How would you handle this? Large dog and teen interaction

[MirrorBack]

Firstly I don’t dislike dogs… but some owners I do. My kids like dogs, we walk a few occasionally or dog sit for friends. This isn’t an anti-dog thread before someone goes down that road…

My young teen was at the bus stop, looking for his bus that was approaching. A woman with a very large breed was next to him and the dog jumped up at my son. The dog was muzzled but the muzzle caused some minor scrapes and a mark to my sons hand. More worryingly the dog, a Belgian Malinois was large enough to knock him back. Especially as he was looking in the other direction, and hadn’t noticed she’d moved closer to him. He stumbled into the bus that was pulling away, today he has bruising to his shoulder and lower back from where the bus clipped him. It could have been worse.

She apparently asked if he was ok, he was abrupt and told her to train her dog. He was pretty shocked. She was then scowling at him and when the bus came she followed him upstairs with the dog and sat next to him. He told her to fuck off with the dog, which wasn’t being still, and went downstairs. She didn’t follow.

The dog is distinctive and so is she, a young slight woman with dyed hair. I’ve seen previous interactions. From the description I’m pretty sure I’ve seen her around. The dog is big enough to pull her around. Last time I saw them it struck me as a large untrained dog, maybe a big puppy, with limited training. I’ve seen it dragging her to chase after other dogs or into streams or to greet children. It wasn’t aggressive, but due to the size it’s a problem. She’ll be shouting at others like it’s their fault. I’ve never seen it muzzled before though.

My son is ok around dogs, not scared of dogs by the incident but he was upset by it and his bruised back from the bus is uncomfortable.

How would you follow this up? There won’t be CCTV or anything, or witnesses I believe. Son only told me when he was home around twenty minutes later. He’s an honest kid, admitted to swearing and bruising is what you’d expect from the bus. I don’t know how, but it annoys me as well as being dangerous. How would you follow up:

On a more serious note. He came downstairs again, his back is really tender and sore. I think it’s come up worse than it was at first with swelling. The flap of the door release button stuck him, the bus was gaining momentum as it was pulling away from the stand ahead of the bus stop he was at. It must have hurt, I wish he’d called me to pick him up. I have had a chat about that with him, to not brazen things out, he doesn’t have to. He told his friend before me. He was coming home later than he was meant to and felt worried, I’ve explained he can always call even if he’s not as near home as he’s claimed.

Ok then, tell me what he was wearing and the initials of the road…

Report it, and the bus company may have cctv as lots of buses have it now

I hope your son is okay. A horrible thing to have happened to him.

Big dog that pulls small owner around and jumps up at people unpredictably, in an urban area.

What could possibly go wrong???

I'd report it. Its a completely predictable accident that ended up relatively minor by sheer dumb luck.

@Desupi I don't understand why you think telling the police about something is extreme?

Merely telling them about something that happened is just that. You can tell the police anything that's bothering you - hell, I could tell them about my ingrown toenail or next door's gerbil if I wanted - the action taken (if there even is any) is then down to the police to decide on.

Part of the reason the buses have external CCTV is for collisions, I think it is definitely worth reporting. It's not that dissimilar to the jogger on the bridge, although that was more intentional.

I think she just confirmed that you were there by not saying 'no' to your question.

Your description of the event would be quite interesting.

I’m awaiting it too. I hope they post more.

Not totally sure what the cosmetic enhancements have to do with anything but I’m here for the witness

Given the radio silence from both parties I wonder if the witness has divulged directly & didn't like what she heard?

Nope. No indication yet as to why they apparently watched a child get injured, clipped by a bus and didn’t ask if they were ok or offer to call anyone etc. I’m quite interested, whatever further details, about that one. Whether they then waited the whole time to witness the further interaction on a bus or what.

Very likely to be a wind up artist, alluding to know something then disappearing.

But it’s not very funny so I would like to hear it out. Whatever happened my son can’t even sit back in a chair. They either witnessed that happen or think it’s funny enough to troll about

Big, out of control dog you see on a regular basis. Small framed young woman being regularly pulled around.muzzle.- report to non emergency police ASAP.

Your son spoke appropriately in the circumstances. When those sorts of thing happen, all bets for polite conversation are off.

A bus caused injury to your son - surely the driver should have felt it? Speak to bus company for information.

People usually have those breeds for a reason- to intimidate people. Perhaps that is why she followed him upstairs and sat close by.

Finally, I wouldn’t have turned my back on dog and owner , I’d have walked well behind and kept them in my sight.

Dog warden and police - make a statement, the dog was out of control in a public place, the lead and muzzle here make no odds.

I'd work out what bus, see if drivers remember it, let the police know that, they may have cameras on the bus that identify the woman and dog getting on and going upstairs.

She should get a visit, reminding her of her responsibilities, assuming they can track her down.

