Horrible encounter with a dog

[Thoughtsforcoffee]

I was walking my dog this afternoon when a small dog ran out of its front door and onto the pavement and started yapping and snapping at me and my dog. I got a fright and tried to move it away and it started snapping at me and my dog. A young girl came out calling its name and I suppose was in shock so shouted at her and she ran back inside crying. Her mum came out and I told her that her dog was trying to bite me and my dog and she raised her voice and told me I shouldn’t have yelled at her child. I was really annoyed and told her the dog had been Trying to attack us and she totally minimalist it, saying it’s a chihuahua and couldn’t attack anyone and hadn’t even bitten her. I told her I would call the police and she swore at me and slammed the door in my face, I was really unsettled and frightened and just need someone to tell me I’m not actually the one in the wrong here, I should be able to walk my dog without fear of being set upon.

my old neighbours grand daughter had a chihuahua was the most nasty snappy dog i have ever met. you could of said it should not of been allowed to get out .

YANBU to be annoyed that another dog was running loose trying to attack yours.

YABVU to have shouted at a child for it, and to still be blaming the child in your second post.

If you want to blame anyone, you should have blamed the mother.You can't go round shouting at other people's kids!

Believing a dog is going to injure you is under the definition of a dangerously out of control dog, which is against the law.

I don’t actually think the police would do anything here. But reasonably believing a dog will bite you is not irrelevant.

No it's not ok that any dog is barking or snarling at another dog or human small or otherwise.
Smaller dogs get away with all sorts of shit because they are small and wouldn't do "much" damage.
You were wrong to shout at the 6 year old child and accidents do happen with dogs getting out but I'm fed up of dogs being awfully nasty especially little shitty small ones and bigger dogs all the flack for doing nothing wrong.

My husband was walking our ON LEAD spaniel today and was being harassed by TWO OFF LEAD SPANIELS today and the owner couldn't retrieve them, she said to her dogs " its your own fault if it bites you"
What the actual fuck?! If I was there I would have had something to say. Stupid bitch. She's the one that couldn't control their dogs.
I have noticed - there is a lot of snobbery amongst dog ownership - especially spaniels.

Something I always wonder about in this type of posts - if it was trying to bite you or your dog, it would have just gone ahead and done it - dogs reflexes are much faster than peoples. Dogs bouncing up and down yapping and barking are actually doing the opposite of biting - they are trying their hardest to chase you away without having to risk actually getting up close and getting physical.

My dogs and I have been barked at many more times than I can remember (and done their fair share of barking back!) but have only been attacked twice in their long lives - and both times by dogs that ran up (or or in one case walked up) in silence because their purpose wasn’t to scare my dogs away with noise and bluster, but to physically attack them.

You are absolutely right to expect not to be menaced by a barking dog in public - and out of control dogs pose more risks than biting, for example knocking over people, but understanding a bit about dog behaviour, and particularly that barking and posturing are nearly always not a prelude to an attack but a ‘go away’ behaviour might help you in responding to situations like this - as a response that includes shouting at young children in panic isn’t generally going to go down well.

Yabu for shouting at the child, hardly their fault their mum couldn't be asked to socialise or/and train the dog to behave or secure her garden so dog couldn't escape. Yanbu for feeling upset at the incident that must have been horrible for you and your dog, the mum's attitude that it's a chihuahua and can't attack anyone is ignorant and shows she shouldn't own dogs.

Seriously, it’s a chihuahua 😂

And?
It's still barking and snarling? Capable of biting and clearly a nasty little bastard.

A chihuahua bit my leg at a traveller sight when I was a postie

I can’t believe these responses. OP you did nothing wrong. You and your dog were under attack, you shouted to the child what was happening, the mum should have apologised. I’d definitely report it. It could be a child in the firing line next time. That dog sounds vile.

Ive seen the bites and damage that chihuahua’s can do. Its really nothing to laugh about.

This can't be real surely? Noone would have a breakdown over a yappy chihuahua and shout at a 6 year old girl who is trying to help...
Literally noone..
If this is real then you need to get some therapy and learn to handle your temper.

Absolutely this !

This thread is an excellent example of how shitty lots of dog owners are. An aggressive dog is an aggressive dog, regardless of size, and it should be dealt with and controlled. People should be able to walk along the street without being threatened by dogs, of whatever size.

And a 6 year old child should be able to go and pick their rabbit sized yappy dog up without a grown woman screeching at them....

I do feel it was very unsafe for the girl to come out onto the pavement alone and be responsible for a very aggressive dog

Exactly. Not just shitty but clueless too. I’m no dog expert but even I know that dogs of all sizes can bite. So I don’t get the “it’s only a chihuahua” comments.

I saw a tiny dog on an extending lease go for a man in a hotel lobby. He ended up kicking it to defend himself as the owner was just useless. So yeah he did overpower it, but it’s still an unpleasant encounter.

Most of us don’t want to get to the point of having to kick a dog to defend us/our dogs.

Just keep it under control - simple.
And if it gets out of your control apologise and take steps to prevent it happening again.

I live in an apartment block and had this woman’s off leash poodle mix run full pelt and jump up on me, scratching me in the process. Had she apologised and put her dog on leash I’d have let it go. But she was really defiant and said “it couldn’t be helped” so the second time her dog approached me I reported her. It was never off leash/out of control in my building again :)

You have my sympathy. Chihuahuas are horrid little brutes.

This is why I now make sure I have solid shoes and a walking stick when taking my dog out - he is very placid and harmless, always on lead. Small yappy things worry him, so I get between and am quite prepared to use either feet or stick to deal with it. Chihauhas are aggressive little dogs when not properly trained and can give very nasty bites....drives me nuts that people think that just because its small it can;t inflict any damage.

I’m very disappointed as called 101 and while they initially seemed interested, once we had to confirm I hadn’t sustained injuries they totally lost interest. Didn’t seem to think it was a problem situation and that because it happened on the pavement outside the house they didn’t think it was concerning a young child came out on their own. I feel really let down.

I do feel it was very unsafe for the girl to come out onto the pavement alone and be responsible for a very aggressive dog
Haha, very aggressive. Honestly, as a dog owner yourself, you seem incredibly clueless about dog behaviour.

There is a big difference between a yappy dog and an aggressive dog. Many dogs yap as a defensive response but would never bite.

Surely from your description, the dog had more than a minute to bite you if that was its intention. The fact it didn't says it all.

You were so over dramatic about the situation. Maybe some learning about typical dog behaviour might help alleviate your anxiety.

You are not BU for being upset and angry about an aggressive dog, whatever the size. The owner of the dog was at fault.
I can understand that you acted under stress with the child, and I don't suppose for a moment that you would normally shout at a six year old. But unfortunately you did put yourself into the wrong there, as I think you know.
You don't want it to become more of an issue or stop you feeling able to walk that way in future. In your shoes I would put a little note through the letter box (and hope you don't get bitten) saying 'Sorry I yelled- I was upset and frightened by your dog but I shouldn't have shouted at your little girl. Would you please tell her she didn't do anything wrong and that I said Sorry'.

It’s totally okay for you to have had a shock but it’s not okay to shout at a 6yo.

Why on earth did you call 101?

Literally all that happened here was that one tiny dog barked at another slightly larger dog. Nobody was bitten. No law has been broken. Nobody was in danger.

You shouted at a small child. Get a grip.