Put my foot out at dog running

[AlexForrestBunny]

I was out with my 3year old daughter this morning at the field/ children’s park which is a couple of minutes walk from my house, all normal and fairly quiet as the weather isn’t great.
It’s a large enclosed area so there is a mix of people walking their dogs and children playing, all fine - dogs are allowed off their leads and never seen or had issues before today.
My daughter was walking next to me and I had my baby in a carrier on my chest, I heard a man shouting ‘he’s fine, don’t panic’ so I turned to see and there was a large dog running towards us, I like dogs so not one to panic if they jump up or come over to say hello but this dog was pretty big ( husky sort) and was running straight towards my daughter. Now I wasn’t thinking ‘omg it’s a crazed dog going to bite’ it was more ‘shit, it’s going to knock her off her feet running into her to say hello’ , I had the baby on my chest so my reaction was to stand in front of her and as it got upto us I put my foot to the side to stop it jumping on my daughter.
I didn’t kick it, but the guy went crazy saying how dare I touch a friendly dog with my foot, he doesn’t bite and he loves children.
I told him he seems very friendly, he was trying to jump up on a small child so I was stopping my child from being hurt, maybe he should train him not to run at children.
He then started a rant about reporting me to the police for battering a dog and people like me should be on a poster?!
AIBU that my reaction was to put my foot out to a dog?

A lot of 'friendly' dogs react to my dogs(huskies), which is quite common apparently. I always here 'I'm sorry, he's not done that before or 'he's usually friendly ', some even blame me for having a breed their dog doesn't like.

Point is, I've seen plenty of friendly dogs change and become aggressive, i wouldn't trust ANY dog.

My big dog stays on a lead around children. YANBU.

I have a huge and very friendly dog. She is not allowed off lead, and I hold onto her for dear life whenever anyone passes to stop her from jumping and imposing her enormous friendliness on passing people.

YADNBU, what a dick.

Wonder how he would feel if a horse ran at him like that? You’ve done nothing wrong, you were protecting your DD.

When I was about six months pregnant with DD (I was also massive by that point and my walk was more of a waddle) a dog jumped up at me. I stepped back obviously moving my foot backwards away from dog and it’s stupid owner told me “don’t try to kick my dog.” Did get into a bit of an argument with her and told her if her dog came near me again I’d report her to the police. Funnily enough she shut up at that point and kept her dog away from me after that.

Actually, OP, if you have a dog officer or warden locally, I would be tempted to report it. The owner should have had his dog on the lead and under control, that's the law.

@Whammyyammy

A lot of 'friendly' dogs react to my dogs(huskies), which is quite common apparently. I always here 'I'm sorry, he's not done that before or 'he's usually friendly ', some even blame me for having a breed their dog doesn't like.

Point is, I've seen plenty of friendly dogs change and become aggressive, i wouldn't trust ANY dog.

My dog is okay with huskies and the majority of other dogs, he's friendly sociable and loves to play. He bloody hates French Bulldogs though!

So many dog owners give you the same story “they’re fine” or “they’ve never done that before”. In the heat of the moment it’s not worth the risk.
I always shout to the owner to call the dog off and if they don’t respond then ultimately I will do whatever I need to make sure my kids are safe.

Since I’ve had kids this has happened too much, for me I don’t think dogs should have to be on a lead all the time, but if they don’t come when called they need to be on a lead.
My DH really lost his temper last time this happened with two dogs chasing my six year old and ended up in a v unpleasant row so probably lost his point along the way. It’s so difficult when it’s your kids, you don’t have time to consider alternative responses and putting your foot out is just an instinctive reaction. So no, I absolutely don’t think YABU

@AlexForrestBunny
In my experience of owning our own {now dear departed} dogs..MEN are the worst for this.
I learned to spot them at a distance..
Plus the ''Invisible poo''

Owner walks off pretending not to notice.

At Westonbirt Arboretum there were some Volunteers clearing underbrush....and the amount of dog shit in bags was awful.

A woman let her Cockapoo dump on the path, and I said ''Your dog has pooed''..Pointing to it.

She had the nerve to say ''that's what we pay our membership fee for so YOU clear it up''
I said ''These are Volunteers...Do you realise it is people with your attitude that could make the Arboretum be closed to dogs completely?''

She picked it up.

If you have a dog...You need to be happy cleaning up the poo.

I too have noticed shittier pavements.

If a dog makes you feel threatened, that's an offence under the dangerous dogs act. Trouble is it is four strikes even if the thing actually does attack.

Hopefully the owner won't learn the hard way that he needs to train his furbaby psycho.

