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 dog that size can still do significant damage to a child just by taking them out at speed, you were not wrong, you used a non aggressive block to protect your daughter from an unknown animal like any parent would.

YANBU! I've had this in the past where people have brushed it off with a "oh don't worry, he's friendly" which has been met with a swift reply of "he might be, but I'm not!" They usually remove their pet sharpish!
DS is allergic to dogs (as in, he got licked by one and went into anaphylaxis, not just gets a bit sniffly). I wouldn't hesitate to kick a dog away if it was too near my child and the owner couldn't/wouldn't recall it.

Dog lover here, you are not being unreasonable. I'd be terrified of a big dog running at me. I got knocked over by a German Shepard when I was pregnant, so I'm still a bit scared of them now. You must have felt really vulnerable with a
baby and a toddler.

Some dog owners are delusional about how dangerous they can be. Animals can never be completely predictable, why the hell should I listen to a complete stranger telling me to relax when a big energetic out of control working dog is lunging at me? Make the wrong move and you can end up getting bitten.

It was stupid for him to get offended.

Of course YANBU!

I shoved a French Bulldog away with my foot/ lower leg just the other day because it was growling and trying to get at my little floofy dog who was trying to hide behind me. The owner looked a bit aggro at first but when she finally caught up to us and I explained what Frenchie was doing she apologized and was fine.

It's defense, not attack. You can't hurt a dog by blocking/ shoving it a bit. I love dogs and would never hurt one unless it was seriously trying to bite me or Ddog or DC.

9 years ago I was sitting on a park bench when a large dog came over the brow of the hill chasing a ball which his owner had thrown. As the owner had thrown it beyond where he could see, he had thrown it directly at me, and I still have the enormous bump on my leg from where it hit me. The young guy whose dog it was didnt seem to be too bothered - but if I had been smaller or frailer it would have been a lot worse. It is much more likely that a dog would knock someone over than bite them to be honest and he was an idiot for reacting like he did. I would never let my dog run up to a child.

I would do the same thing if a strange dog came bounding up to me and would expect someone else to do the same if my dog ran at them. The alternative is you letting your child get knocked over by his dog, or allowing the dog to jump on you. Neither are acceptable. Some people are really precious about their dogs though which includes not disciplining them.

If my dogs did that I would totally accept someone put their foot out. I’m usually all for defending the dog camp on here but on this occasion you’re right

YANBU in the slightest.

Nothing worse than a dog owner who expects others to put up with their dog's poor behaviour.

I think the vast majority of parents would have done the same. Even if you'd have been on your own you would have been well within your rights to put out arms or legs to stop a dog running into you. Friendly my arse!!

Well done for acting so quickly.

The bloke is an ignorant twat and your DD could have been hurt really badly.

My male colleague got knocked over by a bolting dog in a park just before Christmas and his shoulder is still broken.

I'm a dog owner and keep him a lead if there is any chance if meeting another dog or child. The owner was a complete dick.
Years ago our little dog (shitzh cross) was attacked (on his lead) by an aggressive off lead staffy. He was savaged and needed an operation to sew his neck back together. Our son (then a young teenaer) stupidly kicked the staffie as hard as he could and it landed several feet away. He wouldn't hurt a fly usually but acted on instinct and just kicked out to stop it killing our dog.
The staffies owner went mental, really screaming that my son was an aggressive little bastard and he would RIP his effing head off. Not a thought that our little dog was practically torn apart. Some people dont deserve to live in a decent society.

@Serin that’s awful! So sorry that happened, were the police involved? Hope your dog survived

I am sick of off lead dogs.

@dontbefatist

We really need what other civilised countries have, which is dedicated dog parks, which are separate to human parks.

At best the current situation is human parks being glorified dog toilets, mid-way is humans avoiding parks due to dogs, worst case is dogs chasing humans who are taking recreation or doing exercise and potentially harming them.

People have dogs requiring a lot of exercise, sometimes off the lead, but the dogs often have very poor recall. This is bad enough in the countryside, but parks should be separated out into dog park and human park.

Agree with this.

I am sick of off lead dogs
I agree, there are some well behaved ones but b/c of all the bad dog owners we now have to be wary of ALL dogs:(

I remember many years ago witnessing at a distance a jack russell attacked by a pit bull type, the shrieks of the small dog were awful :(

I’m a dog owner. I would be horrified if my dog ran at a child like that. Sounds like you were very reserved. Hope your little girl is ok.

I’ve got a very friendly Labrador who wouldn’t hurt a fly and particularly loves children, but no one else knows that she’s friendly and her version of friendly is pretty intimidating to a child. So I keep her on a lead in an environment where she won’t be able to help herself and will bound up. And, as others have said, no dog is 100% reliable. He’s completely in the wrong and he knows it. I suspect he was embarrassed at the lack of control so turned it on you. Silly man.

You DS did the right thing, @Serin.

You were definitely NOT unreasonable. People need to control their bloody dogs. I have a dog, I LOVE dogs, yet I kicked my neighbours dog a few weeks ago . I was walking my dog (on a lead) and she went for him, biting his back (the neighbours dog, not the neighbour!) It was complete instinct, I've literally never harmed a fly and will gently shoo them out window , but when something is a threat to you/your child/your animal then natural reactions take over as nature intended. I can only imagine my reaction if it had been my three year old instead of my dog.

The neighbour was there and was screaming at her dog to stop but she didn't pay any attention to her owner. The kick was the only thing that stopped her. I did feel guilty/mortified after but I'd do it again if the situation arose. Since lockdown we've had swarms of dog walkers around here like never before and the arrogance of some owners is astounding. They all say "oh he won't touch you" as if they could bloody stop it if he did!

Definitely not unreasonable..

Im a dog owner of large dogs, they do not run at people, they recall when asked to do so, they go on the lead if necessary.

If you encounter this pillock again and I hope you don't, tell him to feel free to call the police, you can then report his dog as out of control in a public place, and that you had reasonable apprehension of injury to your child or yourself - thats an offence under the control of dogs act.

If he doesn't want folk worrying about his dogs behaviour he needs to keep the dog on lead and teach it a recall!

Some people just don't bother to train their dogs. They shout 'he's fine' because they know they are incapable of shouting for Fido and him responding. If there is any dog stuff going on you know you have trouble when there is no voice calling the errant dog. I am a lifelong German Shepherd owner - I always train my dogs - people would keel over if an out of control friendly German Shepherd ran at them. But my dogs are constantly attacked by untrained dogs whose owners can't call them, so much so that in parks with lots of dogs I keep mine on the lead. These untrained dogs attack horses too and terrify their riders. I think people's dog ownership should be contingent on training up to a level of a strong recall at the very least, testing paid for by a licence fee.

Well try not to put out your foot/kick again unless really necessary.

He then started a rant about reporting me to the police for battering a dog and people like me should be on a poster?!

The answer to that is 'Go right ahead, I'm sure the police would love to hear about little children being scared by out of control dogs!'

He's just an entitled bully.

The dog was not under his control, and shouldn't have been off lead. You were right to protect your toddler.