Massive dog, felt genuinely frightened- being a complete baby?

[notallmenbutalwaysaman]

I usually love dogs and rarely, if ever, have any fear around them unless they are evidently aggressive. I am also very pregnant (basically about to give birth) and pretty hormonal/feeling quite vulnerable.

I was out for a walk (waddle) today and on my way back a couple were walking with their dog. I don't have a dog of my own but I had stroked a friendly dog previously during my walk so probably smelt of dog. The couple's dog was a german shepherd and huge and they shouted ahead "don't worry, he's really friendly"- fine, I have no issue with german shepherds. He was off the lead and I assumed they meant he'd come up and sniff at me and want a pat or something. Anyway he bounded up to me and I admit up close I did feel a little intimidated by the size of him- he was more like a wolf- but I wasn't trying to show any fear and was still being polite to the couple. The dog then began circling me and barking (in what, in my admittedly rather hormonal state, felt a very aggressive manner). They kept repeating he was harmless but he wasn't coming when they called him. I stupidly seemed to freeze with the dog circling me and barking, and my partner had to come and grab me and insist I walked on.

Was I being a complete baby? The dog didn't attack; there was no attempt to bite or anything, it was just a feeling I had of being in real danger. I'm sure he just wanted to play really. Were the couple out of order or was I being dramatic? I don't think the couple were best pleased with my attitude towards him.

Thank you, I really appreciate the validation! I'm still feeling shaky and it's shocked me how I've reacted as I'm usually pretty fearless with animals having grown up in the countryside and having plenty of school friends with actual farms. I do feel pretty ridiculous about my own reaction, and embarrassed as the couple obliviously thought I was a bit pathetic, so it's nice to know it wasn't totally over the top!

You're probably right and he was fascinated by how different I smelt or something due to being pregnant, but it just didn't feel right in the moment.

An owners that allowed a dog to corcle
yiu and bark are twats

Seriously. I mean, I know you feel embarrassed about it, but don’t - take our societal expectations out of it. A large creature, capable of harming you, is circling you while making an extremely loud, aggressive noise. The one thing that would stop them from doing it (in this case, owner recall) isn’t working. You are extremely vulnerable as a person who is very close to giving birth. It would be illogical NOT to feel afraid.

If the dog doesn’t have perfect recall, then a large breed dog (regardless of additional circumstances), but in this case, ALSO one that the police and military use to intimidate and attack criminals/enemies, definitely needs to be on a leash.

In the country where I live, any dog over a certain size has to prove that they are well-behaved (have received training), must be leashed, and the owner must carry liability insurance which they cannot get unless the dog’s passed a behavior test from the government. This includes large Golden Retrievers, just the same way it includes dogs people find “more dangerous.” The question is whether the dog can knock you over, and seriously injure you. When you’re so very pregnant, even being knocked over (though not attacked) could be awful.

I have a big dog, he's a Border Collie, Staffie, Ridgeback cross. He's as friendly as they come, but I don't expect anyone else to know that, or take my word for it! I'd never let him bound up to anyone who didn't know him, especially a heavily pregnant woman. Not because he'd harm them, but because people shouldn't be expected to accommodate some unknown dog.

YANBU the dog owners were well out of order.

A dog that behaves like that is absolutely not harmless, it should have been on a lead anyway, but especially if they have no recall. They are obnoxious idiots.

Yes we are all irresponsible twats 🙄

Op I've got 2 dogs and would never let them get too close to people.

I have a huge dog and put him on lead near people, other dogs, cats, horses etc and give treats to 'look at me'. The owners were idiots.

You're fine. Don't blame the hormones. It's perfectly valid for anyone to feel scared in that situation.

Since the dog did not return to the owner when called, it was out of control.
It should not have been off its leash, as they were not able to control it.

No wonder you were upset.

YANBU! I wasn’t anxious around dogs until I visited my friend when I was pregnant and she let both of her big labradors jump up at/on me while she laughed and said they were being friendly :/ I was literally backed into a corner facing the wall so they wouldn’t be able to reach my bump, it was awful.

Honestly there really are a lot of dog owners who are ‘entitled irresponsible twats’, when I had dogs I’d have been absolutely mortified if they’d acted like that!

OP you just feel more vulnerable when you are pregnant and that’s totally normal. You have zero reason to be embarrassed. If they can’t see how threatening their dog might appear to another person they are idiots. My lab was friendly with all people but nonetheless I was well aware he was a large, well built dog with immense power and some people are just scared of dogs, so because I’m not a twat I didn’t allow him to approach anyone unless they said they wanted him to. It’s basic manners.

Those dog owners were entitled irresponsible twats! Not all dog owners are though. Our dog is very well trained. DH will walk him off lead in some quiet places, if he sees people approaching he tells the dog “wait” and the dog will stand still while DH puts the lead in him. 😊

As the dog had no recall it should have been on a lead, no matter how "friendly".

You’ll get the NADOALT (not all dog owners etc. etc.) but just like men enough of them are idiots to be able to generalise.

Completely out of order even more so in your condition to allow a dog to race up to you like that.
Dog owners who behave like this and spout the same old script/shit ie don't worry he's friendly are absolute morons...
I apologise on behalf of all sensible dog owners and nest wishes.

I have a big dog and I really like big dogs and am generally pretty relaxed around them. I would not have been at all happy to be circled and barked at by a German shepherd.

My dog is off-lead quite a lot (pretty normal in the rural area where I live, with lots of open space) but he is absolutely not interested in other people while out. He would never choose to approach a stranger or bark at them, and he would rather they didn't approach him either! If he had any tendency to behave like the dog you met, I would put him on the lead. Not all dog owners are inconsiderate twats.

My dog won’t recall when there is another dog about, therefore he’s always on a long lead. Until recall is 💯 % dog should stay on lead. YANBU

It's unpleasant to feel scared like that especially when pregnant, and of course you weren't being "unreasonable" to feel scared - you feel what you feel. I remember when I was pregnant somebody's on lead Labrador jumped up at me and I felt upset and furious, tho in retrospect it wasn't really the person's fault - I don't suppose they knew it would do that or even thought it possible.

The owners of the dog in your OP weren't necessarily behaving appallingly either, as possibly they didn't realise you were so scared. I doubt they meant you any harm or are in general terrible people.

I know people say that "a dog which doesn't have recall shouldn't be off the lead", but even well trained dogs aren't robots who behave 100% predictably at all times - very few dogs have 100% perfect recall in every single situation. This dog may have been 98% reliable, or 75% reliable , or maybe not reliable at all - who knows?

Most likely it's just one of those things that happens. It's not nice that you were scared, but everyone survived unscathed, so I would try not to dwell on it too much if I were you. Good luck with the rest of the pregnancy.

My DS could have written your post word for word, including type of dog (but not pregnancy) a few weeks ago! Totally unacceptable!

YWNBU. I have been attacked twice by dogs in my 55 years. Both were German Shepherds which I realise is coincidence. One came from nowhere when I walked past his house in suburbia, and the second while I was out walking minding my own business but this second one did exactly what you describe before it went for me. It circled and barked, then attacked just before the owner grabbed it. That isn't playful behaviour.

Totally disagree

YANBU. I adore dogs of all shapes and sizes and have 3 of my own, but they're on a lead around people they don't know for this exact reason. My dogs are my responsibility.

YANBU, I'm sick of irresponsible dog owners like this. The sooner mules and leashes are mandatory, the better

YANBU, can't stand people like that, I don't allow my dogs to approach anyone when they're out.