We took Ruby and Chester to King's Park the other day when we went for a picnic. They were tethered on a semi-long tether, and had bones, chew toys, a rug to lie on etc, and were right next to us where we were sitting. By law, dogs in King's Park need to be leashed because it is a native endangered park.
They were quite happily lying there chewing away, I was making some salads and not watching them, when some idiot woman barged up to them to say hello. They are puppies. They are big. They jump up when excited. Ruby tried to jump on this woman, and she stood there shouting at her and waving her arms around `SIT! SIT! Be a good boy SIT!!'. Ruby was sitting when told, but the woman was so loud and rowdy that it just revved them both up. I was furious, I marched up to her and said, `Ruby is a GIRL, and you are exciting her. Don't you know you should never approach a dog - especially one that you don't know - without the owner there? She could have bitten you out of fear, jumped and hurt you, even scratched you. I do not let them be around strange people until I have introduced them properly. You have revved them up, and please leave them alone now'. She looked at me as though I was an alien. IDIOT!! Ruby would never hurt a flea, but she didn't know that, and Ruby's only nine months old - I don't know what she might have done. Of course, I'm 95% confident that she wouldn't hurt anyone, but the point is, she's a dog, there is always an element of unpredictability, especially when they are babies.
So I react like that when adults approach Ruby or Chester. I would never let a child be with them alone. I don't let children near them. IMO unless they are part of the same family children and dogs do not mix, no matter what. Of course our babies are allowed to come into contact with children, but ONLY supervised and ONLY for a short time.
Who knows if this child was with it's mother or not? That doesn't seem clear. But obviously she was a three year old child, and should not have been allowed near that dog. And the dog, who has clearly not been trained, socialised or looked after, should not have been allowed near her. Idiotic, idiot people.