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!

But you had picked up your dogs, they couldn't have been stood on again?

You found a solution that didn't involve hurting a dog, but then kicked the dog. It's hard to understand.

But you’re saying YOU can’t control the behaviour of YOUR dogs who don’t like other dogs. It’s your dogs that are the aggressive ones.

And if a dog doesn't have 100% recall then it shouldn't be off the lead. The OP did nothing wrong. In that situation I would have also stopped the loose lead dog jumping at mine.

You’re right, of course. But we all know that there are lots of stupid dog walkers about who don’t understand the concept of recall, who think that because their dog is friendly, all other dogs will be perfectly happy to be sniffed and jumped on.

Do you want to be the person arguing in small claims court over vets bills because your dogs don’t react well to others, but you felt that there was a principle at stake?

The greyhound sounded like it wasn’t being aggressive either, otherwise OP would likely have been bitten on the foot. The greyhound must have legs of steel if it putting its foot on OP’s dog made it yelp. Sounds like the smaller dog had it handled, and was showing aggression to the Greyhound. If OP hadn’t have picket it up, the greyhound might well have scarpered.

It’s impossible for me to pick up my Labrador, so if a dog comes at her I have no choice but to let them sort it out. As I understand it, picking your dog up only exacerbates the situation and of course the greyhound jumped at her, he wanted to play with her dogs. Nothing the OP has said suggests her dogs are particularly nervous about other dogs coming to play with them just that they don’t “love it”.

If people can’t discern aggression and playfulness in dogs, they should avoid having them as pets. People also need to stop picking up small dogs just because they can.

Of course she is, and others are entitled to post in disagreement.

But the dog was still jumping on her and her dogs, so they were still in danger and being hurt.

I really don’t understand a lot of these posts. If an animal I don’t know is jumping on me, I am being attacked, same if a person I don’t know was doing it, and if I am being attacked I am going to defend myself. I really hope I never encounter a lot of you when out for a walk or a run (although I may have in the past 🙄)

OP, you did nothing wrong and I hope you and your dogs are okay.

Exactly this. By the time OP kicked the dog it wasn’t actually hurting anyone.

Ive had to deal with over friendly dogs approaching and crowding my dog, who does not like it. Very often small dogs actually, despite some owners thinking small dogs are timid or made of glass 😜! It’s annoying and some owners are dicks. Some are just doing their best, and no harm is meant or has happened. But I’ve always managed the situation without kicking anyone. And if I did kick any dog, I expect the owner to be far less helpful after that!

I mentioned above an incident in which an elderly medium-sized dog was quite badly injured by a "playful" young male that was a lot bigger than him. If he'd been able to be picked up he could have avoided injury, but you think the problem is owners of small dogs picking them up and not the out of control dogs "playing"??

@Allisnotlost1 It was still jumping on the OP.
Is that ok, something we should accept?

And she might not be a dog lover and she just saw a random person kicking a dog. Only those 3 people know what happened and as I said, the unbiased person gave her opinions on what happened. I am sure the OP is biased to what happened.

Walking away when a dog has its paws on your shoulders (she did mention it was a greyhound, and that she is five feet tall) is difficult unless you kick back at it to dislodge it from its assault on you.

She wouldn't. She didn't. Nor had she been advised on this thread to carry either a spare lead or treats, at the time she was at risk from this nuisance-hound.

No but the OP specified her dogs are old. So probably much more sensitive to have ‘a foot over them’ and more ‘fragile’ (fir want of better words)

And whether the dog was aggressive or not, it shouldn’t have jumped Eother on the smaller dogs or on the OP.
What makes you think it’s ok, apart from ‘just let them sort it themselves’? Even though the OP’s dogs were older so likely to have arthritis etc….

And if the dog isn’t just playing but is aggressive, you … put yourself in front of the dog and put yourself in arm’s way at the same time?

Oh my god yes, I would, and have, absolutely put myself in front of my dog when being faced with an aggressive dog, IME experience, most dogs back down from a human being assertive (loud voice, deliberate 'blocking' body language) normally gives the owners chance to catch up. I've had dogs all my life and I can count on one hand the times that has happened though, most dogs that approach us are not nasty, but poorly socialised and/or boisterous.

