Roared at a child today...

[fackingsnowballz]

Questioning now whether I may have overreacted or not...

I’ve namechanged as I don’t want it linked to previous posts.

Interested to get opinions and a bit too scared to try AIBU..

So, I have a dog approaching old age, she is partially sighted but no one would know that to look at her.

I took her out for a walk today, she was on lead and a child, I’d estimate maybe 7, ran towards her and the parents called the child back.
I carried on walking and the child ran at my dog again, this time with a handful of snow and tried to get at her mouth.

I assumed the child was maybe trying to feed her snow and carried on walking away only to have said child follow us again and then quite violently hit her with the snow.
It got her shoulder but I think the child was aiming for her face.

Well, I screamed at the child not to dare do that to her and the mum came running over and grabbed her child.
I was absolutely frothing but she didn’t say anything and neither did I, just walked off absolutely raging.

But a small part of me is wondering if I did overreact a bit?
As in throwing snowballs, I suppose, is quite a normal thing for a child to do.
The child isn’t to know she is partially sighted.
Not the child’s fault if parents can’t control/haven’t taught polite behaviour etc

But then I think the child was more than old enough to know better!
Of course you don’t go throwing snow at random dogs.
And you certainly don’t smash it into them at close range..
She is getting on and doesn’t have full vision.
What if she had panicked?
Snapped even then I’d be blamed for having an out of control dog despite her being on lead and walking away.

What would you have done?

@Iminaglasscaseofemotion

So the mother was the only one of the parents to do anything, the father just ignored the situation?

Probably but I don't see why that's relevant to the OP.

It was in response to a pp, not the OP But yes, a side point on the different responsibilities we place on mothers and fathers, not a comment on the OP's actions.

Wellllll

Surely you could have said something BEFORE the frothing/ roaring stage?

I'd be pissed too though

You did absolutely the right thing. I would roar at my own child if she did that to a dog.

1950s1
😂😂🤣🤣 OMG. You are serious. I used to look after a 2/3 year old, she wouldn't behave like that. She would ask me first and then the lady with the dog if she could stroke it.
It's about time people stopped being so silly and actually patented their children.

I don’t think you did anything wrong. The child may well be upset, but they probably won’t go around terrorising other people’s dogs in future.

So you’ve saved a lot of dogs some stress, and saved the stupid parents from having a child that gets bitten by a dog.

You didn’t swear, and you didn’t touch the child. So I would say you reacted completely appropriately. I’d be fucking furious if someone did that to my dog.

No you didn't over react. I've had to tell children to leave my dogs alone. At 7 year years old that child should know or rather have been taught to leave dogs alone.

YANBU.

I don't even like dogs, but I would never see one harmed or harassed. YANBU

Nope. I would have done the same if a kid did that to my (hypothetical) dog.

I shouted at a kid that was trying to kick swans last summer, little sod.

God no. When I got my dog, he was extremely nervous having been in a shelter for his whole life and never really going to the park or being around many people (we're not in the UK and the shelters don't get much money here). We went to a relatively quiet park and this child started throwing sticks at him! My poor dog was terrified and the grandma who was with the child just laughed. Well, I saw red and yelled at him that if he threw a stick at my dog again, it would be the last stick he ever threw and told the grandma she was a stupid twat.

No, it wasn't polite and I regret being that aggressive about it. If she hadn't laughed, I could have probably just said 'please don't do that' or similar, but her reaction just enraged me.

What I would say is that I wish dog owners wouldn't let their dogs (especially big ones) bound up to and run around small children. My 3yo is slightly nervous of large dogs although he likes small ones, so it does scare him a bit when they jump up or knock him over. And he once got nipped by an overexcited puppy (which we weren't encouraging in any way). Parents need to control their children and dog owners need to control their dogs. Not everyone likes children, not everyone likes dogs.

However, it doesn't sound like your lovely little dog behaves like this and she deserves to be able to go for her walk in peace. So don't feel guilty or agitated for doing the right thing and protecting her.

The child sounds awful. I’m glad you roared

"What I would say is that I wish dog owners wouldn't let their dogs (especially big ones) bound up to and run around small children."

Yes but that is not what happened at all so why even bring it up?

Not a dog owner but a child owner. In my opinion children need to learn respect for animals a lot younger than 7. It is sometimes hard to predict what children will do so no judgement on the mum either really, but certainly it was right to tell the child in strong terms to leave your dog alone.