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??

Was it knocking kids over NO that’s the difference

Involuntary bowel movement 😂😂😂😂

I can’t see he said that. In her 2 posts.

She didn’t.

Another poster, talking about a separate incident where her own dog was threatened by a different man, recounted the phrase he used.

That’s the unwritten rule in our area as well.

No she did not deserve the abuse. Maybe you would have abused in that scenario but I know for sure I wouldn’t have when my dog was also not on leash and running around with other person’s dog, and my child was not hurt and other person apologised. There is a limit to how much you can complain. And he wasn’t complaining, he was shouting and called her asshole. It’s sad that you think that’s okay.

There will always be bad dogs owners who don’t give a shit and will do whatever they want but most I know are trying hard to do the right thing by their dog other dogs they meet and Jo Public.

Where is this paradise?! Many I see can barely look up from their mobile phone long enough to see where they are going, never mind to walk their dog responsibly. One woman the other day - French bulldog owner which tells you all you need to know - let her dog off lead in an empty field that didn't stay empty long enough for it to not attack my on lead dog. There are good people about admittedly but it is exhausting walking your dog given all the selfish, irresponsible arshholes out there.

Well if this is an example of how unpleasant people can be who aren’t involved I guess it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the owner of the other dog who was playing with the OPs dog behaved so badly.
What is wrong with people? Ok maybe the OP shouldn’t have let her dog run around with the shouty man’s dog, maybe the shouty man didn’t want his dog chasing around with the OPs dog, or maybe he and the OP couldn’t predict the future initially thought it was a bit of harmless fun for both dogs and then a child would get knocked over. But the level of unpleasantness shown to the OP is really rather sad. This wasn’t a war crime it was an error of judgement (as far as we IMO on both the OPs side and the shouting man (as far as we know the child wasn’t injured). I hope that those being unpleasant are at the very least equally as vocal get more agitated and upset about the many war crimes that are committed globally.

Well, I think that man was extremely unpleasant and abusive OP. Of course it was unfortunate that the little boy was knocked off his feet, but if he was unharmed, that surely is the end of it as you apologised. It was an accident. Both dogs were off lead playing.

No dogs should be off leads in public spaces.

I live in a very rural area with a very low population density. Maybe this affects my view on the whole thing.
Perhaps we have a less “irresponsible arseholes” here.

@Corgiowner Well of course it does. Living rurally and in an area of very low population density puts you in the minority. Sorry if my language offends you but I call a spade a spade.

This is a common call on here and worth rationally debating. I’m genuinely interested how you define a “public space” and how this will be policed.
Are you talking about public parks or fields quiet beaches in the middle of nowhere. The former could be policed by someone (not sure who) but clearly not the latter. Would you want in 24/7 52 weeks of the year or just during busy times? Are you including cafes pubs shop? Personally I don’t take mine into shops but I do take them into dog friendly cafes but they are expected to sit very quietly under a table on a recent visit a waitress commented that she didn’t even realise they were there until I got up to leave. I believe many businesses feel allowing dogs in boosts their customer numbers.

I suppose if you're truly a responsible dog owner, you would have had a poo bag to hand. Next time someone raises their voice and you have an involuntary bowel movement, scoop it up and pop it in the dog poo bin. Sorted!

I see why you think the waters are muddied but OP is entirely at fault for her dog knocking the child over. If she or her child had been knocked over by HIS dog, HE would have been at fault. That's really all there is to say.

He shouldn't have been aggressive but his behaviour, or the fact his dog was also off the lead, doesn't alter OP's fault in this one bit.

We can all call a spade a spade but we don’t have to be unpleasant about it.
It’s the beginnings of a slippery slope towards aggression.

In what was I unpleasant? It's just words. And not about anyone on here. You are not the MN police you know.
And did you take time to read my post? A woman let her dog who she knows is aggressive off lead and it attacked mine. Would you not be a little upset by that?

Im sorry IMO both were at fault unless the shouting man had clearly said I don’t want your dog chasing mine.
My friends dog loves to chase other dogs in circles we were in a field and he was busy chasing another dog he knew, same breed, the owner was smiling saying “it’s lovely to see them having a run” if the owner had a child and had either dog had knocked the child over both owners would have been at fault (if you gave to blame anyone for an accident) for allowing their dogs to chase each other when a child is close by.

I just think saying “effing”, this was clearly addressed at the OP is unnecessarily unpleasant knowing the OP was very obviously upset.
Im not minimising what happened to your dog.

Op off lead, trained dogs, are fine in a big open field but when walking up to a fitness area where a family and another dog were, u should have put your dog on the lead. granted the mans dog also should’ve been on lead when they saw u approaching. You say your dog is behaved but this man’s dog might not be, hence the avoidable chaos that ensued.

your dog may or may not have knocked the kid over, u didnt see, and he could be lying but remember the world is filled this people like this that fly off the handle. You unfortunately bumped into one. I can’t say I’d be pleased if my kid was knocked over though, but he handled it badly; you both caused this by letting your dogs run loose. Agreed he absolutely shouldn’t have shouted at u like this, as hes at fault too, and I hope you feeling a bit better

His reaction wasn’t appropriate but you should have your dog on a lead. It doesn’t matter how friendly it is, if it’s accidentally knocking people over.

It infuriates me as dogs bound on my terrified son and shout how friendly their dog is. He’s only scared in the first place from being knocked over by a massive dog when he was little and he’s never got past it.

Sorry it has shaken you so much OP. I would maybe see a GP about your reaction, as it sounds there may be some high level anxiety already at play.

More information is needed. For starters if your dog is friendly and likes to go up to other dogs to say hello then it should not be off lead. What breed is your dog? A small friendly dog accidentally bumping into a child or tripping them up for example would make the man's reaction over the top. However if your have a large German shepherd who's barged into the man's child and caused him to be hurt then I would probably have the same reaction in the moment (not saying it's a good reaction, but heat of the moment, child hurt etc)
I also have a large dog who again I would not let run free around little children as although very friendly he would easily accidentally knock them over due to size.

Sorry, you've lost me. Never mind.

I don’t think dogs should be off lead in public spaces for this reason. Accidents happen and they aren’t fully under control. However it’s rich of him to kick off when his dogs were off lead too. It could just have easily been one of his dogs that did it.

As for the soiling, classic fight or flight. Your body perceived danger and tried to lighten itself as quickly as possible to make it easier to run away/fight. A very well known response to severe anxiety and not something that needs medical assessment unless it’s happening all the time. Maybe the ignorant posters with the mentality of school children who find that part so amusing should grow up and educate themselves a bit.

If your dog knocked over the man’s son then your dog needs training and kept on a lead.

it doesn’t matter how ‘friendly’ you think your dog is.

you were totally in the wrong