Neighbours dog has just attacked me and DD.

[katkat90]

Have had issues with them in the past

They are elderly, with two large breed dogs (think Great Danes?). They cannot control them. Honestly the amount of times I have seen them nearly pull them over in the street/simply pull out of their grasp and go bouncing off and jumping all over people is untrue.

Was walking back from the shop and saw them coming from a distance so I stepped to the side into another neighbours driveway and next thing I know- one of them had pulled out of its owners grasp and came bounding over and knocked DD (who is just about getting confident with her toddling) over.

It was over in seconds- by the time I put the break on the pram (was stood on a slopes drive so it would of ran off into the road) and went to grab DD she was already on the floor the dog barking at her- so I kicked it to get it away, and it bit my leg.

I was furious. Owner very embarrassed an apologetic but I’ve said enough is enough and I would be contacting the police and the RSPCA.

Heaven forbid it bounded on the pram and just decided to bite my 2 week old. It would of taken her head off no doubt.

V shaken and waiting for DH to get home to call the police and RSPCA.

I’ve also messaged his daughter on Facebook

Sure, she needs to know how to control her own pets.

This situation should never have happened. It is completely on the owners of dogs to control them.

Dog owners need to take responsibility, if the OP had injured the dog in defending her child, again, that injury is on the owner.

Any damage caused/injury inflicted, all on the owner.

Your dog, your responsibility. Dog owners cannot rely on the public having any knowledge of dogs. It is not the public's responsibility to protect themselves from your property.

This is a shitty situation.

The fault lays with the owners,it doesn't matter how big a dog is,it's the training that matters and the continuation of that training.The owners are responsible for that&the owners have failed their dogs.

The dog may not have been barking at your child out of aggression,dogs bark out of excitement too,I can't say which it was but you shouldn't have kicked it,an aggressive reaction like that will nearly always trigger a dog to react negatively and unfortunately you were bitten.

If the skin was broken you may need antibiotics.

Many people have advised you to phone the police but tbh the first port of call should be your local warden.

YABU for wearing tracksuit bottoms ✌🏻

Re: The dog, please def do something about it. Don't let this happen again. Hope your DD is ok

Is buying phone credit at the shop still a thing?

Holyshamoly

@katkat90 - how are you?

OP, I’m wondering what issues you had in the past with those dogs and how you addressed them at the time. I am not sure this warrants the ‘attack’ heading, and the whole situation could be resolved if the owners would just buy head halters for the dogs. As the owner of a young kangal I know how dogs can pull, but head halters (gentle leader type) put a stop to that.

They need to be put down.

Not necessarily. The dog didn't bite until the OP kicked out at it, and it was a nip rather than a hard bite by the sounds of things. Not that I am blaming her - I think most people would have reacted that way in a panic if a huge, barking dog broke free and rushed at them, knocking their child over.

But the dogs do need to be rehomed. The owners don't sound capable of managing large strong dogs. At the very least they should be walked separately by someone who is strong enough to control them. It sounds as though they need some training as well.

This must be the same for all mothers, but if I feel my child is threatened in any way I will definitely lash out and get distance between them. I love dogs too, but Great Danes bounding towards my daughter will certainly trigger me into action.

OP, it's perhaps time to buy a pepper spray.

I’m still reading through the thread but I’m on page 7 & it seems almost everyone ignored the fact that when her daughter was on the ground and the dog was barking at her the OP has stated the dog went to grab her daughter so she kicked it. She didn’t just kick the dog for barking. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea but it’s happened the dogs weren’t under control and she’s acting in a heat of the moment to protect her children.

Don’t need credit for 999

Instead of stopping dog licences years ago they should have made them 200 pounds which could have included a insurance for such things

Instead of stopping dog licences years ago they should have made them 200 pounds which could have included a insurance for such things

Less sure about the cost of licensing proposed, but all dogs where I am in Australia must be registered annually. £150 for unaltered dogs, less for de-sexed dogs, less if you're a pensioner. Only two cats allowed, which must be de-sexed. Dogs and cats have to be microchipped in order to be registered. They can be checked when you're out and about, though no-one I know has had this happen. There's a high level of compliance, but then this is a fairly comfortably - suburb. Insurance not included.

Can't believe some of the comments on here.

That is a dangerous dog. It could, so easily, have been much worse. They need reporting before someone is seriously hurt. Hope DD is ok. 💐

Thank god we have laws, that weren't written by the idiots on this thread.

I can't believe the amount of victim blaming on third thread.

I have been a dog owner to the most beautiful pooch that ever walked this planet and I am a mother of a toddler petrified of dogs!
Had a dog ran up to my DD and knocked her over, I do believe my mother instincts would be to kick said dog away.

If a dog can't be controlled by its owner the dog shouldn't be with said owner.
Knowing that I kicked dog, i would fully expect it to bite back. The dog has instincts just as much as me.

I would later question dogs intentions with my daughter. Did it want to play, did I over react. I don't think I would be reporting the bite it gave me, purely because the dog attacked me after the kick.

If I believe, in hindsight that the dog just wanted to play, I would write a letter of apology to owner, but, I would also be saying it needed to be in control.

