I got bitten by a dog at a friends house when I was younger because I startled it. I apologised to the owner while crying because one, I was scared and two I could see the dog really did not mean to bite me. I was around 7 or eight at that time. The owner were really sorry as well and told the dog off and the poor thing hid under the coffee table for the whole day. My parent told consoled me on their lap but told me at that you should’ve have asked for permission to touch the dog, both end apologised to each other and the dog remain alive. I can’t say for much, but if that dog had run up to me and bit me that would’ve been a different story as I approached it cuz it was a small dog.
A dog needs to walk outside everyday because they may go crazy and bite and ruin things inside the house. Also potty business, some doesn't even know how to do it in the bathroom(or either doesn't have a yard). So don't go complaining about letting the dog out at the park because its normal and it clearly shows some peeps here doesn't have dog/s┃ᐕ) ⁾⁾ even my sis does that everyday. OP's only prob is about not putting him in a leash, so I quite understand the mom, and its also her kid. Tho she was making so much drama for just that. Her kid wasn't even bitten lol. But the thing is, there's COVID and families shouldn't go out at all or maybe one person at a time because of the quarantine. They shouldn't have gone out.
We only go out for the dog, most of the week if the weather is sunny and good we don’t go out because we know people take the piss and have picnic in the park. The time we go out is near closing time which is around 7-8pm. We walk, as in not stay in one place and once we make one lap around the park we go home. A dumbass as someone quote earlier is those people that go to the park and sit down having picnic and leaving their rubbish. London lock down ask if you exercise for an 1hr, to keep moving and keep your distance. We comply to that by constant moving, and leaving my 20-30mins. Believe me if I can live a life as a shut in I would. Dogs and kids go crazy and be frustrating if they are locked up at home. So family to take their kids out to the park and walk are fine, it’s the family with small kids that come to the park to sit there for half the day enjoying the sunshine. I will say fair enough I am at fault for not having him on the leash but I have spend so much time and effort and swell as money to train him so he does not go ‘out of control’ and it paid off as he did not react badly to the kid, he bark once and stay in place and came back to us as soon as we called him name. A lot of people don’t have dog and don’t understand so I can’t force or make them understand, as everyone has their own opinion. It’s like spending money and time Learning to drive a then not bothering to drive a car once it over. Training a dog is constant, you have to learn to trust it to some point. Because when we first got him and knew he was gna grow big, no matter how much money we pay and spend time training him, he had to be trained. If I couldn’t control him having on the leash would not have made any difference. Before he was train I was dragged along like a round away train. I have seen many example of dog owners who couldn’t control their dog (big and small ones) and at the end of the day it was mine that got hurt both times, and their dog were on the leash. I calmly asked them for their contact number ask asked them to get their dog train, otherwise if there’s next time and someone else reacts badly the dog will be taken away.
I understand you~ My sister doesn't put our dog in a leash but she's a good, and doesn't attack people so we are confident enough to not put it on her plus she can't do any potty business if she has it. On the other hand, my other dog is kinda crazy cause she didn't go out for two years and now she's afraid to go out, and gets mad at people a lot even to us so lesson learned, we should have trained her when she was still young.
Dogs need to be taken out and covid isn't dangerous to dogs. Their life, everybody else there is risking their life for the same or worse reasons.
Were you in an off leash area? If so, you were definitely in the right. I understand your feelings, people are incredibly sensitive. My dog is on the smaller spectrum, so people think she's "cute" and approach her and get a shock when she aggressively barks. Lol. I always make sure I'm in an off-leash area of the park so whoever gets snarky I just put to the sign tell them they shouldn't be here if they are scared. People don't understand that leashes are really limiting to the dogs freedom to roam around. That's why off-leash places exist. The fact that they have the audacity to scream and and cry a fuss when no one's been hurt is astounding honestly. Even if you were not in an off leash area, people shouldn't have an emotional outbreak. They should simply tell the person off and leave it there. People can't use the "well you should've put a leash on the dog" because others can use "well you should control your kid, they can hurt my dog" cause then it would just lead to "well I know my kid they didn't hurt a fly, your dog is naturally aggressive, can't help it" and then "well I know my dog, they wouldn't hurt anything, just like how there's hundreds of cases where dogs are aggressive, there's hundreds of cases where kids abuse dogs, humans are naturally aggressive, can't help it. Look at you right now." It's annoying. Oh well. Good on you for trying to stay calm in the situation. If it were me, i would've listened for a couple of seconds, see that she was being unreasonable and just walk off with my dog. I wouldn't give a shit to what she says. Her child is fine.
You should keep your dog on a leash, there is no excuses. Understand we live in a society made by humans(cats actually) and your dog not being on a leash doesn't just endanger others but himself as well. If your dog bit the kid even after the kid did something wrong, your dog can be put to sleep. It is also important to pay attention that they don't eat something they shouldn't. The law requires them on a leash for a reason. Don't underestimate momma bear, they will tear you to shreds. Once the hormones kick in, you are the enemy. Even if the child is already elsewhere it makes no difference. This is why best time to steal an egg from a bird is when it is chasing off another predator, because they get too focused on the immediate threat and lose track of the underlining ones. The police don't need to listen to the whole story, the moment they see there is no leash even if they listen to the whole thing you would still be in the wrong. And as sad as it sounds for the dog not being able to play fetch, that is how it is. There are dog parks with designated leash free areas for that. I don't know the layout of your house but you can also play minifetch in a hallway or the like. Momma bears aren't reasonable, that is simply the reality of it. But end of the day you had the most to lose in this. Could they use some better parenting? Yes, but this and that are separate issues. But if you wanted to end it quickest, just pretend to cough. They would have ran away faster than you could sneeze. (But don't say you have covid, because that can cause other problems)