This is not a pit since it’s clearly an oversight in the part of the dog handler. But always keep an eye on your dog when there are people nearby, especially kids. How many times did you get chased by a dog on the sidewalk, along the circumference of a circle with the leash as the radius, and the dog handler just stands there?
I think this falls under “you had one job.” At least the dog didn’t knock down the kid with the walker.
The girl tripped on the walker while moving away from the dog.
Damn kid with the walker 
What a non-incident. The dog is decidedly non-hostile, and only somewhat rambunctious; the kid topples over briefly but doesn’t seem upset, quickly petting said dog afterward. From the description of the accident as “epic” I expected something less fleeting and trivial.
Yes, the dog-handling could be improved upon. That said, there’s a lot to pay attention to at a White House event; it’s not like she was texting while her dog ran into the street. Definitely not a “you had ONE job” situation; the problem was that she had too many responsibilities/distractions. I’d have handed leash detail to a dedicated dog handler and freed up the FLOTUS to manage the event.
Those are BIG doggies. I guess I didn’t realize before how big they were. Anyway, shit happens - I can’t stand dogs jumping on me, and even I know sometimes they do it! It depends on how the owners react afterwards.
I wasn’t referring to Michelle. I was referring to the guy that was there to handle the dogs. You know, the one with the leashes in his hand? Michelle was obviously busy. Watch the vid again.
Michelle was clearly. holding the leash to the dog that “tripped” the girl.
She was touching it perhaps. There was a guy behind her with the leash in his hand.
If you’re talking about that guy in the blue shirt, he’s holding a leash to another dog. Michelle was holding the leash to the offending dog.
Blaming Michelle or a dog handler is like blaming the kid with the walker for not moving his walker, it’s not any of their faults. It’s really not anyone’s fault, it was just an accident. The girl was moving away from the dog (the dog that Michelle was already pulling away from the kid) and she tripped over the walker.
If you want to blame someone, blame the girl for not looking where she was walking.
The dog did NOT knock the kid over, that’s a stupid headline.
That was for another dog.
Michelle is holding not just Sunny’s leash but she’s got his (her?) collar as well and actively pulling him away from the girl. The girl tripped because she got scarred and tried to walk away and tripped over the walker. Just an accident. This really shouldn’t be news.
How about “Sunny Helps Fallen Girl” as a better headline.
If I’m walking down the street and you don’t like the cut of my jib (or maybe we’re walking the same way and I’m walking too close) so you cross and trip down the curb is that my fault?
The surprising thing is that there are so many different interpretations of what went on in that very short video. Little kids like that fall over all the time. My interpretation is that she backed into the other kid’s walker while trying to turn around, pet a dog, talk to the pretty lady and clutch her goody bag, all at the same time. The kid with the walker is really hogging some floor space there.
Michelle is the only one holding the dog or it’s leash and it never jumps up.
That’s what it looked like to me. I don’t even think the little girl was afraid of Sunny–she was happy enough to pet the dog once Michelle had helped her up. Sunny didn’t jump, or even advance aggressively. I’m a grownup, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if I fell on my ass in that situation. There was a lot going on right then.
“Sunny apologized right after the incident by licking Ashtyn’s face.” I tried licking someone’s face by way of apology once. Didn’t help.
Should have just picked 'em up by the ears, like LBJ.
I guess I over-reacted. I’d be scared if I turn around and see a pooch whose shoulder is almost level with mine. Fortunately, the girl is clearly a dog lover. She was just surprised at the beginning. That part got me (heck I hate scared looks in children.)
The dog? Or the little girl?