To feel hurt that my lovely dog licking someone caused such distress.

[sweetgrape]

He's just a big affectionate softy, the only trouble is he thinks everyone loves him. We went for our walk this morning in the park and sat down on a bench for a rest. We'd only been sat down a minute or so and this woman sits down next to me. We were just chatting about the weather when all of a sudden she jumped up shrieking, "ahhh the dog just licked my leg"
Now I know not everyone loves dogs but i thought it was a bit of an over reaction. I did apologise but I felt kind of sorry for my dog, who seemed to have a bit of a hurt look on his face. Wabu to have felt sorry for my dog or should I have felt more sorry for the woman?

she might have overreacted by accident for example when i was pregnant a tiny jack Russel puppy bounced over to me i screamed like it had a gun and a mission to rid the world of the human race i was mortified of my own reaction ive no clue as to why i acted like that!

no, you get some perspective costa....if it was able to LICK it could just as easily have bitten. Dogs need to be trained, owners that don't have them well trained are bad owners. I come from a family that has always kept dogs. Dogs that knew their place and were not elevated to the same rank as humans. Dogs that never climbed on furniture or slept on beds and certainly never went round being allowed to lick people.

if YOU, or a child in your charge, licked a random member of the public on the ankle, would they have to tolerate that too, because it was 'only a little lick'?

Actually crying at bad dog owner giving good dog owners a bad name
Some people are seriously OTT! So I'm guessing all these perfect dog owners have dogs that never put a foot wrong or even consider looking at a stranger in the eye (that would be rude and could cause someone to be spooked by your ferocious beast obviously) I have 2 immaculately trained gun dogs yet they are still dogs at the end of the day and one might be inclined to give someone a friendly paw on the knee if they came and sat next to them. This does in no way make my dog uncontrollable or unreasonable.

yabu op. your dog doesn't give a shit. I would be really grossed out if some strange animal licked me with its poo covered tongue. Eugh.

Oh yes phantom dogs that lick your ankle are always a bite risk, always, that's completely rational and sensible

I have had multiple dogs my whole life - I'm amazed all my limbs are intact and that I can even type this post

"My dog is the most gentle, loving and trusting of dogs with the sweetest nature you could imagine."

Only you know that. A perfect stranger wouldn't.

I grew up with dogs - slavery, slobby dogs, but my mum trained them not to lick people. I like dogs, but hate being licked by them. I would be quite happy to sit on a bench next to a dog and its owner, but an unexpected lick would make me jump. I wouldn't have reacted like that woman did, but I wouldn't have expected to be licked out of the blue.

I think you both over-reacted.

So I take it you certainly wouldn't sit next to one on a bench then msgrinch. Wouldn't why this lady did then when she could easily have sat at the other end?

Not exactly 'out of the blue' if you're sitting next to a dog though? He didn't suddenly materialise out of nothing

I'd hate to see some people's reaction to a genuine, dangerous, life threatening emergency

I have dog.
A slobbery thing.
BUT I don't let it near enough other folk to let it lick them (it would!).
I wouldn't like to be licked by a strange dog so I bear that in mind.
I wouldn't shriek however,
nor would I think my dog was 'offended'.

Think both you and the person who snuggled up on the bench were both being a bit unreasonable.

The dog however, was just being a dog. HTH.

Who in their right mind would do that if they really didn't like dogs or the thought of interacting with them?

Maybe she doesn't mind dogs but is accustomed to well-trained dogs that don't lick?

I adore dogs. I hate being licked by them.

Fortunately, most dogs of my acquaintance don't lick, and if they do they're disciplined for it.

What did you do when your dog surprised the woman by slobbering on her ankle, OP, apart from a half-hearted apology to the woman? Do you discourage your dog from licking in general?

bunbaker yes your right the stranger didn't know what this dog was like. So maybe she should have thought about that before she sat next to the dog? I think it's called common sense. If your going to be a drama queen about a single lick then use your head first knowing that dogs, at the end of the day, are unpredictable animals,

Oh lord.

And if my child had licked someone randomly and they cried out in shock, also an over reaction?

for goodness sake what is wrong with dog people!

what is wrong with you seriously, its maddening

" he is so friendly"

"he thinks everyone loves him"

bla bla. OUR world does not revolve around YOUR BLOODY DOGS.

Keep them under control and if they go out of that control be profusely apologetic!

PROFUSELY.

OH AND we have had several dogs in our family non of them lickers. I have never been licked by a random dog

"My dog is the most gentle, loving and trusting of dogs with the sweetest nature you could imagine."

yeah yeah and most dogs attacks are from ^ the family pet.

see todays news, family pets kills baby.

Yadayada Yada.

"Not exactly 'out of the blue' if you're sitting next to a dog though?"

I don't agree. Most dogs that I have come across don't randomly lick me. I often stop to pet people's dogs (after asking first) and find that most dogs don't lick. I think they have been trained not to.

I certainly wouldn't expect a dog lying under a bench to randomly lick my ankle.

Maybe she didn't expect the dog to lick her. None of nu family's dogs or friends dogs would, they've been trained not to. So yes I'd sit on a bench near a dog.

Why would you cry out in shock if a child licked you? It's saliva not battery acid

Everything costacoffee said.

Only on MN could you get such a reaction to dog saliva.

Someone is going to refer to 'doggy kisses' soon. Or has it happened already and I missed it?

It is nice that MN provides like-minded people with a place to congregate, isn't it?

Why would you cry out in shock if a child licked you?

come on, that's hardly a social norm is it? most people would be taken very much by surprise! should the parent just giggle indulgently (ah, isn't he/she a sweetiepops) or be hugely embarrassed and apologise profusely for the child's behaviour?

If I child licked me I'd be like this what child does that?

"If you can't control your amimal don't take it into public places."

The same could be said about children.

Look, if someone's the type to leap up and shriek because a dog's licked them perhaps they need to have a little think about whether voluntarily sitting next to a dog is their best ever idea. To sit next to a dog and then shriek and jump about when it acts like a dog is an abnormal thing to do and warrants being met with some incredulity.
The same applies to many similar situations. EG If you don't like cigarette smoke drifting into your face don't sit next to someone who has a lighted cigarette in their hand. If you don't like children screaming don't sit next to a bunch of toddlers. Or, if you do, be prepared to get a bemused reaction.

Being licked by a dog isn't the most desirable thing in the world and I would have proffered a short "Oh I'm sorry" under the circumstances but I wouldn't pander to histrionics from the adult who decided to sit next to a large dog. I won't pander to the OP's description of how saddened dog was either because I think she's ragging us.

I know, it's bloody hilarious, I think MN should be re-named - paranoid pearl-clutchers anonymous has a nice ring to it