Please Don't Kick My Dog...

[WillyNilly]

I think you were out of line.  She did not "try to kick [your] dog" at all.  Not even close.  10 full feet away in fact.  Heck she took 2 steps backwards.  She kicked at the air.  You then admonished her and accused her of something she didn't come anywhere close to doing.  You should have just kept going and ignored her, instead you verbally attacked her. People don't have to like your dog, any dog or even the idea of dogs.  She was not in any way shape or form a danger to your dog, she was clearly trying to defend herself in case of an attack, not trying to instigate one.

This is what i don't get. How is a dog on a leash 10 feet away a potential attack, but an unrestrained human at the same distance and actively kicking not a potential attack?

Thats my point neither was an attack, really.  This was two creatures reacting to one another.  But the OP tells us the dog was trying to go near the woman,"she started her whole tail-wagging "happy to meet you" dance, trying to lead me over to greet the woman".  If the dog wasn't on a leash no doubt the dog would have went over.  Now the OP is a responsible dog owner and didn't let the dog go, but trust and believe hundreds of thousands of dog owners would. That woman had no idea what type of dog owner OP is.  So she stepped back and readied herself.  The dog was in no danger at that time because OP was restraining the dog.  But the woman had to prepare that OP wouldn't restrain the dog.  The woman had to be prepared for the equally likely event the dog would approach and perhaps lunge.  And that's all she did.  She came no where near kicking the dog.  Yet she was accused of trying to kick the dog.

How would the OP have reacted if the woman instead of kicking the air had screamed "keep it away!  Its attacking me!  Keep it away!"?  That's essentially what OP did to her - accused her of a mythical attack. OP restrained her dog the woman readied herself for self defense.  No one got within 10 feet of each other and no one was harmed or even near harm.  Yet the OP accused the woman of seriously attempting harm.  That's not cool IMO.

[sweetonsno]

So Daisy was ten feet away and the woman was kicking at air with that much distance between them? I really don't think there's any reason to scold her for trying to kick the dog. There's that much space between you already and she takes a step back as well? I'm having a tough time imagining how either of you could think that she was going to kick Daisy from that distance, unless she's Stretch Armstrong. If she was really that far away, accusing her of trying to kick Daisy sounds kind of like the kid who complains that their brother is touching them because he's inching his hand across the car seat. I would skipped the part about kicking the dog and left it at, "Don't worry, she won't jump on you. I've got her under control and we're leaving." As Girly said, my facial expression would probably say, "Why are you doing the foxtrot in a park?"

[Isisnin]

You were great CrochetFanatic.  In fact you even did the woman a favor by politely pointing out to her that she should not make an aggressive action towards a dog - or any animal for that matter.

Your response was an entirely appropriate and polite response.

[wolfie]

I think you were out of line.  She did not "try to kick [your] dog" at all.  Not even close.  10 full feet away in fact.  Heck she took 2 steps backwards.  She kicked at the air.  You then admonished her and accused her of something she didn't come anywhere close to doing.  You should have just kept going and ignored her, instead you verbally attacked her. People don't have to like your dog, any dog or even the idea of dogs.  She was not in any way shape or form a danger to your dog, she was clearly trying to defend herself in case of an attack, not trying to instigate one.

If she was so far away that she was not in any way shape or form a danger to the dog then the dog was far enough away they it was not in any way shape or form a danger to her and her action was needlessly aggressive.

[CaptainObvious]

I think you were out of line.  She did not "try to kick [your] dog" at all.  Not even close.  10 full feet away in fact.  Heck she took 2 steps backwards.  She kicked at the air.  You then admonished her and accused her of something she didn't come anywhere close to doing.  You should have just kept going and ignored her, instead you verbally attacked her. People don't have to like your dog, any dog or even the idea of dogs.  She was not in any way shape or form a danger to your dog, she was clearly trying to defend herself in case of an attack, not trying to instigate one.

If she was so far away that she was not in any way shape or form a danger to the dog then the dog was far enough away they it was not in any way shape or form a danger to her and her action was needlessly aggressive.

I agree and the woman didn't deny that she was in fact going to or trying to kick the dog.

[WillyNilly]

I think you were out of line.  She did not "try to kick [your] dog" at all.  Not even close.  10 full feet away in fact.  Heck she took 2 steps backwards.  She kicked at the air.  You then admonished her and accused her of something she didn't come anywhere close to doing.  You should have just kept going and ignored her, instead you verbally attacked her. People don't have to like your dog, any dog or even the idea of dogs.  She was not in any way shape or form a danger to your dog, she was clearly trying to defend herself in case of an attack, not trying to instigate one.

If she was so far away that she was not in any way shape or form a danger to the dog then the dog was far enough away they it was not in any way shape or form a danger to her and her action was needlessly aggressive.

The OP told us the dog was pulling towards the woman and the woman was stepping backwards away from the dog. I bet from her perspective the dog was being aggressive first and her reaction was not needless at all.


