This happened yesterday, and I thought I would be less irritated about the unfairness of it, but I am not! So. AIBU? (sorry - this is L O N G!!!)
I took my medium sized dog to the park yesterday. It is a large park, used by families, dog walkers, children playing football, joggers/exercisers, couples wanting a romantic stroll by the river. It has swans, ducks, rowers and boats on the river running through it.
It gets pretty busy, so everyone tries to ensure their dogs are under control.
Yesterday, I was sitting on the bench and watching my dog playing with the other dogs. It is lovely watching them romp around without resorting to violence! She had two balls yesterday - a medium sized bouncy ball (her favourite) and a tennis bal. The bouncy ball IS one that is burstable, but she has a soft mouth, and carries it gently. We have had the ball for a few weeks. The bouncy ball was about 30 feet from me and the tennis ball about 20 feet. Last week, for example, several 4 year old children "borrowed" it to play football as they did not have a ball - and I was perfectly happy with that and my dog was fine as she is not possessive about her toys.
So, getting onto the main story. A woman with a collie type, push chair and young child approached. Her dog immediately ran over to the bouncy ball and she made no effort to tell it to leave the ball alone. It actually looked like a child's ball, was in an area where several children were playing so it was clearly not abandoned. The dog grabbed the ball in its mouth and before I could say anything, punctured the ball which immediately deflated.
I said "oh - he's punctured the ball!" - she said "is it yours" - I replied that it was the ball belonging to my dog. She didn't say sorry - just pulled the ball out of the dog's mouth and left it on the floor! I said nothing. Just wondered how someone could be so oblivious to the niceties of apologising for damaging someone else's property. She wandered off a bit further, then came back. At which point her dog grabbed the tennis ball. I said, something along the lines of - oh no - don't take that as well. At which point she stormed over, telling me that it was a park and to get over myself. I at no point raised my voice, swore - I didn't even stand up from the bench.
I politely pointed out that her dog had already destroyed one of our balls, and had now run off with the remaining ball. She yelled at me that she would get my "precious" ball back. Managed eventually to grab it from the dog and thrust it at me.
The dog then came over to where I was sitting and proceeded to steal some dog treats which had been placed next to me in a bag.
I didn't say a word although I probably looked at bit pained at this point. She yelled at me that this was a park for dogs. I explained that I felt a little aggrieved at her attitude, I had no idea why she was being so horrible to me and that I felt an apology for destroying the bouncy wall had probably been in order. She stormed off again (she was VERY stormy) and then returned with her husband, who proceeded to tear a strip off me as well! I was sitting down and they were standing either side of me, yelling and bending in towards me. They shouted at me that they had been coming to the park for 20 years and had never had such an incident before. I told them (again, without raising my voice) that could it possibly be that they were slightly intimidating as their behaviour was pretty OTT compared with my "crime" of sitting on a bench and allowing their dog to damage my property.
The woman then told me to look in the mirror (fair point - I had been out the night before and not looking my best), then told me she was going to give me one of HER balls. Which she wiped along the ground and then placed on the inside lining of my coat which had fallen open - carefully wiping it in the process so my coat lining was full of doggy saliva and wet mud.
I didn't bother reacting to this (was was slightly in shock by this point) and they went off to do pooh sticks with their child. Good - they wouldn't be back for a while. The dog had a jingly harness. I sat there enjoying the peace and quiet for 10 minutes and blow me down, I heard the jingly harness again! This time I got my phone out - I was not prepared to listen to more abuse and had decided to tell them that I would be recording the conversation and would then decide what action to take.
Fortunately, they limited their interaction with me to glowering and muttering about me in the distance. Their lovely dog then proceed to run along the riverbank, barking at everyone, scaring some ducks which were on the bank and generally not really being under control. My dog was still romping with her mates and having a lovely time.
So - if it was YOU in the park yesterday - this is a totally accurate representation of what was done and said. I did not insult you, shout at you, swear at you or criticise your poor dog handling skills. You, on the other hand, behaved like a yob, hurled personal insults at me, destroyed my property without a word of apology, wiped dog saliva and mud on my coat and generally behaved like a toddler having a tantrum. You were threatening in your behaviour (single woman sitting on a bench with two grown adults yelling insults at her) and I hope that your child does not see this type of behaviour on a daily basis. I would not want them to think that it was a normal reaction from her parents.
Thank you for anyone who read this. I am not actually asking if I am being unreasonable to still be miffed by this. I know that others would have stood up for themselves more, and rightly so. I just needed to let it out!