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?

Muzzle your dogs. They are the animal, existing in human society. The onus is on the owners to facilitate their existence not society to bend to accommodate them. I honestly can’t fathom the obsession with dogs in human spaces

He came from a remote, rural part of Spain full of farmland. He was found at the edge of a farmer's field when he was only 4 weeks old. The rescue made the farmer aware, but apparently, he already knew because he was the one who put him there

The rescue kept him until he was old enough to travel and ensured he had plenty of socialisation with other dogs, since he was taken from his mum too young. Obviously, there were a lot of things they didn't have access to to socialise him with. We got him when he was about 6 months old.

He has a very loud, deep bark and loves all animals, which makes me think he's from livestock guarding/herding lines.

His personality is very rott-like (goofy, clumsy, overly friendly, thinks everything and everyone he sees is a new BFF). His appetite is very Beagle-like. He is not allowed in the kitchen when anyone but me is cooking because he is a stomach on legs and will do things like steal potatoes off the counter while you're distracted filling a pan with water.

I can’t fathom parents who don’t keep their two year old close enough to remove from danger. I guess we both have unfathomables.

It's more beagle looking than Rottie and neither breed are banned. Get a grip dear.

Is it also the bus's fault when your uncontrolled child runs under it?

Responsibility to mitigate the risks also lies with the parents, like it or not. Sorry about that old bean.

Not the bus, no. It's the driver of the bus though if they're not mitigating the risk appropriately. For instance, if they knew the brakes were possibly a bit unreliable and don't know their full history. (The bus driver in this scenario is the dog owner, by the way. If that wasn't clear)

I don't make the rules, they just are what they are no matter how much you don't want them to be.

It's a road that leads directly onto the A689, and the part we were on was the end of the residential part where the speed limit changes from 30mph to 40mph. The bus driver wouldn't stand a chance, no matter how new and shiny his brakes were.

The child should have been supervised, and not by his 7-8-year-old sister.

Edited to say our location is why I didn't think about watching out for unsupervised children. It just didn't occur to me that it was something I needed to worry about on the main road through town, which feeds into an A road. If we were in a park or by a school, I would have made sure I was watching out for unsupervised toddlers.

Ah, I do love a parent who accepts absolutely no responsibility in the safety of their children. It's always someone else's fault if it goes wrong.

I knew the gentlest of dogs who snapped at a visiting neighbours toddler in the dogs own home, heard the jaws snap (no bite, just warning snap). The kid stuck its finger right up the dogs nose and caused the dog a lot of pain. I presume you think the dog should wear a muzzle too.

Im always surprised how parents allow their children to run and scream around , kick balls near and run up to unleashed dogs. I walk my dog twice a day every day and wont let him off leash with other dogs around yet my dog has been attacked and lunged at 3 times due to selfish dog owners who dont leash, have no control and/or recall of their dog.

Your regal beagle cross rottie Spanishy dog is gorgeous. We definitely need more photos of him please to shut the crazy folk up

He's currently asleep on the sofa, dreaming of all the toddlers he's going to eat tomorrow.

He has this odd/annoying/sweet habit of gathering things he likes the smell of before from places he is not supposed to be to keep him company during the night. I'm not entirely sure where he found my slipper, but the clothes he has appear to be my PJs that were in the washing basket in the kitchen.

He's also been known to take empty food packets from the kitchen bin, utensils from the sink or draining board, and my trainers to bed with him. He doesn't chew them, he just lies with them.

Oh my goodness, he sounds so adorable. He's the perfect size too, not too big but not small either. He certainly has loads of character.

Your dog should be muzzled if you think a child is likely to be bitten by it, why own such a dog if you are worried it would bite the face off a toddler? By the sounds of it you were on a public path, not your own enclosed land so it would be reasonable to think there might be other people and children around.

I've got fed up of stupid dog owners over the years with their dogs, my children are frightened of dogs as a result of selfish dog owners walking their dogs off lead in the children's play area. If it was up to me all dogs would be muzzled in public and only allowed off lead in designated areas that dog owners must pay to use. We stopped using the country park we live on the edge of because our young children just weren't safe walking along, dogs aren't meant to be let off leads there. Last week I did actually decide to take my children for a walk there and we encountered a dog walker with SEVEN off lead dogs on her own, a narrow path and I have 3 children, how was I meant to protect my children if 1 of them had gone for them? Muzzles for all dogs should be mandatory, any dog can bite and injure a small child, it doesn't have to be an xl bully to do serious damage or worse.

