who is being unreasonable here?

[thesteelfairy2]

So at park today with dd (3) and small dog.

While we are there I notice two women with 3 or 4 dogs, one of them a huge alsation.

As we are leaving the alsation begins to chase my dog around and my dog (who is tiny) runs out of the park, alsation in hot pursuit. Alasation not responding to owners ineffectually calling him from other side of park. I have hold of dd so cannot get to my dog or big nasty dog. My dog runs out into road in panic and big dog follows just as a van turns in and nearly runs both dogs over. I apologise to van driver profusely, chuck dd in car and grab my dog heart pounding at the close shave for both dogs.

So I get in my car thinking "thank goodness that ended ok" not even thinking of blaming owners. Next thing I know they are at side of car asking me to wind window down, I do so thinking they have come to apologise, quite unnecessary, dogs are dogs etc. But no, they have come to bollock me for not standing still with my scared dd and terrified tiny little dog, while their huge alsation jumps around us all. Apparently it is all my fault that their dog chased my dog out of the park, I am apparently "a stupid woman trying to get someone else's dog killed!" That is not all that was said but trying to keep this short.

So tell me who is being unreasonable here? I honestly will go with MN judgment.

[thumbwitch]

Oh come on! You need us to tell you? Of course YANBU, they are mental! Although your dog should possibly have been on a lead, wasn't he?

[swanandduck]

They sound like a pair of head cases. Surely letting an alsation off his lead in a public park is against the law. I would contact the relevant authority and report the incident.
YANBU.

[thesteelfairy2]

No, because he never leaves my side. He is very timid. Though from now one I am thinking that when leaving the park I will put him on one. However in this scenario it would have kept big alsation jumping around next to me and dd if I had had my dog on a lead, he was pretty big and scary.

There were two of them and they seemed intelligent enough, couldn't understand how this possibly be twisted into my fault. I am hoping they are Mnetters so they can see what doughnuts they were!

[thumbwitch]

Fair enough and good point about your DD. Back to my original point then - they are utter loons!

[mathanxiety]

There are some people who put their dogs first, ahead of all other considerations. Their dogs can do no wrong. They are blameless; everyone else is irresponsible enough to run away or show signs of fear when a large dog runs after them or jumps at them.. Twisted logic at its best.

YANBU, but all the same, I would put your little dog on a lead in the park.

[thesteelfairy2]

Will do but as I said dog would have been jumping around dd then and I probably would have been tempted to let my dog off anyway to get him away from her, she was honestly about a quarter of his size.

[nickschick]

We have a staffy cross and although hes a very gentle dog people assume by his looks that hes some mad gasping dog eater the amount of people that comment on this and then drag their unleashed untrained animal away in disgust- meanwhile my dog stays next to me(on his lead) and is perfect,I think a lot of dog owners arent fit to look after a dog collar let alone a dog-YANNNNNNBU

[nickschick]

Some bloke said to me,your not big enough to control that dog as my dog walked sedately next to me......

[Joolyjoolyjoo]

YANBU- they couldn't control their dog: that's up to them. What your dog does is immaterial.

[ShinyAndNew]

YANBU. Your dog ran because it panicked. That's understandable. Their's ran because it is not trained properly and should be leashed in public.

[thesteelfairy2]

Which is exactly what I said. They also had a little white dog with them who when we first arrived I saw go running off after another dog, they called him about fifty times and he wouldn't go back. I pointed this out to them and said your dogs are clearly out of control and that is not MY problem. This seemed to make them much angrier though.

[diddl]

I thinkYANBU,but I don´t understand why you didn´t put your dog on a lead as you were leaving the park.

[thesteelfairy2]

Because he was at my heels and always is. He never leaves my side, car was parked directly outside as well so it was a case of walking out of the gate and into the car. As I said before I would have let him off anyway to get the alsation away from dd.

However from now on he always will be but I honestly don't see how it could have made that much of a difference here.

[OtterInaSkoda]

Well clearly you use your little dog as bait to lure bigger dogs into dangerous situations. So YABU

[mussyhillmum]

YANBU. They did not have control of their dog in a public place. Poor you - it must have been terrifying. I am so glad your dog is ok.

[nickschick]

Im inclined to think it could have got quite nasty if your dog had been on a lead.

[diddl]

Yes, it might have been worse if OP´s dog was on a lead.

Thankfully no accident was caused, but if it had been, wouldn´t both owners have been at fault?

[ReneRusso]

I cannot imagine how you they could possibly blame you. Were you stunned into silence? I would have been - you can only think of the appropriate responses later on.

[mariedj]

oh David I hope you are reading this. OP YANBU.

[timelordvictorious]

Was the alsation being aggressive, or just boisterous? Obviously it should have been a lead because it sounds as if the owners had no recall at all, but if it was bouncy rather than snarly maybe the situation could have been avoided if your dog had been on a lead.

Is the park a place where dogs are often off leads?

They were certainly being unreasonable, but I think you might be a little unreasonable too. You say that your dog never leaves your side, but today it did.

If other dogs who might chase your dogs are never around, then it was completely unforeseeable and I apologise. However, close to an exit, with distractions such as other dogs around, mine are always on a lead, despite their excellent recall.

Glad the dogs were ok.

[Besom]

Agree with others who have said it is up to them to control their dog and keep it on a lead if it is likely to chase other dogs. (And I grew up with an enourmous Alsation in the family).

Yanbu of course.

[OtterInaSkoda]

I glad the van driver is OK. And any other motorists and pedestrians that could have been injured.

Don't get me wrong, I like dogs but this could have been so much worse.

[OtterInaSkoda]

(I mean if the van driver had swerved to avoid the dogs or skidded out of control braking, or caused someone to plow into the back of him. You get my drift!)