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.

The dog doesn’t need to be put to sleep, and I do advocate that for vicious dogs

It really doesn’t. Do you always over react to this extent?

Child was bitten on the face and needed hospital treatment. The kid's parents got the police involved, and also made life very difficult for the dog owner (they were neighbours).
It was awful, and I think back to his posts in the group a lot. He had a lot of good advice (there are solicitors that specialise in things like this).

A few times, there have been posts on here saying that children need to be educated about how to act around dogs. No different to teaching them how to cross the road etc. But there is always push back about it, that it is solely the responsibility of dog owners. I don't think that is right.

This.
Some people think that dogs should not be allowed to show any negative emotion. Dogs curl back their lips and show back their teeth to warn that they are not happy with a situation. Yet, some people will say that means the dog is a danger.

I'll be honest, some times I a bit over affectionate with my dog, and will try to use her as a pillow. She lets out low growl, showing she does not want me to do that (hypocritical as she uses me as one all the time 😅). I know this is a sign she wants me to stop, so I do. That is totally normal dog behaviour.

You realise this is what people say about all the dogs who go on to attack and maul someone to death, right?

Is it? Or are you exaggerating again?

A dog that is tied up can feel cornered and threatened. They can't escape, so someone approaching them in a clumsy manner (a child) will be a threat to them.

Someone who knows dogs will approach slowly and quietly get down to their level and offer a hand. A child will most likely be going in with grabby hands, and frighten the dog.

The dog nipped because it was frightened, not because it is a danger to humans.

Yes, it is. Nobody has a dangerous dog and thinks “oh yeah, I’m sure that’ll be fine”.

You always see the owners or friends on the news afterwards going “oh but he was so friendly I just don’t understand!” 🙄

A dog reacting to a threat is not dangerous.

If a man tries to attack a woman, and she clobbers him with an umbrella, is she a threat to society? Does she deserve prison (or I would assume you would like the death penalty).

@MinnieBalloon but reading all the OP’s posts it would appear the dog jumped up and made accidental contact with DC. The dog growled and bared teeth (as a sign it wasn’t happy) and jumped up and made contact but didn’t go into bite.

My old dog sometimes jumped up and caught us with a claw, should I have had it PTS?

I don't know a single cat owner that has not had blood drawn at some point. Should all of those cats be PTS?

Ridiculous thing to say.
Dogs have killed their owners for simply sneezing and coughing.

Faces ripped off for moving a blanket.

There are far too many unstable dogs around.

Some of those dogs will have been in pain or had other underlying issues.
That is why it is always worth seeing a vet after a bite.

Always an excuse.

And no, I don’t believe in the death penalty.

Yes you do... for dogs.

I hope you never have a dog, because it sounds like you would be marching it to the vets for its final appointment for looking at someone funny.

Oh honey 😆

If you don't want your kid nipped, don't do such a piss poor job of parenting that a dog has to set the boundaries for you.

Should have been holding the child's hand, what if he/she had run into the road ffs!

And what should happen to the father who was such a shit parent he allowed his child to run at a strange dog? The dog is an animal and felt threatened. Not their fault. What's the dad's excuse for not being able to parent?

It is hugely unreasonable of you to tether your animal in a place where it could attack someone.

Only if that someone approached. A tethered animal can’t move very far - that’s the whole point.

You are a complete entitled idiot. That poor dog, having to put up with some random kid charging towards it. Kids should be kept under control at all times.

Yes, and someone did approach. A child got bitten.

They should have stayed out of the dog’s range. Not difficult. And they weren’t bitten.

The dog "nipped" the child as it jumped at them. That's what irresponsible dog owners say when they want to underplay that their dog bit someone.

If an uninvited stranger touched my face, ruffled my hair and patted me on the head, I would go for them, because it's assault.
What if a male stranger did that to your child and added a pat on their backside when they seemed friendly? Would that be OK?

I'm thoroughly sick of people who know better than me when I'm walking a dog.

Boxing Day, had a dog sitting facing me being trained to ignore others.
Walking towards us, four elderly people with three tiny teacup like dogs on leads. Over they come.

"They just want to say hello."

"Better not as I don't know this dog well and I'm training him to ignore."

"Oh he's fine, I can tell", as the women sticks her hand in my very apprehensive dog's face.

I pulled him away and heard this woman say loudly, "He was fine, his tail was wagging. She just doesn't want him near other dogs, only wants a people dog."

Often a young women with a working type Lab walks past when he's sitting and says thanks. She gets it.

Do not stick your hand in an unknown dog's face unless its owner says that is ok. The last time that happened to the dog may have been to hit it. You don't know the dog's history and teach your kids that too.
A wagging tail doesn't mean the dog is friendly either.