I have a 10 year old small maltese. He is friendly BUT hates kids and other dogs. I think it’s because they are closer to his size which it what intimidates him. Also a kids energy can be too much for him. So when i take him on walks i obviously have him on a leash but keep him away from other dogs and parks with little kids. Although he is friendly when adults come up to him.

I was walking him on a park trail. It’s all wilderness and it’s pretty quiet. A mother and her two kids happen to be on a walk aswell. They were around the ages of 5 and 6. I hear from a distance behind me “DOGGYYYY” and running towards me.

I straight away pick my dog up. They ask me if they can pet him. My dog is visibly anxious when he sees them reaching over. I pull him away and tell their mum “sorry he doesn’t do well with kids i don’t want to risk him biting them”

The mum scoffs and says “no that dog is naughty”

So that was that and i walk away before putting him back on the ground. I hear winging and crying behind me probably because they couldn’t pet him.

Some time goes by and my dog is peeing near a tree. When all of a sudden the younger kid comes out of nowhere and kicks my dogs ass. My dog turns and bites his leg. The kid starts screaming. (this all happened very fast i had no time to stop the kid or my dog)

The mother wasn’t even with him. I think the kid probably got ahead or something. I see her running and i tell her what happened and apologise.

Can i just say it wasn’t a hard bite. My dog is 4kg, old, deaf and only has about 5 teeth left. There was no mark or bleeding on the kids leg. I think the kid was more scared than hurt.

She went off at me, took a photo of me and my dog and said she was going to call the police and get him put down. I laughed at her and told her to teach her kid not to say kick animals. I picked up my dog then left.

I feel bad about the kid getting bit so now wondering if i should’ve done something different. Maybe i was being an asshole idk.

I was going to get him a muzzle after this but they are all too big and fall off him. Any suggestions?