Dangerous dog near miss?

[volcan]

I feel l Iike we had a near miss today and I feel awful about it. DC (5) was cycling around a housing estate where I was visiting a friend when he disappeared off round a corner with a group of kids. It was away from the main road so I wasn't overly concerned but when they didn't appear around the next corner I walked over to investigate. What I found was a massive bully type dog walking alongside my DC whilst it's owner was frantically trying to get it back into the house. The owner being a petite young girl holding a tiny baby. The dog was totally ignoring her and carried on tracking my DS. I told my DS to slow down so the dog would stop 'chasing' him and we got back to the car safely. My heart was in my mouth and still is. When I asked my DS what had happened he said the dog has escaped and he was trying to catch it to help the woman. I know this has been done a million times but my AIBU is that people should be prosecuted for allowing these animals out in public uncontrolled?

Humans are animals too. The most dangerous of all.

Comprehension levels on the decline.

try reading the OP. She wasn't walking the dog, she was trying to get it back in the house.

Don't let kids out if sight at that age. Why do people own these dogs? I get it op. The owner had no control, the dog was huge and a fighting breed, and overly interested in an unfamiliar to it little boy.There was a potential for it to go wrong. Also, there's a preponderance for dogs who aren't trained, exercised or treated properly, living in bad areas and if you add fighting breeds into the mix, of course it is scary. You should have been more aware of the potential for dodgy situations where you were anyway.

Sure. Lifetime dog owner but know nothing about dogs. You're as dramatic and hyperbolic as the OP.

Sorry, this is so weird. Pitbulls are banned here, and rightly so. I know some arseholes keep them anyway, but there's no evidence this dog was a pit bull?

She says bully type...they are all pretty much the same genetically

She didn't LET it wander about, she was trying to get it back in the house.

OP's 5 year old chased it in his bike. That's really helpful.

🙇🏻‍♀️🙇🏻‍♀️

I wouldn't want an XL bully anywhere near my kids. Those things are not pets.

'Bully type' also includes French bulldogs, which most people don't run from, shrieking in terror. From what I know, it's a very large umbrella.

Tbh, I wouldn't own one and I would feel the same reservations about my child being near one off-lead, unless I knew personally that there was no risk. But, from the content of the OP, there is simply no call, in law, for a report or a prosecution.

The law states that dogs, including bully types, can be off lead in public spaces such as parks etc. The dog was off-lead, by mistake, on a street and the owners reaction shows very clearly that this was not a routine thing as she obviously wanted it back in the house. The OP's recount of events shows it wasn't acting in a dangerous or aggressive way. The dog went back into the house and everyone was fine. I'd be extremely surprised if the dog warden even paid a visit in these circumstances.

nobody asked you

The only fatal dog attacks in the UK involving Jack Russells are

• 2012, 8 day old baby, Jack Russell crossed with something unspecified
• 2009, 3.5 month old baby - but there was also a Staffordshire bull terrier involved
• 1986, 5 day old baby

There are zero deaths, ever, in the UK involving either dachshunds or Pomeranians.

That's 3 deaths over almost 40 years, all involving very tiny, delicate babies who, to be blunt, don't take much effort to kill.

In the last 12 months alone, there have been 4 deaths involving an XL Bully, 2 involving the closely related American Bulldog, and 2 more recent ones involving an unconfirmed breed. All but one of the victims were adults.

There are small, feisty breeds which are entirely capable of drawing blood, but there's no way they're capable of bringing down an adult and nor are they frequently killing children.

Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_dog_attacks_in_the_United_Kingdom

The OP is being ridiculous, but you are also being ridiculous if you seriously think Jack Russells are as much of a danger to children as XL Bullies.

But it's a forum. Technically the OP asked her.

Regardless. 10 deaths compared to the amount of people and dogs in thr country. Its not a high probability.

You're missing the point. OP is being hugely unreasonable given nothing happened and the consensus figures

The rate at which dog attacks are increasing is a concern though. Even if the number of fatalities are low (though still completely unacceptable) they are rising sharply. We all learnt a lesson about exponential growth in the pandemic. Now we have more and more badly bred dogs designed for power and aggression. The number of attacks, injuries and deaths are going up - at what point do you acknowledge it's a problem?

Not only are your comprehension skills lacking but you seem to be unable to grasp the concept of a discussion forum 🙄

I wholly agree OP.

It's not for me to decide for others when they should be alarmed and when to decide for them if it is or is not a problem.

My response was to the OP question in AIBU. In this instance, I think she is.

@truthhurts23

😂😂you posted on a public forum.

🙄

What an idiot you sound reacting like that and taking personally. You must be one of those owners that have their dogs off a leash and the dog doesn't go to them when they are called ...

Blimey I wouldn’t have let a 5 year old be cycling out of my sight. My kids weren’t allowed out to play unsupervised until they were 8.

If anything, i would have thought this ‘altercation’ would have had the opposite effect on you? You obviously have a fear or ‘bully-type’ dogs, but this one wasn’t viscous, dangerous or out of control. Sounds like he was just enjoying a bit of freedom, being a bit naughty and ignoring its owner, and enjoying the company your son 🤷🏼‍♀️. Owner was most likely panicked because his recall is bad AND because people like you will wrongly accuse her of having a dangerous dog.

I would have thought this incident would have taught you that your opinion of ‘bully-type’ dogs was wrong.

I own a very large mastiff and she is over friendly. Regularly accused of being aggressive and dangerous. She isn't. Like I say to those people… If she was aggressive or dangerous she could have just killed your dog who started on her, but she didn’t even touch it.

if that ‘bully-type’ dog was so dangerous and out of control why didn’t it attack your son? That was a perfect opportunity for it to do so. Out, off the lead, obviously owner doesn’t have much control to get it back and your son was unsupervised.

get a grip 🙄

When dog people say friendly I take it to mean they lack control over their dog and let it approach other people without permission. I think you need to reassess the risk pp!

So the dog was just walking along, did nothing and your child approached it on a bike? No the dog (or any) should be unaccompanied and it should have proper recall. However you let your child be unattended, out of sight, to go after an unaccompanied dog with his bike. If I were you I would also be looking at your decisions

Any plans to teach your son not to chase dogs with his bike?

But it wasn’t a dangerous dog. It didn’t do anything. If it had been a dangerous dog it sounds like it has ample chance to attack your unsupervised child.

I would panic if my Lab escaped out on to a road as he has zero road sense. He’s also overly friendly and could easily knock a child over, think it’s a game, cover them in kisses and then the parent goes nuts!