Was I rude?

[AjasLipstick]

We have a large dog and live in Australia. Our dog doesn't really bark at all unless he feels threatened. The only times he has had a little barking fit was once when some young lads came down our drive and my youngest DD was playing there (She's 10) and once when a man came to read the electric metre and tried to climb over our gate.

Anyway...this evening I could hear him barking loudly and it was a warning sort of a bark.

So I opened the front door as I could hear that the dog was at the gate which looks out to the front.

It was fully dark so I saw nothing but heard a male voice imitating his bark.

The man sounded like he was on the other side of the road...the dog would bark three times and then the man would imitate him.

I listened and this happened three or four times then the man said SHUSH and laughed.

So I called out "You shush! He's only barking because you keep replying...stop it and he will"

There was instant silence but now I am worried if I was rude...what if it was a neighbour and now they think I am awful?

The dog was quiet from as soon as I told the man to stop it.

Not at all, what kind of person antagonises a dog like that?

Not rude at all.

Oh good! I was worried because I became aware how bossy and English I bloody sounded! I worry people might think I'm snooty here...though nobody's ever said anything. I also worried about the "You shush!" comment!

Not rude at all, my dog is the exact same. At the back of our garden is an alley way. We have a 7ft fence and this one time a group of men hung over the fence to wind my dog up, my dog was barking at them and they threatened to stab my dog! My partner went out to bring the dog in and tell them to get off our fence. They then said are you just going to let him bark at us?(!) i then shouted well you're hanging over MY fence and threatening to stab my dog, so yes, yes I am!! Some people 😡

How immature of him but yes, reading your response, it did sound incredibly “English” Nothing wrong with that

If I were your neighbour I'd think the man was a prize dickhead and that you had been remarkably civil in the circumstances.

You weren’t rude at all. It’s cruel to deliberately antagonise a dog.

Not rude at all, he was rude trying to rile up your lovely dog! Aaw i do love dogs and yours sounds wonderful

No you weren't rude at all.

No, you weren't rude. He was being an immature fool.

He sounds a few raisins short of a fruitcake

Tink he is rather lovely thank you I went out to see him and gave him a big slice of roast beef and told him he was a good boy after the incident.

Because he IS a good boy!

He's a maremma sheepdog and prefers to be outdoors a lot. He can get in if he wants to but only does so rarely.

Nope , not rude in my book .

Dog over the back used to bark and bark as locked out there (he has been rehomed now) and a child next door used to make it worse by barking back at it (child is 10) but a grown adult doing it . Fool.

The dog must have barked first though, for the man to imitate it. But you weren't rude.

No you were not rude. I am just wondering if anyone else who, after reading the first few words, read the text in an Aussie accent. Even in my head my accent was terrible.

Rocky I just tried it out loud and if anything it sounds far ruder in an Aussie accent!

Was it like yooooooooooo shuysh

We have this with our dog from children walking past. It drives me mad. I have shouted for them to stop doing it too and once I heard a woman say " you don't need to stop it the dog shouldn't be barking "

Rocky yes Youuuu shash! He's aunly baaahkin cos you keep reployin!

greatduck your dog shouldn't be barking at children walking past. Why have you not trained it? bet your neighbours love you...

He was filing the dog! Yanbu. He's a dick.

Riling

They are just random children walking past winding the dog up

VAndrew Duck said that she "has this from children walking past" meaning that kids wind her dog up, not that her dog barks at them.

Nothing wrong OP.