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?

What are you on about??

Such a dick comment, it really is. 🙄🙄
Give me a Rottweiler over a yappy snappy little chihuahua/terrier type any day.

Yeah, your late husband was spot on. It's about respect and if the children are too young to teach them that then keep them away from animals - all animals!

Wouldn't like to have to choose...

but dog v neglectful mother... no contest!!

Only dog that's ever bitten me was a small dog. Small dog syndrome is a thing!

He is absolutely beautiful and only a little dopey looking! I agree it is frightening that people aren't more careful, I also have a big dog most adults are wary of but have had the odd small child get a bit close. I'm normally on high alert whenever a child is in the vicinity just because I find they are less aware.

My rescue is a mix but her main breed is known for dog aggression. I didn't know this when I adopted her and dog's trust didn't inform us. I didn't choose her because she looks intimidating, we just applied for the first dog that we met the criteria for. I should have researched the breed more but the research I had read at the time (pre the XL bully attacks) said that breed is not a good predictor of behaviour. I've since read more on the subject and my understanding now is it's more about not breeding from dogs with certain traits etc and that reputable breeders will therefore produce better behaved dogs (so basically I think mongrels like mine are probably higher risk). But I'm not sure it's fair to say any dog with reactive or anxious behaviour shouldn't exist so that people can allow their kids to roam freely without supervision? My dog has to be under control in public, why doesn't your child? Although I appreciate many dog owners' idea of under control isn't mine, but the dogs I regularly see that are out of control are breeds like retrievers, poodle crosses, frenchies and small fluffy things, not rotties. In my experience large dog owners are more responsible.

There are some strange/ridiculous answers on here, OP but the actual answer to your question is that some people have no sense at all.
We used to have 2 Rottweiler bitches, the softest, friendliest dogs you could ever meet, who had been very well socialised from being tiny, bred from parents with super temperaments.

We took them to an agricultural show one June, found a quiet corner to sit on the grass to eat our picnic. Along came a school.party, a class of 6 yr olds. The staff for some reason decided to sit around us, we weren't worried, we knew our dogs were trustworthy.

As is often the case, one child's name was repeated by the staff several times, he took no notice and the next thing we knew Harry did a somersault that put him and his sandwich right under the nose of one of the Rotts!

All ended well but who on earth decides that it's a good idea to sit other people's children that you are responsible for next to a couple of Rottweilers? And as for allowing the child who needs most supervision to be closest to the dogs! Words fail me!

I did have a word with the teacher in charge but he didn't seem to be able to see a problem.

You are not alone, OP.

This .

You’ve heard wrong. They’re not illegal. Nor should they be. Much better temperament than little yappy snappy chihuahuas/shitzu etc.

You need to check your source.

Me too re handbag dogs, I really don't see the appeal. But I don't mind a terrier (of any variety), but I'd choose a Rottie over them, any day.

Then he needs to be muzzled when out in public. The child's 'fault' or not, if you can't reasonably predict his temperament then he shouldn't be in a position where an incident can occur.

Agreed. I always say that this is not a dog; it is a vessel for evil. No one ever crosses the road to avoid him, though. They would if they knew him, though, whereas everyone who meets the rott x comments on how loving he is.

Still not understanding the idea of blaming the child when it’s clear the OP was criticising the child’s parent who walked off without her child, didn’t notice her toddler eye to eye with a strange dog and sent her 7/8 year old back to get the toddler. Must be the dog owner at fault here, absolutely.

No dog can be 100% trusted. No animals.
There comes a time where parents must also teach their children and keep them under control. We teach them about road safety, stranger danger, we keep hold of their hands tight or with a rein close by, same should apply to make them careful with animals. We all have to live in this world, side by side. If everyone does their bit then life would be better.

Apologies to anyone with one, but they're the kind of dog you have, when you don't want a dog. A dog barks, these things yap.

True, I kind of was just implying that OP seems to think it's anyone's fault but hers. You are right though, not the child's. Or the dog's!

Well it isn’t the OP’s fault, the child shouldn’t have gone up to the dog and as the child was presumably too young to know that, the parent should have have control of it

I think it's 100% the parents' fault. I also think she was very lucky that a) my dog is friendly despite what DD said to protect the dog not the child, and b) that the child decided to put himself nose to nose with my dog and not one of the cars on the main road we were on.

No. If you have a known nervous dog, especially a large one whose history you do not fully know, it is YOUR responsibility to mitigate the risks, not rely on other people to behave how you think they should.

I should have also said, it was obvious to me that your dog isn't scared of children but you wanted the parent to take notice of their toddler getting in the face of a big dog, let her know that it could have been dangerous and even, maybe, scare her a little into taking responsibility for looking after her own child.

So would you let your kid approach a strange dog so that you could prove your point?

Utterly pathetic thing to say.

If your dog had attacked the child, you would have been held 100% at fault. So, there's that...