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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Child scared by dog.

131 replies

Boppityboopp · 05/03/2022 13:19

My daughter who is five was walking along a low wall when I dog barked at her and made her jump so she fell off onto her wrist. To be fair the dog was stationary and sat with the owners next to the wall but they made no attempt to see if she was alright and seemed almost smug that she got what was coming her for getting close to their dog. If they knew their dog was a barker why didn't they move to side? Aibu to be mad at the owners? Why are some dog owners so entitled? Perhaps it's just one of those things but at least a look of concern wouldn't have gone amiss.

OP posts:
IlFaitBeau · 05/03/2022 15:31

Wow.

A dog barked.

A child fell.

Bluetitsfly · 05/03/2022 15:40

I expect your reaction at the time was as dramatic as your post therefore giving your child a life time fear of dogs. Give her a good experience of dogs before you have a life time of mother induced dog fear instilled!

BuddhaForMary · 05/03/2022 15:45

Could be worse OP, imagine if they'd said 'don't worry he's friendly!' That's a cardinal sin on MN Grin

Notanotherwindow · 05/03/2022 15:54

Well if you don't want her falling off, she shouldn't be on there in the first place. Her safety is your job, not a random bystanders.

Dog didn't do anything wrong, neither did the owners. They have as much right to be there as she does and do not have to move aside.

If you know your daughter is scared of dogs, why didn't you walk the other way? Its you with the problem, not the dog so your responsibility to avoid it.

Thoosa · 05/03/2022 15:58

@Boppityboopp

My daughter who is five was walking along a low wall when I dog barked at her and made her jump so she fell off onto her wrist. To be fair the dog was stationary and sat with the owners next to the wall but they made no attempt to see if she was alright and seemed almost smug that she got what was coming her for getting close to their dog. If they knew their dog was a barker why didn't they move to side? Aibu to be mad at the owners? Why are some dog owners so entitled? Perhaps it's just one of those things but at least a look of concern wouldn't have gone amiss.
How the hell is it possible to ‘seem almost smug that she got what was coming her’? Did they convey it through the medium of modern dance? Or are you saying adults stood there laughing at a child with a broken wrist?
Hesma · 05/03/2022 16:03

🙄🤣

Leonberger · 05/03/2022 16:03

A dog barked outside while on a lead. Couldn’t get myself worked up about this.

CBFA · 05/03/2022 16:09

YABU for letting her walk along the wall and not for seeing potential hazards up ahead like a dog. Parenting responsibility, not other people's and especially not a dog being a dog

VivX · 05/03/2022 16:11

The owners and dog were apparently sitting (stationary) against the wall, do you expect everyone sitting along the wall to be silent or move away for your dd?

Are you frequently disappointed?

lanthanum · 05/03/2022 16:12

If they were stationary, then I think it was your job to avoid them rather than theirs to move out of your way.

SpicePumpkin · 05/03/2022 16:20

Why are some child owners so entitled?

Notanotherwindow · 05/03/2022 16:30

@SpicePumpkin 😂

Itloggedmeoutagain · 05/03/2022 16:30

Why were you not holding her hand? She's 5.
Two feet might be low to an adult but to a five year old it's probably more than half her height.
Why do you expect the dog to move? Why should they?
If I am walking with my dog on the pavement at the beach I'll have him on the lead so he doesn't bother anyone but if I was on the pavement and saw a child walk past on a wall it wouldn't occur to me to move him. Why should I
Look after your child. It's your job

XenoBitch · 05/03/2022 16:30

So a dog's bark made your DD jump, and she fell. Anything sudden could have made her jump.
What if the dog's owner had happened to sneeze and let out a ripper of a fart as your daughter passed him? That still will have made her jump.
I bet you still will have come to MN if that had been the case too.

HighOnPie · 05/03/2022 16:35

Your child startled the dog. You need to teach your child how to behave around dogs. And to be afraid after a dog barked at her is an extreme reaction Confused

Krakenchorus · 05/03/2022 16:35

@SpicePumpkin

Why are some child owners so entitled?
Grin
HighOnPie · 05/03/2022 16:36

@BuddhaForMary

Could be worse OP, imagine if they'd said 'don't worry he's friendly!' That's a cardinal sin on MN Grin
😂 😂
rainbowmash · 05/03/2022 16:40

It's not the responsibility of strangers in public to interrupt their day to cater to or fuss over your child. That's your job, and you were there to do it.

It's healthy for kids to learn early on that the outside world isn't a safe little playground made just for them. Sadly it seems some parents need to learn that too.

ArrrMeHearties · 05/03/2022 16:42

Nope the dog owner has no fault in this. I'd understand if their dog had went for your dd then I'd tofally get why you would be angry. For a dog to bark when someone goes past while it's owner has control over it aka its not running amok and over to you is fine

IfYouKnewYourChildWasAFaller · 05/03/2022 16:43

Needed a name change, could not have imagined such a wonderful one.

Some very funny replies, op you must be being UR as in general MN hates dogs.

Lorw · 05/03/2022 16:49

OP you are slightly barmy and I love it Grin

curlymom · 05/03/2022 17:07

This could have been much worse. Imagine if the child had been holding an ice cream.

TellMeMoreHellebore · 05/03/2022 17:09

i doubt the op will be back

its embarrassing for op's when literally nobody else agrees

Samcro · 05/03/2022 17:11

Place marking for the deleted for privacy message

MolkosTeenageAngst · 05/03/2022 17:12

The dog owners had positioned their dog next to a wall and out of the way of people walking by so I can’t see how they did anything wrong or why they should have moved their dog. The wall is not a pavement or a legitimate walkway and anyone walking along it is encroaching on the space of those who are sat alongside it. The onus was on you to tell your DD to get off the wall when you could see she was approaching the dog and its owners, not on them to move the dog; if I had been the dog owners I would have assumed the child’s parents would have stopped her from walking so close to the dog’s personal space considering a wall isn’t a pathway, it’s supposed to keep people away from you not be a way in which they approach you.

Next time if there are people sat next to a wall don’t let your DD walk along it, it’s rude to deviate from the pavement and be that close to people’s personal space so stick to the designated pathways or at least make your DD get off the wall until after she’s passed anyone sat by it and you shouldn’t have a problem.