It's amazing how many kids just come upto dogs without asking first. Does make me wonder at times about the dog attacks that happen..

I agree with you there Blu, I have always told my daughter to ask the owners if she can stroke the dogs before hand as you never know with any breed if they will snap at a child through fear or anger. I learnt this lesson the hard way when I was 8-9 yrs old and went to stroke an irish wolfhound and it bite me!

I would have asked the child to stop what they were doing straight away. As for speaking to the parents, in this day and age sometimes if you tell someone about their children you only get a mouthful of abuse and they could turn the situation on you accuse you of having a dangerous dog and thats why you want their child to keep away!

Too many replies to quote them all so ill try and get it all covered here.

I just want to point out at no point was Milo in distress, through the whole thing his tail was wagging and everytime the boy came close he was trying to lick him and play with him. It just annoyed me really.

No way is this an excuse but i do suffer from really bad anxiety and i find it really hard to confront people especially children. I was bullied a 4 different schools, a college and my first job (by my adult manager when i was 16) all because i won't stand up for myself! Even when two 8/9 year olds decided to throw rocks at me and spit at me at my bus stop one day i didnt say anything because i didnt think it would make much difference. I know i need to grow a back bone! I do take a lot of cr*p from people

I forgot to mention in the first post the parents were at the other side of the pitch and in the first half of the match (before he came near me) he decided to play his own football match in the middle of the game and had to be taken off (which is how he ended up at our side) and through this his parents were laughing at him and didnt even attempt to shout him back to them or help get him off. So i doubt me walking all the way around the pitch to tell them to get their son away from my dog would have done much

My auntie told the boy several times to leave Milo alone and to go and play somewhere else but he just kep saying no. As someone stated about moving earlier he would have just followed us. I'm not good with children and i wouldnt have known what to say to him that wouldnt have been too far or really mean to make him go away

When he went to grab Milo's back legs i did tell him not to do that but he carried on and i had to get his hands off Milo to which he tried to grab his lead off me again so i told him firmly to get off and my auntie distracted him by saying look its half time go and score a goal and he ran off onto the pitch again and we quickly moved.

I do appreciate everyones comments and have taken them on board I know now i will do something differently if the situation ever came up again (i really hope it doesnt!). I think Milo was so understanding as he is still only a baby and thought it was a game! People say they think he's too friendly and playfull

As to someone to say stop the child... i did pull his hands off but he kept trying. Now with that if the situation happened again what could i do? (Parents nowhere near and would have followed if i moved) I couldn't have pushed him or anything like that so other than pulling his hands away i couldn't do anything using force could i?

I've not taken anything to heart i understand everyone on here adores dogs and wouldnt let this devil child do this to their dog/s but i honestly didnt know what i could do to get rid of him other than throwing him across the pitch (oh if only! ) Plus i hate bringing attention to myself i'll do anything to stay hidden so screaming at a child would have been my worst nightmare with all the other parents no doubt staring at me or even shouting at me

Any more advice/comments would be appreciated. I do need to grow a back bone i know and i have been trying to gain more confidence and speak up for myself. Hopefully one day

Just to add i would NEVER let anyone hurt Milo, had the boy made Milo yelp/try to get away ect... i would have seen red - which does happen every now and again usually when family/friends need help. It's just when someone is not actually hurting him just being annoying and it is a child that hasn't even asked to stroke a dog that a lot of people consider 'child eaters'/'devil dogs' if he had even growled i'm sure i would have been made to leave

Oh thank you that's what i was so scared of! The breed Milo is i have no doubt they could have turned it around on me in a second and as several other parents i saw giving him a dirty look i would have no doubt been the one in the wrong for taking a dog to a childrens football match that their child can't do what they want to it

He was told to stop a lot and he still carried on or said 'no' and in the end i had to grab his hands and pry them off Milo's legs... i'm not sure what else i could have done?

I was also taught from a young age to always ask and i always have done. Even when people come over with their dogs to play with Milo i still ask if their dog is people friendly as well before giving them a stroke just in case. Even then i've still been bitten but i have always asked