WIBU to reassure this child that my dog is friendly

[Allelbowsandtoes]

Hi,
This happened earlier today and I've been wondering about whether I was in the wrong or not.

I was walking earlier with my dog (she's s whippet and very lazy, usually either trots along beside me or sniffs things, not boisterous or anything). We were walking in a big local green space where there's always plenty of off lead dogs.

I was on a quiet, wide path in a wooded area. I came near some little girls who were with their mum. When I was about 4-5 metres away I could see one of the girls became very nervous and her mum advised her to stand back from the path and stay calm. My dog wasn't approaching her but was going to walk near her to get by so I called her back (she came immediately, we've trained recall extensively) and put her on the lead. As I was walking past I put as much space between us as possible but said to the little girl "don't worry, she's friendly " just to reassure her. Thd mum snapped at me "just because she's friendly, doesn't mean my daughter wants to say hello to her".

Tbh I was a bit pissed off, although I didn't say anything. If my dog had been greeting someone who didn't want to interact then that would have been a fair thing to say, but she was being really good.Then again, the girl was obviously scared and maybe has had bad experiences in he past?

Surely it depends on the scenario? In the OP's situation that would be fine as the dog was under control, but if people use "well done for being brave" as a substitute for recalling/controlling their dog do you honestly not see the potential issue?

@SchnizelVonKrummthe suggested remark assumed good behaviour by dog and owner. I think, as in the OP’s experience it would still p&ss so e people off.
Sometimes people really do mean remarks kindly, but sometimes some people just don’t want to accept that

Oh, totally agree. But ultimately the problem is that far too many people don't bother to train or control their dogs, and expect everyone else to indulge them and their fur baby. It's unfortunate that decent dog owners find themselves in the cross-fire.

Yeah @SchnizelVonKrummus responsible ones do find it tiresome. I’d have been rattled actually if someone had snapped at me when I was just doing and saying the right thing in what i assumed was an innocent interaction.
I’ve been screamed at before by a dad who scooped up his child as he saw me and my dog approaching at a distance. ‘Keep your f-ing dog away from my child!’.
My dog was a golden retriever who I’d already recalled because I could see nervous behavior, and was already on a lead. Poor child was far more spooked by her dad than me and my well controlled dog! And so was I to be honest.

I had a man scream at my dog and point at me saying we were "disgusting". He was totally freaked out. He tried to talk to a stranger about it, and the other guy just shrugged and said we were doing nothing wrong. It was actually pretty weird.

I cant believe the votes are 50/50! All op was doing was reassuring the scared child.
If my dd was that shit scared of dogs I simply would not take her to a place where there are dogs!