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

Oh where was the revaluation about OP owning 4 dogs? I totally missed that

The same goes for dogs. Understanding dog body language and behaving prudently around dogs, means you are less likely to be bitten by them regardless of how at fault the dog and/or its owners are.

So you are standing in a driveway, an out of control dog rushes at your child, knocks them to the ground and stands over them barking and its your fault for not acting 'prudently'?

I have heard it all now.

The dogs trust used to and I think they still do offer public liability insurance for up to 6 dogs for 30 a year
We have a similar policy for our dogs as we self insure our dogs

Police take dog on people attacks quite seriously
A local dog attacked a postman and was put to sleep and the man was banned from owning a dog for several years

I’ve been taking to court for my dog who defended herself against to other dogs attacking her

Sadly as my dog is probably 10 times the size of the snappy fuckers that ripped her leg and ear to pieces . She and I were to blame for the attack as her bite to the other dogs was a lot more damaging .
Despite all the dogs being off lead at the time
The dog that has the most damage is seen as the victim even if they are the aggressors

Is the The op the same one as the op in the recents thread where she was walking 4 dogs and her friends pug and had her baby in a sling and told another dog walker to fuck off or something
Sounds a familiar set up

Oh where was the revaluation about OP owning 4 dogs? I totally missed that

On another of the OP's threads from the weekend apparently

Ooooooooh this is that same OP??? Ffs can she not keep herself out of dog-related dramas? I’m retracting my comment that she was right to kick the dog. If she’s as experienced a dog owner as she claims (knowing the rights & wrongs of actual WALKING ALONG MINDING YOUR OWN FUCKING BUSINESS) she would have known if the dog was being aggressive or not. From her OP it sounds not, but I had assumed her to be non-dog owning & afraid of dogs. Hers are, admittedly, large breed dogs too. I’m so glad her toddler has never been knocked over by one of those three.

The dogs shouldn't have been off their leads if they had such poor recall - it's irresponsible to allow any dog, let alone such a big dog to run towards a small child.

However... if I read this correctly, the dog bit because the OP kicked the dog? So it was the OP who attacked, not the dog?

The owners are clearly in the wrong for not controlling their dog and intervention is required from the police and/or RSPCA to get them to look after their dog properly or rehome if they are just incapable of being good dog owners.

However, the second you start talking about attacks and biting, you start questioning whether the dog should be put to sleep, and here it sounds as if the OP provoked the dog. I don't think any living creature should be killed from trying to defend itself with a proportionate response when kicked! If the bite didn't actually break the skin, the dog wasn't out of control with its aggression and trying to savage the OP, the dog was trying to defend itself.

An overexcited dog doesn't need to be killed. It does, however, need a better owner who can deal with that excitement and stop the dog from scaring people.

what's really odd about all this advice is that the most recent time a dog came bounding over towards me and DD (while its 'owner' yelled ineffectually after it) I stood between it and DD and turned my back on it. This appears to have been exactly the right thing to do even though I had no idea of it at the time. Maybe there is something of animal instinct left in humans!

I did have my big boots on, and it was a smallish dog, so I had the added confidence of feeling I would be able to kick it, possibly into the pond we were standing next to if raised the aggression stakes rather than running back away.

I think the moral of this entire episode is, if you don't want your dogs getting kicked, provoked into biting and then possibly PTS, then don't let them run at other people's children out of control.

I am somewhat astounded by some of the responses here.

I will say up front I am a dog owner. I have a dog that currently most people are excited to pet as he is 3 months old and cute but I know that very shortly many will be backing off, asking me if he bites - he is an English Bull Terrier. I know he is soft as shit, so will a lot of others. But many people will not. They will see an 'attack dog' and they will react accordingly.

For me to say to them "Fuck me people, go edumecate yourself" would be utterly ridiculous. Yet here we have a lot of posters telling not just the general ready but the OP what she should have done whilst terrified for her children's safety.

