To have kicked an old man’s dog?

[itsme189]

This morning I was walking my 2 very small elderly dogs on lead in the woods near me where it’s nice and cool for them.

they love people but they don’t love when dogs run up to them and get all in their face, valid I wouldn’t like that either. If a dog on or off lead just walks past or gives them a quick sniff they don’t mind. I always tell people not to let their dogs come right up to them.
Theyve never bitten just growled and I just don’t want to risk anything.

there was an old man walking a large greyhound type dog off lead and he’s miles away from it it runs at us very fast so I stick my leg in front of my dogs and the dog doesn’t stop runs straight into my leg. He then excitedly throws his foot on top of my smallest dog he squeals in pain and my other dog starts growling and showing teeth.

so I picked them up and then the big dogs starts jumping up at me to get to my dogs so I kick it away.

Old man then starts screaming at me for “abusing” his friendly dog and a lady walking passed then said to him “I saw her kick the dog”

and now I don’t know if I did too much but I was so overwhelmed and worried it would become a fight and there’s no way my old boys would do well in that situation. To make it worse the lady made a post about it in our local Facebook group (luckily no pictures) and everyone’s saying awful things but they only know one side!

For the record the dog was not hurt didn’t even squeal!

Having had greyhounds I can understand they can have a long abiding interest in little fluffy dogs..And yes, the owner was wrong to have it off-lead..I wonder how old it was..Shame you couldn't have pulled the dogs apart in another way. I don't think a greyhound would ever react badly to a human separating it from other dogs..But it's done now. You live and learn.

Greyhounds (specially ex-racers) have a very high prey drive if they have only just finished racing. They are beautiful dogs though..Very docile and friendly. I hope this thread does not deter people to not own them. I speak as a former owner myself.

I don't condone kicking any dog but the man was an idiot and should have had it on a muzzle and harness until it was trained and safe to go without one.

YABU. You could have just kicked the old man.

I don't blame the dog. The owner should have it under control. This sounds like the Reddit post where someone pushed a kid that was about to collide with a frail person. No one generally condones pushing or kicking kids or dogs, but the parent/dog owner should have the kid/dog under control, not bothering or potentially injuring others. In your case it's a dog, which is obviously not the same as a kid, but the principle is that the adult in charge should ensure the dog/kid is putting others at risk. FWIW, on the Reddit post the conclusion was that as the frail person could have been permanently damaged, it wasn't unreasonable.

You live and learn.

Yes, hopefully the greyhound owner will learn to keep his dog on a leash.

What a ridiculous statement. I had a fear aggressive dog and he had a great quality of life. He certainly didn't need to be euthanised, because some areseholes let their off lead, out of control dogs charge over to him.

My dogs would never be in that position in the first place, if I had any doubt what so ever they would jump at a stranger I would have them on lead.

If they jump at someone then yes I would be prepared for someone to lash out at them and I would 100% blame myself for putting my dog in that situation.

@nomas yes maybe. You live and learn. The prey drive is so strong it seems to be an accident waiting to happen.

Who the hell are you to say a fear aggressive dog has no quality of life? I have had 2 such dogs over the years. One was not like that until he was attacked WHILE ON LEAD by a dog that ran to him and started attacking. The other was like it because when I got him at only 7 months he had been badly abused, kept in a barn, never seen anything - not grass, birds, trees, cats, other dogs etc etc etc.

Both those dogs had a long and happy life with me and DH and we only ever walked them onlead in places where we were very unlikely to meet anyone (especially entitled idiot dog owners)

'Everyone'

Nope.

Look at the poll. And the majority of comments support the OP.

She WAS shouting at the owner to get his dog and he did NOTHING !! A very large dog was jumping up at her trying to get to her dogs so what else was she meant to do?!!

I would do EXACTLY THE SAME to protect my little elderly dogs. His dog was out of control. Ignore the criticism.

Fear aggression is not something that just can be " sorted" but it is true that most dogs can be trained to function around other dogs to varying degrees. But you cannot completely " train it out" of them.

Very, very infrequently would it limit life quality to the extent that euthanasia was the only choice.

