To be upset at a woman kicking my friendly 4 month old golden retriever?

[Marshmallowpops]

I am so upset. I've just come back from a walk with my puppy. She's a lovely friendly golden retriever. I've been letting her off leash in the local park as the trainer said it's best to do it early. She is really friendly and loves to play with other dogs- she often meets them all for a play date in the park in the morning- there are always lots of dogs off leash in this park. Normally when there aren't other dogs she trots along beside me, sometimes going off to sniff but coming back when called. She's not too bothered about people but will say hello and sit down (not jump up) as she is trained to do. Today it was dark at 8pm and I let her off as normal, she just trots along and comes back when called. But today she saw two women, one with a baby in a carrier) so went over to say hello (she's normally not bothered but today was a little hyper), but she just trotted over like she does, really gently and not aggressive at all. I said to the woman 'don't worry she won't jump up she'll just sit down and say hello', but before my puppy had even reached the woman, the woman started kicking her away! I could understand if the dog seemed aggressive but she's the sweetest thing. She kicked her repeatedly, my puppy came back to me, I put her on the lead, and the other woman started having a go at me asking if I thought it was acceptable for my dog to go over and attack her baby. She was smoking a cigarette. I wanted to say that is going to cause more harm to the baby than my dog ever would but I didn't. I know of course that as a mother you are very protective of your baby but I just would never attack a friendly dog. Maybe they've had bad experiences in the past. I'm just very upset. I know not everyone likes dogs but that park is so dog busy that I thought everyone was used to it by now. I think I'll keep her on a lead at night until she's really 100% with recall. She's about 90% now. So I know there will be people who say I'm in the wrong letting her off but if she had an aggressive bone in her body I would never let her off.

A 4 month old golden retriever is not a stumbling little pup-it's a reasonable sized dog.

Did she actually make contact with your puppy, OP?

If so, I'd suggest playing some gentle "footsie" games with her, in case she becomes footshy.

When I had my first lakeland, I was in our (very dog-friendly) local waiting to be served with the puppy (about 14 weeks old) on lead next to me. A guy came and stood next to me and the puppy started to sniff his shoes, so the man kicked him in the face. He wasn't hurt (didn't yelp, anyway) but after that he was a nightmare with feet and would snap at any feet that came near him. We had to muzzle him if we went anywhere where there were a lot of people.

When I got my second lakie, we foot-trained her by rubbing her tummy, stroking her back etc, with our feet, and she's fine, even if she gets stepped on (which she does with monotonous regularity because she's always getting under them, so maybe that backfired a bit - maybe we'll get it right with the next one).

You are very unreasonable taking a small puppy to the park in the dark and then letting it off lead. Yes the woman should not have kicked at the dog, but she wouldn't have had to kick if you had kept your dog on a lead in the first place.

Don’t let your dog off the lead if it can bother people.

Tbf, the OP didn’t know her puppy would bother people until that time, unless they had a dog. She was taken by surprise. Well, now you know, OP. This is clearly a steep learning curve for you.

YABU to call it a "play date" Aaaargh

But it's her furbaby of course it has a playdate

"Tbf, the OP didn’t know her puppy would bother people until that time,"

That's hardly an excuse though, is it?

It's an unpredicatable/inquisitive animal!

That's why people get so pissed off with the"it's OK, it's friendly" shit, because you never "know" until it happens!

even people who like them do not want to be bitten
The dog bite isn't just a cut, not like falling over and grazing your knee, it's an animal using its teeth to inject toxic pathogens into your bloodstream
without antibiotics you could get septicemia, also the wounds using need to be kept open to reduce the risk of infection that way pus and fluids can drain out easily.
However leaving the wound open means it takes longer to heal and you'll be left with a scar

I have a 2 year old Golden Retriever ( my 4th) and at 4 months he was a total arsehole! Looked cute but was pretty bitey
Kicking your dog wants nice but you say she was " kicking him away" rather than actually laying into him with her foot, which is understandable if she's frightened or dogs/doesn't like them.
You were wrong I'm afraid, if he won't come back straight away you need to keep him on a long lead or grab him as soon as you see anyone
If it makes you feel better from my experience of Goldies I doubt your puppy cared and it probably added to the fun as far as he was concerned

To be honest, it sounds to me like the problem is more her than the dog/situation. Being that scared of an Andrex puppy is not normal.

Fair enough if it was a massive dog baring his teeth at her but she over reacted. People can be weird.

If she really has some kind of traumatic incident in her past that causes her to be exceptionally scared of any dog then why is she going for a walk in a public park that is well known for being a place frequented by dogs?

