anything I can do?

orlao

No, he shouldn't have kicked your dog - especially since the dog wasn't harming his child. Public means open to all after all, including dog walkers.

However I would be wary of going to the police in case he starts accusing the dog of attacking etc etc and before you know it you are embroiled in a tit for tat situation. Sadly it is likely that he will be believed over you (despite witnesses) as that is often the case. The law states that your dog must be under control at all times in a public place - now, that doesn't necessarily mean on lead but it does mean an instant recall. There is also a section that says that your dog must not "cause fear" - personally I think that that is ridiculous and impossible to define due to genuine phobias and is something that can be claimed by anybody who just happens to dislike dogs without having any clear or reasonable guidelines - but it does mean that you can be on a hiding to nothing in circumstances like this.

Is your dog insured? Do they have an advice line that you could ask?

gettingready

You, as a responsible dog owner should not have allowed your dog to get into a situation where he/she run a chance of being kicked or abused in any other way.

I have a lagre dog, again a breed that scares the hell out of people, a German Shepherd. I do not allow my dog to run up to people/kids that we do not know/that do not know my dog.

Sorry but it really is that simple. It is your dog and you have responsibility to keep other people safe (and their perception of safety may be different to yours) and also to keep your own dog safe. And that means not allowing situation like this to happen.

Paradigm

gettingready wrote: »

You, as a responsible dog owner should not have allowed your dog to get into a situation where he/she run a chance of being kicked or abused in any other way.

I have a lagre dog, again a breed that scares the hell out of people, a German Shepherd. I do not allow my dog to run up to people/kids that we do not know/that do not know my dog.

Sorry but it really is that simple. It is your dog and you have responsibility to keep other people safe (and their perception of safety may be different to yours) and also to keep your own dog safe. And that means not allowing situation like this to happen.

Pretty much agree with all of this. I have 2 large dogs & as they are walked in places where there are often children I never let them off the lead.
Not because they are dangerous (although that can never be guaranteed) but because I know that children & parents with children can be frightened & react.

Whether the OP can "do anything" I don't know... the childs father would only have to say he felt his child was in danger & I would guess that would be enough.

fluffnutter

No one knows their dog doesn't bite. They only know their dog hasn't bitten yet.

bobthedambuilder

I'm with the parent. Is he going to wait for the dog to bite before deciding to do something? The dog needs to be under control in a public place, which it obviously wasn't.

winterwhite11

zaksmum wrote: »

When a young lad kicked my dog hard for sniffing HIS dog, O/H grabbed him and knocked him over. Not something I'd condone, but it just shows how such a situation can spiral out of control.

Not many men will accept having their dog kicked for no reason.

good well bloody done husband:T
he was lucky though that kid did,nt go off blubbering to his mum ,then mum to police.

zaksmum

That's what I was a bit worried about, but we were in Wales at a local beauty spot where we were not known to anyone. He wasn't a child, he was about 18 and O/H is over 60, but built like the proverbial brick...er...outhouse (!!) The lad thought he was being hard kicking our dog, who was on his lead, and even aimed a second kick when O/H erupted with fury, grabbed him and knocked him over. That's the first time I ever knew O/H to strike the first blow, and I was glad the lad just scrambled to his feet and ran away!

winterwhite11

zaksmum wrote: »

That's what I was a bit worried about, but we were in Wales at a local beauty spot where we were not known to anyone. He wasn't a child, he was about 18 and O/H is over 60, but built like the proverbial brick...er...outhouse (!!) The lad thought he was being hard kicking our dog, who was on his lead, and even aimed a second kick when O/H erupted with fury, grabbed him and knocked him over. That's the first time I ever knew O/H to strike the first blow, and I was glad the lad just scrambled to his feet and ran away!

actually have a round of applause husband:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T

Dollardog

Whilst I don't condone the kicking and think that is entirely wrong as it could have provoked an attack from a dog that then would have been defending itself, I do agree that you should have had your dog under better control and called it back sooner.

I had a rescue dog which was bad with other dogs, even though I tried my best to socialise him, he was scared of other dogs and would try to go for them, even though he never closed his teeth and would have come off worse.
I had to stop taking him to the country park where I love to walk because of the number of dogs off the lead which owners used to allow to come over to him whilst he was on his lead.
Even when I saw a dog coming over and shouted to them to call their dogs back,they often just used to shout back their dogs were alright, maybe so, but mine wasn't and I didn't want to put him in a situation where he was scared into behaviour I didn't want. Even with a dog I know is dog friendly, whenever I have seen a dog coming which is on a lead, I have always called my dog back because you don't know why it is on a lead, it could be because it is nasty with other dogs or just because it runs off and won't come back.
Parents often panic when they see big dogs, as do owners of small dogs. Its not fair on them to have your dog approach and put them in that situation.
I have also found that owners of small dogs pick them up, which is the worse thing they can do as their dog then goes on the defensive and the approaching dog wonders what it is that is being held out of reach, generally making the situation worse.

I really think you should just let the matter drop in case the child's parents counter attack and say that they have seen your dog be nasty before (even though he probably hasn't). You could end up opening a can of worms. Learn your lesson from it.

Dollardog

Digressing from original post - sorry, but following on from my post above, what also really annoys me are the owners of little dogs who think its funny that their small dogs come up to my big dog and start yapping or even snapping.
If it was the other way round and my dog went up to theirs in that manner, there would be all hell let loose.
My dog, being bigger, is expected just to stand there whilst their dog provokes him, because of course, if my dog decided to retaliate and do the same back, it would always be seen that my dog was the one in the wrong, even if he hadn't started it and was going about minding his own business.