To be verbally abused by this dog owner

[moana1234]

This is an extremely honest account of what happened to me this evening and I am still shook up over now. Out walking my dog with my 2 sons age 2 and 6 dog is very friendly & likes to play, we pass a dog with his male owner and 3 sons near some outdoor fitness equipment both his and my dog are off lead so my dog goes over to say hello both dogs are excited and run in a circle around the fitness equipment. I turned my head and in that moment it is alleged my dog ran and knocked over the man’s son who is obviously upset. I ask if that was my dog and if so I’m sorry and hope the boy is okay. To which I am given a torrent of abuse, the man shouts at me to get my dog under control and on lead. I said sorry she is very friendly and wouldn’t have meant to it was an accident and his dog was playing too. He continued screaming and shouting at me telling me to train my dog and if I didn’t he would train it for me... I was so took aback I asked if he was joking then when he continued shouting I asked if he would just stop so I could firstly put my dog on a lead (I really didn’t need to as she had come back & has good recall but I didn’t want to provoke anything) and secondly not shout round the children (my 6 yr
old was visibly distressed) I got the dog on the lead and as I was walking away he shouted arsehole. I am ashamed to say I was so stressed and upset I actually soiled myself and can’t stop shaking and crying about this. Was I in the wrong here??

Harsh but true. I am sick of the "he's only being friendly" owners who can't control their animals. No wonder the guy was upset that his child had been knocked over.

If your dog knocked a child over then it is dangerously out of control in a public area which is a criminal offence. YABU.

I hate dog owners that make the excuse that a dog is just being friendly. Mainly people don’t want dogs running up to them, they might be scared or allergic. And they certainly don’t want their children knocking over.

Control your dog FFS. Keep it on a lead.

I’m sorry you were verbally abused, that’s horrible. But keep your friendly dog on a lead from now on. Friendly dogs are only friendly in their owner’s eyes. To the rest of us, they can be scary and annoying.

The answer to this is to keep your dog under control

Yes, he was BU to shout but equally you really shouldnt just let your dog run up to others esp when there are children around.

My dog went over to say hello to him and he said something unpleasant like to get the dog away from him. I said Oh he just likes to say hello and he said well get him away or I'll stamp on his head.

So he asked you to keep your dog away from him and you refused until he was more forceful about it?

You're the kind of owner I hate coming across - I'm no less allergic to dogs that are friendly, want to say hello, are big old softies, or any of the other inane things dog owners say to me when I have politely asked them to keep their dog away from me. 🙄

You were in the wrong. Why on earth would you let your dog run up to a stranger and their dog? What if they had taken a dislike to each other and fought? You should always ask before letting your dog approach another, regardless if it's off lead or not.

At the end of the day, your dog was out of control and hurt someone's child. It doesnt matter that your dog is friendly and it was an accident. You should have called her back as soon as she tried to approach them. I'd have called you an arsehole too, if you let your out of control dog knock over my kids.

My dog went over to say hello to him and he said something unpleasant like to get the dog away from him

Another entitled owner. I don't want to "say hello" to your animal. I have no interest in it, and don't want to interact with it. It is YOUR job as a responsible owner to keep your animals to yourself, however small/large, cute/ugly or soft/dangerous they are.

How do so many dog owners not understand this?

I hate "friendly" dogs, especially the kind with owners that do nothing to control their dog's "friendly" behaviour in public.

I would be furious too if an unfettered dog knocked my child over. The fact that you didn't even see it happen shows how little responsibility you were taking for you wretched animal's behaviour. It could have knocked over any child in the area.

The fact that the child's father had his dog off the lead does not make your part in this sorry story any more acceptable. It was your dog that knocked a child over.

The child's father had every right to be furious and making excuses for your "friendly" dog instead of showing genuine remorse understandably made him even more angry.

If you don't want to experience this kind of unpleasant situation again I suggest the following:

1. You accept that not everyone likes "friendly" dogs.

1. Get some proper training for your dog from an approved trainer.

1. Keep the dog on a lead until you are able to keep it fully under control in public.

1. Accept that you have full responsibility for your dog and its behaviour when you are in public.

1. Be prepared to take full responsibility and don't attempt to excuse or shift blame if your dog annoys, upsets or hurts or injures a member of the public.

I hope that helps.

It was easier for him to blame you, than accept both dogs were at fault if they were off the lead and running around together. But stand up for yourself, point out his dog was running around too. Confrontation is horrible and the adrenaline shoots up. You were both at fault allowing dogs to be off the lead where someone could get hurt. But some people don’t take accountability.

It is difficult to deal with some types of people.
The man had his dog.off and weather your dog knocked his child over or not it was accidental
The shouting and carrying on is a load of bullying
What a complete dickhead!
The soiling would be upsetting for you.

