I think if the deer had felt threatened, it probably would have squeezed into the bushes or quit running around WITH the dog.

While running away is a natural and frequent escape tactic for deer, it has also been confirmed that a deer will NOT run unless it assesses the situation and expects to be able to outrun the threat.

A loud shout often will "freeze" a deer that hasn't previously detected the presence of a predator, since the deer must know what the threat is in order to make the decision whether to run, and is a technique used by some hunters (in some places) to get a motionless target for the "perfect shot."

The deer in the video was keeping the dog (that was demostrating superior agility and speed) "at distance" because running would certainly provoke a chase and the very young deer could not be confident of an escape by fleeing.

In play, in the rare instances of young deer raised in constant and long term contact with another animal, the "deer play" consists almost entirely of what one reporter called "body bumps." This deer was striking out with front hooves - i.e. was attacking with (its most deadly) weapons - to keep the dog at a distance until an opportunity to escape occured.

But in actuality, the video is no more offensive (and perhaps less so to me) than much of the stuff aired on, e.g., our US program called "America's Funniest Home Videos" that pays cash prizes for videos of people doing stupid things that often cause them great pain and sometimes significant injury. Quite a few people seem to enjoy that sort of "humo(u)r, so maybe I'm just "sensitive."

John