anything I can do?

pulliptears

Not condoning kicking the dog.

Dog should be on lead whenever its in a public area. Had a big rottie cross come bounding at my small child I'd be bloody annoyed as well I have to say.

brokenlily

In response to those who say keep your dog under better control, the footpath was fairly narrow, so even if my dog had just been trotting along, he would have had to pass the child fairly close by. The child was wandering away from his parents as well, towards the railings near the water where there were ducks, also where the dog was interested in, so my response to them would be if you don't want dogs near your child, keep the child near you, hold their hand, or pick them up if a dog comes near. The child seemed unfazed by it, but the father came running over shouting and kicked out so hard my dog yelped and then laid down and froze. Were he a nasty aggressive dog he might well have counter attacked so I guess everyone's lucky he's very placid.

To those who have said my dog was not under control there were no signs saying dogs had to be on the lead, and there were so many other dogs off the lead there, well then every single owner using that path was an irresponsible owner. I do not let my dog off the lead near childrens' play areas, if I see families having picnics or playing in the park, I keep him away, but if you are going to walk on a public footpath in the countryside, I think you expect to see dogs and have to deal with them. I think my dog was picked on solely because of his breed - there were other dogs on that path that had been within a similar distance to his child that did not get that reaction. But hey, it seems that if you say you were protecting your child, you can do anything, however nasty and cruel, and I'm sure they would probably say that my dog did do something aggressive if I took it any further, despite three witnesses who all know he was only sniffing at the ducks.

brokenlily

Dollardog wrote: »

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.

Yup. I worry about this because of my dog's size and breed - and when he has growled back the owners get very annoyed. Quite often the owners will call the dogs back and they won't go.

winterwhite11

You could end up opening a can of worms.
QUOTE]

thanks a lot
i just made a pot noodle
i,m not eating it now

pulliptears

Brokenlilly, matters not a jot the width of footpath or position of child etc, it boils down to the fact that your dog was off lead in a public area. Parent doesn't know your dog, parent doesn't know whether he's the most placid thing in the world or not.

Situations like this can be avoided by simply keeping the dog on a lead in public.

elliesmemory1

So Dogs are no longer allowed to have a free run?

Yes you should have full control of your dog, but parents should also have control of their children and not allow them to wander.
I would not be happy if someone kicked my dog and if your dog is injured I would speak to the police, however unless you have witnesses who will say your dog did nothing wrong, be prepard for the police to take the childs fathers side.
This country is beginning to get like America whare dogs can only run in dog parks.

krlyr

pulliptears wrote: »

Brokenlilly, matters not a jot the width of footpath or position of child etc, it boils down to the fact that your dog was off lead in a public area. Parent doesn't know your dog, parent doesn't know whether he's the most placid thing in the world or not.

Situations like this can be avoided by simply keeping the dog on a lead in public.

If the law ever changes to state dogs must be on lead in public areas, I'll tell people to abide by it, but OP can't be faulted for having a friendly dog off-lead in an area that doesn't forbid it. You could equally argue that parents should have their child under control/on a kiddy harness because dog owners don't know that the kid respects animals - I'm not going to run over and push a child over for approaching my dog because I feel it *might* pull my dog's ears.

OP, you'll struggle with this kind of thing because of the breed, I have a GSD and a Rottie x GSD and get similar. All you can do is ensure that you do the best you can - have a well-trained, well socialised dog that's under control and being a great ambassador for it's breed. I would report this man to the local police but probably not expect too much to be done - probably a civil case of damage to your "property" if the dog was to require vet treatment.

zaksmum

pulliptears wrote: »

Brokenlilly, matters not a jot the width of footpath or position of child etc, it boils down to the fact that your dog was off lead in a public area. Parent doesn't know your dog, parent doesn't know whether he's the most placid thing in the world or not.

Situations like this can be avoided by simply keeping the dog on a lead in public.

But a dog has to have some off lead time, surely? No matter where you are you can't guarantee a child won't materialise from somewhere. If a parent has such a problem with dogs why doesn't he take the child where dogs are not allowed?

Sally_A

A dog owner knows their dog, if the dog is snappy they would either muzzle or keep on a lead. By letting your dog off a lead, you know the temperament re kids and other dogs - granted they are more likely to get into a kerfuffle with another dog than a child. I've had a lot of young children run up to my doggie (whether on a lead or not), and these kids were not even on retention reins :eek:. It will be a very sad day when we have to lead all the dogs and rein all the children.