Well the man sounds like he was extremely unreasonable but to be honest you might have been a little unreasonable too. It was good that you said sorry…..but if you told the man your dog was just being friendly, that was unreasonable because it is irrelevant to the person who is knocked over why the dog did it. I have been knocked over by an overexcited and out of control puppy who was “just playing”. The owner knew the puppy enjoyed throwing himself at people but still had him off the lead. It was a frightening experience.

YABU - You said your dogs recall is good, so you were letting your dog approach other people in an energetic way without calling them back. That’s absolutely unacceptable, even if they have their own dog on or off lead. It then knocked a child over, which I imagine was terrifying for the child. A strange and potentially dangerous animal big enough to knock you to the floor is harassing you until you fall over - the child should have been the one soiling themselves, all while you chose to do nothing about it.

You create a situation where someone gets angry enough to shout at you, it does seem odd you would then be so scared you poo (not even wee) in your pants.

Keep your dog under control and away from other people. You’ve found out the hard way as one of us REALLY don’t like being approached by strange, and particularly boisterous, dogs (and I’m a dog owner).

The man should not have shouted at you, especially in front of your children, but I despise dog owners who allow their dogs to intimidate and injure children under the guise of being "friendly". I wouldn't have responded as he did but I have had to make many many requests and comments to irresponsible dog owners. I just dont understand why its apparently ok for someone's stinking, shitting, snarling, yapping creature to approach strangers in public places.

You were in the wrong, OP. Generally, people hate it when dog owners say, "she's just friendly, she didn't mean it' after their out of control dog has jumped on us, knocked our child over, eaten our food etc. I totally agree with @WheretheFishesareFrightening

Angry men are scarey but you're not a good dog owner and that's a heck of a lot of drama and chaos that was easily avoided.

Keep your dog on a lead. Two small children and an off lead dog is a lot of responsibility.

He's only playing is the most irritating response.

It's a well known 'fight or flight' response. Your body needs to be as light as possible so that you can 'fly' as in get away from danger. Hence people saying 'I shit myself' meaning 'I was scared' .

Your dog knocked his kid over. That is the most important bit. You are so indulgent of your dog being “friendly” that you don’t have any consideration for other people. I’m not surprised he gave you a mouthful. You deserved it.

KEEP YOUR DOG ON A LEAD IN A PUBLIC PLACE!

A side issue: But why this idea of a dog going up to someone "to say hello".
btw I don't do pets. Bigger animals yes; horses, cattle, pigs and even bloody sheep, the stupidest animal in the world.
I don't understand why we are expected to put up with it specially when they rear up and put their mucky paws on my clean coat.

I love dogs but I’d be pissed off by a dog off a lead knocking me over and I’m an adult. I live a street away from a park but luckily most dogs on streets near it are on leads as they should be. In the park it can do what it wants (not knock me over). Keep it on a lead in a public place.

I don’t think it’s a good idea to have your dog off lead if you also have children with you. My dog is very friendly but I usually avoid walking him with my children at all unless my husband is there, and if I have to walk him with them alone I would keep him on the lead at all times. It would just be far to easy for me to become distracted by the children and not keep good control over my dog.

You shouldn’t have allowed your dog knock over a child but that’s no excuse for the man behaving aggressively towards you. His reaction was over the top and he shouldn’t have shouted in front of the children. You were both in the wrong.

I would have called the police. Took my phone out, announce I am.calling the police and ask for his name and for him to stay where he is.

He was a horrible man, he upset you and his behaviour was out of order.

however… please, please don’t have dogs off lead in play and fitness areas. It’s not ok, ever. The scenario with the other dog and them circling round the equipment… it’s making the equipment (which is there for everyone in the community) completely inaccessible to anyone who doesn’t fancy getting in the way of two overexcited and out of control dogs. One of whom was big enough to knock a person over.

dog owners will minimise this but quite honestly dog owners who routinely have dogs off lead and then say ‘oh no he’s friendly/normally has good recall’ etc are the ones putting people who are scared of dogs off leaving the house.

I’ve been jumped at, scratched, and had my tights laddered by dogs whose owners claim ‘they normally come when called’. Clearly they don’t! Off lead is for when you’re out in the country (and when it’s NOT lambing or bird breeding season) or on your own private land. Not for play parks and urban walkways.

I’m sorry the man behaved as he did. I understand him being annoyed if his son was knocked over but there was no need for shouting aggressively especially when there were young children around,

However, your dog should have been on a lead and not in a position to knock over small children.

I hope you feel better soon OP and can put this behind you, but best to keep your dog on a lead in public.

999 Police please.

My out of control dog has knocked a child over and his dad is angry about it.

Please come immediately.