That is NOT HOW IT WORKS

We aren't all bloody Ceasar Whatsisface (thank god) or any kind of bloody dog whisperers. Nor should any dog owner anticipate that A N Other Person will have any idea about any dogs.

People will react as they feel necessary if a dog threatens them. No amount of "Oh, but you should have just stood still and told it with your eyes who is boss* crap will make any difference. Well, it will. It will make most other posters thing you are total knob!

There is only one way to resolve OPs problem: she reports it to police and follows through to get those dogs removed from irresponsible twats! That is ALL anyone has to say to her!

THEN if you want to you could offer advice on how not to make yourself attractive to an overly excited or aggressive dog. Basically stand stock still, tuck your fingers away and make absolutely no eye contact. But who the fuck can do that when terrified for their safety?

Only one kind of person: someone who has experience of larger, excitable dogs. They will be able to understand all that doggy body language, tenor of growl etc. But you are pissing in the wind if you think someone who has never owned a dog will understand what you mean!

Just as a non horsey person won't really get the tonnage of horse terrified by the deadly crisp packet hiding in the hedge scenario.

So off hobby horses chaps. Just feel sympathy for OP and her children who were unnecessarily scared by idiots with large dogs!

Been a dog owner or not dosen’t stop a strangers dog attacking or becoming aggressive so it’s rather bizarre to say that if she owns dogs herself that it’s her fault

A few houses away from mine lives quite a large dog, I don't know which breed. Occasionally, when I am in my garden, it will run close to me to stand barking and snarling.

The owner if he is there, calls to it, which the dog ignores. I either go back into the house or the owner comes to get the dog.

The owner has commented to me that the dog won't hurt me, but how can I, or the owner know that? How do you know if a dog is being aggressive or just enthusiastic? Once the dog has started to attack you, it's too late.

Actually, the fact that she's a dog owner herself means that she can't be accused of being a hysterical dog hater. It's the owners she's criticising not the dogs.

She owns 4 large dogs herself though, her language doesn’t suggest a dog in attack mode until she kicked it and even then most people who understand dogs see it as warning and defensive mouthing.

The owners are clearly wrong not being able to control the dogs. No one has argued against that. But people suggesting an experienced dog owner (which one assumes she is as she has 4dogs and 2kids under 2) pepper sprays a dog which is just barking are unbelievable. Quite frankly owning 4dogs if this is the first time she’s had dogs running up to her I’d be gobsmaked!

Something about this doesn’t ring true at all with me. She’s clearly not in the best place having a 2week old and feeling forced to go back to work then kicks a dog. She’s not some frightened mother, scared of dogs unknowledgable about dog behaviour as everyone’s painted her in this post. Quite frankly if any of her 4 dogs have not knocked her DD flying at some point I’d be flabbergastered .She’s someone who is pissed off with her lot, bullies her DH to leave a job he loves because she feels entitled to have everything going her way.

Kick is a very emotive word. I'd be interested in exactly what the op mean

She was grappling with a pram on a slope so her hands were tied.
The dog knocked her toddler over and was all over her.
Did the op viciously kick out or was she just using her legs to try and move the dog away?
The dog would see both senarios as an attack but we would view it differently.

In the heat of the moment, I'm not sure I would have done anything any differently.

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the situation, it is the dog owners who are at fault for not having their dogs under control.

I am sick to death of dogs and their owners. Would them like me to come up to them and lick down tjheir leg and crotch? Would they like me to bite their leg? Would they like me to do a poo on their verge every day?
Thought not.

Ada, you should report that dog it is out of control.

Great minds think alike @Deadbudgie

Out if interest- if an out of control dog, a dog that is off the leader despite its owner admitting that it has bitten two dogs in the past and that repeatedly runs over to people when its out in a public area is reported to the dog warden - what would they actually do about it?
This is the situation I am in with a local man and his dog. Its huge, it chased me and my little terrier once and I'm terrified of it happening again. Dog has no collar, just one of those rope type leads that tighten but he rarely even puts the lead on. No ID tag either. I'm just interested in whether the dog warden would care or not, I've had no experience with them.