I'm not sure why reading my post you have jumped to victim blaming though, I said OP escalated that situation in the way she responded, it is not her fault it happened at all.

I think the main problem is that your issue is with the man and his lack of control, but it is the dog who was kicked. You have no idea if the dog was hurt. My dog didn't even flinch when a 50p sized piece of flesh was ripped off her by another dog (she did later). For all you know the dog is suffering major internal trauma. I dont think for a second it is, but you cant confidently state that you didn't hurt it. Everyone is saying the dog shouldn't have been off lead. That is probably true but it's hardly the dogs choice and physically injuring a non aggressive dog seems overkill to me. In terms of what to do in the future, I had success shouting "Get off. Bad dog!" To a collie who came aggressively at mine. He looked so surprised that it interrupted his behaviour. I would not recommend kicking because how would you get yourself and your two dogs home with a massive bleeding wound if the dog had responded aggressively?

Oh come off it. The owner should have called the dog back when he saw it wasn't welcome. A dog shouldn't be that far off lead if they've got no recall. Never mind being so badly trained it jumps up at the OP to reach her dogs!

And I'm not piling on in case that gets thrown about. I am merely stating my own opinion which op asked for. It is okay to have different opinions and I wish op and her little dogs nothing but the best. I just wouldn't have kicked the dog. And that's okay too.

What I mean by a 'dog being a dog' is that it's not his fault he is untrained. He was doing a very doggy thing and he doesn't know better. I hope your dog is ok and not too badly affected.

The other dog was out of control! OP's dogs were on leads, the other wasn't and caused trouble. Op kicked it to get it off her own dogs!

I am pretty sure greyhounds shouldn’t be off lead legally anyway? Maybe an overreaction to kick the dog OP but that lady is a bitch posting on fb about something that was none of her business

Good first you to be able to be that assertive.
Not good for me who just freeze out of fear…. I’d genuinely be terrified and certainly would NOT put myself in front of an aggressive dog.

You said yourself that the OP panicked. Which is a fair reaction to a dog that big putting their paws on your shoulders.
I dont see the point on lecturing the OP about the fact they should have done xyz. Or that they are awful etc…

Let’s concentrate on the real troublemaker - the big dog owner who didn’t have his dog under control. And let the OP alone

I’ve kicked away a dog before now as it’s jumping up at me so I don’t think you did anything wrong. I’m fed up of people with no control over their dogs.

I don't think there is a legal ban on off-lead greyhounds, but I do know that all the greyhound rescue organisations I can find seem to be strongly in favour of keeping them on the lead except in an enclosed ("secure") field. Some even put a clause about it in the adoption agreement the new owners sign.

One explanation given is "Greyhounds are generally not allowed off-lead in unenclosed areas due to their high prey drive, immense speed, and poor recall ability, which makes them prone to chasing, getting lost, or injuring themselves. They can reach speeds of over 60 -- 70 km/h in seconds, often ignoring commands to stop when focused on a target. "

To be honest, I wouldn't let a greyhound off-lead myself, because they are impulsive and drivers' reactions are not always all you might want. A greyhound is not going to stop just because there's a road in the way, and there are roads near most woodlands and parks.

Dogs with no recall that run straight up to other dogs should not be off lead. Not all dogs take kindly to being rushed/sniffed at. I would have done the same

First, by picking your dogs up, you create the issue with them being dog aggressive. They need to learn how to detect when a dog wants to play and by reacting in this way you create the fear. As a large dog owner I see this all the time, owners think they are 'protecting' their dogs when actually they're causing the problem. If the dog was playing too rough then you should separate them calmly but no big reactions as again that tells your dogs there is something to be scared about. Greyhounds do not have big paws and as you didn't say your dog has come away injured them being knocked to the ground has not done any damage and actually paw play is a very common way for dogs to play, they learn it as puppies.

Second, you were absolutely in the wrong for kicking a non aggressive dog, there is no ifs or buts with that. The only reason to ever do that is as a last resort if you or your dogs are in danger and being attacked. Honestly your reaction has likely done more long term damage to this dog than anything the dog did to yours. Reactions like this commonly lead to dogs become scared of people which would be a really sad result given he was only looking to play. If I was you, I would reach out to the owner, apologise and see a trainer to help you teach your dogs how to behave around other dogs and they can also teach you some techniques for when this happens in the future.