To not understand what this parent was thinking?

[Frequency]

While out with my rottweiler x this afternoon, I noticed he was panting more than I was comfortable with, so I abandoned our walk and took a detour to the nearest shop to buy him a bottle of water.

I crouched down at the edge of a very wide path to give him a drink. I wasn't paying attention to what was around me because I was watching the dog, and no one had any reason to be near us anyway. The pavement is about 8 feet wide on that street, if not wider. We were right at the edge, by the shop window.

The second I stood up, there was a toddler, eye-to-eye with my dog. He must have run up behind me while I was kneeling. He was literally nose to nose with the dog, reaching his hands out to grab/stroke the dog's face.

My dog is friendly but a little wary of small children, so I tend to keep him away from them.

Luckily, DD was with me and had spotted the kid and managed to hold his hands before he grabbed the dog's face and loudly told him, "Sorry, he's scared of kids, and he's just trying to have a drink, can you leave him alone, please?" She had to say it loudly because his mum and her friend had continued walking and were now a good 10 feet away from us. At this point, the mother then shouted at her other small child (around 7 or 8) to "get the baby," so the dog now had 2 kids to contend with while the mother kept walking away, ranting about how the young girl was supposed to be "watching the baby."

DD has anxiety and was really shaken by it, and can't stop thinking about how much worse it could have been if our dog were not friendly, or if the kid had managed to grab the dog's face and spooked/hurt him.

I still just cannot fathom what the mother was thinking, allowing her toddler to run up to a strange dog who was obviously eating/drinking, get nose to nose with him to try to grab him, and then send a second child over after she's made aware he is not a friendly dog?

Surely it is common sense to know that nose-to-nose with a strange, large breed dog, who is eating/drinking, is not a safe place to be, no matter how friendly the dog is?

It is common sense, but nothing about that woman's attitude to either of her kids screams common sense or excellent parenting.

Well done to your DD for keeping her cool and being assertive and sensible.

DD was amazing. She surprised me with how quickly and confidently she reacted. She did tell me that she wasn't sure if she should have grabbed his hands at first, but then she just acted on instinct.

She helped intervene yesterday when two off-leash, aggressive terriers ran around the corner (on the same road, actually, maybe we should start avoiding that street), barking and snapping at our dog. She body blocked them while I controlled our dog's head and shouted at their owner to get control of his dogs.

I think the unseasonably warm weather has melted some people's brains

God that's scary. We have a dog, but we've always been clear with DC that some dogs need more space, if we see a dog out we always ask the owner if they are friendly, and we approach dogs quietly and calmly. That poor kid could get into a horrible situation one day, and its the dog that will have to be put down for the mistake.

He’s scared of kids? Was he a rescue?

I wouldn't say he is scared of them, a bit wary maybe, but he can walk past them and ignore them, even if they are loud or on scooters. If they approach and ask if they can stroke him, I usually say no because I can see he is not comfortable, but I do let them feed him a treat, and he's confident enough to take it from them. It's rare that anyone ever asks to interact with him. I think his size intimidates people, and his head collar is often mistaken for a muzzle, so people assume he is aggressive, which makes it harder to socialise him with people outside of friends/family.

Is he a rescue? Did something happen to
make him wary / scared?

Why have a dog that looks intimidating?

He's just not used to seeing them because we don't have any for him to meet/interact with. He's not a lockdown dog as such, because we got a couple of months before lockdown, but he was a rescue, from a remote rescue in Spain (he was sponsored by a British rescue and has UK rescue back-up)

When we got him, he was scared of pavement, roads, cars, the garden gate, the washing machine... Anything you wouldn't expect to find in a small Spanish farmyard. By the time he was confident enough to get into the park, where the small children are usually found, lockdown was in place, so there wasn't any for him to socialise with.

He's not scared of them, DD said that for effect, I think, but he is wary of them.

Why is that relevant? The small child clearly wasn't intimidated.

Oh don’t be so ridiculous. What a stupid comment. It’s usually the ‘intimidating’ looking dogs that are the most goofy and lovely. The little ankle biters are more likely to bite or attack you. Coming from someone who’s worked in kennels and a veterinary practice!!!

Completely this parent’s fault and bad parenting but, if you think there’s any risk your dog may react badly in such a situation you should have a muzzle on him/her.

Are Reagles (I hate stupid, made-up names for mongrels, but that's what he is classed as at the vets) known for aggression?

Also, whether he is intimidating is a matter of personal opinion; I happen to think he is the dopiest-looking thing I've ever seen in my life.

Oh my word. What a gorgeous dog. His eyes are so soulful ❤️

What has rescue got to do with this? Kids should be taught to treat all dogs with respect, they are animals. Wise to remember no animal can be trusted 100%.

I see more humans scarier than him on a daily basis. Adorable.

He is gorgeous! What a face :-)
We used to have a German Shep cross, she looked mainly GS though. Folk would cross the street to avoid walking near me, despite her being soppy and very friendly. Fine by me!!

Yes the parent was an idiot but also your dog is your responsibility and needs muzzling. I don’t understand why people need to own unpredictable strong dogs.

Gorgeous dog OP, unfortunately I think some of the infamous Mumsnet dog frothers have found your post. They will twist themselves up like pretzels to find a way to make you / your dog wrong in this situation, ( you weren’t though ).

I think the most important take home point is that you can never ever trust other people to be responsible.

For your own kids and dogs safety you have to be 100% switched on and alert all the time because being right doesn't mean anything if something awful happens.

Rottweilers are not aggressive. They are large and powerful but that is not the same as aggressive. In general, they are loyal and protective of their families.

The madness is allowing a small child to toddle up to an unknown dog, regardless of breed.

I can see the Beagle in him, although he's much taller and chunkier than a Beagle, but I personally don't see much, if any Rottweiler in him, but that's what we were told he is crossed with. I usually refer to him as a rott x because Beagle x makes people expect a small dog.

If I'm talking about the fact that his nose turns on and his ears turn off when we get outside, then I call him a beagle x.

He's very cute

I don’t think any dogs ‘look intimidating’. Rottweilers in particular just look like chunky, gentle-eyed dopes. But in any case, the OP’s dog isn’t a Rottweiler anyway.

It’s not anyone else’s fault if you think their dog ‘looks intimidating’ and it’s irrelevant to the OP’s post anyway because clearly nobody, including a toddler, was intimidated.

In what way would they ‘protect their families’ in a friendly and lovable way?