Not to help catch a stray/escaped dog! Now it’s my fault it’s been injured apparently!

Why does it matter what any of us thought after the fact? You took the attitude of not your circus, not your monkeys, not on you to help; as you are allowed to do. Doesn’t really matter what any of us think you should have done, you’ve already done it so the point is moot.

None of your comments explain where the OP said she'd seen the dog. You've just assumed, and now you're trying to move the goalposts to say she could've checked. Nobody said she couldn't. That's not why you're wrong.

It does, however, mean a chance to stop the dog getting hurt was missed. That's just a fact.

As does the fact the man didn't wait for the dog. Yet he was the one banging on OP's door and shouting at her.

As does the fact the owners didn't look after the dog even when this had happened repeatedly.

Spot on fancy nit allowing someone in back garden to get dog i mean why not it's very strange. Sure she's not dog. Owner but seriously

The dog didn't get hurt though?

It was run over 2 weeks later when the OP had already blocked up her garden.

I definitely wouldn't be grabbing a lead (from where?) and trying to catch a stressed dog though, that sounds like a recipe for getting bitten.

There is no way I'd let a random man through my house and in my garden for an indefinite amount of time.

You suggested an alternative - wait at the gap.

Yanbu.

Jeezus. Do you struggle with comprehension. Go back and read my comments and see if you can manage to piece them together. Maybe get a safe adult to help you.

She was working.
In many jobs you can't just swan off when you want, even if a stranger tells you there's a dog you need to be responsible for.

Grab the dog with what?

Seeming the bloke wasn't willing to grab the dog either!

It's not totally your fault - mainly the owner's obviously - but you had a chance to rescue a stressed dog and you declined - albeit with good reason. I wouldn't let a man in my house either. What I absolutely would do is take the lead, grab the dog and hand it over, regardless of work because the risk to the dog would outweigh work for me. But that's an individual choice and you made yours and you just have to live with it. I'm guessing it's okay with you to have acted that way, so no big deal. It does, however, mean a chance to stop the dog getting hurt was missed. That's just a fact.

Honestly, it likely would have taken you less time to duck out to garden, grab dog, shove it out front door to person and tell them it was their problem to look after it somewhere else till the warden got there.

Edited to add in case not clear, I’m not saying let the person into your house. Tell them you’ll just be a minute. Shut the front door. Duck out back door, grab dog, open front door and shove dog onto them. Shut door.

The outcome for the dog was no different than if you hadn't been at home. Its not your fault, and I wouldn't let a strange bloke into my house either.

The ultimate blame is with the owners but I'd definitely have let someone stay in the garden, I don't see what skin off your nose that would have been. Stranger and strange dog in the actual house, no obviously, but what's the harm of giving someone access to your garden for a bit?

The bloke had called the warden & wanted to wait in Op's garden for an unspecified length of time until the warden arrived.

You sound horrible OP tbh.

This. I would have called the dog warden.

Right? Oh, but he likes dogs. So did Myra Hindley.

You did absolutely nothing wrong. Not your circus, not your monkeys. You were working.

I would bet you anything if you were a male WFH who had denied access to your garden for an unforeseen amount of time then no one would have chapped your door and shouted at you. It’s the lone female aspect that encourages that behaviour. I’m delighted you slammed the door in their face. Good for you.

Serious lack of survival instincts on display on this thread 😱

If a stranger knocks on your door and asks to come in, even if they have a really legit story about a lost dog or they're doing building work for your neighbour or their car broke down, don't let them in.
And tell your kids that too!

@notmyproblems
Dog owner is entirely to blame here.

I tried to catch a perennially escaping large dog once and it bit me - However was extremely grateful for a lovely street sweeper who caught a terrified dog who was let loose to save herself when an XLBully was after her.

Dog warden said releasing dog was only way to give her a chance of outrunning the aggressor.

surely all this is the owners fault?

Of COURSE it is. But feckless owners, and to be fair a good proportion of the general public who are obsessed with their own animals, think that everyone else should be as obsessed with animals as they are, and drop everything instanteously to help, whatever the situation.

Never has the phrase "barking" been more appropriate.

You did the right thing @notmyproblems for him to be banging on your door two weeks later is strange behaviour.

It is the dog owner who is at fault.

Is the fact the man was trying to help the dog enough of a reason to think he was a nice person? That’s new to me. And his subsequent behaviour shows the OP was right to be careful.

Fwiw if he was that worried about the dog, he should have waited near the hole in the fence. He didn’t.
Why? Probably because he was also expecting the OP to ‘look after him’ whilst waiting. Aka provide a chair, cups of tea etc… But to do it the ‘hard way’ was too much for him. What a surprise.

Joke is, this random man isn’t even the owner

YANBU. If there was an injury on your property he could have sued you. We had a spate of burglaries last Spring and Summer in our area. I had a knock on the door from someone who claimed that their dog had escaped and made its way into my garden. They were moving house and the dog escaped during the chaos of moving. He asked to come through to the garden to get the dog I wasn’t aware of. I said I would check first and if the dog was there I would then open the side gate. The dog was in my garden and I gave the man access and all was good and he left with the dog. I didn’t allow access through my house because although the likelihood of him being dangerous was very low, I still didn’t want to be in that position and I wouldn’t have allowed a situation where a strange person was waiting in my garden for a few hours.