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

You are being utterly ridiculous and hyperbolic. I have repeatedly said that a responsible owner should try to prevent such behaviour. I simply challenged your claim that one incident proves the dog had never been trained.

Comparing that distinction to blaming a woman for being sexually assaulted is grotesque and completely inappropriate.

A dog jumping up when food is present—even if frightening—is not remotely comparable to sexual assault. That analogy trivialises sexual violence and bears no resemblance whatsoever to anything I said.

I’m not excusing what happened. The owner should have intervened, and of course you were entitled to be frightened. I’m disagreeing with the leap from one incident—however upsetting—to declaring the dog categorically “untrained” and its owner irresponsible.
A dog behaving badly in a highly stimulating moment/around food does not prove it has no training or it is dangerous. Dogs are animals, not machines, and even generally well-trained dogs can behave unpredictably.

That is why you should consider how to respond proportionately in such situations, as it's something that can happen occasionally in public parks, especially if you have food.

80lbs, over five stone that’s quite a bloody big dog, twice the size of an average spaniel and more like the size of the largest male labs or the weight of a large male greyhound.

I understand why you felt afraid, but all that happened was the dog jumped at you because you had food and you happened to be holding a baby.

That is undesirable behaviour for a dog, and every owner should take steps to prevent that happening, however, it's also fairly ordinary dog behaviour. It does not, by itself, mean that the dog is untrained, aggressive, dangerously out of control or a threat to your baby.

Those are completely disproportionate conclusions to draw from a single incident.

No, not all of us who think kicking the dog was disproportionate are dog owners, shit or otherwise. I’m not a dog owner and don’t want to be one. (I’m a cat person and my DH is allergic to dogs.)

Having said that, I don’t know how we would have responded in the scenario described by the OP. One of us might have ended up kicking the dog. But I can’t imagine not feeling bad about it and wondering what might have been a more appropriate response.

I think it’s worth remembering that those types are the minority of shit owner here. Thankfully many decent owners have posted too!

This is absurdly black-and-white. A dog briefly approaching someone in the hope of food does not automatically mean it is dangerous, out of control or owned by a “shit owner”. It means it is a dog, not a robot.

No dog is perfectly trained in every situation, just as no child or adult behaves impeccably at all times.

Responsible ownership means knowing your dog, managing genuine risks and responding appropriately when it gets something wrong—not keeping every dog permanently restrained because anything short of 100% obedience is treated as proof of negligence.

Proportion and context really aren’t complicated either.

Plenty of people were talking about it being normal for well trained dogs to go for food and sauntering over being because she knew the dog was friendly.

As people who don't owe this dog or it's owner anything a kick away is an acceptable reaction. It's not like they approached a random dog and kicked it for fun.

A lot of decent dog owners here support the OP. It says something about the kind of owner you are.

If owners like you truly cared about your dogs, you would train them, keep them on lead and protect them by ensuring they don’t jump up at random people. If you let your dog run riot, you are being cruel to your pet.

show me one comment where someone has argued that the owner shouldn't stop the dog jumping please?

Saying that this can happen sometimes and that it doesn't mean the dog is untrained or unfriendly is true.

It doesn't mean that the owner should just let the dog bother strangers , it simply acknowledges that these things can happen.

The question is did OP and her dh react appropriately.

This entire post is an attempt to excuse dog owners for not having appropriate control of their dogs.

If a dog approaches a human for food, the owner is a shit owner.

Buy a lead or train the dog. It isn't complicated.

But what you aren’t hearing is his actions would not protect you or your baby if it was an aggressive dog.

I disagree, a lot of people seem to think it's normal for dogs to go bounding off towards other people's food and that this is somehow an exemption from being out of control. I've also seen comments saying that the sauntering over was acceptable because the owner knew that the dog was friendly. I think that there are very different definitions of dogs being allowed to bother strangers on here.

really sounds like he didn’t need to kick the dog. he could’ve just got between the dog and baby. does he normally hurt animals?

There is not one single poster on this thread who's argued that the dog should have been allowed to bother strangers, so your comment is pointless.

The question is about whether the OP responded appropriately to an event that can happen sometimes.
no dog or dog owner is perfect; animals are unpredictable and even well trained , well- behaved animals sometimes display unanticipated undesirable behaviour - particularly if they are hungry and around food. It happens. Doesn't mean the dog is out of control or aggressive or the owner is irresponsible. Just a mistake.

The question is- did OP overreact.

I really think all dogs should be licensed, attend a compulsory training programme with their owners, and be on a lead in all public places. It should just be a matter of course. Off lead only in specific dog-only areas or private land. The number of appalling dog owners in this thread is shocking. Any dog that runs up to strangers like this and can’t be immediately called back is out of control. A third instance should lead to it being removed from the owner’s care and the owner banned from owning dogs.