@SamBaileys presumably if it goes to court the dog may be ordered to wear a muzzle at all times in public. Not sure if worse if they've bitten an actual person. The owner can be prosecuted for allowing a dog to be out of control and face a large fine, community service and at worst a prison sentence. It happened to someone who walks dogs locally to us. She was walking a big dog that pulled off the lead and attacked another dog. The dog walker was left lying on the floor. Dog walker had to take legal responsibility for being in charge of the dog. The owner had lied and not disclosed to the dog walker that the dog had form and had done it before.
I am a dog owner and dog lover but there is absolutely no excuse for allowing a dog to be out of control - and yes, allowing your dog to go bounding over to members of the public who may feel threatened or intimidated is being out of control. Dogs should be trained to have recall at all times - they must respond to being told to stay away and come back, the owner of the dog in this scenario has no one to blame but themselves for the dog getting a kick from the OP.

Is the The op the same one as the op in the recents thread where she was walking 4 dogs and her friends pug and had her baby in a sling and told another dog walker to fuck off or something

Seems unlikely. She would have been giving birth around that time, and the baby in the sling was 6 months old.

@Ellapaella thank you so much for replying to me. That's really interesting- the dog is massive and when it is on the lead it pulls the owner all over the place, theres no way he could keep hold of it if it decided it was going. Just good to know that this kind of this is taken seriously. I have an awful feeling that it's a matter of time before something happens with this dog. Thanks again.

Wordthe Reading this thread has made me think that you are right.

Been a dog owner or not dosen’t stop a strangers dog attacking or becoming aggressive so it’s rather bizarre to say that if she owns dogs herself that it’s her fault

That's not what's been said though? People have just pointed out that a dog owner with so many dogs should be able to read dog body language better than someone without a dog and therefore should be more able to tell when a dog is being excitable rather than aggressive and act accordingly. Not that owning dogs stops strange dogs attacking you or that it's Ops fault the dog was out of control because she happens to own dogs 

Ada if the dog is snarling at you and ignoring recall commands then you certainly should report it for being out of control but I wouldn't suggest kicking it. As for establishing whether a dog is enthusiastic or aggressive, there's plenty of signs to look out for and loads of websites that help you identify them if you're genuinely interested to know.

sambaileys by law the dog has to have an ID tag (in addition to being under control). The dog warden would be very interested to hear about it, particularly if it has a history of aggression.

Thank you Ada 😊
since you say the dog is snarling and barking I think there is no doubt that it is behaving aggressively.
Even if the dog is 'just' being assertive that that is out of order, a dog should not place itself above humans it should not assert itself over humans it should defer to humans.
The dog is at heart a predatory animal, if it has not been properly trained to defer to humans then it is always a potential danger to humans.

I have no problem with polite well behaved dogs, a polite well behaved dog walks calmly along by it's owners site. It does not try to interact with other people or dogs unless given permission by its owner to do so.
I should not have to be inconvenienced by other people's dogs, they should not be approaching me or challenging me or asserting themselves over me or telling me off by biting me.

I do not want to be bossed about by people's dogs, I do not want to have to feel scared and intimidated because there are large predators roaming around doing their own thing.

you are standing in a driveway, an out of control dog rushes at your child, knocks them to the ground and stands over them barking

Actually op said he was barking at her not stood over her.

As it is now established that op is a dog owner then she should know that if a dog is barking at someone you turn your back on the dog. It is something I picked up when I was researching getting a dog. And this was before the internet when research wasn’t at your fingertips

A dog when it barks is just telling the owner they have seen something, found something, heard something.

Despite owning 4 dogs yourself you are either a crap dog owner or you have it in for these people so saw an opportunity to provoke a drama from a barking dog.

Whilst the dog accidentally knocked your dd over and barked at her he didn’t actually attack her and the dog didn’t attack you. You attacked the dog.