aibu to think this woman was unnecessarily mean to 14 yo dd?

[user1471470353]

dd was in the park today with her friends and our 6 month old chocolate lab. when she let our puppy off the lead, he walked over to a mum with her toddler. the toddler hid behind her mum to which dd walked over to get our puppy and told them that he's very sweet and gentle. the mum shouted at her that he is not sweet to kids who dont like dogs, having never met our puppy before, and scared him off with her shouting. he ran over to another area (dogs are completely allowed in this park, even off lead btw) and the mum's toddler screamed at the dog's sudden movement. the mum then shouted at my dd 'this is not funny, get your dog right now' and told her child , who was now walking towards the dog not to go anywhere near the dog or dd. dd walked to join her friends having put the dog on the lead and saw the lady with her arms crossed glaring at her. the dog had not shown any signs of aggression or hyper activeness. of course some children are afraid of dogs which is why dd instantly tried to get him back but i think this was a bit of a harsh reaction. dd is a young 14 and was quite upset to be shouted at by a stranger. interested in what u would have done in the situation and whether you think dd was in the wrong? thank you!

It's funny because since joining mumsnet I have become a lot stricter with my dog after seeing so many people who are afraid of them etc on these posts so as soon as he goes towards anyone at all I call him back (he has excellent recall) but then there are some people who get quite offended by this as though they seem.to think I am doing it because they are untrustworthy around my dog which I think is barmy! But obviously I'd much rather that than cause any distress to someone who is afraid of dogs.
One thing I worry about with unknown dogs and my DS is that my DS (currently only 7 months) absolutely adores my dog and is always reaching out for him trying to touch him and play with him which is great but obviously this is in a controlled,relaxed and supervised environmental at home. But note when he sees other dogs in public he is reaching out to grab at them because he sees them as just like our dog but of course not all dogs are as mild mannered as ours and won't appreciate grabby hands from a strange child. So even a normally 'friendly' doh might snap at him. Obviously it's something I watch for like a hawk but it makes me understand one of the reasons why people get nervous about children and strange dogs.

It's not necessarily that people are afraid of dogs- some people just don't like dogs rubbing against their clothes or even worse slobbering on them (and some owners do allow their dogs to do this)

Anyway back to the OP.

The puppy walked over to the woman and toddler? Really? Most puppies will bound along so this sounds a bit odd- and anyway if it was walking over to then the Dd could easily have caught up with it and stopped it getting near them. So a little poetic license here I think

But really what's very clear cut is the dog didn't have recall, hence Dd had to fetch it. She's not able to control it yet (not dogs fault, it's not trained yet) therefore she shouldn't let it off the lead around people.

The drama llamas need to stop shrieking about dog hating hysterical people- no hysteria from most of us; we just don't want dogs bounding up to us uncontrolled, licking us, 'being playful' (!) etc Those who start banging on about dog haters are trying to conveniently ignore the real issue

I'd never have let my toddlers run up and make contact with random people in the park and I don't want anyone else's dogs (or children!) doing it to me

I'd rather you and your kids stay away from me and my dog.
Stalemate.
Don't you fret! DC and I won't be bounding up to either you or your dog, running round your feet, jumping up at you, barking at you or licking you any time soon!

I'd rather you and your kids stay away from me and my dog. Stalemate
Don't you fret! DC and I won't be bounding up to either you or your dog, running round your feet, jumping up at you, barking at you or licking you any time soon!

My sons and I were attacked by a dog in a park last year. It was a horrific experience and involved me having to try and shield my children (aged 3 and 1.5 at the time) from a psychotic dog who had (for some unknown reason) decided he wanted to attack my eldest. We had literally been walking and minding our own business. It was a traumatic experience for us all and really affected him. I had nightmares about it for months. He became hysterical (to the point of wetting himself on one occasion) every time we saw a dog anywhere for quite a while after that, so this attitude of 'oh sorry my dog is sniffing round you and has his nose in your child's face - he's very friendly' is very annoying for people who are going through something like that. Dogs should always be on a lead unless they have absolutely perfect recall and should be walked by a responsible adult

I have two large dogs and so far have managed to never let them approach a soul when walking. They have never even come within touching distance of a person unless the person has approached them.

I don't really understand how it's so hard to keep your dog under control to be honest. No recall- put on lead.

Also I would proberbly have been rude if your dog came up to me because I don't like other people's dogs much like I don't like other people's children either, I don't want strange dogs near my baby and also because my own dogs dislike others as much as I do