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?

Why does the dog need muzzling? Who has it attacked? What makes you say it is unpredictable or strong?

Looks like a fairly average sized mutt to me. And OP was with the dog, it wasn't left unattended, unlike the child.

She doesn’t have a dog that’s known for aggression.

Does anyone else see Dobbie the house elf?? Those ears 💖He’s gorgeous

I’m sorry this happened, OP, and I hope your daughter feels calmer soon.

we were always taught to ask before going near a dog.

But I see the dog haters are out in force - you won’t get much support here unfortunately

What???

You obviously don't understand the difference between inherent differences in breed behaviours, aggression vs guarding.

OMG (and I say this as someone who doesn’t mind dogs but prefers cats) - he’s GORGEOUS ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

DD6 likes to say hello to dogs. We don't have a dog but friends/family do. We see a lot of dogs where we live but the rule is that we must ask the owner and give the dog a wide berth until they've told her how to best approach.

I love German shepherds

Aw he looks lovely OP! I taught my DD to be careful of strange dogs - she loves dogs but won't approach unless the owner has confirmed that it is OK. I prefer cats and cats have done more damage to me than any dog ever has......

Edited to add that I am aware that a cat doesn't have the possibility of killing a small child or an adult. I just meant that most dogs I know or meet are friendly but perhaps I am just lucky.

This - muzzle your dog. It's safer for the dog and for everybody else around you.

Fucking hell - the dog haters really don’t understand the OP. 🙄

I'm certainly not a dog hater - in fact I have owned a number of dogs in my life and think dogs are great.

However, I think that this was in part your responsibility, as well as the mom's.

You had chosen to take your dog, who you know can't be fully trusted with children, to a pretty public space (a pavement right outside a shop) to give him a drink.

In that situation you need to be super vigilant about any possible approaches from children. Yes, the mom should have been watching her kid too, but I would say this is on both of you.

Fortunately your daughter was being vigilant, and a potentially dangerous situation was averted - so that's all to the good. Your daughter did very well.

But maybe in future be a bit more careful about where you take your dog, and especially where you stop to give him a drink. For everyone's sake.

(I know from bitter experience how quickly a situation like this can go bad, so I promise I am not sitting in judgement. My spaniel, who I had no reason to distrust around children, was once approached by a child in a similar situation and I didn't notice quickly enough, and my dog snapped - luckily she only very lightly grazed the child's face as I don't think she was actually trying to bite her, and the parents were dog owners themselves and incredibly decent about it, but I have to say I took the responsibility for what happened entirely on myself - not the dog, not the child, not the child's parents. She was my dog, and I should have been watching her better.)

Or parents could parent their children, the most placid dog will react if a strange person is in their face. That reaction might be to turn their head, move out of the way but it’s still showing discomfort. Children need to learn how to behave around unknown dogs, or be kept back by their parent.

Some people are just idiotic about approaching dogs (or, even worse, letting their small children approach dogs). A man (in a wheelchair, so a bit nearer to large dog height) leant forwards and tried to kiss my dog in the face once . My dog was a good, well-behaved boy, but really didn't like people right in his face.

Sadly people think that dogs don’t have a right to exist in the same galaxy as their precious children

He's gorgeous. See what you mean about him looking a bit dopey.
Some parents just shouldn't have kids, no sense of responsibility.

I cant believe some of the comments you're getting here to be honest.

I have two children - nearly 4 and nearly 2 - and 2 dogs (14 & 5 - lurcher and mini dachshund). Both my dogs are wary of small children because they move fast and are unpredictable!!!
Same as even the dopiest, nicest dog in the world can bite (my sister has the war wounds on her face from an incident with my grandma's dalmatian when she was 2... dog lived until were were 14 and was our best friend.)

So yes - the child's mother was being an absolute dick allowing her child to run anywhere near your dog.

Toddler is 100% a parental not child responsibility. On a pavement hand in adult hand or in buggy or on reins. Anything else wrong

Am I the only one who, when they pass a cute dog, smiles gormlessly at the dog and not the owner? ☺️

I don't think any/many dogs like people in their face. In canine-to-canine interactions, eye-to-eye contact is a challenge/aggressive behaviour.

I think that's why he is wary of small children. He's a couple of inches taller than your average yellow lab, so a small child is eye-level with him, and he's not quite sure what to make of that.

He's never acted aggressively towards a child, and I've no reason to believe he ever would, but I keep our distance from them because I can see he is uncomfortable and forcing an interaction he doesn't feel comfortable with is far more likely to cause aggression than keeping a safe distance, rewarding calm behaviour and allowing calm, positive interactions like children offering him treats.

All the time

Your daughter deserves a little gift from your dog to say thank you and to build her confidence. I’m not sure how old she is, but kids love that sort of thing.

Came on to say exactly this. Sounds like there was bad parenting at play here but even with parents paying attention there’s always a risk of toddlers rushing off. It sounds like even with an attentive parent, if the toddler dashed at your dog and scared it the dog could have reacted badly? If so, if you can’t trust your dog around children it needs to be muzzled.