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?

Clearly a bloody good picnic. I'm thinking Fortnum & Mason hamper.

If everyone knows dogs love food then every dog owner should keep their dog by their knee if they see people eating.

It's not fair to put the onus on strangers to control your dog.

They do if they are giving their children a life long fear of dogs by screaming when a dog approaches interested in food. Poor child will be more distressed from the mother screaming than the dog at this point.

Even if it's just sandwiches and crisps, why should it end up on the ground wasted because someone won't control their dog?

I don’t think it’s an instinctive response at all to the situation.

Standing up and moving away is an instinctive response.

Kicking the animal is just aggression. Probably not helped by the OP screaming.

Because sometimes in life shit just happens.

Yes, and dog owners who don't control their dogs risk their dogs getting kicked.

Precisely. OP has made her mind up. It was a massive drama and DH was fully justified in booting the pooch.

It’s completely ridiculous and the police will not be interested.

We blocked the dog. We told it no. I moved the food. I shouted for the owner. It would not stop. It’s easy to say you should’ve done this, you should’ve done that. You weren’t there. My immediate reaction wasn’t to get up, it was to shield my baby and, honestly, I was expecting the owner to be a lot more responsive. She could’ve been there a lot quicker and she chose not to. Instead of looking at what we apparently did wrong, what about the owner? She had numerous options. Put her dog on the lead. Train her dog. Actually react when your dog does something like that. This is an adult dog we are talking about which is off a lead, with no recall, in an area highly populated with families and which, clearly, jumps up at people. She’s playing a dangerous game here because, as I mentioned, under the dangerous dog act, a dog doesn’t actually have to bite or injure for it to be considered a criminal
offence. A person can report a dog for feeling threatened. What she did was irresponsible to the people around her and the dog.

The police may actually be more interested in animal cruelty depending on the injuries to the dog.

No, kicking a dog in the situation OP describes, is just abusing an animal.

The dog shouldn’t be approaching them at all.

Probably made no difference screaming at the dog or kicking it. Unless it has its teeth in grab the collar.

You don't ever do that unless the dog is actually attacking you. You are becoming the aggressor, and it escalates the situation, making a bite far more likely. A friendly but exuberant dog who gets kicked is much more likely to react out of confusion or fear. It's trying to play. So when the other person/dog reacts with hostility, the dog will be more likely to do the same.

You stand up, tell it loudly and firmly to sit/down/leave it. (Most dogs will know at least one of them)

baby isn’t scared of dogs, but thanks for your concern.

81% of people have voted OP is not being unreasonable, so OP is right to get support.

I love dogs, I love watching them on YT and I usually pet any dogs that come to me, but they can be scary if they come up out of the blue, so I can see how OP reacted instinctively.

We told it all of those things and blocked it numerous times. It didn’t listen and actually got more hyper. The kick was actually really effective.

Do you think a dog wouldn't bite a human who ran up jumping all over its puppies? Every single other animal would kick/bite that dog. Its completely natural to be worried about a strange animal jumping up repeatedly at your baby and act accordingly, dogs are just lucky that most humans dont react the way of other animals half the time

If the owner doesnt want their dog to get kicked they need to do a better job protecting it. Its not everyone else's responsibility to constantly manage poor and irritating behaviour by other people's dogs. If you jump up at someones baby your going to get kicked. It is both the owner and the dogs fault

She didn’t ask if dogs should be on leads around kids and picnic. They should and I agree with you re training.

BUT she asked if screaming and kicking a spaniel type dog (not an xl bully) was an overreaction. Imagine if everyone in the park did that each time a curious dog came over. Lots of highly strung PPs on this post.

Your are joking, right? You are aware that we would’ve been well within our rights to report that dog under section 3 of the dangerous dogs act.

Do you think that any dog owner whose dog bites someone, knows for sure they’re going to do it? My cousin was bitten by a dog she used to see almost every day in the park. It just ran up out of the blue and went for her. A Labrador cross of some kind. It was closely followed by its shocked owner claiming that the dog had ‘never done that before.’ That’s usually how it happens. I wouldn’t ever assume that any dog wasn’t likely to bite me or my children. Better to err on the side of caution than end up in A&E.

I hope this is the last time I have to say this on this Thread. It wasn’t a spaniel.

So you had an understanding of what the dog was looking for. You had time to protect the baby and move the food, see the owner approach albeit slowly and your DH still kicked the dog?
I don’t agree with allowing dogs off lead. My dog is always on a leash and is not social so I don’t appreciate unleashed dogs either.
I wouldn’t kick one unless the dog was attacking me. I might shout at their owner or kick them if I had to lash out.

You were lucky. A lot of dogs will meet aggression with aggression. Kicking it endangers you and your baby. You should have just stood up.