Putting your foot out to create a barrier is something that a responsible dog owner should know as an early training technique.
You did nothing wrong @@AlexForrestBunny,you unfortunately came across a know of a dog owner.

As a side, whilst on a dog training webinar this weekend I remarked that there are rarely male dog owners attending.
I'll leave you with this.

*knob of a dog owner!

I was ready to come on here and say if you used your foot to kick/push away my dog I would have been very very angry

Why the fuck would your dog be that close to me?

YADNBU - unfortunately some dog owners do not understand their responsibilities when it comes to keeping their dogs under control. I had a delightful mansplainer tell me that there was nothing to worry about as my (on lead/very nervous - wearing a nervous lead and bandana) dog cowered behind my legs and his dog jumped at my legs growling. The man had already ignored my polite requests to put his dog on a lead/at least call him back - I imagine he knew his dog had little/no recall and didn’t want to embarrass himself by trying.

Yanbu, some people with dogs are so entitled. They think just because they love their dog, everyone else must love it too. I've had dogs jumping all over me and my kids while they're playing and jumping all over while we're trying to eat a picnic and just because the dog is " friendly" it must be ok. No it's not. I don't want your dog touching our food or their dirty paws all over our clothes thank you very much!!!!

If I had my way we would have no dogs in the Uk at all

I also hate it when people let their kids go up to my dogs without asking. It’s only happened twice. The worse time was when a child came up to my nervous dog and full on cuddled him. What do you do in that case? He wasn’t comfortable and he is quite vocal so I knew the risk to the child was minuscule. We both stood there uncomfortably waiting for the child to take its head of my dog’s back and arms they had wrapped round him, trying not to let the dog know how I was feeling. Not ideal at all, I know, but I’m disabled with chronic fatigue and brain fog, it can be difficult for me to muster together and speak quickly enough or to swerve the child. He was on the lead btw.

I once had a man have a massive go at me when dd was little as she wanted to stroke his dog and I explained that we had to ask people first because some dogs can hurt and are not friendly. He started shouting at me that his dog is friendly. Idiot. This is basic stuff a parent needs to teach their child to protect them.

All in all dog owners need to be less of idiots as do some parents.

@MuthaFunka61

Putting your foot out to create a barrier is something that a responsible dog owner should know as an early training technique. You did nothing wrong @*@AlexForrestBunny*,you unfortunately came across a know of a dog owner.

As a side, whilst on a dog training webinar this weekend I remarked that there are rarely male dog owners attending.
I'll leave you with this.

Funny this isn’t it?! I know so many women whose hard work training their dogs is undone by male partners who think they know better than qualified trainers/behaviourists (I know some great male dog owners too but there is definitely a certain brand of male dog owner with this attitude)

*I was ready to come on here and say if you used your foot to kick/push away my dog I would have been very very angry

Why the fuck would your dog be that close to me?*

Because sometimes when walking on pavements you do actually have to walk next to people whether you have a dog or not its not rocket science to work out that from time to time someones completely under control on lead dog would be within striking distance of someone's foot. And before you ask why would anyone kick a dog that was doing nothing wrong I have seen it happen.

Well my dog loves kids but doesn’t run at them. However, I often put her on a lead around children as they are not all familiar with dogs and some are scared. I don’t want my dog knocking a child off their feet. She’s a staffie and wouldn’t have noticed your foot , she’s like a rhino. I would have apologised to you.

YADDDDDNBU.

He needs a slap.

So many dog owners give you the same story “they’re fine” or “they’ve never done that before”. In the heat of the moment it’s not worth the risk

This. I'm quite nervous when it comes to big dogs, and the number of times I've said 'Can you get your dog away form me, I'm nervous' and been told 'Don't be silly' and 'Oh, he won't hurt you!' is worrying. Humans are capable of suddenly changing into something very nasty with little provocation - why do people think they know their dogs better? I know my dog inside out, but I can't see into the future.

YANBU. You did the right thing to protect your daughter.

Wouldn’t have noticed your foot as in it wouldn’t have hurt her. You didn’t boot the dog.

Sounds like he knew his dog shouldn't have been running at you like that so he tried to manipulate the situation so you would think you'd done something wrong.

I wouldn't report it. Hopefully the man will pull his finger out and train his dog not to do this again as I very much think that he knew he was in the wrong.

@Xenia

"If I had my way we would have no dogs in the Uk at all"

If I had my way all dog owners would be required to attend dog ownership/training classes. Dogs have been human companions for thousands of years and I'm not sure what life'd be like without mine. I'm in agreement that some dogs have been neglected in their socialisation,to not do this is neglectful