AIBU for losing my temper with a dog owner while out running?

[GE237]

I was out running in the park today and saw a woman approaching with her Staffy. I could see them coming well in advance, so I deliberately moved over to the right hand side of the path to give them plenty of space. She was on the left hand side.
Her dog was off the lead and, as I ran past, it suddenly ran across towards me and nearly took my legs out. It then went running after/at another dog nearby.
I appreciate that the dog itself isn't at fault and I wasn't annoyed at the dog. I had actually made a conscious effort to give them plenty of room because I could see them coming. What annoyed me was that the owner made no apparent effort to keep the dog out of my path, and when I nearly went flying she didn't seem particularly concerned.
I carried on running but was pretty annoyed, so I turned around and went back to speak to her. I said, “Is that dog on a lead now?” She showed me the lead with a bit of an attitude.
I said, “Good, because he nearly tripped me over and he went for that other dog.”
She then said that the other dog had actually gone for hers and that I hadn't been watching where I was going.
This is where I lost my temper. We ended up having a bit of a shouting match and I did swear, which I accept wasn't my finest moment.
From what I saw, I didn't think the other dog had gone for hers. The other woman actually turned around and went back the other way to leave the park, which made me think she was trying to remove herself and her dog from the situation.
I'm not claiming I handled the confrontation perfectly and I definitely got more angry than I needed to. I'm actually feeling a bit guilty now because I don't like upsetting people.
But at the same time, I feel like I had made plenty of space for them, her dog was off lead and nearly caused me to fall, and rather than just saying “sorry”, she blamed me for not watching where I was going.
AIBU to think she was being unreasonable, or did I overreact by turning around and confronting her? I am a terrible over thinker and I'm sure you're all just going to tell me to forget about it! :)

Owners of dogs are the bain of my life when I'm running. As you say, its not the dogs, the dogs are lovely. But the number of times I will switch to the other side of the path when I see someone walking a dog coming towards me, and as they get close to me, the dog (on a lead) will decide its seen something interesting on the otherside of the path and they'll cross over so they're now walking directly towards me, and I'm expected to switch sides again! Genuinely happens at least once every time I go out.

I once had a man walking his dog with his son, they were on either side of the path so I was running down the middle, and as I got almost level, the man, who had definitely seen me (I am not small..) reach over to pass his son the dog's frisbee and narrowly missed clotheslining me with his arm.

There's a definite sense where I live that all footpaths are primarily for dog walkers and anyone else is an inconvenience who is expected to get out of the way.

You were right to swear and make a scene as now she’ll be less inclined to be an idiot with her dog off the lead. That’s why she tried to remove herself.

The govt has rejected dog licences, presumably, Andy Burnham upset the whippet owners up 'north

I have even been accused of upsetting a dog by wearing headphones whilst out jogging. Apparently fur babies can hear the sound and it upsets them.

I think you'll find you're rude!

Well done for challenging her. Her dog was put of control (illegal) as it was off lead and attacked another dog, who was on lead! Can understand why you reacted, as you were shaken by the dog nearly knocking you over.
I'd be reporting the incident to the police. Another time there could be a worse outcome.
A close family member was attacked by a dog - he has permanent physical and psychological damage (have to shut our dog in her den whenever he's over and he knows her!) and police were involved.

I don't think it's unreasonable for someone to be unhappy about a dog running into them and nearly sending them flying. What if the person was a child or an elderly person?

The dog didn’t run into OP, and she hasn’t suggested she’s elderly or a child.

Better to bag it up and take it with you

It’s not about hating dogs

it is about hating the kind of person who puts their dog and their choices above anyone else’s - who lets the dog do what it likes with no consideration for others , who doesn’t properly train the dog because they can’t be bothered, and so you have dogs jumping up at people who should be allowed to have a dog free walk - instead they get muddy clothes and a disruption and if you have ever been attacked by a dog, a very scary experience

My dogs are always off lead when on safe paths. Plenty of cyclists and runners go past us. I'm constantly checking over my shoulder so we have plenty of time to stop, either put the lead on then stand well to the side or just pick them up and wait for them to pass. It seems to be a rarity as we've had a few people stop to say thanks and they wish others were more aware like us.

I'll never be on the 'dogs should be on the lead at all times,' side of the argument as it's not fair on the well behaved dogs. That woman is just another one of the idiots who doesn't give a shit about others. Fwiw, my dogs wouldn't go for anyone, it's more they have no spacial awareness and would likely go infront of someone causing everyone a mischief! Luckily, they're great and stop still as soon as we say 'wait.' Sorry you encountered an arsehole OP, those types will never see that they're the problem.

I get this when out jogging a lot - I’ve even been jumped at and ended up having a mammogram as the bruising didn’t go and the GP was concerned - I’ve seen that dog since and it now wears a muzzle . I did speak to the lady at the time - I’m not a shouter so didn’t raise the temperature though . I’ve also been tripped and it took about 6 weeks to recover and be running again . I really don’t think dog owners realise just how much damage their off lead dogs can do . Not unreasonable to be upset - but more likely to make them think by having a sensible conversation

edited to add that I’ve also seen a dog chasing a deer - always a risk for even the most well behaved off lead dogs ( I do realise that category is out there )

I don’t know why my post got deleted ffs 🤷🏻‍♀️ I was challenging the assertion that being fed up with inconsiderate behaviour is not “dog hating”. Such a pathetic phrase. If anything, it’s more “dog owner annoyance” or “dog indifference so don’t let it come near me”.