I admit I am biased.  I've had more dogs then I can count run up and jump on me while I'm out jogging.  Just last week in fact I was nipped in the calf by a wiener dog and was afraid of what to do - if I kept running it would chase me, but it was jumping and nipping at me.  The owner was calling for the dog to stop but not really very good at getting the dog to listen.  Last year I was knocked over by a dog (I'd guess about 45-50lbs).  The owners think I'm aggressive and evil or whatever because I yell at them and am generally shaking and reacting badly and not the least bit amused.  More then once I have stopped jogging and slowed to walk because I see what appears to be dog walking its owner and I'm scared to run past and risk it chasing me and the person not adequate restrain it.

[SiotehCat]

There would be no "please". If it happened again, the police would be called. Someone needs socialization training, and is not a canine.

What would the police be called for? The lady wasn't near the dog.

[Deetee]

There would be no "please". If it happened again, the police would be called. Someone needs socialization training, and is not a canine.

The police? And what do you say to them? "This lady stood 10 feet away from me and then took a step backwards so she was further away from me and then kicked the air in the direction of my dog".

There is a serious difference between "behaviour that some people don't like" and "behaviour that warrents police intervention".

[Betelnut]

In my opinion, the OP overreacted a bit.  The woman was scared and reacted.  She didn't kick the dog but made kicking motions that could not, and didn't, even get near the animal.

In the future, if I were the OP and saw the same woman, I would put my dog between myself and her and walk quickly by as far on the opposite side of the path as possible.

[CaptainObvious]

There would be no "please". If it happened again, the police would be called. Someone needs socialization training, and is not a canine.

The police? And what do you say to them? "This lady stood 10 feet away from me and then took a step backwards so she was further away from me and then kicked the air in the direction of my dog".

There is a serious difference between "behaviour that some people don't like" and "behaviour that warrents police intervention".

Yeah, the police would be an extreme overreaction.

[Mikayla]

I'm on the fence.  But one thing nobody has mentioned is the woman telling OP to keep "that beast" away from her.  This was completely uncalled for, especially after the explanation.

The other issue is that this was a dog friendly area.  That can mean a lot of things, but if it's "the place to go" in that town for people walking dogs, maybe people who are sensitive to them might want to walk elsewhere. 

[Deetee]

I'm on the fence.  But one thing nobody has mentioned is the woman telling OP to keep "that beast" away from her.  This was completely uncalled for, especially after the explanation.

The other issue is that this was a dog friendly area.  That can mean a lot of things, but if it's "the place to go" in that town for people walking dogs, maybe people who are sensitive to them might want to walk elsewhere.

I did mention it (indirectly) as it moved me into thinking the woman was only nervous to rude (and possibly still nervous.

As for it being a dog area, that can depend. Sometimes there are very few places that one can go for a walk where there are no dogs.

It doesn't make her behaviour any more pleasant but it sounds like it wasn't personal. She may not even be aware of the kicking. But her comment afterwards puts her firmy in rude category in my mind. If she had said "I'm just really nervous around dogs" I'm sure you would forgive a possibly inadvertant air kick.

[sunnygirl]

I think you were out of line.  She did not "try to kick [your] dog" at all.  Not even close.  10 full feet away in fact.  Heck she took 2 steps backwards.  She kicked at the air.  You then admonished her and accused her of something she didn't come anywhere close to doing.  You should have just kept going and ignored her, instead you verbally attacked her. People don't have to like your dog, any dog or even the idea of dogs.  She was not in any way shape or form a danger to your dog, she was clearly trying to defend herself in case of an attack, not trying to instigate one.

If she was so far away that she was not in any way shape or form a danger to the dog then the dog was far enough away they it was not in any way shape or form a danger to her and her action was needlessly aggressive.

I disagree. 10ft for a large dog that is actively trying to get to a person and 10ft for a scared human being who is backing away are not remotely the same thing. A large dog could cover that distance in one lunge if not properly restrained, and although the OP was properly restraining him a terrified stranger might not know or realise that. A scared adult 10ft away and backing further away is not a comparable potential threat or really any threat. And there's no indication she was trying to kick the dog -- I don't think the fact she didn't deny kicking it is an admission of guilt as she was probably too terrified to conduct a proper conversation. I'm not defending the woman because I think her behaviour was inappropriate and rude -- if you have that bad a dog phobia I think the onus is on you to scan the area to ensure you try to keep a comfortable distance from any dogs, especially when in an area commonly used by dog walkers (if the dog had suddenly jumped out at her from a hedge or something that would be different but it doesn't sound like that's what happened). However I don't think someone making feeble, probably unconscious air kicks while backing away = kicking the dog, or that you can compare a large pulling dog and a frightened woman in terms of physical threat.

I think the OP handled it extremely well, though.

[Venus193]

The woman may have been 10 feet away from CrochetFanatic, but how long was the leash?

Not that this excuses the attempted kick.  If this woman is phobic about dogs she should not be in an area that welcomes them.

[Frostblooded]

It is likely the case that the woman saw just the dog first and then reacted immediately on a phobia. I would have done the same thing, I am also afraid of dogs and can identify with the woman. It wasn't necessary to scold her, it seems to me she was acting out of a sense of self-preservation. There was no danger to either party, so all in all this situation ended fairly good. There's no need to dwell over it.

I would have done the same thing as her if my phobia and instincts kicked into to protect myself, since the dog was making the first move. There seems to be a lot of hyperbole and overreaction in this thread.