to think an out of control dog should be always on the lead?

[hibbledibble]

I was going for a walk in the park today with dds, both under 5, and my dh and dog. Our dog is a small mixed breed, with a very gentle nature, and is impeccably behaved.

I saw 2 dogs which I knew to be aggressive (they have attacked/tried to attack our dog numerous times before). I immediately picked up our dog to protect her. One of the dogs, a powerful breed, then comes up to me, growling, scratching and trying to climb up my leg to reach my dog. I'm pretty scared at this point, and so is older dd.

Dog owner makes no effort to remove dog, other than meekly calling her over, which the dog ignores of course. Dh comes and removes aggressive dog from me by grapping her harness. Only at this point does the dog owner want to take control of his dog 'give me my dog'.

There was no apology, and in fact the owner was verbally aggressive, saying I knew nothing about dogs! No idea what this is meant to mean..

I was pretty schook up, and spoke to a bystander who said he has seen said dog be aggressive many times.

Aibu to think dogs like this should always be on the lead? It is always off the lead. I have tried previously to tell the owner that his dog is out of control and should be on the lead, but he said it would never hurt anyone!!

Wwyd?

I'm worried about walking my poor dog in our local park.

This thread went well didn't it? A gold star to tabulahrasa (best episode ever!) for such calm measured responses to a troll!

join yes it was well and truly derailed.

I will update after I have spoken to the police if anyone is interested

I have a question... If you think a dog is about to attack you, and you kick it, what do you think its response will be? I would suggest that if you had 'reasonable fear' you wouldn't want to provoke the animal.

In response to the OP, I have a staffy lab cross, always on lead because he looks big & scary. He's curious and can be excitable on walks.
YANBU at all!!

Zoe I assume that question was intended for the dog kicker troll ?

I agree with you, this is why despite being scared of this dog, I would have never kicked it.

I'm waiting for the dog warden to get back to me, and will go to the police shortly.

Any news hibble ?

Hi tipsey

I did go to the police station to make a statement but the impression I have is that it isn't being taken seriously as I don't have serious injuries. It makes me that they will only act when someone is seriously hurt, its not very proactive!

If I see them again in the park I will call the police to take their details.

I have tried getting through to the dog warden with no luck.

Don't really know what else I can do.

[ I've never had aproblem when kicking a dog to keep it away. Owners are usually oblivious as miles away and I have yet to see a dog warden in the flesh. I don't go around looking for dogs to kick. If a dog is in my personal space uninvited I am entitled to treat that as a threat and deal with it how I see fit.]

You are not. I have successfully represented someone whose dog was injured by an idiot like you and the idiot had to pay vets bills.

Good for you Lardy. As I said above numerous times, the owners are oblivious to their dogs behaviour and miles away, so very little chance of me being seen giving their darling pooch a swift toe to the ribs.

Wow kardymyli you must be dead hard, takes real guts to abuse animals. But please film it when you do it to someone's aggressive out of control large dog. Or at least for as long as you're conscious. Although I strongly suspect that you limit yourself to puppies and small friendly breeds.

So before it was one dog, and now it's lots?

Where did I say it was lots Hibble?

No Lurker, I'm not 'dead hard', quite soft and fluffy really. I think you need to stop getting so het up about this issues - these are dogs we're talking about, not babies.