To have kicked an old man’s dog?

Ridiculous isn't it? I had a pair of Manchester Terriers, lovely dogs but a breed know to be aloof. They bond with their family but would cheerfully step over dead bodies out and about. They only wanted to know each other and didn't bother socialising with other dogs and any dog that pushed it would get a warning snap. Other people didn't exist, they would literally grey rock people trying to cal them over. Yet apparently this is a behavioral problem the whole world is being expected to accomodate! Not every dog wants to play with strange dogs. It's a preference, not a problem. Why some people think they should be able to force their dog on other people and dogs is beyond me.

And you think it’s a good answer?!?

Greyhounds are trained to chase after a "fake" rabbit for money.

If it's an ex-racer (and who knows, there isn't a big flashing halo over them) it's prey driven and should be muzzled.

As a dog owner he was 100% in the bloody wrong, and all the idiots on here who think the dog was 'playing' and 'socialising' are just as stupid .. the dog's intentions are irrelevant, having your dogs on lead is a clear signal that you don't want off lead dogs to run over to you. Anyone letting their dog do that is a fucking half wit and shouldn't have a dog.

But I don't agree with how you handled it, you should have stood your ground in front of your dogs by holding them behind you and circling round, the second you picked them up you lose all control and you create chaos.. this should be a complete last resort for if your dog is being attacked.

Whenever this has happened to us, and it has happened many many times over the years, I lead my dog/s away, sometimes back towards their stupid owners, if my dog is being pestered/hurt I would physically block them, either grab the other dog and let go of mine, or if my dog was being attacked I would physically grab hold of their dog and hurt it as hard as I could, zero fucks given.

The problem here is it doesn't sound like the dog was aggressive, and you panicked which escalated the situation.

It’s the case only because, as seen in this thread, many people atomically jump to ‘how dare you kicking the dog’ wo putting the responsibility on the person who doesn’t control their own dog.

If there was as much social pressure to keep your dog under control and not let them run towards people/other dogs than there is about not licking a dog, the OP wouldn’t be to,d ‘to just walk her dog at a different time’ never mind she migut not be able to or it’s then too hot for the dogs etc….

I also don't condone kicking dogs, but you were literally just trying to protect your dogs. If the man couldn't control his dog, then it shouldn't have been off leash. I say this as an owner of two large breeds.

I keep our well trained dogs on leash in public, purely because it means they are close to me, should an off leash dog run towards them, or a child grab one by the tail or something. I know that's an unusual example, but I've seen a child deliberately pinch a dog and I don't want my lovely dog being put in that sort of situation.

This is totally on the man for not having his dog under control.

You didn't kick it. You moved it out of the way with your foot

Actually YES!!

Thinking about this - that's why I don't go for a walk anymore. I'd rather poke my eyes out than walk along the "cycle" dog walkers path.

It doesn't sound like you kicked it very hard. Leave the Facebook group and change your walking route for a bit.

No.

Obviously.

But unless @itsme189 wants to encounter some old bloke with his uncontrollable dog - what option does she have?

Not sure taking a spare lead to capture the unruly hound would work frankly.

This is why I have indoor only velcro cats.😽

They can have a very strong prey drive and be quite dangerous around small dogs.

A greyhound-sized dog should NOT be jumping up on anyone, for any reason. a child or an old person could be knocked down and badly hurt.

A woman giving it a kick to get it away is a perfectly reasonable response (and I'm the owner of medium-large dog, so not someone who hates dogs)

I don’t understand why you needed to kick the dog, were you concerned it would injure your dogs? I didn’t think greyhounds were aggressive?

My nan would have killed me too. She’d have preferred me to lose a limb than her dog lol. She loved that dog, bless her

Greyhounds are lovely creatures but also do go full on for anything fluffy and small.
In essence this is a tale of leads and muzzles. Too many dogs off lead and not with muzzles. And of dogs which in the wrong setting are too much for a person to handle. Too fast, not enough recall.
I would not have kicked the dog, no. He jumped up at you. He did not try to bite you. Your dogs were in your arms. Kicking the dog was not necessary. Not a greyhound.

A lesson is for dogs to have muzzles and owners very good recall and preferably dogs on a lead.

As the owner of multiple dogs, I do not think you were in the wrong op. Off lead dogs should be under control and able to be recalled, at any time.
Off lead dogs should not be running up to on lead dogs, they should be recalled and under control. The vast, vast majority of dog owners understand this and act accordingly. Anyone who doesn’t, runs the risk of their dog getting a boot. Such is life.

So anyone who doesn’t like out of control dogs should adjust their behaviour to avoid them ?

I was specifically talking about the OP’s situation of having 2 small dogs with her. In the situation you describe I would shout a very firm ‘NO’ and the dog, followed by “get down” and then I’d turn partially away from the dog with my arms folded.

I completely agree that the dog’s owner was in the wrong, sadly there are many, many dogs out there with little to no training and trust me, as a dog walker and being responsible for keeping dogs safe, they are the bane of my life. That’s why I choose routes where I am very unlikely to encounter other dogs.

And if the other dogs don’t like it they should be euthanised 🙄

Try moving your walk to earlier/later or a different route.

The "owner" hah might do the same walk at the same time each day.

@Moonface318 do you allow your dog to approach others on your walks all the time?

I remember being 11 walking my nans little yorkie and this big dog running up to me barking, I picked up that little dog and ran for my life. Luckily his owner got him back in control, but in that moment you’re terrified, you don’t know if the dogs going to go for you, or rip your dog apart. Anyone that says they wouldn’t have kicked the dog has obviously not been in that situation

Read again, plenty of dog owners, me included, saying what other reasonable action did she have available to her?

Hands full, dog has already shown not to respect natural boundaries, or doggy communications to piss off, has already splatted a dog with his paws (who here would be happy with the human equivalent, a 24 stone bloke shoving/thumping/stamping on an 8 stone woman/kid? That would NOT be deemed acceptable even if it had been intended in a non-aggressive, friendly manner!)...

Should she have left her dogs on the ground and waited for them to be injured? And again, for the hard of thinking in the back here, a greyhound type could be anywhere from 20 to 30kg. A little elderly dog could be 5 to 10kg. Even a friendly play bow that results in a paw to the older, smaller dogs back, head or neck could do serious or even fatal damage.

And if you have no dog with you, no treat agd the dog still runs towards you and jumps on you, what do you do??

And what do you when it’s someone like me with mobility issues?

Apart from training your own digs to nit run towards people/other digs, have a good recall or put them on a lead.

I have enough of the ‘but he is friendly/just wanted to play p/it’s your reaction. The dog is reacting like a dog’.
Just keep your dogs under control