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 ridiculous. Any child or adult running up to a dog, particulary from its side, is asking for trouble.
Teach children to respect pets

Don't be daft.
Your dog responded in a perfectly natural way; it felt threatened.
Blame the parent who allows a screaming child to run towards a dog.

It still is commonplace. A lot of the shops leave water bowls outside for dogs - it’s business!

im lucky, the lady in the post office allows people in with dogs because she knows that she won’t get a tenth of the business if she doesn’t accept the dog walkers - she doesn’t sell a lot of sweets, she sells milk, coffee, tea, biscuits, lottery, cigarettes, papers, envelopes, magazines, all types of packaging for parcels, all types of dog, cat, aquarium, bird food and anything Indian that’s in her kitchen.

one woman kicked off one day that there wasn’t a 10p chocolate bar for her child, the lady apologised, said she’d look into that - it was that day, I realised that woman has a massive brain on her - she caters her very small post office to people who spend a good few hundred pounds weekly, and go in there at least once a day for the post!

I agree with this. Your dog had no business being tied up outside a shop.

Who let's their children run at a dog? The dog was only reacting to being charged.

I know. 🙄

Your dog is clearly not ''steady''.

An old man's dog bit a child outside a shop and the court ordered that the dog {an Irish terrier type} be muzzled when out, but a destruction order could easily have happened.

A baskerville muzzle correctly fitted is no hardship to a dog.

I don't disagree but how about owners teaching their dogs not to approach my child without my permission?
My 2yo is terrified of dogs after one jumped up at him a few weeks ago. Off a lead and ran at us along with a shout of "don't worry, she's really friendly!"

I am not a legal expert, but I am a dog owner so have read the Dangerous Dog Act and in Section 3 it ‘creates a criminal offence of allowing any dog (i.e. of any breed or type) to be dangerously out of control in a public place or a place to where it is not allowed.’

’Dangerously out of control’ is rather ambiguous, but clarity can be found and I have always taken it to mean the following from the gov.uk website in the section ‘Controlling your dog in public’:

‘Your dog is considered dangerously out of control if it:

• injures someone
• makes someone worried that it might injure them’

So your question should be- was the child/ father worried your dog may injure the child even if there was no actual injury (which is not entirely clear in your post)? From what has been posted it seems fair to say- yes, the dog did worry them.

Your next question should be- are they going to report this? I would think it unlikely, but it is a lesson for all involved.

Kids run. Are you a parent? If so, I’d love to hear your tips on how to control your kids every move?!

Same. Where I live, dogs are now prioritised over little children. My preschooler is petrified having been attacked last year, yet no one cares. The dogs freedom off a lead takes priority. It’s a joke.

The dog was frightened and reacted, the dog is not to blame for the situation, so it should not be punished by being made to wear a muzzle from now, if this truly never happened before.
The child didn't know any better, it's not to blame for the situation either.

The father should not have allowed the situation (how could anyone think of allowing a small child to pet a strange dog?), but should it come to that, nobody will care, in such situations it is always the animal that is categorised as a danger.

Why did you leave your dog tied outside? Do you do this often? People are strange, sometimes cruel - I once saw an elderly man kick a dog that was tied up outside a shop just like that, out of nowhere. I would never leave my dog alone on the street unsupervised - but I think (at least I hope) that you will never do that again after today.

Lesson learned I guess, and it seems like there was no real harm done (apart from everyone getting a little scare).

Kids screaming is also a perfectly natural action!

Presumably you control your child if there’s danger of them running into the road. Why not control them if you see a tethered dog?

That's awful. My ds wasn't hurt at all thank God. Just very very shocked. But like you say, dogs seem to be a priority 🤷‍♀️

As most people have said, the adults are at fault here - you for leaving your dog unattended and unsupervised, and the parents for not supervising their child.

However, if they choose to report you, you could be prosecuted under the dangerous dogs act which would potentially require you to keep your dog on a leash and muzzled at all times. Bear in mind that the shop may have CCTV to support their case if needed.

Please don't leave your dog unattended in public ever again - you are putting him in an incredibly vulnerable situation.

Why not control your dog not to snap?

Kids can be impulsive; as can dogs.

That dog had no reason to be there, it should have been at home or on a lead with its owner.

Parents cannot control their child’s every move. To suggest so indicates either you’re not a parent, or you have forgotten what young children are like.

Having an animal as a plaything.

Walking around with the plaything animal on a piece of string.

Tying the plaything animal to a building using the string.

Not being able to prevent the plaything animal from injuring a child.

All dogs ==> sea.

I am a dog owner {well trained dog} and 100% agree with you.

My friend had her two children attacked by an English Bull Terrier that came barrelling out of a park and overturned the buggy trying to get to her baby.

Both children were bitten the dog belonged to someone who was at that time banned from keeping dogs.

The children are much older now, but it was terrifying for them and their poor mum.

Far too many people have zero control of their dogs, and if a dog is left outside, unattended, it isn't under their control.

I too am sick of bloody dogs that jump up with dirty paws, and often unclipped talons, and the owners always say the same ''Soree, he/she's friendly''

When I was a kid, shops always had dogs tied up outside. I still live in the same area and I couldnt tell you the last time I saw a dog outside a shop.
Even on holidays, yes we use the water bowls but rarely see dogs unattended.

Parents cannot control their child’s every move. To suggest so indicates either you’re not a parent, or you have forgotten what young children are like.

I assume you manage to control your child on a busy road? Or do you let them play in the traffic? I managed that level of control and I expect you do too.

Im glad there are some responsible owners like you.
The "sorry, she's friendly" shout really annoys me. To you she may be, but to a tiny child she's a huge monster.

It wasn’t the dogs fault. The parents should have been looking after their child. What sort of parents just let their kid run up to a strange unattended dog.

that said, knowing there are irresponsible parents out there I wouldn’t leave your dog alone outside a shop again. It’s just asking for trouble. Next time the parents could be from the mumsnet all dogs are evil and should be put down brigade. Then you could find yourself in a very difficult situation.

I’ve got a golden retriever, 11 months old and the amount of parents who have let and even encouraged their children to run up to her and even try and jump on the poor thing is insane.

I always stop them, every single time and somehow, that makes me the arsehole.

My dog is too fucking friendly, absolutely massive and can accidentally take a small child out with one blow of her tail.

I’d never leave her in public unattended as god knows what could happen if someone accidentally hurt her, but people are bloody idiots around dogs sometimes. Keep away from them unless invited by the owner to approach them.