Aggressive dogs in pubs

[spookyastic]

Me, my husband and my 18 moth toddler were just in a pub for tea, arrived at 6ish and in the corner of the bar were two cocker spaniels who were absolutely fine with everyone in the restaurant except our 18 month old child.
Our 18 month old was exploring (this might be unreasonable on our part) it was a small pub and she was around our bar stools, always within reach but these cockers kept lunging, barking and growling at her, at one point I had to pull my daughter by her arm as she was about to get lunged at, it made the whole experience in a very small pub really intense.
I genuinely don't know if I'm being unreasonable, these dogs were on leads and if my toddler did get bitten it would be because she went in the dogs space.
We don't hate dogs btw, we own trained gundogs ourselves who we trial to a high standard, cockers too, none would ever bite or show aggression:
We didn't say anything, we just were on guard in the bar area until we were seated but what's everyone's thoughts on this? She didn't even apologise for her dogs aggressive behaviour, but equally we didn't apologise for our toddler walking past the dogs or playing near, but it's a small pub and they were in a doorway

Because she’s only got one toddler & is still a bit of a newbie at them - assuming Dd has only been walking for 6 months 😉

And I can imagine you'd enjoy doing it. But, again, why can't you parent your child?

Hahahaha ok then. Nice of you to make assumptions based on zero information. You have absolutely no idea about my dog, how long we've been working on this, genetics or anything about our training.
Also anyone that claims they can change and extreme fear response in a day doesn't know the first thing about psychology

I’d love to know this too please.

I think yabu, I personally don’t think a toddler should be toddling round pubs. For your child’s sake & for other people in the pub. The dogs were on lead & fine with others.

I think the dog owners shld have corrected their behaviour. They should not have been barking, growling and lunging at a child.

Dogs were on a lead. Your toddler was just left to wander about the pub whilst you was on bar stools ??!

I doubt anyone but you was endeared by your toddler wandering about..

You may own 15 dogs but you didn't have the common sense to keep your toddler away from these two

You lost me at the part where you said that the dogs kept on lunging etc.

Firstly, if there was a dog lunging at your toddler, why would you be letting them wander round somewhere where the dogs would keep doing it (obviously you shouldn't have to move, but if it was a choice between your principles and potentially your child being bitten/scared, I don't think I would have stayed put)?

Secondly, why didn't you either speak to the owners or to the pub staff about it? Your responses here seem pretty robust

Why was your child wandering around? People don't do this, they sit with them at tables and play with them, colour etc.

@pollyroo nope I was holding her hand and she was always I reach. Closer to me than the dogs at a leash length
@Daveismyhero not a day, no, probably take me a few weeks to overcome whatever neurotic tendencies it's developed under your 'care'
However we've had many dogs come to us with all sorts of issues, we've never failed to improve them completely with simple obedience training in a calm and controlled manner.
Sometimes the dogs revert back with their owners, sometimes the owners keep it up.

Soft play or MacDonalds might be more appropriate than a pub for a toddler to explore.

Yabu to let your child play anywhere near snappy dogs. In any environment. Sounds dangerous. You should have taken responsibility and moved the child away from danger. Believe me I’m a pro children not pro dogs. Dogs are unpredictable and parents need to assume the worse particularly around dogs they don’t know.

Op, you are giving me vibes of a dog trainer I took my dog to who basically advised me to continually strangle (sorry, “check”) my reactive dog as we walked him round in circles with 10-15 other dogs in a small hallway.

You felt that two dogs were being aggressive to your toddler, yet never moved your toddler away from the dangerous dogs? That seems like questionable parenting at best.

The only thing that annoys me more when I’m in a pub than a barking dog is a toddler wandering around the place.

Ans I’ve got both a toddler and a dog, both of whom go out to suitable pubs with me on occasion.

Obviously dogs in a pub shouldn't be lunging and growling at a child walking past.

Also, you shouldn't have let your child wander around the pub. But that doesn't excuse the dogs' behaviour, presumably it would have happened if she'd had to walk past just through necessity. Dogs should be under more control than that.

Again, you know absolutely nothing about me or the way I handle my dog. You've got no idea what sports we train and compete in or how successful or not he is nor how long weve been working on this singular issue he has. Seems like your ignorance is part of the problem in many aspects of your life. You've taken this on a complete tangent when the point really is that aggression can be caused by many things, not only by poor ownership.

@SamAndEIIa I did keep her away from the dogs, if I hadn't she'd have been bitten

Suppose some dogs aren't used to kids and not sure how to react.
We also have a working cocker shes a gundog and wouldn't hurt a fly, adores everyone especially kids because she's more than used to them

Sounds like you parent your dogs better than your child.

If a dog is growling and lunging at a small child in a pub, it will growl and lunge at a small child in a park, on a field, on a lead or off a lead. The owner should have checked the dogs behaviour.

So you are a very experienced dog handler, with the skills to cure aggressive/badly behaved dogs with very simple obedience training (a dog whisperer), and you have posted on here why?? Surely you know what is and isnt acceptable where dog behaviour is concerned.

I wouldnt let an 18 month old crawl around the floor of a pub while I sat on barstools, dogs or no dogs!

@Thisismeyeah I have to admit it really is strange behaviour for a parent , to sit on bar stools while their toddler explores a pub . Not something I have ever seen before .

@MysticalMegx yeah we have working cockers, three of them and they are very easy going, these two were show types. I actually felt sorry for them as they were trying desperately not to look at her but occasionally they flew off the handle and took the whole pub by surprise. I could tell others were judging her and her dogs manners but she didn't seem to notice.
My daughter wasn't being rude or out of control, she actually normally loves dogs. I think it's ok to want to be able to WALK your mini human through a doorway without the risk of being savaged by out of control dogs without having to resort to picking her up!
Yes I suppose McDonald's could have been an option but equally the car or leaving her dogs at home was an option for this lady. Although I bet they've got " separation anxiety" so can't be left for 5 minutes

A few statements you’ve made make me wonder what methods you use for training tbh. Hmmm