To wonder why dog owners get offended because mychild is scared of their dog?

[hoovercraft]

My ds is really really scared of strange dogs. Its something thats quite upsetting and we dont know where it has come from. We are trying our best to work with it.

Went out yesterday to a local park/woods and there were many dogs. Ds was almost crippled with fear when he saw a dog approaching...we held his hands and reassured him.One barked and he cried. We hadnt realised he would be so scared tbh but the barking dog set us up for a looooong walk back to the car that day.

What I dont understand is why dog owners get so angry because my child is scared. We made no comment about them...heck, its a park, they are allowed to walk their dogs ffs. I even went overboard telling him not to worry when most dogs went past.....it was a lovely dog, a happy tail wagging dog, it wont hurt you etc and all we got were glares and rather nasty "it wont HURT you know!".
Whats that all about then?

Ahh what???

Ahh!

Wizadora, I missed your post yesterday. I am not trying to justify the puppy owner's behaviour for letting the puppy jump up at your child. Depending on your local council, action could be taken against the dog owner for taking their puppy into a playground.

It is just that it has come up before on MN that people have shouted and used used swear words against people who have done things that are wrong. The last one I remember is someone who swore and shouted at someone for parking in the wrong place.

You should have reported the dog owner. What you shouldn't have done is shouted at them and sworn at them. It is a criminal offence under the public order act. The fact that you are now saying that you did this in a children's playground makes it worse. It wouldn't even have to be demonstrated that your behaviour was intimidating to the puppy owner, because such behaviour would certainly be intimidating to any young children witnessing it.

I wouldn't want a dog running around in an enclosed playground. In fact I once had to remove someone else's dog from a children's paddling pool in a park. But I also don't want my children to see adults shouting and swearing at strangers in what is supposed to be a children's space. In fact I don't want to see that behaviour anywhere, as most people don't - hence the law.