To have pushed the dog with my foot

[AGreaterGrate]

I did not kick it, or hurt it, but pushed the barking, growling, yapping thing away with the side of my foot as it kept biting towards my ankles.

I'm SO fed up of dog owners not controlling their dogs!

I'm a runner and will go out of my way to give dogs lots of space, I stop and walk if one is wearing an 'I'm nervous' vest, I never run up behind a dog and their owner, I love dogs and have fostered many so I recognise when a dog may be triggered by a runner and I give space/start walking/Cross over the road etc.

But it's always little yapping ones on extendable leads, IF they're on lead at all, and owners not giving a crap, as they run towards me, with zero recall, nipping at my ankles. Yes, I will push your dog away if it's not under your control.

Why they don’t listen

Of course you can push away an animal that’s attacking you, all be it mildly. You could push a human that was nipping you if that ever happened come to that!

Little dogs on near invisible, extendable leads are very common near us. They’re such a hazard as the leads are always completely unlimited, leaving the dogs to walk into people’s path. As above people seem to have near invisible long leads - either seemingly transparent or incredible thin - that children can’t see, and could go whacking in to.

I'm a massive animal lover, and I have a particular fondness for dogs. I don't think YABU. But let's just call it what it is - crap owners!

@VeniVidiWeeWee he kicked the cat across the fucking room. He is a wanker.

I’m a dog lover and owner and you are not being unreasonable. I don’t know why owners of smaller dogs think it’s ok to let their dogs do that, this coming from someone that has smaller dogs.

You're being perfectly reasonable, IMHO. I write as a dog-walker with two small dogs and often come across joggers on the pavements locally; I always keep my pooches on a short lead as I wouldn't want a jogger to trip over my dogs' keads and thus do himself a mischief.

Not worried about the noisy little one biting as she hasn't got any teeth !

If my big dog off lead came towards you like that I would expect a decent kick away/ not to hurt him but he is so strong and wouldn't be off lead to intimidate anyone. People don't seem to think rules apply with cute little dogs , but the amount of times they come running up out of nowhere with no owner around is scary, not forgetting they are the ones who poo everywhere while owners are walking ahead or chatting 😐

@AllThingsServeTheBeam That’s actually the worst thing you can do, 😂 so don’t do that @AGreaterGrate !

I've had to push dogs away from my little dog before, she's deaf and gets frightened when they run up to her and won't leave her alone because their owners can't/won't call them back. Drives me mad. Yanbu.

I'm a dog owner. If my dog came yapping and attacking your ankles, I'd expect you to give it a kick. I'd do the same to my own dog if they did that to me. Vicious pets should be kept on a short lead.

It sounds like you're a more considerate jogger/cyclist than many round here as they approached from behind silently and when I asked them to stop/slow they'd just continue while I frantically tried to put her on the lead and get her to one side so they could pass without her chasing them

This is insane, if you can’t stop your dog chasing people then it needs to be on a lead all the time. You can’t ask people to stop while you sort your out of control dog out! I have a 40 minute cycle commute during which I probably pass 100s of dogs. I’d never get to work if I had to stop and wait at all of them!

You need to watch them by the sounds of it - he didn't nudge it with his foot at all.
He's holding it, drops it and kicks it whilst mid air, like a football across the room. He then chases it and slaps it.

Clearly you've not actually watched the video at all. It's not remotely the same, and you sound idiotic at the comparison.

It sounds like you're a more considerate jogger/cyclist than many round here as they approached from behind silently and when I asked them to stop/slow they'd just continue while I frantically tried to put her on the lead and get her to one side so they could pass without her chasing them

You can't be serious @Binkybix . You really expect cyclists to stop for every dog owner? Cycles don't make a noise, so expecting them to approach you non silently is also bizarre.
Just keep your dog on a lead when you're on a path.

This is just entitled dog owner at its finest. 😂

They should use a bell or call out- not to do so is unsafe. How can I stay out of your way and keep my dog out of your way if I don't know you are there?

To have a cycle suddenly appear next to you is really startling. If I shriek because I'm startled, then my dog alerts and gets agitated too.

Use a bell, it's what it's for!

Not unreasonable at all.

I often nudge the cat with my foot, a dog is no different.

Also other people’s dogs are just like other people’s kids… a fucking pain!

In mixed use areas, everyone needs to be considerate of everyone else. My puppy started chasing bikes, so I trained him to come back to my side when he saw a bike. Worked brilliantly until some knob cycled at speed between us, with no warning, so his attempt to get to me got him kicked and sworn at by the cyclist.

I admire your patience to push. I’m afraid I’d have kicked it if I felt threatened by it being too close and yapping, showing intent to harm me.

Cyclists can't use their bell or call out to every single person. They use it when necessary as there's not much space or they're concerned that someone might be about to step out in front of them. Personally I find a sudden bike bell sounded behind me, a lot more startling than a bike passing me

If you’re going to leave your dog off lead in a place where there are cyclists, you need to be more aware tbh.
They don’t always have bells and just try to manoeuvre around.

I always listen or glance around in areas like that. On foot, I feel it’s easier for me to change faster than they can. (I’m not a cyclist)

Agree

Not unreasonable. It usually small dogs too that do this, I think because they don't look as threatening as big dogs, their owners don't think to train them out of it.

I am a runner, cycling and horse rider. For running, I have perfected my half growl/shout of "ggget off!" That often works. If not, I will push away with my foot. Never kick. But it's too dangerous to get your face close and move with your hands a jumpy snappy dog. With horse riding, I do take a stick. My horse is forward enough never to need it, but in comes in handy as a dog-scarer and fly remover tool. Although tbh, my horse was attacked by a loose dog in her field when she was young (before I owned her) and if a dog comes close she will stamp her feet and and threaten to kick (which I do try my best to stop the threatening/kicking out) but is also good dog deterrent

I wouldn't. As I said. Can you not read?

If my nan didnt have her stick with her she probably would have been mauled by the vicious Akita that almost killed her dog as well. Thankfully for my nan she was twatting the vile thing over and over again across the head.

So yeah.... Not the worst thing

Why would a dog like that be off lead in a place like that?!

I was running along the seafront one day & stopped to stretch off my calves when someone's yappy little shite ran up and bit me on the achilles. Lucky I didn't pick it up and toss it over the sea wall!! (Obviously I didn't and would never do that!) I love dogs and have my own dogs but I hate idiots who own dogs and don't give a flying F* what they get up to. So no, not unreasonable to give it a push - quite restrained I think!