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Original poster

AIBU to be upset after a dog jumped at our baby?

945 replies

KellyK2026 · 15/09/2026 12:14

Okay, so myself, DH and baby were at a country park the other week. Baby was getting hungry so we sat ourselves down on a park bench and got some food out. A woman was walking with her family and dog and the dog must’ve smelt the food as it suddenly
comes bounding over and is jumping at baby (who is on DH knee) to get the food. We don’t know this dog and don’t know what it's capable of. I scream at the owner that we have a baby and to get her dog under control. At this point, she’s pretty far away and is taking her time to come over. My DH then kicks the dog to get it off them as it just will not stop. The woman wasn’t particularly apologetic and seemed shocked. Did we overreact?

OP posts:
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Princessconsuelabananahammock9 · 24/09/2026 15:15

After 30 odd pages you add that the dog scratched your baby and another woman took a picture of the incident and contacted the police?

Come on now people.

BishBashBoshDumpling · 19/09/2026 16:22

StupidMe1400 · 19/09/2026 08:15

OMG you, your husband and baby are in the park minding your own business and having a lovely time and then you get ambushed by a rogue dog and the majority of these posters are saying you didn’t handle the situation right. WTAF - your job is to protect your baby and yourselves, the dog should not have been allowed to approach you, the dog owner was in the wrong and if they can’t control said dog they shouldn’t be allowed to have it.

Some people love dogs, some don’t, some are confident enough to hold them by the collar, some aren’t. The dog owner was in the wrong. You and your husband did what you needed to do to ensure the safety of your baby. No one can 100% say that a dog won’t bite regardless of the breed. Shame on the dog owner and people making you feel as though you dealt with the situation incorrectly.

the dog should not have been allowed to approach you, the dog owner was in the wrong and if they can’t control said dog they shouldn’t be allowed to have it.

Very few (if any? Not going to trawl 35+ pages to double check) people have said the dog owner was in the right. Everyone seems to agree the owner was in the wrong.

It is also possible that the parents handled this the wrong way as well.

Both sets of people can be acting in the wrong way.

Kicking a dog if you believe it to be agressive is often not the smartest thing to do if your priority is staying safe. In this instance they were lucky. If you kick an actually agressive dog who is actually intent on harming you (vs. simply being an untrained annoying dog) then it will probably go sideways very quickly and you'll end up in a worse state. It ramps up the situation and make the whole thing worse.

A few posters have offered alternative ways of keeping everyone actually safe while not (cruelly) antagonising a dog you think is agressive.

StupidMe1400 · 19/09/2026 08:15

OMG you, your husband and baby are in the park minding your own business and having a lovely time and then you get ambushed by a rogue dog and the majority of these posters are saying you didn’t handle the situation right. WTAF - your job is to protect your baby and yourselves, the dog should not have been allowed to approach you, the dog owner was in the wrong and if they can’t control said dog they shouldn’t be allowed to have it.

Some people love dogs, some don’t, some are confident enough to hold them by the collar, some aren’t. The dog owner was in the wrong. You and your husband did what you needed to do to ensure the safety of your baby. No one can 100% say that a dog won’t bite regardless of the breed. Shame on the dog owner and people making you feel as though you dealt with the situation incorrectly.

Ilovemyfam · 17/09/2026 23:11

StillgotmyiPod · 15/09/2026 13:32

YABU to still be giving this non-incident this much headspace a week on...

It was a bit of a shock, no-one was hurt. Move on.

Since I was bitten by a dog that I had just walked by I still give a wide berth to any dog I don’t know. It was three years ago. I walk my daughter’s very large dog. I love him.

I can’t get over it.

BeEagerRubyBird · 17/09/2026 14:24

KellyK2026 · 15/09/2026 13:13

Absolutely, this was definitely the feeling at the time. Baby had food on their face and bib so, although we didn’t know whether the dog was aggressive or not, I did panic that that dog might nip the baby because it has smelt the food and wanted it, and some of it was on the baby. And with how quick it was moving, it might even accidentally hurt the baby. So under the circumstances where the dog wasn’t responding to recall, wasn’t responding to our reaction and kept jumping up, and the owner wasn’t doing a great job of coming over and getting her dog, it was a quick judgement call. I don’t even think my DH thought about it. He just went into protective papa mode.

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I would 100 percent do the same. A dog can cause a life changing injury to a baby in a split second, and as OP says they didn't know that dog, the priority and instinct here is to get it away in whatever way you can.

Original poster
KellyK2026 · 17/09/2026 14:05

OonaStubbs · 17/09/2026 13:59

Something needs to be done about all these jumping dogs.

Agreed, it’s not cute. I’ve read comments on here where people with mobility issues don’t feel safe to leave the house anymore due to untrained dogs. It’s sad. I don’t have a phobia of dogs but I do know it’s not uncommon for people to have a phobia of them and it must be dreadful for them to even try to go for a walk with the amount of jumpy dogs about. It has gotten worse since Covid when a lot of people brought a dog for company but forgot to put the effort in to train them.

OP posts:
OonaStubbs · 17/09/2026 13:59

Something needs to be done about all these jumping dogs.

KellyK2026 · 17/09/2026 12:28

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Lacksie · 17/09/2026 12:25

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You're doing it again?

FYI - "moronic" is not only a personal insult, which has no place on mumsnet, it is an ableist term that originated as a demeaning classification for people with intellectual disabilities turned into a insult to signify stupidity. It's really not ok.

Original poster
KellyK2026 · 17/09/2026 12:22

Thinkofnewthings · 17/09/2026 12:13

I’m glad the police might investigate this. Even if nothing comes of it, it’s a point of principle.