Likely outcome, bugger all as tracking her down wouldn't be that easy, however complaints add up, she sounds distinctive and can't hide forever.

If she is actually spoken to, likely just a warning will be given, letting her know that if there are further incidents or complaints, what might happen - court, fines, dog control orders etc.

The dog is unlikely to be taken from her unless something outrageous happens, for example, police attend her address and the dog attacks them (I have known that happen) or the dog is out of control and gives them serious cause - they could seize the dog, or push the owner to sign the dog over but again this is unlikely.

I'd also get DS checked out by a Dr and take photos of bruising/document injuries.

The bus will have cctv cameras. I’d report to police as non emergency. He’s very lucky the injury wasn’t worse. I appreciate his reaction wasn’t ideal but he was probably in shock/ pain.

“Hooded males” 😂😂😂

I think you should focus on feeling sorry for your son or any other people including the elderly this dog could come into contact with. I’d consider it your civic duty to report tbh. Whether it gets put down (unlikely ) or rehomed isn’t your business, you said it’s up to your teen but he is only what 15? I think you should make the report with him.

And I don’t think his reaction is a problem. The kind of woman that owns a dog like that and uses it to intimidate a teenager probably needed to spoken to that way. Or she’ll have seen him as an easy target. It seems to have did the trick.

For the person who said a puppy is unpredictable blah blah, if your dog is overpowering you and you’re not able to keep it under control it shouldn’t be on public transport. It’s completely unacceptable to me that I should end up with injuries because of your dog is “unpredictable”.

This owner even took it up the stairs, what if it behaves like this on the way down and others are on the stairs ahead of them?
Then people wonder why many don’t like dogs on buses and trains!

Also you should contact TFL asap. I’m not sure how true this is, but I’ve heard they only keep CCTV footage for a very limited period of time.

This. You’re spot on. I’m surprised some people are just seeing this as dog injured teen then he told owner to F off.

He initially just said to train the dog then the owner escalated it by trying to intimidate /annoy him by following him upstairs which is when he resorted to using that language.

There is something called the Dangerous Dogs legislation that applies to all dog breeds . Your dog must be in control and if it causes someone to have a reasonable and legitimate fear for their safety you are breaking the law. Even if your dog is a tiny poodle if it jumps up on someone eg. A stranger in a park who isn’t comfortable with it, it can be considered out of control. You must make sure your dog is under control.

Desupi
Owner of a mastiff here and I will be honest that when my dog was young she could be jumpy too. The difficulty is it takes it happening followed by the appropriate owner response to curb the behaviour. It is not helpful for people to say "you should control your dog". Young dogs are much like toddlers

Only on MN😂

It's a dog mate

When I had problems with a dog (running out of its house & crossing the road to attack mine who was on a lead) I called the non emergency police line. They had a dog section who were very good. The police said it was worth reporting as if they get enough reports they can put an order on the dog. They also managed to extract some contribution to vet bill costs from the owner (huge house car - not people who were struggling) although he seemed to think it was my fault for daring to walk on the pavement on his street.

100% dog owner was in the wrong. Should have controlled dog better, shouldn't have followed him upstairs - her actions speak that she is not a responsible dog owner. Should be reported, I think dog warden/Council would be better than police in this regard, particularly if you think she lives locally and may have had previous incident (because of the muzzle). TFL may well have CCTV from departing bus (or bus stop), particularly if reported sooner rather than later.

But also 100% agree that your son needs to learn to de-escalate or remove himself from threatening situations, just leave without comment, even when he is in the right. She might be a slight woman, but now she's a pissed off woman due to his snarky comment- she knows her dog did wrong, yet she still chose to follow him and sit by him - hardly an indicator of a good person. And quite frankly her boyfriend, brother, father etc might be violent, and if she tells a mis-truth that your kid provoked her dog, he swore at her, touched her, he could find himself at brunt of violence due to her false account of a situation that made her feel crap. Better for him to have left seat with no comment and go downstairs than giving her a verbal serve which could bring unintended consequences.

I feel certain your DS wouldn't have told a 6ft, 30 something, shaved headed male owner of a dog to fuck off.

But the general consensus that because the owner was a young girl, she's fair game for male aggression.

That's my issue here.

How is your ds this morning? If he is anything other than a bit less stiff and achy I'd take him in (though it will be a hellhole on a Sunday morning, probably). Ibuprofen gel may help but im worried the bash might be near his kidneys fo example. Make sure he is peeing normally, if not, definitely seek urgent medical attention.

And yes, report it. You will not be hurting the dog by doing this, quite the opposite.

Her following him is pretty odd and will be on footage inside the bus but not kept for long. That would make me wonder about how accidental the initial bit was.

I’d report to the police. Bus should have cameras. She could have killed your son with her dog.