Dog ate my picnic

[givingitupok]

Had a picnic with my child today in our local park. Random dog (Shar Pei) appeared out of nowhere and ran over to us. I stood up and picked up my child and ran in a panic and stood behind a tree (probably looked like a total fool doing so but there was nowhere else to go without running towards the dog!). No idea where the owner was at this point. Watched the dog eating our food and also drooling all over our lunch box. Owner suddenly appeared from a path that lead into the park screaming at her dog to 'get here now'. Dog totally ignored her and she had to grab it and literally drag it away and put the lead on it. She apologised but when I asked her if she was going to pay for our food she actually had the gall to say 'you should have picked it up when you saw him coming' !!! I have just got home and this literally only happend 45 mins ago so am still fuming. She did not pay for our food and despite initially apologising, was incredibly arsey and walked off in the opposite direction. My child is very upset and the worst bit is, he has SEN and made everything in the lunch box himself (spread the sandwiches, cut up the apples, broke the chocolate into pieces to fit it in the container, etc). This was quite a big thing for him and he's really upset. I am also on a low income and spent a lot on the food. I took a photo of her and it clearly has her face in it. Not sure why but I just felt like I had to do something. I am not going to name and shame, but I'm just so angry.

Not sure what I want from this thread. Just rather pissed off.

Would this have happened if the dogs had been muzzled?

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/orpington-mastiff-dog-atttack-london-children-hospital-b2624484.html

or this?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-63858019

or this?

yet still took a photo
very odd

Perhaps get over it?

its awful,
but i am not going to change anyone's mind, they all want to take photos of people! just in case,

If one of our dogs did this, dh would 100% offer to replace the food, and would apologise (I don’t walk the dogs due to disability).

The dogs aren’t usually off lead in places like parks, where people are having picnics, but dh does his best to spot anyone with a picnic/sandwiches, and keep the dogs away from them.

The woman was very rude, and I’m sorry you met such an irresponsible dog owner, @givingitupok.

And?

Standard shitty dog owner that just let's their dog run loose without any control or thought for others.

No it's a surprise that they'd choose the field we walk in. It's mostly tall grass and hogweed, has a high number of dogs in it. You're probably risking ticks if nothing else by sitting in the grass.

Owner of multiple big dogs here. She was absolutely wrong. She let her dog go up to you. You reacted in the way you best felt fit and it did not involve hurting her dog. She should have paid something for your lunch.

Not something to be proud of.

my dog wouldnt steal, i wouldnt let her loose anyway, my previous dog did wee in a cup of workman's tea, which we all laughed about,

You can't have well-behaved dogs without actually teaching them to ignore things like loud noises and children and other dogs and unfamiliar circumstances. You can't have well-balanced dogs without exposing them to those things.
So essentially you want a dog that's well behaved, but with zero opportunity for an owner to train it so that it is bomb proof.
Make it make sense.

So many people clearly haven’t had or looked after dogs. I’ve had to pull tinsel out of a dogs arse because he ate it. Ditto peperami wrappers.

theyd absolutly eat chocolate foil and all given the chance. Ditto grapes.

friends dog ate a whole snack box of raisins card and all.

dogs are stupid and do things that will hurt them. This is why we leash them in public. This is why we train them. This is why as owners we’re responsible for their actions. Because dogs are dumb and will do dumb things.

so yes a greedy dog will easily polish off all the grapes, chocolate and sandwiches and then some. Probably throw it all up after a little while then eat some more.

You're embarrassing yourself by naming all those breeds in one breath.
Signed, owner of mastiffs.

Surely you realise that, for someone who doesn't know much about dogs, one massive dog running toward them is much the same as another? Anything bigger than a small lab can be pretty intimidating for an adult and more so for a child.

I’m a dog owner and keep my dog on a retractable lead just in case - it makes me furious when people have their dogs off the lead and have no control over them at all. In my experience, in rural and urban areas, about 1 in 50 owners have control when their dog is off the lead. Some owners even let them run among sheep at lambing time or chase children in playgrounds or parks whilst they feebly shout at their out of control dogs.

Why can't your husband just walk them on a lead as he is supposed to?

That is completely unconnected to your first sentence, which is what I objected to.
To quote you:
"Those Shar Pei dogs look quite aggressive and tend to be owned by people of the same ilk as those who own XL bulldogs, mastiffs etc."

Yep, a mastiff is NOT the same ‘ilk’ as an XL.

Perhaps her dogs have excellent recall and have earned the privilege to be off lead in suitable areas but he keeps them on lead in busy parks etc

How am I supposed to know that when I am in the park? I don't know what her dogs are going to be like. Dogs can be very unpredictable, even well-trained ones.

It is in my opinion. We all know what the breeds to be wary of are. The owners tend to be of the same ilk too.

The owner should have had the dog on a lead. It was shit the OP’s picnic was ruined. That’s the crux of it.

However I think photographing, naming and shaming, running in to the woods etc is a bit over the top. It was a dog, not a brown bear.

Meanwhile, IRL most people are sensible with their dogs in picnic areas and most picnic go-ers would at worst be mildly disgruntled by the errant dog.

What are the breeds to be wary of, out of interest?
Anything bigger than a lab, regardless of temperament?

Well, it sounds like the owner temporarily lost control of her dog and you’re right to be annoyed it ate your food. The owner should have offered to pay for it. She should also have enquired what was in the food it ate.

But you need to address you fear of dogs too, picking up your child and panicking, hiding behind a tree. You will be passing on your fear of dogs to your child. It didn’t sound aggressive in the slightest, I would have just grabbed its collar/harness and told it a firm no til the owner appeared. If you are going to share areas where dogs are, it’s important you learn to understand and react to incidences where issues happen.

Anyone wishing harm or “karma” for the dog for eating highly toxic food as some in here have done are worse than any dog owner I’ve come across - it’s disgusting