs because they them can blame you and your dogs rather than their own woeful parenting and dog ownership.