Puppy jumping on exercising man

[disculpe]

Perfectly happy to be told I'm being U but I don't think I am. Took my 10 month old puppy (German shepherd) out for a walk this morning with my DS. As most puppies that age are, she is naturally cheeky and pushes the boundaries at times. She is pretty much always walked on a leash because most of the time it's too busy and if she sees another dog she will go mad and try to play as well as jump up on them, so we are careful to make sure she's not able to play with dogs who don't want to play, and so she doesn't knock children over in her excitement.
There is a field near us where we often take the dog on Sat and Sun mornings. It's always quiet on weekend mornings, not many dogs there, and we have been letting her off the lead to play ball there and teach her to come back to us without having to worry about other people or dogs. Was all going well this morning - she was fetching the ball nicely and when people walked past us along the path she completely ignored them and carried on being well behaved. Then a man on a bike stopped about 15 feet from us. He could clearly see us as he kept looking over. Then he started exercising, even though this field is huge and he could have exercised literally anywhere else, a lot further away from a woman, young child and unpredictable puppy. My dog ignored him, carried on playing fetch so I didn't put her on her leash because she was behaving. After about 10 minutes this man started doing push ups and something about that movement excited my dog and she ran over to him, putting her face in his and running around him trying to play. I'm not defending her behavior, I would never want her doing that to anyone and completely understand that German shepherds are big and can look intimidating, and not everyone wants a dog in their face. He started screaming and shouting at me about how I should control my dog, I managed to get her back on her leash and then shouted back at him that of all the places he chose to exercise was within a few feet of me when there was a huge area with no dogs in it that he could have chosen instead. Got my dog back on the lead and walked home with my son. When I got home I realized just how intimidating his behavior was - what sort of person chooses to encroach on someone's space like that? Especially a strange man getting uncomfortably close to a lone woman and child. I know I could have put my dog on her leash and found another spot to play ball as soon as he turned up but the stubborn bitch in me was like "I was here first" and I assumed that as he'd chosen to be there he wasn't too concerned about my dog. I messaged my husband (he's working away) the second I got back and he said no decent man would get that close to an unknown woman in a field when there was ample space elsewhere because decent men don't want to make women feel uncomfortable. So, AIBU for getting angry with him and for not putting my dog on a leash the second he pitched up next to us or was he BU?

I agree with your husband. The bloke sounds like an absolute nob.

@CiderJolly thank you! I thought so too but then questioned my decision making with the dog.

YANBU. You were there first in a large area.

Dogs aren't machines and need to learn recall etc under all conditions, and you are recognising your dogs behaviour and handling it appropriately. He's a young dog and dogs need training, which you're clearly working on. Dogs need off lead time to get the exercise they need.

Jumping on people etc isn't ok, but you've admitted that. In such a large area with space it seems bizarre to exercise so closely, I'd chalk it up to that guy looking for an argument.

The man could have chosen a different place to exercise but you should have much better control over your dog so she could have been recalled before she even reached the man. I put my dog back on lead if we pass unfamiliar things because he might react to them, and not everyone wants a large dog bothering them. 10 month old GSD ‘puppies’ are pretty big.

To be honest, I’d have put mine back on the lead when he started exercising. Yes he was lacking in consideration exercising near you when there was plenty of space but I prefer to be away from temptation like that and keeping my dog calm and focused is more important than I was here first.

Off topic, but I never knew you shouldn't exercise near dogs. I'm scared stiff of them so always stay well away from them

You admit your puppy was “unpredictable”
YABU.
Use a harness and longline.

He was right though. You might see it as 'cheeky' but it's annoying as fuck when out of control dogs get in your face

People always congregate near others , have you never noticed that if you park in a near empty car park somebody always parks right next to you . Whether this man was right or wrong you cannot justify your dog jumping in his face , if you cannot control your dog you should have moved .

