AIBU or did this guy overreact to our dog approaching him?

Keep your dog on a lead.
Many people love going for a walk and it is spoilt by people who allow their dogs to run free and approach people who don't want anything to do with them.

Hells that's what's wrong with the world now. It's a wee friendly dog. And everyone is getting fired up because it's come over to say hello. The problem here is a man getting aggressive and MN is okay with that

Obviously he shouldn’t have threatened you and got aggressive, however…

She's usually really good but sometimes has bad recall

YABU times a million having your dog off lead given the above and I kind of think this falls under “fuck around, find out”.

Hope you’re ok though, that must have been very upsetting. I can’t help but wonder- are you going to keep your dog on a lead in public spaces from now on?

Maybe this guy has been bit by a dog in the past ? Hence his reaction,

I had a bloody shitzu go for me a few weeks ago....on a long lead but ripped my trousers. I went ballistic.
I logged it with the police and made owner reimburse me.

I'm a dog lover but to be honest with all the dog attacks on the news, I would be pretty scared and mad if a dog came running up to me and jumped up. Especially if I had a child with me. The dog's size is really irrelevant.

The man behaved appallingly.

You behaved irresponsibly.

He had a child with him and your dog rang up to him and jumped up at him. No matter what you tell yourself, that's just not ok.

Thing is why would you even try to get over a phobia? I'm literally right, as I always said digs want to kill you and eat you and now it's happening like every day.
How anyone can see that mouth and love it fuck knows. Terrifying. Not to mention the noises they make and the stench. But I was right to be terrified, they do tear out throats, they do jump on people, their owners can't control them and do not care at all.

I can’t be doing with idiots that have their dogs off the lead and not under their control. I don’t blame the man in the slightest.

Unless his child is terrified of small dogs and this was him trying to be protective. I admit it sounds like he went too far but he had every reason to react.

Size does not necessarily indicate how scared people can be. My 6'3 rugby playing husband is terrified of wasps. Just because he could easily kill it with one whack doesn't mean his fear isn't genuine.

Don't forget if the dog knocked over the child they could be dead or brain damaged.

Cheers for the heads up @yogasaurus

You must lead a very exciting life @MrsH1992, in the space of 24 hours you and your husband have had 3 separate men shout, swear and square up to you for 3 separate reasons.

You've had a very unlucky time of it recently 🙄

I absolutely love dogs but I don't think it is an extreme reaction to kick out at an uncontrolled dog who is literally leaping up and putting its paws on you. Especially not with his 3 year old there. He doesn't know your dog, he may know very little about dogs generally. And that's fine. The law says you're the one with the duty to keep the dog under control.

I think the thing to take away from this for you is that however certain you are that your dog isn't dangerous to humans, some humans might well be a serious danger to your dog if she's out of control and they're scared of her.

I just quickly left the lobby so not sure what happened next but likely the man just left because he was just using the cafe, he wasn’t a guest.

The hotel reception staff didn’t behave well either in all this. I said to them later on - they should make sure people have their dogs under control rather than just letting incidents like that happen, grinning while a man shouts in distress and then having the nerve to call the police when he had enough.

I’m glad many in these thread are calling this an attack, because that is literally how it feels when a strange dog runs up and jumps at you digging it’s claws into your thighs
and you don’t know what’s going to happen next.

So I know some people really don't like dogs and we should have her under control but it was the dog section of the beach plus she's tiny

Obviously he shouldn't have threatened you. But the fact it's the dog section of the beach just means she was allowed there, not that it's any less unacceptable for her to not be under control.

I'm going to go a bit against the grain here. Yes, dogs should have perfect recall but there is no such thing unless they're either too old to run or too small to get very far. They're scavengers and pack animals.

I remember one owner I know proudly telling me how her dog had perfect recall. The next week he ended up under the wheels of a car when he had tried to get to food which someone had left on the ground. All dogs have a bit of that instinct.

On another note, was it acceptable for this man to be shouting abuse at OP? And on the ONLY part of the beach that dogs are allowed on? I think this thread is showing a real lack of understanding for the OP.

What a moron. If you shriek and shout the dog will get more wound up. Turn your back on it and ignore, it will most likely back off.

If your dog’s dirty paws jumped on my trousers I would be fuming with you.

Did you even offer to pay to clean them?

Do you read the news?

The sheer amount of bad dog owners these days is staggering. Out of control dogs are a daily occurrence in many areas. Maulings. Dog attacks.

Morons deciding to generally make a nuisance of themselves by buying a cute puppy, half-arsing (at best) it’s training then being shocked people are tired of their shitty behaviour and ownership is at an all time high.

But you think a man being pissed off that yet another dog is jumping up him is what’s wrong with the world? Really?

MrsH1992
I agree that dogs can't be relied upon and this is why they should be at least on a long lead when sharing space with others. My ds is learning disabled and very frightened. Your dog jumping up at him would be awful for him and he would lash out potentially hurting your dog. I have on many occasions had to stand in front of him protecting him and the dog while the owners stroll over telling me that their dog is just saying hello. You do need to see this as a wake up call. The man sounds aggressive and unpleasant but you did put yourself in the wrong by not controlling your dog.

To clarify my dog was 11 months old and usually has perfect recall

You've said in the OP she has bad recall if she sees, or thinks she sees, someone she knows.

But you said 'She's usually really good but sometimes has bad recall if she sees someone she knows. There was a guy in a red coat who I think she mistook for my dad as he has a similar coat/ build' So she must have had bad recall previously for you to say that - so not just on 'this one occasion'. Don't change your story, we can all read.

What is the point of your AIBU ?

you still think it’s ok to let YOUR dog off the lead.

no one else does.

keep your badly controlled dog on a lead. You are a terrible owner.

That’s why I said his reaction was extreme and not acceptable, if you have difficulty with comprehension.

That doesn’t mean it’s acceptable for ANY dog to run up and jump at him?

Maybe he's fed up of people making excuses for their out of control dogs. My dd ended up with a severe phobia to the point she would bolt into the road if a (perfectly well behaved dog on a lead) came anywhere near her because of an incident just like this where a dog chased her. That owners excuse was 'it's only a puppy'.