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?

So what would you like to happen? You are holding a baby and can't grab a collar. Owner isn't really around or bothered....wait until the dog goes to bite the food and then accidently bites the kid? The dog jumping up scratches the baby? The owner tries to grab the dog and the baby slips?

Dogs are not humans and always come second. Always.

I have dogs and would have used my foot to push away the dog in that circumstance too. The safety of my child always comes before a dog. The OP had no idea what kind of dog it was or how friendly it was.

OP - good on you and your husband. You were 100% right.

I agree with this. I would do the same.

I have a life long fear/ phobia of dogs which I date back to dogs jumping at me when I was very young. I think dog owners with their “ooooh he just wants to play/ is so friendly” have a lot to answer for. Any dog who will run up to strangers need to be on a lead.

To be completely honest, if I saw a man kicking a dog in public, I’d be concerned about how he behaved at home with his wife and child.

YANBU. If I’d had my baby in my arms and a dog was relentlessly jumping up at me, I might have kicked it away too. I’m a dog lover and owner but in that situation if you’re scared for your baby it would be instinct to get it away by whatever means.

I think people are feeling more tender towards the dog because you said it might have been a spaniel and people love their cockapoos but if it was a spaniel or spaniel mix, they’re notoriously nippy!

Yes, he kicked it as it was repeatedly jumping up at him and not listening. The dog wanted food, my baby was covered in food. Personally I don’t trust an adult dog that I don’t know that won’t even listen to its owner.

No child has developer a life long fear of dogs because their parents shouted at a dog eating their picnic. Thats a completely normal reaction to something incredibly irritating

f the child is scared of dogs its because dog owners refuse to forsee these situations that everyone else can tell is going to happen a mile off and actually manage them

People respond in different ways. I love animals, and have two cats. When one jumped on my 6 month old when I was breastfeeding and it took me by surprise, my instinctive response was to shove the cat away. It wasn't a conscious thing, it just happened.

Would you feel the same if it was a pitbull? All dogs have the potential to bite.

Aw he’s absolutely amazing. Loves me and his babies and would do anything to protect us. We are extremely lucky.

You might want to also look up the law on animal abuse. Stealing a quaver doesnt constitute grounds to hurt an animal.

Shouting is a normal reaction. Kicking isnt.

I love dogs but I would kick one if I thought it may attack or injure my child. I had a collie jump up at me a few years ago and it stratched my arm badly and ruined my jumper. I know it was being friendly but I have a scar.

So the father is straddling the bench which means he had little mobility. He was also holding the child and trying to protect the baby.
Sayimg the OP could have held the baby assumes that it could be done safely. Which wasn’t the case as the dog was all over the dh and the baby.

So that leaves the OP.
It means you’re expect someone who has no knowledge of dogs to

• be able to evaluate if the dog is dangerous or not
• know how to act with dogs
• then grab the collar

All that to avoid ‘kicking the dog’- which can’t have been hard anyway due to,tye dh position - Do you always put dogs before babies?

He was unreasonable to kick the dog. I bet that he wouldn’t have kicked the dog if the owner was a large guy or a group of youths wearing masks. He felt comfortable kicking the dog because the woman was on the way.
My dog is never off leash, if she escaped and she got kicked, I’d lose my shit with the person.

Legally you can use reasonable force on a dog and that force depends on how threatened you feel. So the law doesn’t really back you up.

What kind of idiot would kick a pit bull?

I would have been away from the bench in a shot, and left it to eat all of my sandwiches as it pleased.

If I were to see a pit bull off the lead, I would leave the area.

I bet the OP’s husband wouldn’t have kicked a pit bull either.

Huge dog lover here, and you weren't overreacting.

ALL dogs should be on leads EVERY time they're out. Mine are, and I'm fed up of dogs bounding up to mine while the owner lags many metres behind, chatting on the phone or texting. I then have to handle my two dogs, plus someone else's, which, as you say, you have no idea what it's capable of.

Doesn't matter if the dog is friendly or not, as even an innocent nip could really hurt a baby.

If people want their dogs off the lead, hire a private enclosed play space for an hour like I do, ffs. Costs a tenner.

Its not reasonable force

Grabbing a strangers dog by the collar when it’s off lead and out of control in a public place is just asking to get bitten…
When one of our children was smaller and in a pram eating, a dog came barrelling over and jumped up at him, snatching the snack out of his hand and catching his fingers in the process…
You can bet that the dog got shoved away by my foot with me yelling at it when it came back for more!
The owner wasn’t very happy however I pointed out that by having his dog off lead and out of control (it wasn’t responding to its owner calling it) he was actually breaking the law and that a dog doesn’t actually have to bite to be classed as dangerous.
What also made it worse was that I had my own dogs with me, one who was the lead as nervous, the other was off lead and trying her best to get between the other dog and the pram.
Ive lost count of the amount of times our children have been barrelled over when smaller by someone else’s dog when walking over the local fields, with owners shouting ‘don’t worry they love children’
It’s a total bug bear of mine, if people can’t recall their dogs they shouldn’t be off lead.

Of course he would’ve. As said, the woman had her family with her which included several large men who looked positively ashamed. I noticed they walked away without saying anything to the owner as I think they were absolutely embarrassed.

Yes right.

That’s your opinion and you weren’t there. The owner and her family didn’t report it so clearly they didn’t have the same mindset as you. In fact the owner’s family looked embarrassed for her.

Well that’s a fact.

A collie bit my beautiful dog when he was a small puppy. The owner just laughed. Later found out she's a Parish Councillor! Reported her but nothing happened.

People need to be very wary of collies.

Tbf I do this on most dog walks when a dog looks like it’s approaching my unfriendly dog and it’s owners don’t care.

If you’re used to being around dogs (and OP isn’t so I understand why she didn’t) you can tell whether they’re approaching with aggression or curiosity or excitement, and whether that’s directed to the humans or dogs. No dog bites yet, but there may well have been if I hadn’t intervened