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.

Medium/Large dog lover here. OP at 4 months old your GR is not the size of a typical Andrex puppy (I know Andrex use Labradors but they will be the same size). At 4 months old he will be 3/4 of his adult size.

I wouldn't be happy with someone kicking a puppy - and at 4 months old your GR is definately still a puppy, with a lot to learn. It sounds as if his training is coming on well. Well Done you on affording him the time to train him from a young age. Maybe you should keep him closer until he has 100% recall so he doesn't get close enough to be kicked by people who don't like dogs (For whatever reason).

Hope your puppy hasn't taken backwards steps in his much needed socialization training. You will find that some people have a totally irrational fear of dogs. Maybe that's because they have encountered owners of dogs who have not been trained (and are a bloody nuisance).

As much as I love dogs I have to say I do not have much tolerance for dogs who are not aggressive and happy but so badly trained that they think its ok to jump all over me. I always blame the owner! And its owners who do not socialise their dogs at a young age who create the problem for all dog owners.

Oh you humans are not the only clever ones what with your opposable thumbs and clever wit.

Keeping your dog on a lead is more about protecting your dog than other people. Why can't people get that into their heads?

I wouldn’t have expected a puppy to have been on a lead, it sounds like the park they were in was a place with a lot of dogs out for walks. So the women shouldn’t really have been all that surprised to have a dog run over to them.

I’m not a massive fan of dogs, which is why I wouldn’t own one (I’m a cat person). I’m quite happy for a dog to come and say hello, but I wouldn’t have been so keen when my DDs were very little. Dogs can be unpredictable so I can understand their reaction.

No excuse for kicking repeatedly, though.

"There is no justifiable reason for the dog to have been on a lead.

Humans need to learn to behave appropriately.

This planet is for sharing."

Yeah those with severe dog allergies should just learn to behave appropriately. You know, like stay home or learn to call an ambulance whilst they're swelling up and experiencing breathing difficulties. A&E is for sharing too.

I wouldn’t let my children run up to strangers.
I don’t let my dogs either.

Sounds like you’ve done a great job of early socialisation, but,
now your dog is relaxed and happy around the things he may encounter, you should introduce some control.

Pushchairs, children playing, bike riders, joggers, dogs on lead, cats etc are not playthings for him unless you say it’s ok.

Strangers are not a safe thing for your dog to play with.

Oh, I hope he wasn’t too upset. If he’d bounced up to me I’d have given him a huge fuss.
Keep him safe, teach him not to approach strangers.

There is no justifiable reason for the dog to have been on a lead.

Yes there was. It had shit recall. As most puppies do.

I'd have just ate him all up.

Hampton

Okay I haven't read every reply yet but just to clear a few things up. Yes I'm currently training my puppy to recall. Up until fairly recently I always had her on the lead in the park and then off lead in a very enclosed field only visited by dog owners to train her recall. She became very good at recall in this field. But then I decided she needed to be trained in a more realistic environment as a pp said, so about two weeks ago started letting her off in the park, being very wary of how she approached people. Night has been a good time to let her off, not usually any people except the odd dog walker. There are street lights in the park so not completely dark. There is a circle in centre with a few benches. My puppy was very close to me and we were walking round here, I never let her out of my sight- always recall if I feel she's too far away. I had seen the two women were sitting down in this circle so thought they were aware of our presence. They'd then got up and were in centre of circle- puppy saw and went off to say hello (I'm bad at distance judgement but I think they were only say 5m away? Not a very big circle). I tried recall once but I've been told by trainer that when they are young they are going to get distracted and there's no point calling them because they just learn to ignore you. So instead I said to woman about her being friendly. Tbh it happened really quickly but at this point I trust my puppy to sit down on approach and definitely never jump up, so I don't think I was quick enough going over- the next thing I saw was my puppy being kicked away. She's quite a confident and well socialised puppy so I think she thought it was playing- it mustn't have been that hard as I didn't hear a yelp- which is why I saw her go back and be kicked again. Then she came back. I think. I was just really in shock and it happened very quickly as I say. Anyway I was putting her back on her lead when the other woman came over and said 'excuse me do you think that's acceptable etc.'. just the tone she took was horrible. But I understand her perspective. I see how I was in the wrong and . I don't think my puppy was hurt she seems absolutely fine- it was just very upsetting to see her be kicked like that and so misunderstood. But we'll keep on working on recall, and I'll be less naive in future. Sorry for worrying people that my puppy was hurt and thank you for everyone's concern. I guess I'm more upset about the whole reaction and then her coming over to me and having a big go at me (she was very very confrontational), but thank goodness puppy wasn't hurt and I've learned my lesson to be more careful with people in future. I'm a first time dog owner and I do get really scared a lot of the time that I'm doing it all wrong so very sensitive to things like this. But yes we'll continue on working on recall and hopefully everything will be fine in the future! Sorry for rambly message it is late!!

I'm 100% sure that the woman didn't kick the dog because she's a horrible, evil, mean, dog hating woman, but purely because her instinct to protect her baby kicked in.

If I thought a dog was going to attack my baby then I'd do the same thing. I don't agree with the people saying that no matter what the circumstances that kicking a dog is wrong. I'd kick any attacking dog if it gets them away.

YABU for placing your dog and other people in the situation you did. You didn't look after your own dog well and it's your own fault if it got hurt.

