To feel if a dog bites a child they should leave the restaurant?

[Bookishworms]

*edit: sorry for typos! Dog not dig

Out for lunch yesterday with kids, a casual family restaurant where dogs are allowed in. We love dogs and were sat in the section with dogs. No dramas.

One terrier on the table behind had barked at the waiter so seemed a but highly strung but had settled down. My son got up to go to the loo and the dog was startled, (i guess by the sound of the chair scrape and movement) and jumped up and bit my son! He hadn’t trod on it or anything just startled.

Settled son, no skin broken, and the owners just seemed to want to pretend it hadn’t happened. I said ‘your dog just bit my child…?!’ They said was he bleeding and oh sorry dog must have been startled. Then went back to their lunch. I was a bit taken aback - I don’t have a dog at the moment but have in the past and if it had bit someone I would have taken the dog out of that situation right away.

Anyways we just went back to our lunch rather than make a fuss as son wasn’t badly injured but then my friend who has a smaller child was pointing out that a snap like that on say, a toddler, or exposed skin, would have been a huge problem and I should have reported it. I don’t want the dog put down or anything but surely there should be consequences for the owners? If their dog gets stressed in places like restaurants they maybe shouldn’t bring the dog?

Maybe I under-reacted.

This happened to my elderly dad once, the owner did nothing.
I'd rather go back to a time when non-service animals didn't go into food establishments

You definitely under reacted, I would have left the restaurant

Dogs should not be restaurants. Disgusting, unsafe and annoying.

They should have taken the dog home. It shouldn't have been there in the first place.

I can't believe how blasé about not reporting this to the police...jesus...and I handle a lot of dogs...report it!! You are being complacent and complicit.

I’m glad you reported it, and I sympathise with your choices in the moment too. What did the restaurant say? I’d add a google review too (owners pay more attention to those).

Our labrador has been attacked by little aggressive unsocialised and untrained dogs on extendable leashes in pubs (and out and about) a lot - so now we don’t risk it sadly, even though he’s very good. He’s big and one false reactive move would cause real trouble. I really hate this attitude of “dogs will be dogs”.

The dog should be reported. Any bite means the dog is "dangerously out of control". Even a small dog and a small bite. See government website: https://www.gov.uk/control-dog-public
Sincerely hope your son is ok - the next child might not be.

I love dogs and have my own, but I am firmly of the opinion that dogs should not be allowed in cafes and restaurants (maybe a pub beer garden at a push). And I’m afraid dogs who bite anyone should be reported and only allowed out in public with a muzzle on. I would have been much crosser than you in that situation, and I hate ever making a fuss, but a terrier who snaps has no place inside a public place - what if it snapped at a babies face as the pushchair went past for example.

Paid for the poster's family's food, left and learnt from the situation by muzzling their dog in the same or similar situation in the future if the dog can't be left at home. My previous dog (terrier type) nipped - little red mark, no broken skin - a child (4) who was playing by him and who he knew well. He was immediately removed from the room and muzzled from then on around young children. I keep a muzzle in my car at all times now just in case my new dog gives ANY hint of nipping let alone biting. He hasn't yet but then nor had my previous dog until he did.

Those owners are going to allow a child to be bitten and their dog destroyed because they are selfish and lazy. The fact they continued with their meal in such a blase manner without removing the dog indicates your hope is unfounded. The restaurant will have their details and, if they book again, should ban the dog. The owners are also exposing the restaurant to a suit if the dog attacks another customer.

Next time bite one of the owners.
Remember if they don't bleed it's fine!

Because not everybody likes being around dogs. Also the fact that it's very uncertain if a dog has been properly socialised and trained. Some owners are incredible and their dogs are perfect out the house, other owners are pretty useless and their dogs act like this in public. Some people are allergic to dogs, some people are terrified of dogs due to events like this. They smell especially if it's been raining, and it's unnecessary to bring them everywhere.

Kids also shouldn't be running in restaurants and parents should be forced to actually parent their children when they're misbehaving. Difference is children are members of society, dogs are pets. They have cat cafes, pretty much the only place you'll find cats outside of the outdoors, houses and vets. Maybe there should be only 1 or 2 dog friendly cafe in each city the same as cat cafes. Dogs have been put on a pedestal as if they're like humans, when they're not. I cannot remember places being this dog friendly when I was a child.

I’m not sure what country you are in
but where I live if a dog bites a child or anyone it’s a case of dog goes to vet to be put to sleep

I agree with pp dogs should not be in restaurants full stop. I have a dog, I love him but I don't want him with me at a restaurant or at a shopping centre. Most dogs are happier at home for a couple of hours rather than being made to sit under a table smelling food and not being able to eat it. I would be horrified if my dog snapped at a child. This dog in the least needs to be muzzled. I'm glad you've now reported it. Terrible dog ownership and zero respect for thier customers.

Well done for reporting it OP. If the owners were so blasé it's likely to have happened before. Surely any reasonable person would be shocked, worried about the person, apologising etc.

The other week a woman was bit on the ankle by a terrier walking in the opposite direction on the high street. Completely unprovoked the dog just decided against a random person. The owner kept walking! People were shouting at him to come back, she's checking her bleeding ankle - and he yells back 'no he didn't'.

Really? They didn’t actually care about the child and frankly have little care for their dog who should not have been put in that situation.
If they had been paying attention to their dog there would have been signs that the dog was uncomfortable. As the owner it is their responsibility to advocate for their dog and prevent it reacting aggressively to people.
As a pp said the reaction would have been very different if the dog were bigger.
Some dog owners really are twats.
I am a dog owner, I take my dogs lots of places; occasionally inside eating establishments but I know my well trained dogs very well.

That dog should be put down. To bite a child in a restaurant is really & totally out of order. It was not safe.

The owners sound horrible. I love dogs and all animals but they should not be in restaurants full stop and any biting should be reported to the police. Being a smaller breed is not an excuse. Hope your son is OK and this experience doesn’t make him scared of animals.

If the dog bit it should be reported and you should take your son to A&E to get a tetanus injection! It's a serious thing!

But it's more than likely that they will take their dog unmuzzled into a restaurant again. I think that they should immediately have removed the dog from there.

@RoseAlone
I child can get an infection! I would take mine to get an injection! You have no clue what kind of bacteria dog can have. Absolutely not a joke!

They should have taken the unpredictable dog out of the public area immediately. If it's so stressed by movement and noise it shouldn't be there in the first place.

Do people not call the local dog warden anymore? I remember once it was called on me for my dogs being out on the road when I was a teen ( it wasn’t my dogs btw it was someone’s down the road). That might be a happy medium between doing nothing and the police.

I love dogs (don’t currently have one) but think things are going way too far.

What is bringing a dog to a restaurant adding to the dogs life - aside from stress? Seriously?

Lots of delicious food smells and everyone eating except them. Noisy. No where comfy to sit and possibly being trod on. No entertainment but sit there. Might be interfered with by other diners who don’t realise dog is stressed. Dog then reacts to something and rightly the victim is upset.

This is entirely the owners fault.

Exactly. What’s wrong with leaving a dog in the car?

The owners were awful, but a sizeable minority of dog owners are! Dogs shouldn’t be in restaurants anyway - as this dog has demonstrated, it isn’t a pleasurable experience for dogs.