That’s ludicrous. The OP made room on the path. The dog owner could see her on the path ahead. The OP has a right to assume that the owner knows her dog is capable of going bonkers and to expect that she should have recalled the dog and put it on the lead when she entered an area already populated with other people.

I was out walking at the weekend in our local park and saw a man walking three rather large dogs. One was muzzled and on a lead the other two were off the lead. Another dog walker arrived with two smaller dogs and the two dogs off the lead absolutely went for them. Their walker tried to recall the loose dogs and totally failed. The other dog walker looked really distressed - she had done nothing wrong whatsoever.

It isn’t just runners who are inconvenienced and frightened. All dogs in areas where there are other people should be on the lead!

@Sasha07 you sound like a really good dog owner. I wish they were all like you.

I appreciate your concern @Mumofoneandone but in the dog's defense, it didn't attack me and it didn't seem to cause any harm/injury to the other dog, it was just purely out of control under the responsibility of a very ignorant owner. I don't think involving the police is necessary on this occasion 🙂

YABU to spend time and effort posting such a long garbled post, which could have been condensed into a short paragraph. Whether we agree or not doesn’t really matter as the incident has been and gone and the people concerned are probably now just going about their day having forgotten about it. It happens. Adults/children/animals will get in the way of others at some point. It’s a none issue. And from another perspective I find runners are up there with cyclists with self entitlement. I’ve walked on paths and clearly the runner or cyclist would have run/rode through me rather than move to the side. I might roll my eyes but that’s the extent of my annoyance…

@GE237
AIBU to think she was being unreasonable,
Yes, I think you probably are, I doubt she could have anticipated the dog's sudden movement any more than you could. It feels like it was an accident.

did I overreact by turning around and confronting her?
Yes, definitely. And whatever you think her dog did to someone else's dog is none of your business.
But also, she should have apologised.

I am a terrible over thinker and I'm sure you're all just going to tell me to forget about it! :)
And yes again, I'm afraid 😀

As a dog owner I have had occasions when my dog has gone up to a runner and jumped up at them. It's usually because they do something the dog interprets as a game (see below). But I always rush over and get the dog under control.

As a runner, I have occasionally had problems with other people's dogs. I think particularly if you have your fists loosely clenched and arms pumping, the dog thinks you have something in your hand - so if I see a dog I always open my hand as I go past so the dog can see/smell there's nothing there.

Ultimately parks are public and shared spaces and we all have to tolerate other users.

Don’t feel guilty for upsetting people who behave badly. That’s how they learn not to behave badly. Similarly, I hate all this ‘don’t judge people’ and ‘kindness costs nothing’ 🙄 rubbish all over social media. If someone is acting like a twat, I’ll judge them!

I’m bored of hearing how everyone hates dogs on here. Some people do of course. There’s no law that says you have to like them. But it’s generally the owners that are at fault and that’s usually acknowledged. I don’t run very much these days, but when I did, there was some sort of issue with dogs/dog owners about once a week. Dogs running in front of me on a long lead. Off lead dogs jumping around me. Off lead dogs jumping right up at me. I passed dozens of dogs every time I was out and the vast majority of them didn’t take me under their notice. But I’m not likely to come back from a run and talk about the well behaved ones. They are irrelevant. It’s the out of control dogs and their idiotic owners I remember. I think there are more threads these days because there are more dogs, a small but significant proportion of which are a pain in the arse due to their owners’ laziness. The dog hating comments don’t contribute a single thing to any discussion. The posters who make them come across as vacuous and robotic, just wheeling out almost identical, pointless sound bites every single time.

It is unbelievable what brain dead amoebas are allowed to own a dog.

The first time I took out my dog, a then puppy, some tosser had a massive dog in the park. It was the biggest dog I have ever seen and it was uncontrollable off lead. It came after my puppy which then fled into the street terrified. I had to chase after it, and stop a car from running him over. He then hid under a car. After I retrieved him I returned to the park and gave the bloke, who was still unsuccessfully trying to get his dog on a lead, the bollocking of his life. He said "it's not my fault, I can't get him on a lead'.

So, then don't have a massive dog then you brain dead idiot, and please don't have kids.

I don't hate dogs. In fact I love them. I would much rather deal with dogs than people.

They clearly said they were annoyed at the owner, not the dog, and they had every right to be.

You're not at all unreasonable and I don't think you underreacted at all. I recently swore at a bloke who let his dog jump at me and try to bite my hand and who then said to me (and this is what caused the swearing) 'why would you do that?'

Dog owners (yeah yeah "not all dog owners") have become very unresponsible and nothing is being done. About time they were made to feel uncomfortable about what they let their dogs get away with.

I’ve had more toddlers suddenly change direction and trip me up when out running than I’ve ever had dogs do it. Many dogs simply follow their nose and sense of smell, so they’ll
suddenly change direction with little awareness of surroundings. I once was walking along a country path with my dog off lead. He was calm and at heel. A cyclist suddenly appeared from a blind bend, at some speed, and at that moment my dog noticed something on the opposite side of the path and without warning walked across me and into the path of the cyclist. The cyclist wobbled a little and laughed and carried on. I did say sorry though. But it’s just life.

Rude, ignorant woman who can't take responsibility for herself or her dog.

Forget about it. Not your finest hour but just let it go.