Uncontrolled dog and intimidating owner

[KedgyAngel]

Hi, writing to get opinion on what happened a few days back.
I walk my son to nearby school and there's another family with one dog off leash that go in the opposite direction on the same footpath.
Since 5 years I have never seen the dog on leash but he never used to do anything. He used to be very calm and on his own.
But recently he started sniffing me and my son and I ignored it thinking he is not going to hurt.
But yesterday morning he barked and then attacked my son. My son was able to deflect it so didn't get hurt but the incident has put me in constant fear about wellbeing of my son.
I tried to talk to the owner yesterday and she said she would put him on leash but today morning again he was off leash and I tried to video it so that if he attacked again, I have something to lodge complaint but her husband came over and got the videos deleted threatening that he will take away my phone.
I deleted the videos but he has refused to put the dog on leash and said he is a care dog and he is not to be put on leash but the thing that the dog did yesterday has made me constantly worried about my son.

I don't want an accident or anything to happen to my son.

The problem is that they let the dog loose and while she is locking the house the dog takes the left turn on the footpath already while she is still in the drive way on his own without any control from any adult and it has really disrupted my peace of mind and put me in constant stress about wellbeing of my son.

Any suggestions or opinions?

It depends what you mean by “attacked”? what actually happened? If it touched your son and you’re genuinely worried about his safety you need to report the dog. If it just barked, that’s different.

either way they shouldn’t have made you delete the videos.

Get one of those hidden camera things that you can disguise as a button..that way you will be filming and the nob won't know

Simply report it to the police - they will go and speak to them

Absolutely - especially if you know the address and can describe the dog.
From my experience, the police will go and talk to the owner and they will be told to keep their dog on a lead whilst out and about. Should they fail to do this, it will be followed up.
The owner is required to keep their dog under control and they clearly aren't. The situation could have been so much worse. And still could be.
The intimidation/defensiveness by the owner is also concerning.

Attacked how?

The dog barked and then charged towards him with full force but my son shouted and showed the dog elbow like showing he will hit him back and he diverted but I am worried that next time the dog may not divert himself

I generally dislike dogs. But that doesn't sound like a dog attack.
Can you go round, explain you got a fright, and ask them to keep dog in sight, call it back when your son passes, etc, if for some creasing it can't be on a lead?

The dog probably wasn't actually attacking your son but I appreciate it may have been scary even so
Having said that no dog should be allowed to approach someone and they should be under the owners control at all times.
Do you have a local dog warden you could speak to?

Ring the police, especially about the dog owner.

That’s not an attack. The police won’t be interested in a dog barking at someone.

What sort of dog is this?

A. That's not an attack. But I guess if you're not familiar with dogs it would be quite scary. One thing you should never do when a dog approaches is raise your arms, scream or squeal. You only make yourself more interesting and fun. Instead, freeze, be boring.
B. The owners are Idiots and need go put their dog on a lead.
C. The man has no power over you. He cannot make you delete your video. If he tries to intimidate you call the police.

The dog should not be running towards anyone barking. Report it and follow up. They should be putting it on a lead. The bullshit about it being a care dog is utterly irrelevant. Assistance dogs can of course be on a lead.

Double posted after an edit!

That’s not an attack. And if the dog wanted to hurt your son, it would have.

If you reported the incident to the police as is, there’s a higher chance of you being done for wasting their time than anything else tbh.

I would say "care" dogs (assuming Assistance) dogs should be on the lead MORE than other dogs becasue they should have had specialist training that makes them very valuable.

It doesn’t sound like an attack but never delete photos/ videos just because someone demands it.

Is the video in the deleted folder on your phone still? Grabbing your phone would be an attack...by him...contact police for intimidation.

That’s not a dog attack

I’m not sure what the owner means by a care dog. If it’s a proper assistance dog it wouldn’t be off the lead ( unless on a field, park, beach etc ) and would be well behaved, respond to commands to heel, sit, stop etc.
No one has the right to take your property from you.
I’d have a word with the local police, just say you’re concerned about the owner and the dog’s behaviours, you want to be able to walk in safety. It might be the owner is already known to them.

And your son behaved exactly correctly —- he didn’t squeal or scream ( both exciting noises to dogs) or run ( which says chase to a dog)

Yes, that excuse was bloody ridiculous. I have an assistance dog, and he does get time off leash (because social /play time is just as important for them as it is for other dogs) - under my supervision and control. And, as anyone who knows me will tell you, he is still rarely more than a few feet from me, most often by my side, and if he does go off further (usually to greet his friends) he is always within sight of me and looks back for me constantly. An assistance dog simply would not "run at" people or bark at people unless there was a clear threat to their person (which there clearly wasn't).

That aside, whilst it is unclear whether there was any real threat (from the dog) here, the owner is obliged to keep it under control. Minimising the OP's feelings by suggesting that she should have somehow known it wasn't attacking, or that she is overreacting isn't appropriate. The owner is the person in the wrong, not the OP.

Due to an incident in my childhood, I am scared of dogs. I love walking and often walk where many ( uncontrolled) dogs are off lead. These days I mostly walk with my husband so I am not quite so scared. I sometimes use walking poles, usually just one. Walking poles have a metal point on the end of them. I usually just take one pole out with me. If approached by a dog I will raise it. This has more of an effect on the owner than the dog. The owner usually recalls their dog instantly.
One owner actually questioned me and asked me if I would use the pole on her dog. I replied only if it attached or jumped up on me. She was not happy.

It could have been the start of an attack, who would know the dog’s intentions in the moment. It’s yet another dog owned by idiots so I would let the police know, and hopefully they will have a word.

Two dogs bowled out of an open garden gate barking and racing towards me recently. I was simply on the pavement walking by, but froze. The owner came chasing after them. I told her she needed to have them under control. She responded with “they didn’t bite you” and then “they’re only puppies(!)”. My response each time was that she needed to keep them under control, and I finally told her that wasn’t my suggestion, that was the law. I’m hoping it finally sank in as she had nothing more to say after that.

There are many idiotic owners with dogs that do not put them on a lead even when on public footpaths. My son who is an adult with learning difficulties is very scared and even though he is clearly scared and clearly very disabled, some people still let their dogs run over to us. We stand to the side and wait for them to go past and they still make no attempt to control their dog. It is infuriating.