I do appreciate that I probably should have put her back on her lead as soon as he stopped near me, I got into a false sense of security with her because she was behaving so well at first. And yes, she is big and bouncy which is why we are so careful as to where and when she is let off her lead. Next time regardless of who is right/wrong/there first I'll just put her on a lead to avoid getting into potentially dangerous situations.

I thin you were being unreasonable, to be honest. He was out of order to be screaming and shouting but I don’t think exercising is in itself intimidating. It probably wouldn’t occur to me to have to move away from people / dogs if I was inclined to exercise on a field, which I’m not.

I came on here expecting to say that you were being unreasonable but having read your post I think it's him who is being ridiculous. It sounds as though you're careful and doing everything right to try and train your puppy. Having them off the lead sometimes is inevitable in order to reach and an empty field is low risk.

I'm with him - an 'unpredictable puppy' shouldn't be off-lead and allowed to bother people. I also wonder whether the whole field was actually suitable or if there was something about that spot that made it the best one to exercise in (less boggy or whatever) - from your description of his behaviour I think he had always intended to exercise there and then found you there.

FFS is there now a set distance that men must stand away from women and children?

In what way was he 'strange'?

YABU - annoying as it is if you were there first, the man probably presumed a dog that was off lead and hadn't been put on lead when someone approached was reliable. And whilst technically a puppy, most people seeing a 10 month old GSD aren't going to think 'ah ickle puppy' and cut you any slack

@Floralnomad yes I do notice that. But do you not think in this current climate where women's safety in public places is much discussed that he perhaps could have also made better choices as to where to be? I could have made better choices with my dog, yes I totally accept that but he had ample space to exercise in a spot away from us. I didn't feel threatened until he started shouting and on reflection wondered why he'd chosen to be so close to us in a quiet field.

YABU. You should have control over your dog.

The amount of times a family picnic has been ruined by dogs running over and nicking our food is unreal. Or how many dogs have jumped up at my kids scaring them and getting them muddy/wet.

I don’t blame the dogs, I blame the owners. You shouldn’t be letting your puppy off the lead if she’s unpredictable.

YABVU.

Why on Earth should he think that exercising near you would make you uncomfortable? Why does doing so mean he’s not decent?

Humans gravitate towards each other. Hence why you find people sitting next to you on the bus despite seats everywhere, or clusters of people on a beach. It’s human nature.

FGS, who drops and does push-ups with a puppy obviously being exercised nearby? He sounds a knob, I’m with your DH.

To the "You should have control over your dog" brigade:

How do you expect people to train their dogs if they are never allowed to let them off the lead when people are nearby.

The dog was behaving well until this mans behaviour, in a close proximity, sparked his interest.

Now the OP knows a new trigger, she can work on that.

To the people saying he might be scared of dogs - then why exercise so close to one who is off their lead? I do appreciate the IABU posts though, I'm not saying I was definitely in the right and know next time to just leash up and move on.

[quote disculpe]@Floralnomad yes I do notice that. But do you not think in this current climate where women's safety in public places is much discussed that he perhaps could have also made better choices as to where to be? I could have made better choices with my dog, yes I totally accept that but he had ample space to exercise in a spot away from us. I didn't feel threatened until he started shouting and on reflection wondered why he'd chosen to be so close to us in a quiet field. [/quote]
Yeah, maybe he could have exercised somewhere else.
But that’s not that relevant to your dog not being under control. You dog should be under control regardless of where other people choose to be.

Why wouldn’t someone exercise outside?

I don’t personally but there are outdoor gyms here and my brother does.

I don’t think it would occur to him not to exercise near a dog. I mean, dogs are everywhere. They aren’t some rare species of animal.

How do you expect people to train their dogs if they are never allowed to let them off the lead when people are nearby.

Why is it anyone else's responsibility to be an unwitting participant in puppy training? I don't think the man much cared about how the OP should best go about training her dog, he just wanted the dog to be under control in a public place. That isn't an unreasonable position.