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?

Agree with PP - why your OH didn't stand up? This would have been the natural reaction. To stand and turn his back on the dog while you put the bag down and shoo the dog away. I don't understand how things could have happened that quickly or that you both just sat there while this dog was jumping around you.

I also don't think it was right to kick the dog, and how did he manage to do so anyway, when everything was happening so fast and the dog was all chaotic around you?

The owner didn't rush over because she know the dog won't hurt anyone but should have been on-lead and this is one of the reasons our dog is never off-lead unless he is in an enclosed area with no risk of jumping up on anyone.

Oh my goodness! I said I don’t know what breed it was. I said it was slightly larger than a spaniel and had ears like one. I’ve said repeatedly I don’t know dog breeds and I made that very clear. I said it could’ve been a spaniel mix to give people an idea of the size and general look.

To be honest, I don’t think I would’ve done anything differently looking back.

We didn’t both just sit there. Please read my previous comments.

I really hope she does as the whole situation could’ve been avoided had her dog been on a lead or properly trained.

Kicking the dog away was clearly the right thing to do in the circumstances as it got the dog away without anyone being harmed.

Could have also been avoided if you (and your husband) had better morals and common sense.

'DH was straddling a bench seat at the time whole holding the baby. He wasn’t getting up from a normal seated position. He would’ve had to stand up and swing one leg over the seat while holding the baby. So yes, he could’ve easily become unbalanced while trying to get up while a dog is jumping up and him.'

This comment just confirms that weirdly, neither of you stood to move out the the dogs way. That's unlikely to have happened unless you were both do some reason glued down the the bench!

as someone with 3 scars from a dog trying to eat what I was eating as a toddler, and getting my face instead...not over reacting at all!

Our morals are to protect our baby. And most people seem to agree. It’s not my job to train someone else’s dog. If you choose to have a dog then you need to train it properly. Under section 3 of the dangerous dogs act 1991 a dog does not need to bite or injure someone to be considered a threat, someone reporting a dog saying that they felt threatened is enough for it to be a criminal offence. Trust me, if I wanted to take it further I could’ve. And people who don’t train their dogs are playing a dangerous game because the next person might just report it to the police (and you’ve seen people comment on this Thread that they would’ve contacted the police) and the dog could be removed from them or even destroyed. Believe me, I could’ve taken it a lot further and I hope by calling out this behaviour I do make people think twice.

No, we didn’t get up. We had the whole contents of the bag on the table at this point. Why is it up to us to move away from the dog and not the owner to put their dog on a lead?

I would 100% kick an uncontrolled dog jumping up relentlessly at my child.

Any parent who wouldn't, needs to be a better carer for their child. Children's protection trumps animals. Always.

To clarify, my horses were not out on any public property or anyone else's private proerty and have never been out on their own in 5 decades of horse ownership, they were on my private property where there is no public right of way. This is in complete contrast to the almost weekly occurrance of out of control unsupervised off lead dogs in the community which dog owners believe is acceptable.

I'd be absolutely mortified if they did get out as all weigh in at more than half a tonne each and could cause a lot of damage. I take the responsibilty for other peoples safety very seriously, even a collision with a car can be devastating for the occupants as well as the animals.

A person with a baby would be entitled to do what ever they had to in order to prevent their child being trampled and I would fully support this, especially if they were panicked due to being chased, tormented and terrorised by one of the many off lead dogs in the area whose owners believe that worrying livestock is called playing and it's all good fun. Two horses died in my village after being attacked so badly that they ran into the wall of a building. One died, the other was later euthanised by the vet as it had a fractured skull, a brain injury and was fitting. The dogs really enjoyed it though so all in a days good fun for the dog owners.

It would be great if you could politely ask a dog owner to put their dog on a lead but they wont they just start mouthing off. They couldn't care less if their dog injures someone else's pets or peacefully grazing animals but if their dog gets a boot they're apoplectic, but it does mean they don't come back with the dog.

Ok, you do you. Enjoy your life full of unnecessary stresses.

it doesn't matter.

It's not a risk you take with your own baby. Even as a dog owner. No one want their baby to be the story of the year or even the decade. It's not a ridiculous risk.

Not stressed at all and glad that we protected our baby. Keep defending dog owners like that because you're doing the dogs absolutely no favours.

I feel sorrier for the baby. The dog can be on a short leash, the baby cannot.

I would be cross too but I don’t think kicking the dog was necessary or sensible. It doesn’t sound as though the dog was showing any aggression, and kicking it could have provoked an aggressive response.

I'll always be against unnecessary violence towards animals. And i'm not sorry for that.
You're not doing your child any favours by firstly making them scared of dogs and secondly potentially making a friendly dog angry by being so horrible and dramatic.
But you clearly are only interested in views that match yours.

This happened weeks ago????

Perhaps learn a few more dog breeds might be useful. You said you know about seven.

You suggested it might be a spaniel type dog.

And look up how to react in a situation where a dog is jumping up at you and you are holding a baby.
Which might mean you are better prepared. There is always something to learn from a situation.

I suppose that depends on your perception. At the time, the dog had jumped up at my baby and had made contact with its paws a few times. And given that we tried to block it and tell it to stop and it didn’t (in fact it was getting more hyper) the kick was actually the most effective. I’ve said that I don’t have much experience with dogs so I don’t know the signs of aggression, but I knew perfectly well even if it wasn’t being aggressive it could accidentally hurt my baby by jumping up at them or if it nipped them as the baby had food on them. That simply wasn’t a risk I was prepared to take.

She was sauntering over because she knows her dog is no threat to your baby. You sound hysterical tbh. Why would you think the dog wanted to bite anyone? What a weird assumption. You had food, a dog came over excited at the food. No more serious than that. Kicking the dog is abuse.

Her morals and common sense are to protect her baby.

I love dogs but they can be predictable and can attack in a split second. There's a horrifying video on YT where a pre-teen child has a small dog on its lap talking to a webcam and the dog without warning takes a big bite out of the child's cheek.

No way would I risk a dog getting that close to a stranger's child.

And I’ll always be for protecting children and dog owners properly training their dogs.

And you dont think that kicking a dog is going to make it more likely to attack?! 🙄