To have kicked an old man’s dog?

Are they ok now?

I mean, as a completely non-dog person --who has a big ginger cat attached to her most of the time, I really hope they are. <dog chew emoji>

😿😽

The 'dogs right to roam' crew really hack me off. It is totally unfair to the smaller dogs tethered by leads for a large and in this case out of control dog to be getting in their faces. Maybe they should stop being so outraged at not everyone loving their 'friendly' dog and get some proper recall measures in place. If that's not possible, then keep the dog on a lead.

Which is the bigger dog should have been in a lead. Clearky it hadn’t been socialised properly rigut?

The OP picked her dogs up (rightly) and the dog carried on jumping on her. Was that ok? Was she supposed to just accept it ‘oh because you know he just wanted to make friend/whatever other excuse’?
Sorry, you have a dog, you socialise them agd teach them not to jump on people.

If a dog had done that to me, I’d have been terrified. I wouldn’t have kicked him due to that. My dh would.
But I would not accept any excuse further such poor behaviour on the part of the dog.

OK,

big dog running at 2 elderly little dogs...

Rugby player taking out two pensioners.

Not hard to understand really - even from a non-dog person (see earlier post)
🤦🏻‍♀️

Also...why wasn't is both muzzled and on a lead?

Was your kick angrily forceful, which could have seriously hurt the dog, or were you just lifting it out of the way?

Be honest now!

When I was about 4, I was pinned to the wall of the hall IN MY OWN HOME by a neighbours sons German Shepherd.

But for me screaming to get either of my parents or any other random adult to notice, I probably wouldn't be alive.

I had deep scratches to my upper body, arms and back of hands. There's some bite marks as well.

I'm mid 50s, you can still see some of them, but I keep them hidden.

BUT it was all OK, because the dog was still a "puppy" and bigger than me and DIDN'T MEAN IT.🙄

Yeah.🤬

@Ablondiebutagoody You absolutely did the right thing. Your poor little dogs. I hope they're having a lovely chilled afternoon 🐶 and you and they don't encounter this shitty owner or his dangerous prey-driven dog again.

If someone allows their dog to jump up at others uninvited then they shouldn't complain when people react to it.

OP I am a dog walker and also owner of 2 tiny dogs.

In this kind of situation when I saw the dog coming I would stand between it and my dogs, and try to get the dog’s attention on me rather than my dogs. I always have a bag of treats in my bum bag so an excited “what’s this” and a rustle of the treats bag usually does the trick. And then I speak in a calm and quiet voice, dispensing treats until the owner appears. If necessary grab the dog’s collar when you get a chance and keep hold of it until the owner turns up, although I realise that’s tricky if yours are on the lead.

You’re an idiot. I don’t care if you think your dogs friendly, I don’t want him near me. My dog isn’t reactive and doesn’t need training to deal with dogs coming up to him but every time they do, they cause a problem because off lead dogs with limited recall are always the problem and not the on lead dog going about its day.

Or .......keep your dog under control.

Yeah: unbiased? Maybe. Did she try to speak to the op or find out her side of things? Seems not.

I have known interfering old biddies who leapt to conclusions and then compounded their stupidity by telling all and sundry their inaccurate account of events about which they didn't have full information. Facebook is merely a louder gossip-shop for such objectionable persons, and makes them feel even more self-important that the village post-office used to in the old days.

This is one of the many reasons why dogs should not be off the lead in public places.

This is completely wrong.

If you are incapable of keeping your dog under control when they are off lead (this includes not being able to stop them approaching on lead dogs) then they should not even be off lead.

My dogs are never on lead, but if they see a dog on lead they know to come immediately to heel until I have established if they can say hello or not. And if not then they will stay by me until we are past and completely ignore the on lead dog. It is basic manners.

The onus is on the owner with the animal who is out of their control. Not the one with their dog on a lead.

Have you asked the other dogs (and owners) whether they are happy to interact with him?
What do you do if the other dogs react badly - is his recall 100% all the time every time?
I'm sick to death of people with dogs who expect the world to revolve around them and their "fur baby" in every public space:
"He's just playing"
"He wants to be friendly"
"It must be your dog's fault"

Greyhounds kill cats and small dogs regularly.
How do you know it was being playful?
Killing small things is playful for a greyhound.

Should she have waited until it did bite her?

@itsme189 The bigger dog was not under control - I'd say you didn't "kick" it as much as pushed it away with your leg. Your smaller and elderly dogs could have been really badly injured.

The one person responsible for all of this is the owner of the big loose dog.

This is from someone who hates dogs BTW.

Nope, kick away. Fight or flight. You had no idea if the dog was going to attack you or not. It’s terrifying when you’re in that situation

An off lead dog was jumping up at you to get at your dogs. Yeah you can kick it.
If he doesn't want his dog to be kicked by people he needs to keep it on a lead. It could have easily knocked you down and bit you.

I had a very difficult to control dog and she would get off the lead and harass dogs and people like this. I absolutely would not be angry if someone kicked her while she was doing that. She pulled the lead out my hand once and chased a sheep, I chased her for about 2 miles before her lead got stuck in a rock and stopped her. I fully fully expected a farmer to shoot her, I remember hearing a shoot not far away and fully expecting to see her drop any seccond.

Your dogs were on a lead. Or in your hand. They were fully under your control. His dog was hurting other dogs and jumping up at a person. Completely his fault.

Nonsense. The onus is on the off lead dog to be under control.

I would also be terrified if I had a small fluffy prey looking dog to be at the mercy of a greyhound. It is pretty common for them to kill cats and small dogs.
As you said, you cant undo 1000s of years of inbred behavior. Including tearing small mamals to pieces .
I would have kicked it too.

My dog is more likely to have been the dick greyhound in this scenario and if a person felt the need to kick him to protect their dog then good luck to them.
The difference is, knowing my dog is a dick I get him back on lead when there are other dogs around.

I'd have done the same OP. Not sure I would have done a full on kick, but I would definitely have been swinging my feet in the dog's general direction to shoo it away.

One of my dogs asks to be picked up in situations like this, when she is bothered by other dogs. Why would I refuse to help and reassure her?

Incidentally, not all behaviourists advise against picking up your dog.

www.facebook.com/share/17vGgmde5Q/

I would have done exactly the same OP and I am the owner of big dogs. You did the big dog no harm and you had the right to defend yourself from jumping and your small dogs from being squished.

In that moment I would have done the same. How can you tell if a strange dog is friendly or not if it’s bounding towards you and won’t listen when its owner is calling it.
The op was only trying to protect her little dogs and possibly herself. She was completely in the right as her dogs were on leads and the rogue dog was not. What was she expected to do? Wait until her dogs were ripped to shreds. A bit late then don’t you think?

Your dog does not have the right to interact with dogs just because it wants to. You keep it on a lead and you ask if it's ok for it to play with other dogs (or humans) that it encounters.

Would you think it ok for other humans to hassle you for attention all the time? If not, why is it ok for dogs to do it to other dogs?

Unbelievable response. Not one dog trainer would agree with you. If you don't have recall keep your dog ON A LEAD or only off lead in a secure dog field. It is never okay to let your off lead dog approach on lead dogs, people or horses without permission from the owner. EVER.

OP - you reacted in the moment to keep your small elderly on lead under control dogs safe. Well done for doing that, it must've been very scary for you all.