AIBU to be upset after a dog jumped at our baby?

[KellyK2026]

Okay, so myself, DH and baby were at a country park the other week. Baby was getting hungry so we sat ourselves down on a park bench and got some food out. A woman was walking with her family and dog and the dog must’ve smelt the food as it suddenly
comes bounding over and is jumping at baby (who is on DH knee) to get the food. We don’t know this dog and don’t know what it's capable of. I scream at the owner that we have a baby and to get her dog under control. At this point, she’s pretty far away and is taking her time to come over. My DH then kicks the dog to get it off them as it just will not stop. The woman wasn’t particularly apologetic and seemed shocked. Did we overreact?

Really OP you should go around profusely apologising for your baby’s existence, and probably your own too, and tell all the dog owners that them and their pooches are afar superior to the rest of us 😂😂

The baby's welfare wasn't compromised though, apparently the baby kept eating and didn't even notice!

Ohhh it must have never happened then 😂😂😂

It noticed alright (I didn’t say they didn’t) as the dog jumped up and them and put its paws on it. We felt like the dog was a threat to our baby. You weren’t there. You didn’t see it. The baby kept eating because it had food in its mouth and clearly didn’t understand the risk. Honestly, you sound like you’ve never had kids.

I own dogs, I am aware of the law. You have to face an immediate threat of death or severe harm to kill a dog, legally. Being chased wouldn’t be enough. And what happened to you nowhere near meets that threshold. I think you are not being honest on this thread, your hysteria about an event “the other week” when no one was harmed is bizarre.

Look, even some amazing well trained working dogs won’t be able to resist food. You can have a perfectly trained working dog, with excellent recall, will deliver anything to your hand soft mouthed, you can stop them from two field lengths away, you can even get them to obey a tiny hand command from this distance. They are amazing creatures. But food is a separate issue. It does not mean a dog is wildly out of control or a dangerous threat. It means in that moment their hunger is bigger than any recall whistle command. When dogs snaffle food outside it is often when the food is there unexpectedly. It happens. But there’s no need to be so hysterical.

I have three kids and it seems to me that the thing most likely to alarm the baby would be the screaming and kicking parents. But according to you that didn't bother the baby, but the baby was simultaneously obviously distressed by the dog?

Thank you for some basic sense

But the next dog who “needs exercise” and whose “animal welfare matters” might be different. Let’s face it, humans can’t be trusted to be good dog owners and children shouldn’t have to be at risk.

Why is it so hard to just put your dog on a lead?!

Sounds like you surround yourself with some really aggressive and violent people OP … I think you have bigger concerns than one dog when it comes to your baby.

The only action you and your husband took was to scream at the woman and kick the dog.

I’ve got 3 children. Needless to say, we’ve spent much time at public parks. We’ve had many dog encounters. None of them have resulted in any screaming or violence towards the dog.

One of my sons was chased by a goat once at a petting zoo. It took an interest in his sandwich. I calmly instructed him to drop the sandwich, and he complied. There was no screaming to get the handler’s attention. I didn’t feel the need to give the goat a kick in the ribs. Zero drama.

Agree. I would have calmly stood up. Or passed the baby to the further away parent then stood to block the dog.
And I would have lobbed a bit of decoy food to buy myself (and the dogs owner) some time.

It is appalling that the dog wasn't under control but it sounds very much like op and her DH were more worried about protecting their picnic than their baby

So you’re aware of the dangerous dog act of 1991 and that it prioritises children’s safety over a dog’s and that reasonable force (which can be physical) is permitted and not considered animal cruelty if you feel like it’s a threat to a child?

Protecting it from what?? The whole thing is ridiculous.

So please tell me what I should’ve done then as someone with mobility issues and couldn’t stand up?

But if you haven't even made the effort to stand up /sacrifice a bit of your picnic to distract the dog then it wouldn't be reasonable force

So dogs can't have exercise on a lead?!

A friend of a colleague? Read it again.

I have mobility issues. I would have lobbed a bit of food to distract the dog and I would have got DH to stand up. He could have passed the baby to me briefly while he stood up.

In fact I would have sacrificed the whole bloody picnic before risking the baby or kicking the dog

Yeah, a bit tricky to stand up when I’m disabled.

Some people thrive on drama … OP still talking about this when it apparently happened some weeks ago.

But you DH could have. And you could have lobbed some food to get the dog away

FFs we weren’t having a picnic. I was trying to feed my baby. I’m not throwing my baby’s lunch on the floor to appease a bloody dog whose owner won’t get their finger out to them it.

Right …
£100 it didn’t happen.

This is also completely true. Mine have 100% recall. But on a walk this summer, in the arse end of nowhere, one of them shot off. That never happens and I recalled him straight away. On further investigation, some asshole had decided to have a BBQ In an area where they are banned….but I am sure he would have complained if a dog snaffled his sausages!