100% AGREE with @PippaSqueaks, post there word for word ^^

I am busy training my own puppy not to approach people or dogs he doesn't know but he's small and incredibly cute and I'm constantly being sabotaged by well meaning strangers (with and without dogs) who can see that I'm working hard to keep his attention focused on me as I pass them but still insist on stopping and making a fuss of him and yes encouraging him to jump up at them as "he's only a puppy".

Yes he is only a puppy but he has to learn to behave and he'll do it a lot quicker if you leave us alone to get on with it. Please if you see someone with a dog don't make a fuss of it or encourage it to jump up unless you have the owner's permission

"do you think that's acceptable" No, that lady kicked my dog, if she is hurt I will expect you to cover the vet costs.

Dog owners have just as much of a right to be in the park as anyone else, and it was 8pm on a weeknight in November, hardly like the OP let her totally untrained aggressive dog loose in a kid's playground at 3pm on a weekend.

Dog has 90% recall

Dog does not jump at people

Dog was just excitable today

Dog will never actually develop 100% recall unless exposed to situations where recall is a challenge.

If you hate dogs to the extent that you can't maintain control of yourself when encountering them, don't go places where dogs are likely to be at the times they are likely to be there. Most of the people walking in parks at 8pm in November are gonna be dog walkers.

Also if you're at risk of anaphylaxis from dog hair, you should have an epi-pen, you never know if the person next to you on the bus has a dog at home and is therefore covered in dog hair.

OP. We live semi-rurally and there's a massive country park on our doorstep, think the Fenton video.

It is the go to park for dog walkers but from my experience, most people with dogs who aren't that friendly with other dogs will walk their dogs at that time of night, so they still get the exercise they need but no fighting etc. So maybe it'd be worth considering that too? That it might not be the babywearsr next time it may be the security dog owner with five big fuck off rottweilers used in security businesses your little puppy comes across?

I know it's a ball ache but have you tried taking the dog on the same park early mornings to get them used to it when there's less dogs around. Peak dog walking times here is between 8-9. DM had a dog who didnt fair too well with other dogs so I often took him at 6am in the morning before they all came out to play.

loopsdefruit the main park used here for dogwalkers is used as a thoroughfare to get from A-B for people going to secondary school, primary school, work, college, etc.

They have just as much right to use that park as the dogs.

If the puppy hadn’t even reached the woman, how could she possibly kick it?

I own dogs, I love dogs, and it’s terrible that YOU let your dog get kicked by allowing it off leash when it’s untrained and not under your control.

Off-leash dogs terrify children and adults who are afraid of dogs, they terrify shy or traumatized dogs, they are at risk of biting others (the sweetest dog will bite if in pain, say if a child has accidentally stepped on them), and they are at risk of being bitten, hit by cars — and kicked!

Every person like you who shouts “Don’t worry! He’s friendly!”as their dog charges up to someone is 100% at fault no matter who gets hurt. And it’s ridiculous to think that strangers will magically know that your dog is four months old and “only a puppy” —YOU know that, so you should have them leashed and safe. YABVU.

Op you say you are a first time dog owner. The training you are providing your puppy with is fantastic! She obviously has the basics - Good for you! At aged 4 months you are doing really well :)

Next step is concentrating on recall and walk to heel. If you have those two training steps in the bag nobody will ever feel uncomfortable around your dog again. Plus you will have a dog to be proud of all of her life. Puppy training is essential. You are doing a grand job fair play to you x

Please don't leash your puppy in places she can run and explore OP. There is no need - provided you keep on top of her training. You cannot expect a puppy to recall 100% if its continually leashed. Your puppy needs to have adequate exercise. Teach her to recall 100% and walk to heel and you wont have a problem.

Dogs have to be kept under control. That does not mean they have to be leashed. Keeping a dog under control is easy as long as you put in the hard work when they are puppies. Good Luck :)

@loopsdefruit

If you hate dogs to the extent that you can't maintain control of yourself when encountering them, don't go places where dogs are likely to be at the times they are likely to be there. Most of the people walking in parks at 8pm in November are gonna be dog walkers.

Are you actually fucking serious?

You seriously expect me to not go out to places I may enjoy going, because of some dumb fuck-ass entitled dog-twats who have ZERO control over their mutt?

Bore off!

And I don't HATE DOGS, I hate the twat-arsed wanky nob-jockies who HAVE them, and think the world should revolve around their clingy, noisy, hyper-active fur-babies, when they can't even bastard well control them!

Beaches are the worse out of season, if I’m on one alone (without DH) to hide behind, the run towards you. I’ve usually got my iPod on, so i stand still and turn my back on them.

My son is severely mentally disabled, non verbal, and you would think a TRex was coming for him, he’s terrified of lose dogs.

Put them on a bloody lead.

dog owners have dogs for their own amusement and gratification, they are an indulgence...a kind of living toy.
Fine if that what they want to do but to other people a dog is at best just an annoying pointless thing that gets in the way and leaves shit in it's wake
at worst it's a dangerous and frightening animal on the loose

problem is they take over so many of the nice scenic outdoor places so if you like the outdoors you have to endure dog shit and annoying sometimes frightening dogs.

We definitely need more dog controls, limits on the number of dogs per household, the size of dogs and dog free zones

Kicking a puppy isn’t acceptable in my book. At least here in the US a dig is given the same legal rights as a family member.

Yes that means if someone attacks your dogs you can defend them with force.