If I thought dog was actually attacking daughter, I would report.

I've got to laugh at these signs of aggressive dogs. I was walking my staffy one morning on our normal route. See a dog in a yard that doesn't normally have dogs. Has a big hedge and I thought there must be a fence I couldn't see. No, no fence, dog jumped through hedge. Friendly, wagging tail, walked up to us calmly etc We went to walk off and with absolutely no warning it nailed my dog. It was hideous. It was a wolf hound cross and pinned my dog to the ground and just chomped and chomped him. I had to wait for the right time and locked my legs in tight behind it's ribs, grabbed its collar and lifted and twisted and nearly strangled the bastard. I went off like a frog in a sock once I hauled it off my dog till the owner came out. Lady who saw it happen was amazed I got it off my dog. Council were magnificent. Incident happened at 6am, took me 15-20 mins to walk home. Reported to council, called vet. Ranger came at 8am while we were at the vet. Went and saw witness and dog and was back by 12. Dog was declared dangerous in less than a week. Luckily staffies are robust and Sam didn't become dog shy. He was such a beautiful friendly dog.

After that however, I have absolutely no tolerance for off lead dogs. Particularly ones that come bolting up. I was going off one day and the guy goes but your dog looks friendly. I said he is, it's me you've got to worry about!

I was out on the horse one day, in an on lead area. Typically encountered an off lead dog. It started eyeing my horse off and I gave the horse a pat and said don't worry sweetie, if he runs at you you can kill him. Never seen a dog get put on a lead so fast LOL

Where I am, the original scenario would be classed as a dog attack - dogs are not allowed to rush people or other animals. They don't need to bite for it to be an attack. In the situation of the OP I would have stood between the fast approaching dog and children and sent it home very authoritatively. Most dogs know home and it can be effective. Most dogs also won't attack an adult. Never step backwards and give space. Hold your position and command. Breaking the line of sight with smaller objects eg children or dogs can refocus the attacking dog. Followed up with an authoritative command to go home. I've effectively used that to stop a second attack on my staffy by a rushing dog.

Been lurking on this thread since last night whilst I caught up on posts.

This is a clear sign if bad ownership, and I completely disagree with those saying the dog should be put down. I do agree the owners should either go to training or rehome to the dogs to a capable home.

It doesn't really sound like the dog actually attacked, to be honest. Is it young? It sounds likely it bounded over wanting to play, knocked your DD over, and then barked. You kicked it so it retaliated. I wouldn't really class that as an attack. But its not appropriate at all and the owners are at fault.
Dogs can bark for so many reasons, and people often misread it. Dogs can bark when they get excited and want to play. They can bark for attention. Or they can bark aggressively. Let's be honest, without seeing the dogs body language, it's impossible to say without witnessing what happened.

I know somebody that had a boxer with no teeth, and it went over to a small dog barking and bounding around as they do when they are trying to initiate play. The owner had a dog warden at her door the next day for an 'attack'....by a toothless dog.

That being said, sometimes the instinct t9 kick a dog to get it the hell away is there. I have a dog who is about 18 months old and about a year ago he was approached by an off lead dog, whilst he was on a lead. The dog started growling, hackles raised, posture stiff. I got in the middle and it wouldn't go away. The owner just laughed and said 'oh he doesn't like young dogs'. I had some choice words at the time, but it's just textbook crappy ownership. Same as the people that can't be bothered picking up after their dog and blame it on the fact they couldn't see what their dog was doing.
I normally try to body block in instances like this uand would probably have done this first, rather than risk a misdirected bite at DD after the kick.

I would still report to the dog warden, not with the intention of reporting the bite but reporting an out of control dog in a public place (not able to hold them on a lead etc).

Thank you susieowl4
Just popped back to see if OP had returned and saw a mention :)

Unlikely the op will return, she’s returning to work today after having a baby 2 weeks ago so she’s probably busy walking her 4 dogs before she starts work (let’s hopexher 4 dogs are very well behaved and despite claims on this thread that as a member of the dog fearing public, she is able too read their body language, which with 4 dogs and 2 under 2s should be second nature. Alternatively she could still be arguing with her husband over the fact he isn’t ambitious enough.

Having read OPs post from Saturday, she sounds extremely stressed and struggling to cope with her current situation. Wondering if she literally went and kicked the dog!

I'm honestly stunned by how many people on here have been victim of random dog attacks (often more than once!).

I have been bitten by a dog however I was a small child and tried to hug a strange dog. By the time my parents saw me it was too late and he had me pinned. I've been around dogs my whole life, all my family have dogs, we spend most of our free time out walking often surrounded by dogs and owners. I don't know anyone who has been subject to random dog attacks.

I probably would have mentioned the 4 dogs in my OP. It seem relevant because OP is clearly an experienced dog owner herself.

Hope she's OK.

Report to the police, the dogs were out of control and not for the first time from the sounds of it. Next time coukd be another child, another dog, baby anyone. The dog should not have been able to knock the child over, it sould have been under the owner's control, and could easily have knocked the pram hurting the baby.

The dogs also don't deserve two incompetent owners who aren't meeting their needs. Better they are rehomed with people who can see to their needs.