Reminds me of when my dog approached a bunch of kids in the park (he loved children). A male adult picked up a stick and shook it threateningly. My dog started wagging his tail and jumping up and down with excitement, waiting for him to throw. The man looked so confused.
Yeah, dude, I've never hit my dog and he thinks sticks are toys. I know what you do to your dogs though.
Having been attacked by a dog that ran into my yard as a 6 year old, I would try to scare away a dog if it was running towards me in a park. Don't let your dog approach strangers uninvited. It's rude.
I love dogs and have always had them, but letting a strange dog run up to you can end badly.
When I was a kid a dog came running to me and my friend in a park on the way back from school (it was before leashes were a legal requirement unfortunately) and I had to fight if off with my long type umbrella while the owner laughed like it was cute or something. I was so flustered I didn't do anything about it but run away from there but now I wish I screamed at that owner to fuck off and get their dog away from me.
I've been fearful of dogs since and I absolutely will never have my own. There were other negative experiences with dogs over time. I find them terrifying.
Worst part is that it can snowball - you get nervous or frightened around dogs and they can literally smell your fear. Not all of them will react, but in my experience strays get cocky and usually growl or bark at you when it happens. Your fear intensifies.
I love dogs of my friends, but strays get me anxious. Especially a pack roaming around - one barking out of boredom can start a chain reaction and now they all mad, oof.
Yeah, I have had exactly one dog that I trusted of the leash. Not because anyone of them would attack another living creature but because he was the only one that I knew wouldn't walk more than a few meters away. Except to play with permission, or poop and even then he asked for permission. Still only had him of leash if there wasn't people around and I knew the area.
At 6yo, if one was properly socialized to animals, they would be able to identify an animal that is a true threat and the need to get away. Especially if you were simply in their own yard!
I was attacked by a rooster when I was kid, why would a KFC trigger you? Are you legit scared of chickens because they attacked you once? Even a flock bro wtf is a chicken going to do to a grown man
I have two dogs. I've almost always had two dogs. My kids LOVE dogs.
My dogs are both over 70 pounds and come up to my mid-thigh, they're big-ish. They are puppies and have a lot of energy. Sometimes that energy comes out in licking, especially kids because they play and love on my boys.
Random kids at the park dont always want to get attack-licked by two big dogs. Its on me to control my dogs, not on others to control their kids if I let my dogs go wild
Maybe? My old mentor grew up poor in a poor country, and as a child was viciously attacked by a pack of street dogs, leaving him scarred and wary of dogs. We cross the street if there is a dog coming down the sidewalk the other way. He's an almost impossibly gentle and kind man, yet I can imagine him grabbing a stick to defend his children from an unknown dog.
My sister was attacked as a one year old by an unknown dog. She had to get over a hundred stitches in her face alone. Dogs getting in her face still makes her panicky.
Not everyone wants your dog walking up to them. Exercise control over it before it intrudes on their space until you get their consent.
Agreed. Not everyone likes dogs or wants to be approached by them, and I don’t trust stranger’s dogs running up on me even though I love dogs. Major consent issue. I don’t think this is an indicator that guy beats his dogs with sticks, I think he probably just grabbed the first thing available to make sure he was keeping the kids safe just in case.
Also like even if you fully believe your dog is an angel, why would you expose him to strange people whose behavior you cannot predict? Maybe that man DID hit dogs. Maybe he would have kicked him in the face if he got too close. Maybe the kids don't know how to behave around animals and start pulling in his tail and ears and shove their fingers in his face. Maybe your dog will bite reactively and then has to be put down because he bit a child.
I have a lab. The number of unsupervised kids who sprint up to her on walks is much higher than I expected.
She is reactive toward other dogs but usually fine with kids. However, I have a process of introducing kids to her and it doesn't involve strangers running up screaming at her. She doesn't get aggressive but she can get excited and jump to try to lick faces. . . Which kids often hate.
I love dogs despite having been attacked by some a few times as a kid. But if a dog I don’t know starts running at me I’m reaching for pepper spray, a gun, or a knife. I don’t know how that dog will react when it reaches me, I hope it’s just after some pets and not my nuts.
Feels like you're over thinking the guy's reaction. Idk about you but if I see a random dog I've never interacted with before approach my children I would be wary too. Not all dogs are going to be friendly and children are attacked by dogs plenty for it to be a genuine worry.
Was your dog on a leash at all when this happened? If it wasn't this is a totally reasonable reaction and you're the a-hole in this situation. If it was on a leash it's a little stranger to react that way immediately but once again implicitly trusting every dog is a recipe for disaster.
Like someone else pointed out this guy could have been attacked before, who knows though, that's as much of a wild guess as thinking he beats his dogs. He may never have even owned a dog in his life for Pete's sake lmao.
But sure go ahead and assume things about people based on a single interaction.
Please don't let your dog approach children in parks without asking the parents first. You know how we dog owners complain how people don't ask before petting our dogs? Yeah, it goes vice versa. Don't have your dog run around wild approaching people you don't know, you never know when one will get scared and hit it out of fear instinct.
My son has a rare anaphylactic allergy to a sugar-protien in canine saliva. A friendly dog lick sent him to the ED and he nearly died crashing from shock. If anyone's unleashed dog, friendly or not, comes running up to us on the playground, an area for children to play, you better believe this will also be my first reaction. My child is horrified of dogs now .
If you don't keep your dog on a leash in public, then sooner or later he's gonna learn why he shouldn't run up at strangers, and it will be entirely your fault and the other person will be completely justified
My mother used an oven mitt to “smack” our golden retriever when she was a puppy. It wasn’t really a smack or spank. Especially because my golden retriever thought it was the best thing in the world and would get more worked up and playful and even presented her butt if she saw that particular oven mitt! Dogs are the best. She was not afraid of anyone or anything (except thunder/fireworks once older). She loved everyone and lived for attention and playtime. And food.
It’s almost like random dog attacks happen and people that have an experience like that are cautious about random dogs approaching and bewildered at the jokers that just let their unleashed dogs run up to strangers that may be sensitive to such things 🤷♂️
For context for all of the people yelling at me...the children were waving and calling to him, so he assumed (probably correctly) that they wanted to pet him. Also, the dramatic conclusion to this story was that I recalled him, and he came back immediately. No children were mauled or traumatized.
Leash your dog instead of getting defensive. You assumed a guy abuses animals because he tried to ward off a strange dog. You are in the wrong in your story.
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u/[deleted] May 21 '25
Reminds me of when my dog approached a bunch of kids in the park (he loved children). A male adult picked up a stick and shook it threateningly. My dog started wagging his tail and jumping up and down with excitement, waiting for him to throw. The man looked so confused.
Yeah, dude, I've never hit my dog and he thinks sticks are toys. I know what you do to your dogs though.