Dog nipped child

[Twinkleandstressed]

Dog was tied up outside corner shop - I could see him from the till point. Only picking up one item. Dog is usually friendly and calm. Child darts out of shop with father and runs towards my dog wanting to pet him. My dog reacts my growling and going to bite him. He didn’t thankfully but did hurt his lip by jumping. Dad is useless and just walks on to car. I quickly go outside and go to apologise. Mum who is sitting in the car is consoling child - I ask if he is hurt. She says just a scrape on mouth. I apologise again and explain that my dog must have been startled but I feel terrible and that I cannot trust my dog.

Well of course, but responsible dogs owners wouldn’t be in that position.

You wouldn’t let your dog be off lead in a busy public place, and on quitter walks, only if they have bulletproof recall.

My dog is young as excitable, there’s no way I’d let her off lead anywhere bar the private, secure dog field I book every couple of weeks for her to bolt around in.

i walk her on a quiet nature trail but she’s on a 65ft long line so if her recall isn’t on form that day, I still have the control to get her back to me.

Obviously there are shit owners out there who let their dogs run wild, but most owners care about their dogs safety.

there are also some fucking idiots around who will try to call my dog over to them, to “play” with their children and get offended when I tell them to stop.

Unfortunately not all dog owners even attempt to call their dogs back. They simply shout variations of "its fine, she's really friendly" while my 2 yo screams and tries to scramble away.
The OP's situation was caused by poor behaviour from all adults. Her for leaving the dog and the dad for not keeping the child back. But it is absolutely not fair to suggest that these situations onky occur because of children annoying dogs.

Dog should never be left outside a shop
Child should never approach a dog

I dread walking past dogs that are tied to bike racks or lampposts outside shops. They look so menacing and intimidating, especially when they're the type easily triggered by people, young children, crying babies etc.

It's the responsibility of parents to keep an eye on kids, but it's the responsibility of pet owners to not leave your pet with sharp teeth unattended!

Oh, believe me as a dog owner, other dog owners piss me off too, letting their off lead dogs run up to mine when she’s on leash and they can see I’m struggling to stay upright as their dog bounds around us. “He’s friendly” is the bane of my life and the main reason I walk mine at 6am to avoid other walkers getting shitty when I tell them to call their dog back.

i agree it’s all sides. Leaving a dog unattended is stupid, letting a child run up to a dog is stupid. Having no control over a dog is beyond stupid.

Why the fuck did they have him put down? I’d have told the parents to fuck off. If a dog bites when it’s provoked, that is not a PTS situation. It is irresponsible to leave it tied up outside a shop but it wouldn’t even enter my head to have a dog pts if it reacted to a perceived threat. It’s very different to unprovoked aggression.

You should never leave your dog tied up outside a shop.
Stupid parents need to teach their children not to approach dogs without asking the owner first. Even the most friendly and placid dogs can be startled by children bounding up to them and react with growling to warn them off. Its not the dogs fault, its a natural instinct.

I think the parents of the child are partly at blame here. A child should be taught not to approach a dog. If they want to approach a dog they should ask the owner first.

I would muzzle if you are going to leave unattended. It sounds like your dog was just over excited at the child running over.

The parents of the child are ridiculous, the dog could have been a rescue/ nervous dog/ one of those bully dogs belonging to someone who doesn't give a crap - their child could have been seriously hurt or killed. Running at dogs waving your arms is never a good idea, even a normally placid dog could get freaked out. If this child tries the same approach with horses, cows, sheep, any other animals it may also get hurt. Parents should teach their children to be wary of strange dogs - the same way they should teach them not to run in front of cars or chew on live cables.

From the point of OP, it is clear that the dog is not 100% safe - and it should be treated as such. Not left on its own, muzzle if needed, warn people not to approach and not to pet it. But its not the OPs fault this happened as the dog was fine previously. It also did not bite the child, so I dont think it needs to be pts.

No, he was. Equally when I went to pet a Dandy Dinmont and it sank its teeth into my hand and wouldn’t let go so it was literally hanging from my hand, it was entirely my fault. I had a fit of the head staggers, it was monumentally stupid.

You are very lucky that they’ve not reported your dog as a danger and him/her been put down. You should not leave your dog unattended, this is on you. I have no sympathy

I can see fault on both sides. OP absolutely should not have left her dog tied up outside the shop, but the parents should also have been more closely supervising their child. If there was a dog tied up anywhere close to where I was with toddler DD I'd be tightening my grip on her hand instinctively and she wouldn't be getting anywhere near. So neither OP nor the child's parent acted great here, imo.

I wouldn’t worry too much, OP. You have both learned a lesson here no dogs outside of shops and they need to watch their child. No serious harm was done. If it were my child I wouldn’t expect a card.

@Geordiebabe85 all decent dog owners also hate the "it's fine he's friendly" type too. My dog is very small and very aware if her size, I've lost count of the times I've had to pick her up out if the way if another dog that's got no recall and the owner shouting not to worry at me, does my head in tbh. I'm courteous if I see another dog mine is called back and put on a lead, bot everyone is like that and act like your being ridiculous and offensive if you ask them to leash their dog.

I also have a problem that people don't ask if they can pet her, she's quite stand offish and not keen on being touched by strangers (don't blame her) but the problem is worse when I'm holding her as somehow they think she is super friendly and will just start trying to touch her. She won't snap or bite but she is visibly uncomfortable with it.

' @Seashor

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'@Mrsbloggz

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Why do you think your dog nipped the child? A growl and baring of teeth is a warning sign from dog to show they are not happy. Is there any evidence of it actually biting or trying to bite?

As an owner of large breed dogs I’ve realised it’s my responsibility to protect my dogs from the idiots of the world.

I don’t let people touch them. I always have them on lead in public. I don’t allow them to run up to people and I would never leave them unattended where a member of the public could touch them (front garden, tied up etc)

People have no concept of dog language or believe they are some sort of dog whisperer, children are impulsive, other people’s dogs generally are badly behaved, babied and untrained. It’s not worth the risk.

I'm like many - I'd not leave my dog tied up outside for the simple reason that someone might take him, however that is a massive parenting fail!
God years ago the kid would've got a telling off for running up to a strange dog and no one would've had a hissy fit. Parents should teach their children to behave and leave animals alone - there was plenty of room to get past the dog.
But I'm old and grumpy this morning!

If that was my child I would be going down on you hard and doing everything in my power to get that dog put to sleep, and if for some reason that didn’t happen, I would be spreading photos of you and that dog across social media so everyone in the local area knew about your dangerous mutt.

@MinnieBalloon and many people would think you were a shit parent for letting your child/not teaching them about dog behaviour to run up to a strange (to them) dog.

You’d be trying to get a dog out to sleep because you didn’t stop your child from running up to it?

Blaming a tethered dog for shitty parenting.

Very little children should be very closely supervised. There are all sorts of dangers about on the street

As should every single dog.
No dog should ever be left unattended in public.

Whilst I'd never approach an unattended dog, and always taught my child not to, I absolutely hate that people leave their dogs tied up outside the doors and gates of shops, parks, etc. it should be allowed.

And lots of people on social media would be telling you you’re being an idiot if you did this.

People can think what they like. That doesn’t make it true.