[puppylove2009]

Today we had our poodle and terrier mix out on the walking trail and I have never seen so many unsupervised little kids.

And there was this one family who were just letting their kids run up ahead of them and not watching them and the kids ran by us and this one kid (He looked about 6) came up behind my terrier mix and smacked her in the face (she did not react she just cowered behind my husband and whined) by husband couldn't get between her and the kid in time.

Luckily she didn't react she just looked dumbfounded but the kid ran up to his aunt and said "That dog Bit Me" and pointed at her. But they told him to stop whining and that there was no way that dog bit him.....she saw what happened.

Then he went to his uncle and changed his story: "That dog licked me and got my hand all wet" And his uncle told him to stop telling stories.

He then ran to his mom who was coming up from behind and said "Mom that dog licked me" and she was like "so" and then he said "That Dog Barfed on Me" and then he said "And that dog bit me"

And she told him "That dog did not do anything to you but I wouldn't blame that dog if she were to bite you now for telling stories on her" and then she apologized to us and said she saw what he did to our dog and she apologized to our traumatized dog. And then the kid ran ahead and came back toward us with a huge stick and yelled "I'm going to get that dog" and his mom took the stick away and drug him away.

I wanted to tell her to watch her kid because he is going to cause a dog that has never done anything wrong to react badly and probably act out agressively but I was too stunned about the whole situation.

I have always been afraid something like this would happen. The last thing I need right now is for her to begin to truely fear children.

Does the whole unsupervised kids on walks thing bother you as much as it does me?

If you had been in my place today how would you have reacted?



I'm just glad his mom knew her son was full of S***

And I'm glad he didn't hit my poodle because I don't think the kid would have been as lucky....my poodle is real tempermental due to his health and he wouldn't hesitate to react to behing mishandled

That kid needs some serious therapy-- in a padded cell.

Wow..
Thats really bad! Like you say some dogs wouldn't stand for that. I have a Siberian Husky who is very laid back but im not to sure how she would react in that situation. I feel so sorry for your little dog, i hope that it is ok and has not done it any mental damage.
As for the child, the parents should keep them away from dogs. You never know what a dog is like....even the cute ones.
loves to your doggy x

It amazes me how unafraid of dogs small children are. I'm not saying they have a reason to fear dogs or should fear dogs, but it really burns me up the way parents are okay with their small children walking up to dogs they know nothing about and petting them. I was at the vets office a few weeks ago with my daschund Slinky. Slinky is a one person dog, does not like anybody except for his mother. He will bite and not hesitate to see who you are first. A little girl, about five was commenting on how pretty she thought he was and asked her mommy if she could come visit. Her mom told her yes and she came trotting across the lobby, hand outstretched inches from Slinky's face. Slinky of course seeing this girl coming at him, hand outstretched didn't react too nicely, growled and barked. Girl ran screaming to her mother, mother gave me dirty looks and decided to share her piece of mind with me when I had done nothing wrong. I don't really think theres anything you can do to prevent it except when you see a child stop them ahead of time by calling out, my dog isn't friendly or something of the sort because we all know if a dog bites a child, your fault or not, you and your dog are getting the blame. I'm glad everything turned out okay for you though and I really hope your dog is okay.

My neighbours kid kept coming over with her mum and kept pulling Oscars ears or tail ( he's a border collie) her mother saw what she did but did nothing even when I mentioned it.
So the next time she did it I reached across the table and pulled her hair HARD she screamed and cried and I very innocently said 'oh Im sorry but as you keep doing it to Oscar I thought you must enjoy it too'

That child never touched my dog again.

As I often tell poeple 'in my house its not the dogs you need to worry about'.

He deffinatly needs to taught a lessen, as you said he could get attacked one of these days, and we all know the dog will be blamed!

It really is shocking listening to that story. It makes me worry for my dogs safety and mental health.

I remember when I was I child my mother used to put me on a leash thingy that was attached to my wrist. At first glance I am sure it looked weird but it kept me safe and out of trouble. I think I recently saw a similar product that it that was a cute backpack with a cord/leash attached to it so parents don't lose their kids.

That is just awful! I've never had an experience like that... all of the people who approach me ask if it's OK to pet my dog; as a young and tiny puppy, she's very attractive to children. A young family in PetSmart tonight made a huge fuss over her, and each child was allowed to pet her and hold her for a minute. I'm trying to keep her well socialized, and feel lucky that I've only encountered people who respect animals so far.

Parents need to watch their children around animals. When my sisters' kids were small and I was a teeny-bopper still living at home, my sisters were very laid back about our dog, an aging samoyed, but the two brothers-in-law were diametrically opposite in the way they reacted to him. When our dog yelped, one demanded, "What did that dog do to you?" and the other demanded, "What did YOU do to the dog?" I wanted to shake that one man and yell, "Hey... it was the DOG that yelped, idiot!" The two sets of kids grew up with entirely different attitudes about animals... guess which group respects dogs?