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  • #1

    Stalked by a toddler

    So, the pup and I went for a walk around the lake today at a very popular park. It was kind of almost sunny on a weekend, so it was fairly busy.

    I'm walking the pup, minding my own business, when we pass a family that has two toddlers. One of them goes "Doggie! Doggie!" as we walk by. Which is what half the kids we pass do. I smile and keep walking...

    ...and I hear the pitter-patter of little toddler feet running after me. "Doggie! Hey, doggie! My doggie! Oof!" The kid tripped on the gravel path. But he got up, and kept running.

    I could hear his parents half-heartedly telling him to stop and come back, but the kid wasn't having any of it. I kept walking...and the kid kept running behind me trying to catch up, calling "Doggie! Here doggie!" Even when other dog walkers passed by going the other way, the kid insisted on going after my dog. The kid kept tripping and falling, too, because he wasn't old enough to have very good motor control. He was only about three years old, if I had to guess. I kept walking faster, but the kid kept running after us.

    Now, Ozzy doesn't like kids. I don't know if he had a bad experience with them before we got him or what. He hasn't bitten any yet, but I haven't really let him get close to any. So when this kid finally caught up (after several minutes), Ozzy turned around and gave a growl and a bark.

    "Woah! ..... BLRAGLEBLABBABABBLE!" That's the closest approximation I can give of what the kid shouted back at my dog. He made a few other sounds. I think he was trying to spook my dog into barking again. Ozzy just gave him a strange look and started walking on around the other side of me.

    I was just about to turn around and spook the kid off, but his parents called, and for some reason he listened that time. Which was good, because his parents were almost out of shouting distance at this point.

    I kept walking. I heard the kid again. Pitter-patter-pitter-patter approaching behind me, as well as the calls of "Doggie! My doggie! Heeere doooogieeeeeee!!!". We were coming up on a nice long, steep hill, so I picked up the pace. The kid got tired about halfway up and gave up the chase.

    Note: this kid has been stalking me for a quarter mile at this point! (I just looked up the map and verified my estimate...yep, about a quarter mile!)

    I made it up and over the hill into an area where the trail gets a bit windier and away from the lake into the woods, and I looked back and figured I'd finally lost them. There was no sign of the kid or his parents. I noticed my shoelace was untied, so I stopped to tie it...

    ...and drifting through the forest, I could hear "Doggie? DOOOOOOOGIEEEEEEEE! Doggie, where are you?"



    I quickly finished tying my shoe, and hurried away from there, walking as fast as I could. I didn't see them again for the rest of my walk, fortunately.

    I don't know what was up with this kid's parents, letting there tiny little kid chase a strange person and a strange dog for just about a quarter mile. All I know is that now I'm going to have nightmares where I'm being stalked by weird little kids screaming "Doggie! My doggie! BLRAGLEBLABBABABBLE!" and trying to steal my dog.
    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
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  • #2
    My niece was like this with dogs when she was a toddler. She'd crowd excitedly by the front window when the neighbors would walk their dog, and make happy noises, call the dog over, follow them from window to window, and so on.

    One day we're in the yard, and the neighbors come by with their dog (leashed). I decide to try and introductions. Niece is excited by the idea, and the neighbors are good with it when I ask.

    Niece is all scared and quiet as soon as she gets within petting distance. Dog was calm and polite, didn't react to her at all (a very well behaved dog, I might add). It took her awhile to get over her initial fears at getting too close. She'd get all excited again when she saw dogs at a distance, and hide behind me when they got too close.

    But now that's she's older (13 now) she's very good with both dogs and cats.
    They say that God only gives us what we can handle. Apparently, God thinks I'm a bad ass.

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    • #3
      My boyfriend's younger sister has a little one, 6 years old or so who isn't scared of any dog. She lives with this monster of a pit bull, and has visited our house frequently enough that she's familiar with our dogs as well. Cats, on the other hand, used to TERRIFY this poor kid. She's finally starting to get over that a bit, as the little kittles I have are quite outgoing and friendly, and don't freak out over her getting noisily excited over them.

      I gotta wonder what the toddler stalker's parents were thinking though, letting their child run off after a strange dog.
      You're only delaying the inevitable, you run at your own expense. The repo man gets paid to chase you. ~Argabarga

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      • #4
        So...wait...the toddler's parents just let him run after you? They didn't turn around and go after him? Am I reading that right? Wow. Glad you finally got away, and I hope the toddler went back to his parents. That's crazy!
        "And though she be but little, she is FIERCE!"--Shakespeare

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        • #5
          Um, my kid is 2 and loves animals. You know he approaches dogs?

