Mean little boys and their dog

[Sandra6]

Walking my dog this morning and there were two young kids in front of me with a Jack Russell, they were yanking it along a bit on it's lead but it was wagging it's tail and didn't seem to mind.
Towards the end of the path I thought I saw one of them fake kicking it, but I thought I'd imagined it, until I got close enough to hear one boy saying to the other "go on, do it" And the other boy made a run at the dog and kicked out, just stopping short of the dog's face
I bellowed at them to stop it. And they did. Both looked totally stunned and by the time I'd finished ranting there were tears in the offenders eyes.
I told them if I ever saw them do that again I'd find out where they lived and tell their mother.
I'm actually wondering if I should go into the school and get them to follow it up - they both had their school jumpers on.

 

[Sara_H]

Oh dear. How old (approx) were they?

I find it very worrying that a child would behave this way towards their own pet. I meet alot of tough kids from tough families in my job, but the family dog is usually untouchable.

 

[Dayvo]

With your justified and understandable admonishment of them, I would imagine that the boys had learnt their lesson very well.

IF you see them doing something cruel in future, then you could either try and find out where they lived, or if they were unwilling (understandably so) to tell you, you could trace them through their school.

 

[Sandra6]

They were aged about 9/10. They go to the same school as my girls so they'd be easy to trace.
I'm sure I heard/read somewhere that there is a link between cruelty to animals as a child and psychopathic episodes as an adult, true or not it's one of those things that I find really worrying.

 

[Minotier]

Well done.
The shock may stop it from happening again to the poor dog, or even worse another child!

 

[Arch]

Well done.
The shock may stop it from happening again to the poor dog, or even worse another child!

And it's not just the immediate fear or pain to the dog that's an issue. If the dog is abused, I suspect it's more likely to then snap or attack, and if the abusers are children, the dog will associate the abuse with children, and therefore be likely to snap at a child. That's never going to be a good outcome for the poor dog, as it'll end up being destroyed if it bites.

Might be worth having a quiet word at the school, maybe teachers can say if they think the lads are a worry, or were just being stupid. Or keep an eye on their behaviour in the playground etc...

 

[Sara_H]

They were aged about 9/10. They go to the same school as my girls so they'd be easy to trace.
I'm sure I heard/read somewhere that there is a link between cruelty to animals as a child and psychopathic episodes as an adult, true or not it's one of those things that I find really worrying.

Thats what worries me also. Of course, it will probably be a moment of ill judgement by the child.

Having a ten year old of my own, who loves his dog more than he loves anyone else, I can't comprehend a child that age hurting their pet

 

[redcard]

I'd definitely make the school aware, and well done for pulling them up. Most folk would have just let it go.

 

[Arch]

Thats what worries me also. Of course, it will probably be a moment of ill judgement by the child.

They may just be stupid. Sandra said they were 'fake kicking' at the dog, and that might be all they meant to do, without thinking that they might accidentally make contact, or that just the fake kick might frighten the dog.

 

[Sandra6]

And it's not just the immediate fear or pain to the dog that's an issue. If the dog is abused, I suspect it's more likely to then snap or attack, and if the abusers are children, the dog will associate the abuse with children, and therefore be likely to snap at a child. That's never going to be a good outcome for the poor dog, as it'll end up being destroyed if it bites.

Might be worth having a quiet word at the school, maybe teachers can say if they think the lads are a worry, or were just being stupid. Or keep an eye on their behaviour in the playground etc...

The dog was quite aggressive towards mine as we passed them - but then that's often a Jack Russell on a lead thing, mine barks like mad if he's held back.
I know they weren't actually kicking the dog, but it's just as cruel to pretend to do it imo.

 

[ufkacbln]

They were aged about 9/10. They go to the same school as my girls so they'd be easy to trace.
I'm sure I heard/read somewhere that there is a link between cruelty to animals as a child and psychopathic episodes as an adult, true or not it's one of those things that I find really worrying.

Not quite at this level, but there have been definitive links between killing animals and murder, but it is not definitive. It also covers lower levels of violence such as domestic abuse as well.

Try reading Animal Cruelty - Pathway to violence against people by Linda Merz-Perez, Kathleen M. Heide for some of the arguments

Interestingly there are also links between animal cruelty and sexual inadequacy

 

[Hotblack Desiato]

Dread to think what the parents might be like. The kids may be victims themselves.

 

[thegravestoneman]

My Jack russell appears aggressive to other dogs as many of them do, they are nervous dogs and do tend to go for the 'attack' first approach if they see a threat to their pack (the person on the other end of the lead) but it is usually a bluff in warning for the other dog to back off and not come near. He is a great family dog but I would never let kids take him for a walk.

Kids can be cruel and this sort of behavior is sadly not unusual. I know of a few JRs that have been put down because of a nip or even just a snap that is meant as a leave me alone warning that is described as a bite and it is usually kids (unsupervised) that are on the receiving end who do like to poke and prod the 'little puppy', for some reason eye poking is popular amongst toddlers and parents do get upset if you tell their little treasures not to do it.

At this moment mine has just scrunched his cushion into a small ball and is sleeping on top of it cuddled up to me.

 

[Sandra6]

I was told that JR's think they are Alpha dogs, so they assert themselves as such when they encounter other dogs. I wouldn't describe mine as nervous.
off the lead he's often too friendly, he hasn't chosen his sexual preference yet but when on the lead he is very growly -but with a wagging tail so you know he's not too fierce.
My children do walk him, but they don't tend to let him off the lead and they avoid other dogs unless they know them.

 

[Saluki]

Good for you Sandra.

We have a rather dodgy JRT who was lovely until some little scrote kicked her in the head and broke her jaw. She has been a bit iffy ever since.
The child let go of its mother's hand and ran over yelling 'I effing hate you' and just kicked our we pup really hard. I had a word with its mother but she said that was just how her son was. I suggested kicking his backside around the field as that is how I am. I rang the school as the kid had uniform on and there was only one local school. School not interested in the least even though I described the mother to them. She had bright fire engine red hair so I reckon that not too many parents had a hair do like that.

I am so glad that you yelled at those lads, I hope that it will make them think on.