Thank you. They seemed keen to pursue it especially because an infant was involved and, I suppose now that I have reported, if they don’t do anything and the same dog injures another child then that’s going to reflect badly on them.

OP posts:
KellyK2026 · 17/09/2026 12:21

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Rpop · 17/09/2026 12:16

Lacksie · 17/09/2026 11:26

Sorry but a public park isn't "your space". You have to share it with others, and occasionally other people, children, and animals will be annoying. As a pp mentioned upthread - also beware of the seagulls!!

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Oh ok. That makes total sense. 🙄

Thinkofnewthings · 17/09/2026 12:13

I’m glad the police might investigate this. Even if nothing comes of it, it’s a point of principle.

Lacksie · 17/09/2026 12:09

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I don't accept your interpretation (in a number of respects) and I don't think it's ok to call someone "moronic".

KellyK2026 · 17/09/2026 12:08

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Lacksie · 17/09/2026 12:06

KellyK2026 · 17/09/2026 12:05

I’ll take that as an apology

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Which bears no relationship to reality, which is consistent with my experience of most of your posting on this thread.

Original poster
KellyK2026 · 17/09/2026 12:05

Lacksie · 17/09/2026 12:04

ok

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I’ll take that as an apology

OP posts:
Lacksie · 17/09/2026 12:04

KellyK2026 · 17/09/2026 12:03

There’s no OK about it.

You’re very insistent that you know more about what happened than I do (despite you not being there).

You apparently know more about what the police will and will not take seriously than they do (which is ridiculous).

You’ve compared a bloody dog to a SEAGULL! You should read the law again because a seagull isn’t considered property. If a seagull attacks nobody can be held to account as seagulls do not have owners.

You’re so black and white you can’t see nuance at all. You’ve read this and decided I don’t like dogs. I have no opinion on them either way. A couple of months ago I rescued a puppy from a main road. The other week I acted to protect my baby after its owner committed a criminal offence. Multiple things can be true at once.

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ok

Original poster
KellyK2026 · 17/09/2026 12:03

Lacksie · 17/09/2026 11:57

Ok

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There’s no OK about it.

You’re very insistent that you know more about what happened than I do (despite you not being there).

You apparently know more about what the police will and will not take seriously than they do (which is ridiculous).

You’ve compared a bloody dog to a SEAGULL! You should read the law again because a seagull isn’t considered property. If a seagull attacks nobody can be held to account as seagulls do not have owners.

You’re so black and white you can’t see nuance at all. You’ve read this and decided I don’t like dogs. I have no opinion on them either way. A couple of months ago I rescued a puppy from a main road. The other week I acted to protect my baby after its owner committed a criminal offence. Multiple things can be true at once.

OP posts:
FlyingCatGirl · 17/09/2026 11:59

Harmonypuss · 17/09/2026 11:49

Unreasonable to be upset? No
Unreasonable to kick the dog? Absolutely! Push it away, NEVER kick!

Yeh I couldn't kick a dog I must admit.

Lacksie · 17/09/2026 11:57

KellyK2026 · 17/09/2026 11:32

What’s weird to me is that you said that the police wouldn’t care less and within 12 hours (bearing in mind I sent the email off late) of my sending over the photographs and describing what happened they have contacted me, taken my account, have taken the number of the witness, and told me what the next steps are and what the law is on something like this. You’ve been proven wrong and yet you’re still going on as if you were proven right! You explicitly said that the police wouldn’t careless. That’s been shown to be incorrect. And I won’t keep you updated as this Thread had a deadline of 3 days. You’re in denial and it shows.

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Ok

Lacksie · 17/09/2026 11:57

concertinacornflake · 17/09/2026 11:31

This post is so preposterous I think you are trolling @Lacksie

The idea that sharing public spaces means tolerating bad behaviour is clearly bollocks.

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I can assure you I'm really not trolling.

Obviously dog owners should make every effort to ensure their dogs don't bother other people, in the same way that parents make sure their kids don't.

But kids are kids and animals are animals and despite everyone's best efforts their behaviour isn't perfect or predictable at all times. Sometimes you will encounter them in public spaces and occasionally they might be slightly bothersome. That is the reality of sharing public spaces.

I'm genuinely so bloody sick of the lack of tolerance people show towards animals (and towards small kids with SEN but that's a topic for another day).

Harmonypuss · 17/09/2026 11:49

Unreasonable to be upset? No
Unreasonable to kick the dog? Absolutely! Push it away, NEVER kick!

Original poster
KellyK2026 · 17/09/2026 11:34

Lacksie · 17/09/2026 11:26

Sorry but a public park isn't "your space". You have to share it with others, and occasionally other people, children, and animals will be annoying. As a pp mentioned upthread - also beware of the seagulls!!

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Last time I checked, nobody is the owner of a seagull.

OP posts:
Original poster
KellyK2026 · 17/09/2026 11:32

Lacksie · 17/09/2026 11:28

If you say so! I'm sure this will be a priority for police time and there will be lots of criminal consequences. Do keep us updated.

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What’s weird to me is that you said that the police wouldn’t care less and within 12 hours (bearing in mind I sent the email off late) of my sending over the photographs and describing what happened they have contacted me, taken my account, have taken the number of the witness, and told me what the next steps are and what the law is on something like this. You’ve been proven wrong and yet you’re still going on as if you were proven right! You explicitly said that the police wouldn’t careless. That’s been shown to be incorrect. And I won’t keep you updated as this Thread had a deadline of 3 days. You’re in denial and it shows.

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