          He asks me if he can pet it. I ask the owner if it is OK (he is shy with strangers). He holds out his hand so the dog can sniff it, and then gently pets it on the head or neck.

          But that's because I took the time to teach him the appropriate way to approach animals. Because running willy-nilly after strange animals, screaming gibberish at them, is a good way to get yourself bitten. Shame on those parents for not bothering to teach him how to behave around animals! And you know if the kid runs up to a strange dog and is bitten, the poor dog will be the one in trouble.
          https://www.facebook.com/authorpatriciacorrell/

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          • #6
            AnaKhouri,

            As the owner of a dog who gets overexcited around people (despite EVERY attempt we've made to teach her otherwise); thank you.

            And yes, we would allow your child to pet our dog, but only after we had her properly restrained - and after confirming it was okay with you if our dog licked her. Which she would do, if she decided she liked the kid.


            (Without the restraint, she'd possibly try jumping up. Maybe, maybe not, we couldn't be sure. And we wouldn't want her knocking the kid down.)
            Seshat's self-help guide:
            1. Would you rather be right, or get the result you want?
            2. If you're consistently getting results you don't want, change what you do.
            3. Deal with the situation you have now, however it occurred.
            4. Accept the consequences of your decisions.

            "All I want is a pretty girl, a decent meal, and the right to shoot lightning at fools." - Anders, Dragon Age.

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            • #7
              Not only did those "parents" let a toddler run after a strange dog, they let him get a quarter mile away. Anything can happen in a quarter mile!
              "Is it hot in here to you? It's very warm, isn't it?"--Nero, probably

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              • #8
                Quoth AnaKhouri View Post
                Um, my kid is 2 and loves animals. You know he approaches dogs?

                He asks me if he can pet it. I ask the owner if it is OK (he is shy with strangers). He holds out his hand so the dog can sniff it, and then gently pets it on the head or neck.

                But that's because I took the time to teach him the appropriate way to approach animals. Because running willy-nilly after strange animals, screaming gibberish at them, is a good way to get yourself bitten. Shame on those parents for not bothering to teach him how to behave around animals! And you know if the kid runs up to a strange dog and is bitten, the poor dog will be the one in trouble.
                Good for you, what you're doing is the right thing for both the child and the dog. Besides the obvious (being sure a dog won't bite your child) it also gives the owners the control over the dog for both sakes. We had a Yorkie for 16 years, she was a bit timid at times, she was fine with a child petting her as long as DH or I were holding her, but quite scared if one approached her when she was at the end of her lead, especially if they moved fast.

                We have a very articulate granddaughter, and her parents taught her well (we do re-inforce her teachings when she's with us, but as we live 8 hours away, I do have to give the credit to her parents Anyway, by age 3 she would first ask her parents or us if she could ask to pet the dog, then she'd approach and ask very politely if she could pet their dog. We've seen quite a few dog owners look totally floored by this tiny little thing asking so solemnly.
                And she always wants to ask, she's 9 now, and on constant lookout for dogs to pet (they have three cats, we have two, no dogs around since we lost our Yorkie a few years ago).

                I must admit, having lived 8 years in the UK with our Yorkie, and then 8 years here in the US with her, that British children were more likely to ask first than American children - though there, they ask to stroke the dog, rather than pet the dog.

                Madness takes it's toll....
                Please have exact change ready.

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                • #9
                  That just makes my skin crawl; what the parents did, or didn't do, not you. You see, when I was five, my own dog bit me on the eyelid; pretty much taking it off completely. It was my fault; i got too close and stuck my face in his, he felt threatened and reacted. Next thing I know, I'm at the dr., then the eye dr. (both at their homes) and then heading to the hospital where I had surgery to re-attach my eyelid.

                  Got home the next day, and no dog. He was a bit high strung, and had nipped at people when they got to close for his liking, but my parents decided they didnt' want this to happen to someone else's child, so sadly, he was put down. To this day, I cringe when I see any child put their face in ANY dog's, no matter how calm the dog is.

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                  • #10
                    Quoth Food Lady View Post
                    Not only did those "parents" let a toddler run after a strange dog, they let him get a quarter mile away. Anything can happen in a quarter mile!


                    More like 30 feet! I saw a story on Yahoo the other day of some scumbag recently released from prison who grabbed a girl in a Walmart who was standing maybe 30 feet from her mom in a different aisle. Fortunately the girl screamed and clawed and the guy let her go.

                    They picked him up later using store surveillance... as he was being led out of his house by the police he was muttering "I wasn't there. Wasn't me." Sure, pal... it was your identical twin, Sideshow Bob.

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