I think all dog owners have had the "Benson moment".

To winterwhite - glad that happened in Mid-Wales, whereas the !!!!less thugs in England that "know their rights", in Wales laddo kicking the dog, and then being floored by your OH = a score draw. If he took it further, he may find himself getting extra accidental injuries in his next rugby match.;)

orlao

brokenlily wrote: »

In response to those who say keep your dog under better control, the footpath was fairly narrow, so even if my dog had just been trotting along, he would have had to pass the child fairly close by. The child was wandering away from his parents as well, towards the railings near the water where there were ducks, also where the dog was interested in, so my response to them would be if you don't want dogs near your child, keep the child near you, hold their hand, or pick them up if a dog comes near. The child seemed unfazed by it, but the father came running over shouting and kicked out so hard my dog yelped and then laid down and froze. Were he a nasty aggressive dog he might well have counter attacked so I guess everyone's lucky he's very placid.

To those who have said my dog was not under control there were no signs saying dogs had to be on the lead, and there were so many other dogs off the lead there, well then every single owner using that path was an irresponsible owner. I do not let my dog off the lead near childrens' play areas, if I see families having picnics or playing in the park, I keep him away, but if you are going to walk on a public footpath in the countryside, I think you expect to see dogs and have to deal with them. I think my dog was picked on solely because of his breed - there were other dogs on that path that had been within a similar distance to his child that did not get that reaction. But hey, it seems that if you say you were protecting your child, you can do anything, however nasty and cruel, and I'm sure they would probably say that my dog did do something aggressive if I took it any further, despite three witnesses who all know he was only sniffing at the ducks.

I didn't say that your dog wasn't under control, just that the law said that the burden of proof that he was would fall on you. As a fellow Rottie owner I am very aware of breed prejudice because I see it in action most days despite the fact that my big dog is my 'easy' one, obedient and well socialised while the rescue terrier is the one who is muzzled and never off a long line in public as he is the 'orrible, yappy, in other dogs face type that we all hate! Despite that I have had people shove their kids onto busy roads as we pass with him on a short lead.

I think that you have to accept that if you have one of the breeds that is popularly known as a devil dog type that you have to be very vigilant to protect your dog from the hystericals . I do understand that some people may be nervous of some breeds for many reasons and while I might disagree with those reasons they are entitled to feel like that and not be bothered by my dog. However, feeling like that does not entitle them to even consider harming a single hair of his and in your circumstances I'm pretty sure that that person would have ended up swimming with da ducks - once I had removed my size 7s from where the sun don't shine!:o

I make a point of asking my dogs to heel or sit while we are passing people so there can be no reason to accuse my dogs of aggressive behaviour - partly to protect my dogs themselves (I know that if there was a complaint about them that it is unlikely they would get a 2nd chance) but also to try and prove that not all Rottweilers are vicious/dangerous. I don't want people looking at my lovebug with scared, suspicious eyes!

Hardupandfedup

Sadly you're not far wrong - there is a huge anti dog feeling in general. The big dogs seem to get more obvious reactions even from other dog walkers who you would assume are also dog lovers but there are a lot of people who would like to restrict even further any dogs in public. In part this is caused by inconsiderate dog owners who have out of control untrained dogs that they don't clean up after - not even mentioning dogs used as weapons and other criminality - but a lot of it is because of a selfish desire for them not to have to deal with what makes them uncomfortable. While not unsympathetic to those who don't like dogs I will continue to take my dogs out and about while doing my best to show consideration to other users in public ( clue is in the name ) spaces that I also contribute to through my taxes, just as they do.

OP, IME you cannot expect parents to pick up their kids as you pass, the best you can expect is that they keep their child close and you do the same with dog. At least that means that muppets like that idiot cannot hurt him in the future. As far as the police are concerned I still think that a) they will automatically assume that you were at fault (unfair I know) or b) make little or no effort to find him considering that you don't have a name or address. You could try reporting it to your local dog warden - I don't know if there is anything they could do but you won't know until you speak to them? I hope there is no lasting damage to your dog and that he is more comfortable now. Also, it might be wise to watch him very carefully with strange men for a while to make sure that he isn't scared by sharp movements etc...