She probably causes more of a public nuisance with her fag butts and swearing than any dog being exercised in that park.

Yes, maybe you should keep your dog on the lead but any dog trainer will tell you that at some point you have to try her off the lead and expose her to other people and dogs - that's how they learn.

The simple facts are that your dog was running around a park and was quite near to some humans. She wasn't actually doing anything to cause offence or distress - did she growl, bark, jump up, bite, foul without it being cleared up? No, none of those things. The woman needs to get over herself.

If you're that scared of dogs that you can't be near a puppy without kicking it then you need counselling.

To be honest, it sounds to me like the problem is more her than the dog/situation. Being that scared of an Andrex puppy is not normal.

Any dog bounding up to someone who doesn’t know it can be scary, especially if you have a child with you. As many people have pointed out, this dog isn’t just a tiny puppy.

OP, I think this is why sometimes I get fed up with dog owners, who assume that everyone else must love their dogs as much as they do.

Not everyone wants a 'hyper' dog rushing up to them and their baby in a push chair ... this sort of thing is really scary to anyone a) who has a dog phobia or is just nervous around dogs and b) a tiny baby to which even a puppy is of the size to loom large.

Next time keep your dog on a lead - especially around children and other animals.

There is a difference between seeking a dog out to abuse it and trying to get rid of it when it comes too close.If you wait to see if a dog is going to bite until it bites you then you have waited too long. If a dog is not going back to its owner when called then how can you tell if its trained or not.

I have a dog. He is the complete personification of the idea that dogs are too good for humans. Nothing but love and joy. But no recall to speak off. He loves people, new people, new people to be petted by. But this is unnerving for some people so he is never off the leash. Because I know that people dont see the same dog I do.

Dog owners who are happy for their pets to bound over to people and babies would be well advised to realise this.

The woman kicked out to keep a strange dog away. She wasn't launching a violent attack. I've done the same thing numerous times when dogs have run up to mine.

I would have told fag ash Lil that if she kicked my puppy again I would give her a good hard kick to see how she liked it.

Well if a random person runs up to you starts jumping on you then you probably would kick them to get them off you wouldn't you

@blueskydreams but the dog didn't jump on her. From what I could tell from the original post, the puppy was at her feet and never made any attempt to actually touch Fag Ash Lil and her poor passive smoking kid?

@natalieozipova

This is it, isn't it? I don't like dogs. Don't mind at all if you choose to have one....as long as it doesn't come near me. I don't care if it's friendly. I don't want to engage with it. I don't want to be forced to engage with it.

My DD is very friendly, but that doesn't automatically mean that you should be expected to put up with her wiping her nose on your legs.

It's just about basic courtesy and respect for other people. Good manners.

LOL this made me laugh!

Upshot is, the OP is wrong. She should have had control of her dog and she didn't. The woman had a little baby that she was protecting, and the woman did NOTHING wrong. I would have knocked any dog away that came near my baby. And using the fact she is a smoker to deflect your own wrong-doing is low and pathetic.

When will people realise that very few people are interested in their sniffy, yappy, hyper-active, muddy, furbabies, and we don't WANT them jumping all over us, and lurching at our babies.

And no, we WON'T stop going in parks in the evening to avoid dogs on the loose. You dog owners need to get your act together and control your mutts, or keep them on a leash!

As someone who regularly takes a young baby to the park and has dogs approach us, I have not once, ever, ever EVER felt the need to kick one. What is wrong with people? Even when they’re excitable and jumping up. Annoying but kick worthy? No.

So the woman kicked your dog before the dog had even reached her? How does that work? She'd have to be pretty close to the dog to be able to kick it. And she kept kicking her and the dog didn't run away? And you didn't tell her to stop? What a strange situation .

I have a feeling that the OP used the word 'kicking' a bit liberally. The lady probably pushed the puppy with her foot to keep it at bay. Which I have to admit, I have done before. I am a childminder and I Absolutely Hate it when dogs come running towards me when I am carrying a child, when a child is walking, or when they are in a pushchair. In the dark, when a dog is running towards you, you do not know if it's a puppy.

I can't believe there are people that believe you can't train recall unless you let the dog off the lead! My current dog and several dogs before have been 100% reliable before I ever let them off, you use a long line it's not rocket science!

I expect these are the same people that own the "don't worry he's just being friendly jumping up and chewing your arm" dogs as well.

All it takes is one time your dog dosnt listen to your recall and approaches an aggressive dog or runs in the road.