You are at fault here and had your dog attacked this 3 year old you would have been prosecuted and your dog destroyed, rightly so. Children should be safe from these dangerous animals.

OP, clearly there was very poor parenting involved here, but if you’re unsettled by the interaction to this extent I think it clearly shows that your dog needs to be muzzled in public places where the public can interact with him.

You can’t control the behaviour of small children that pass you by on the street, so you need to be absolutely 100% sure of your dog and it’s abundantly clear you are not.

Muzzle him please, for eveyone’s sake!

Did you take the dog into tbe shop or did you leave it outside with your kid?

OP’s DD is an adult (23).

For all those suggesting muzzling all dogs, a muzzled dog can jump around, push and pull when on leash especially if startled.

In this scenario the mother berated one child for not looking after the other but she herself initially was completely unaware of what was even happening. Would you allow your child ro run up into the face of a random person ? ... people can be unpredictable too. Teach your children about dog etiquette like you would other people/stranger etiquette.

Yes, both the parent and OP were at fault here.

I'm unsettled because the next dog the unsupervised child runs to and tries to grab might not be friendly, as I said in my OP. I was also mildly concerned that my dog might become fearful of children, had the child actually managed to grab him, and had hurt or spooked him.

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

If you can advise on how I can use a muzzle to mitigate those concerns, I will take it into account. Nowhere have I posted that I was worried my dog would bite. He's never shown any signs of aggression.

No dog is bomb-proof, nor should they be expected to be. They are sentient creatures who experience pain and fear as much as any other sentient being. Mine has never shown any aggression, but that doesn't mean he never, ever would under the wrong circumstances. Any dog can, which is why we need to teach children how to interact with them safely.

Control your children around dangers, not just dogs, but also strange adults, heavy traffic, cars pulling up onto the pavement, or any number of other accidents which could have befallen the child in that area.

If you're unable to control them verbally, use a leash and ask a friendly dog owner for training tips .

Fellow owner of a large guarding breed here (until recently), I have lost count of the stupid shit parents allowed their children to do around her. Small kids tried to climb on and ride her, both when she was standing and lying down. Little baby and toddler hands in her mouth, eyes, ears. A posse of them swarming her from all directions at the vets while she was cowering beside me, scared and dying.

And don't get me started on the owners of little aggressive yappy dogs who thought it was soooooo cute when they tried to bite her face or heels.

Do spooked dogs never, ever lash out then?

Why was your adult DD so worried?
What did she think would happen?

I suspect she was concerned your dog would react badly. You said as much in your OP —
“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.”

How much worse it could have been if the kid had managed to grab the dog’s face and spooked/hurt him…

I’m sorry, OP, your story doesn’t add up. You’re changing it. You left out the last part of that quote in your reply to me because you know what you said in your first post doesn’t sound good and gives reason for alarm.

Muzzle the dog.

No dog is bomb-proof, nor should they be expected to be. They are sentient creatures who experience pain and fear as much as any other sentient being. Mine has never shown any aggression, but that doesn't mean he never, ever would under the wrong circumstances. Any dog can, which is why we need to teach children how to interact with them safely.

And also why you need to muzzle your dog!

There were two people at fault here. The parent of the child and the owner of the dog.

DD has anxiety, her immediate concern was what if the next dog is not friendly like ours is, followed by what if he gets spooked or hurt and tries to bolt into heavy traffic and his lead slips my grip, followed by what if he gets spooked or hurt and barks or jumps about, and the child then bolts into traffic, followed by what if I the mother shouts at me if I hold the child...

That is how anxiety works, she catastrophises.

I was concerned the interaction would set back his counter-conditioning.

But yes, spooked or hurt dogs can and do lash out, which is exactly why the child should have been supervised by his parent and should be taught not to approach strange dogs.

Couple of dicks here, but it’s not the OP or her dog.