AIBU to say an owner was irresponsible after his dog jumped at my toddler?

[ProudSwan]

I was walking with my young toddler in the park, just a few metres away from a gated playground, when a border terrier belonging to an older group of people suddenly came running straight toward us. Because the dog was large enough that its face was level with my daughter's face and throat—and since I didn't know the dog—I instinctively scooped her up to keep her safe.
The moment she was in my arms, the dog began jumping frantically at her. I firmly told it "no," and the owner finally came over and retrieved it. My daughter was very upset, so I walked away with her crying in my arms. Although she was wearing trousers that prevented the dog from breaking the skin, she was left with many visible red marks on her legs, which she mentioned still hurt later that afternoon when I was changing her.
Shortly after, the owner approached me to "explain." He claimed his dog was actually very friendly and good with children, and that the aggressive behaviour was entirely my fault for picking her up. He explained that his dog "has a thing" about children being held in their parents' arms, and claimed he had been about to warn me not to pick her up. He offered no apology, repeating only that he wanted to justify his dog's actions.
I responded that if his dog couldn't cope with children being held, it shouldn't be off-lead in a public park near a playground. I pointed out that the frightening incident could make her fearful of dogs—noting that a relative had a similar childhood experience that caused their fear of dogs which would be sad because she currently loves dogs.
He dismissed my concerns, arguing that they don't use a lead because incidents like this "don't happen often, maybe once a month." He reiterated that the dog was friendly, that local children regularly pet him, and that the fault lay entirely with me for picking my daughter up. He even mentioned they had looked it up online and decided the dog was showing a "protective instinct towards the child."
At that point, I suggested that if the dog truly was friendly, they could hold it on a lead for a moment so my daughter could see it was safe and had just been "playing" or "protective." The owner refused, saying the rest of his group had already moved on—which only made me question how friendly the dog actually was.
Ultimately, no apology was offered. The owner's stance was that it is a public park and they therefore aren't required to use a lead, that the whole thing was my fault for picking up my child, and that my daughter wasn't really all that hurt or upset and they don't have to have it on a lead and then he left. Was it so unreasonable to expect a dog that is known by their owners to jump at children in arms to be on a lead?

Our oldest (11) still has issues around dogs because (we believe) of the several dogs who jumped up at him as a toddler - including one dog who literally jumped in the pram.

But don't worry, "he's friendly".

If you can't control your dog, put it on a lead.

Biggest load of bollocks and incorrect advice I've ever read.
How do I know?

This happened as described in a park near me.
Mother did not pick up her toddler son, when she saw a dog bounding up to her and her son, and he got bit/slightly mauled.
People came running over, to make sure no serious damage was done, and she was eventually then asked the question "ffs why did you not pick him up?"
Her reply was that she'd been told that the worst thing you can do in these situations is pick a child up. So she just waited.

And I relate this advice as an experienced dog owner.

The more I think about the dog-owner’s ‘advice’ to OP the more it makes my blood boil. I was on a similar thread not long ago where a greyhound had gone for two little old dogs, the OP, the owner of the little dogs had picked them up and the greyhound had jumped up. One poster in particular was adamant she shouldn’t have picked the dogs up, although was also insistent that she wasn’t blaming the OP (she was).

It’s really insidious advice, because it creates a climate in which twats like this man absolve themselves of responsibility. To use a sexual assault analogy (the poster on the other thread took great umbrage at such an analogy but I stand by it), it’s like listening to a woman saying she’s been raped in a dark alley and saying ‘the best thing to do is don’t walk down dark alleys, and why didn’t you punch them in the face with a bunch of keys? That’s what safety experts advise, so you should have done that’.

Or, even worse, the perpetrator themselves saying it, like this toe rag in the OP.

Dogs should be leashed in all public places. Hopefully, it’ll happen. 🤞

Irresponsible dog owners should be put down alongside their beloved pets!

Seems sensible

Yes, it reminded me of "what was she wearing?"

As a parent my priority is to my children, both protecting them in the moment, and long term.
I am not risking my children being bowled over or hurt because I don't know what an unknown dog is about to do if I can possibly help it. I'm not risking aggravating my children's fears leaving them at face level with an uncontrolled animal with sharp teeth and claws.

Picking my children up calmed them, gave them the height advantage and made it easier to reassure them.

It's no co-incidence that my children have found dogs easier to be around as they've grown and become bigger than dogs. As they've got bigger they've also become less interesting to dogs so have had fewer incidents.

Actually "what was she wearing isn't a tenuous analogy... when running I've been told off for wearing bright clothes that apparently aggravated a dog. Well stupid me for prioritising road safety over some random Fido with ishoos

Totally. There’s no end to the things that can make it our fault. I’ve been told it’s the ball that my child was playing with that attracted the dog. Er, no, I think the word you’re looking for is sorry!

I instinctively picked up my toddler once when a pitbull type came loping over to us away from its owner. Just picked him up and turned my back, didn’t do or say anything else. Owner shouted over ‘you don’t own the park you know!’. 🤷‍♂️

Dog owners are disgustingly irresponsible. I am sick of them.

Earlier this year, my daughter was attacked by a dog. I hit the dog with my tennis racket to protect her.

YANBU!!
The dog owner in this situation is TOTALLY in the wrong. There are no excuses for dogs jumping at people still less at children.
And I say that as a RESPONSIBLE dog owner myself.

Dog owner here. He was 100% in the wrong. If his dog is aggressive when children are babies are held, it should not be off lead near a playground. Also demonstrates poor training and control. Not acceptable.