Completely outrageous dog owner behaviour

[Onepeople]

Went for a walk this evening. We live by the sea and my walking route was along the sea front, popular with dog walkers. I am often bothered by dogs off their leads coming up and sniffing me, running round my ankles etc. I find it bloody annoying and inconsiderate really but, whatever.

Tonight though. Dog comes running up to me, leaps up and covers my trousers with his muddy paws. This annoys me and I tell the owner to control her animal. She gives the typical 'He's only saying hello!' response, which always makes me wonder whether I should go up to dog owners and slobber all over them as it's 'only saying hello' apparently. Anyway, the dog carries on jumping up at my so I kick out at it to make it go away.

Obviously in an ideal world I wouldnt have needed to do this. And I kicked out at it, rather than actually kicking it. I knew I wouldn't actually make contact.

Owner comes running up to me, suddenly showing a burst of speed she wasn't capable of when the dog was misbehaving. She screams 'Dont you dare kick my fucking dog!' then shoves me with two hands right in my chest. I almost lost my balance, but just about stayed upright before her friend dragged her away. I honestly thought she was going to punch me.

Not sure why I am writing this other than the fact that I am still a bit shocked and shaky.

I know that not all dog owners are like this, and that this woman seems to be particularly twatty. But God sometimes I hate them all. Bloody dogs and their bloody inconsiderate owners. Control your animals!

Get a bloody grip!

We have a puppy. When he jumps up at us we stick a knee out or lean forward to prevent her jumping up at us (our dog trainer told us to do this) and it doesn’t hurt the dog.

That dog owner was an arse. She should have controlled her dog. I think it’s the height of rudeness when strange dogs or any dogs jump up at people. It’s very annoying. We won’t be letting our puppy do it. And he does try to do it, but we have a short lead so can easily control him when he starts to lunge at people. And our dog is very friendly but that doesn’t mean he should be allowed to jump up at anyone he likes the look of.

"Control your animals!"?

How about you control your temper OP?

What a stupid response, as well as a good way to get arrested and charged.

What an unnecessarily rude post.

Not the dog’s fault! Its the owner’s fault - but I would not react as you did - it was not vicious- just friendly- so your reaction was a bit over the top in my opinion- I love all animals but sadly the owners let their dogs run amok - I am a firm believer in dogs having leads on in public places -

OP didn’t ask to be jumped on by an out of control dog. The owner caused the entire issue by letting her dog behave badly.

Op didn't actually kick the dog.

The twat dogwalker actually pushed OP after failing to control the dog.

I think we all know who was in the wrong here.

You would seriously spit on someone? This is disgusting behaviour and can be classed as assault, it’s repulsive that anyone would even consider this.

Exactly. And chances are it won’t just be mud either.

It reminds of the time I was taking my cat to the vet and was stood at the counter checking in when I felt a massive pressure on my back because a woman’s Great Dane attempted to climb up my back! Thankfully I’m a good size so was able to shake it off but if I’d been small I’d have gone down. And she did absolutely nothing, not even an apology.

It’s not rude. It’s justified.

I’ve had dogs jump up on me while just walking along a path, covering my jeans in muddy pawprints. I put a hand on the upper chest and push down firmly while speaking to it in kind tones. The owners apologise. You don’t need to “kick out” unless it’s an aggressive attack, clothes can be washed but the owner did assault you. That needs reporting to the police. She’s lucky you didn’t punch her in the face in reaction! You did not harm her dog but she physically assaulted you.

I would make a police report for assault personally as she was totally out of order but there is no way I would ever kick a dog unless it was actually attacking me,

Kicking out, even if not making contact can get you bitten in the moment, as others have suggested a knee forward or lean forward, but, you can try giving the dog a command - I've started using this and while there's always the risk that the idiot owner hasn't trained anything into the dog, or it will ignore you, the majority actually do teach 'sit' at some point, I've given a sit command to quite a few now and it's worked as many times as it hasn't. And it has the bonus of the owner wanting their dog back because it dents the pride when someone else commands their dog, especially men, for some reason.

I have 2 dogs and I'm sick to the back teeth of being expected to entertain other people's dogs, because they can't be arsed to. My dogs don't rush up to anyone or anything else, because they've been trained, and they're getting their social and interaction needs met, they're not desperate for stimulation like so many I see, because I make sure they have plenty - that's my job as their owner, some people seem to think that taking them for an hours walk, same walk every day , where the dog charges round like a lunatic and they ignore it is stimulation, it's not.

It's about time that the owners with dogs out of control started getting fined, and that includes the "He's just friendly" crew - it can be friendly and not under control. As far as I'm concerned if you allow your dog to approach anyone or anything uninvited, then you are failing your dog, because you're potentially putting them in danger every time.

This happened to me on my first walk out after I’d had gynae surgery. I went fucking mental at the owner as did DH. CONTROL YOUR FUCKING DOGS.

Report her to the police!!! She assaulted you

I’d report her online
personally wouldn’t think twice about kicking an uncontrolled dog

I am a dog owner and I have kicked out a dog before. The hysterics from the other owner of the dog who was out of control was ridiculous. He dog was large and aggressive and dragging my dog by its collar. I shouted and kicked out in panic, didnt touch it but the reaction from her was out of control also. If I allowed my dogs to run up to people and they were scared and kicked out I would blame myself. it's not your fault.

Starting a post with “are you thick?” is rude and you know it.

Do t make eye contact with the dog. Fold your arms in and turn your back on them. I agree with PP. You both behaved badly.

No she didn’t, but she escalated it.

So you are thick.

and @Lemonfrost My post isn’t rude it’s actually a measured response given the outrageous lengths some posters are going to to defend the dog owner.

There’s only one person in the wrong here. The person who had the their dog out of control and the person who then assaulted the op. That’s the same person. The dog owner. Not the OP. That’s the best I can do for you. I can’t comprehend it for you too.

Yes, it's worth emphasising that kicking out at a dog could encourage it to respond aggressively, if that's in its temperament.
For that reason alone, it's not a good idea.
Plus, it's likely to aggravate the owner, as happened here.