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.

Don’t be so bloody ridiculous. It was entirely the fault of OP. I’d have been fucking livid if it had been my child. 🤬

I would never leave my dog tied up outside a shop as a) there's the possibility she could be stolen and b) she would be terrified.

It is about time parents taught children to not touch animals they don't know without first asking if it's OK. In the past week I've had 3 incidents where I've had to stop children grabbing at my dog while their parents looked on and did nothing. Yes my dog is a very small cute looking dog that doesn't mean she wants people she doesn't know touching her.

You can't leave your dog unattended again in a public space, ever. I love my dog who is the softest, stupidest animal on the planet and who, at 12, has never even come close to nipping anyone, but I still won't leave her tied up outside a shop. People are unpredictable, as are animals. It's just not worth the risk -even an incredibly tiny risk.

I would never risk tying a dog up outside a shop for the pure reason of someone taking them, you hear about dogs being stolen all the time. It’s not worth the risk.
As for the child it was failure by all the adults, the father for allowing the child to approach a strange dog and you for leaving the dog tied outside the shop. The dogs instinct was probably to run but he couldn’t do that so he attacked

Why would you allow a child to run up to a strange dog in the first place?

Any parent who allows their child to rush towards an unknown animal is stupid. Not the dog's fault.

I would however never leave my dogs tied up outside a shop. Too many idiots and thefts around.

Lots of perfect dog owners on here tonight!

I do leave my dog tied up outside the shop , it's for short periods in our safe village- lots of people do the same.

Nobody should be approaching a tied up dog though and the parents should have stopped the child.

You have had a warning now though and going forwards can't leave the dog like that again.

I used to tie my dog up outside shops all the time. Wouldn't cross my mind that it would bite a child as it never had and was good natured and cuddly.

But that was back in the day when there were no dog nappers and parents actually parented their children and warned them not to run up to dogs.

Nowadays many children have missed out on this education as people are scared to tie up dogs due to dog nappers, and kids hardly ever go to the shops alone. Which this one might have well have been as the dad was totally useless.

So to protect your dog from excited and uneducated children don't tie it up without a muzzle and preferably don't leave it unsupervised ever.

There are a few balmy posts on this thread. Probably being OTT for attention or something.

Unless your dog was secured in a position where passer-by's could not avoid a close approach (i.e. right next to the door), the child is at fault here. No one should approach an unknown dog.

But you are not entirely responsible, dogs are not robots. An unsupervised child ran towards your dog to stroke him.

Maybe your dog was trigger stacked from something that happened earlier, dog most likely felt exposed by being on his own.

I doubt the dad said “go and run up to that dog!” 🙄 Kids can be unpredictable - as can dogs. But the dog owner can do more about it. I’m fucking sick of dogs - they’re everywhere and because so many people own them now the badly behaved ones are the majority not the minority. My kids are 6 foot now so not at risk but if I had little ones I’d be living on my nerves in our local park 🤬

We’re a much more litigious society and targeted dog theft is now a huge thing particularly when you can sell the dog or pups bred from it for ££££ online.

Now concerned that I am going to be prosecuted here and my dog pts after some the pp. I checked the child was okay and they did not seem to have any cuts. Although they were understandably upset.

Bit dramatic

You are responsible because you should never have left the dog unattended. Don't do it again and if your dog is reactive, it should be muzzled outside the home.

Eek op why would you leave your dog tied up outside a shop without a muzzle?

You're lucky the parents of the child aren't pushing for your dog to be put down.

FAR from perfect. I just don't leave my dog tied up unattended, same as I always pick up her dog shit. It's something I've just never done. Small and safe Cotswolds village here as well 🤷‍♀️

People have already said not to leave the dog unattended. I would agree. But I understand why ppl do this.
i am amazed at children who run up to dogs who do not know. I seen this at the shop yesterday and was nervous seeing this. I agree with others who say children should be cautious and probably not approach dogs outside shops. Dogs can be irritated just like humans

You say in your title that the dog nipped the child. A nip is a bite, is it not?

To be honest I never understand why people leave their dogs tied up outside shops. I had a dog growing up and my family never did that.

I just wouldn’t like people interfering with my dog like this (you’re going to get people wanting to fuss, touch, feed etc them, or god forbid try and unleash them). Plus I wouldn’t want to put my dog in a situation like this where they might be frightened and snap at someone

There were dog nappers back in the day.

There just wasn’t social media to amplify it and make people feel like it was an everyday (and likely) occurrence.

Classic “my dog is usually safe” response. All dog owners think their dogs are safe and friendly. In reality, no dog is safe, and the sooner owners realise that, the better. You were lucky it wasn’t much worse, OP.

I saw the dog baring his teeth but I’m not sure if there was contact. Mum thought that his head or paw had bumped child’s mouth but there was no cut. It wasn’t exactly clear as child was still running towards him at the time. I was close enough to go over but dad didn’t even turn back.

They should not let their child run up to the dog.

you need to stop leaving your dog unattended. Even the most diligent parent might miss a moment and their child can get away for a few second. Someone might be walking by on the pavement and not pay enough attention to stay away from your dog. Someone might have a disability that makes noticing your dog harder and they end up walking too close.

unless your dog is so well trained he can handle being tied up and put into threatening situations with strangers without reacting, you shouldn’t leave him in such a vulnerable position.

Think it through, how would you as a human react in the same scenario. You can’t get away and a stranger approaches you without permission.

I'd agree with this totally.