Unbelievable response. Not one dog trainer would agree with you. If you don't have recall keep your dog ON A LEAD or only off lead in a secure dog field. It is never okay to let your off lead dog approach on lead dogs, people or horses without permission from the owner. EVER.

OP - you reacted in the moment to keep your small elderly on lead under control dogs safe. Well done for doing that, it must've been very scary for you all.

Your dog does not have the right to interact with dogs just because it wants to. You keep it on a lead and you ask if it's ok for it to play with other dogs (or humans) that it encounters.

Would you think it ok for other humans to hassle you for attention all the time? If not, why is it ok for dogs to do it to other dogs?

In that moment I would have done the same. How can you tell if a strange dog is friendly or not if it’s bounding towards you and won’t listen when its owner is calling it.
The op was only trying to protect her little dogs and possibly herself. She was completely in the right as her dogs were on leads and the rogue dog was not. What was she expected to do? Wait until her dogs were ripped to shreds. A bit late then don’t you think?

I would have done exactly the same OP and I am the owner of big dogs. You did the big dog no harm and you had the right to defend yourself from jumping and your small dogs from being squished.

I'd have done the same OP. Not sure I would have done a full on kick, but I would definitely have been swinging my feet in the dog's general direction to shoo it away.

One of my dogs asks to be picked up in situations like this, when she is bothered by other dogs. Why would I refuse to help and reassure her?

Incidentally, not all behaviourists advise against picking up your dog.

www.facebook.com/share/17vGgmde5Q/

Nonsense. The onus is on the off lead dog to be under control.

I would also be terrified if I had a small fluffy prey looking dog to be at the mercy of a greyhound. It is pretty common for them to kill cats and small dogs.
As you said, you cant undo 1000s of years of inbred behavior. Including tearing small mamals to pieces .
I would have kicked it too.

My dog is more likely to have been the dick greyhound in this scenario and if a person felt the need to kick him to protect their dog then good luck to them.
The difference is, knowing my dog is a dick I get him back on lead when there are other dogs around.

An off lead dog was jumping up at you to get at your dogs. Yeah you can kick it.
If he doesn't want his dog to be kicked by people he needs to keep it on a lead. It could have easily knocked you down and bit you.

I had a very difficult to control dog and she would get off the lead and harass dogs and people like this. I absolutely would not be angry if someone kicked her while she was doing that. She pulled the lead out my hand once and chased a sheep, I chased her for about 2 miles before her lead got stuck in a rock and stopped her. I fully fully expected a farmer to shoot her, I remember hearing a shoot not far away and fully expecting to see her drop any seccond.

Your dogs were on a lead. Or in your hand. They were fully under your control. His dog was hurting other dogs and jumping up at a person. Completely his fault.

Nope, kick away. Fight or flight. You had no idea if the dog was going to attack you or not. It’s terrifying when you’re in that situation

@itsme189 The bigger dog was not under control - I'd say you didn't "kick" it as much as pushed it away with your leg. Your smaller and elderly dogs could have been really badly injured.

The one person responsible for all of this is the owner of the big loose dog.

This is from someone who hates dogs BTW.

Greyhounds kill cats and small dogs regularly.
How do you know it was being playful?
Killing small things is playful for a greyhound.

Should she have waited until it did bite her?

Have you asked the other dogs (and owners) whether they are happy to interact with him?
What do you do if the other dogs react badly - is his recall 100% all the time every time?
I'm sick to death of people with dogs who expect the world to revolve around them and their "fur baby" in every public space:
"He's just playing"
"He wants to be friendly"
"It must be your dog's fault"

This is completely wrong.

If you are incapable of keeping your dog under control when they are off lead (this includes not being able to stop them approaching on lead dogs) then they should not even be off lead.

My dogs are never on lead, but if they see a dog on lead they know to come immediately to heel until I have established if they can say hello or not. And if not then they will stay by me until we are past and completely ignore the on lead dog. It is basic manners.

The onus is on the owner with the animal who is out of their control. Not the one with their dog on a lead.