I've just been screamed at by a woman in the park.

[TantrumsAndBalloons]

I have 2 staffys, one is a pup 18 weeks.

I was walking the puppy in the park, it's a massive park, lots of dogs running about off lead, no problems.

The pup was walking next to me, we passed a woman with a toddler in a pushchair on a bench. Milo went to one end of the bench to chase a plastic cup.
The woman screamed "getting your fucking dog away from my child"
I called him, he came over.

The woman then came about 2 inches from my face screaming I was an irresponsible person, I shouldn't let my dog off the lead, he was out of control, she was going to report me.

I don't know what I did wrong tbh, Milo was nowhere near the toddler but she kept saying that he was licking her child's feet, but he was nowhere near her feet and he came back as soon as I called him, he was in no way out of control.

I understand people do not like dogs but isn't this a big of an overreaction?

Wow! Sounds like she forgot her medication this morning!

Quick jump on this thread as an antidote nice staffy things and put on your puppy chased a cup.

A lot of people get hysterical over staffs. Nice language in front of a toddler though!

Very much an overreaction and I'm afraid I'd have said "My dog is no danger to your child but your foul mouth is" and upped the ante a bit.

I have no time for people like that. If someone asked me to put my dog on the lead because they/their child was scared I would comply straight away. But someone screaming and shouting at me is far more likely to be told to feck off.

I'm with the woman. I really don't like dogs - they make me feel incredibly nervous even though I know it's not rational.
I don't think people who like dogs can appreciate just how much those of us who don't like them don't like them? Or why.

But sue, would you have sworn and screamed your dislike at the OP?

:( oh no how horrible

Jenners that is a horrible thing to say about medication.

I don't like all dogs - I do like dogs though. If I don't like the look of one that romps up to me, I just scowl at it and say 'go away, dog' in my best firm dog/small child voice. That usually works.

I would say the woman getting worked up and swearing was the worst of it. Teach children to be wary of dogs, not fearful.

I may have been tempted to have a sneaky cuddle (dog not you!) but both my kids are nervous of dogs and an adult (who may have even been bitten in the past) could be terrified.
Be vv careful if anyone claims your dog is out if control. If they report you...
FWIW she sounds like she was out of control!

Yellow ok - comment noted.

No I know people don't like dogs. I never let big dog go up to people as people can be scared of him. Same way I don't let the puppy just go up and start licking people. But he wasn't near the child. He was facing the other direction, under a bench trying to eat and a cup and as soon as I called him, he came back to my side.

I honestly don't let them run up to people, especially children. They both love people and just want to sniff and say hello but I know many people are scared of dogs.

But he did not go near her. And he certainley wasnt out of control.

But he wasn't out of control. He was straight back by my side as soon as I called him and is only ever about 2 feet away from me anyway.

The woman over reacted but I think dogs in parks should be on a lead at all times, I don't care if dogs. Are just being friendly and want to say hello, I don't want them coming over to me

But he doesn't come over to anyone, I don't let him.
Either of them.

And the puppy was not even aware she was there, he just wanted the cup.

It's not a children's play area, it's 3 big fields, a golf course and a flower garden. I don't see why he has to be leashed if he is right by my side!

She over reacted but I do think dogs should be on leads in the park.

Is the dog really that well trained at 18 weeks that you can say it would not go up to people? Nobody can guarantee how a dog will behave in every situation, which is why I think they should be on a lead.

They are allowed off the lead if they are under control.
My dogs are under control.
In fact they are big babies who won't be more than 2 feet away from me EVER

Yes he is that well trained and tbh I'd be worried if he wasn't coming back as soon as I call him at this age. If he wasn't I would let him off the lead in the middle of the day.
He might walk in the general direction of someone but as soon as I call him he is by my side.
He only runs if my dd is jogging with him or if we are throwing a ball or frisbee, otherwise he trots beside me.

That sounds like a complete overreaction. Your dog did nothing, was well behaved, and did not even go up to her.

Someone yelped at my dog and ran away the other day. All he did was take a step towards her (on his lead) to try and say hello to her dog. He was still a metre away but she yelped, grabbed her dog by the collar (it was off-lead and she didn't have a lead for it) and ran away. Weird.

I understand that some people don't like dogs, but when the dog is doing nothing wrong, there's nothing to complain about. If the dog comes up and jumps on someone who doesn't want it, then there's a reason to complain. But if the dog is minding its own business and behaving, there's not even anything to have a polite word about, never mind scream and shout.

My dd is frightened of dogs. She's coping with it a lot better now she's 6. If when she was a toddler she'd been on a bench with me and a dog like a Staffordshire Bull Terrier had run at/past the bench chasing something, she'd have been terrified. I wouldn't have sworn at you but I'd have been really annoyed. I hate the way dog owners think whatever their dogs do is fine. I was once bitten by a dog that came running up to me. It's owner cam up to us and looked at me as if to say, 'take your leg out of my dog's mouth'!

He didn't run at anyone. He walked along, saw a paper cup under the bench and walked over to it. I called him away. He came back. He was under the bench for approximately 2 seconds.
He didn't even look at the woman and her toddler, let alone go up to her. He doesn't run away, he walks by my side.

So yes, in this instance my dog did nothing wrong and neither did I.

However having a woman 2 inches from face screaming and swearing was scary, dont you think.

It sounds like an over reaction and it probably was.
Maybe she has had a bad experience before. Maybe her child is incredibly scared.
But it doesn't sound like you did anything wrong and I wouldn't worry about it.

I once swore at a woman who let her little dog chase my son. I told her to get that fucking dog away from me or I woukd drop kick it. Ds2 didn't understand as he didn't process language at that point.
I love dogs. I never would have done anything to it. But she kept whining 'oh but he's tiny. He won't hurt him. He doesn't mean anything'
It was the only thing I could do to make her back the fuck off.

Maybe she had had a similar experience and massively over reacted. Or maybe she was just unreasonable. Hard to know really.

And I am not to keen on people who think they own a public space and that gives them to right to behave threateningly and aggressively to me.

I dislike dogs. I really dislike dogs that aren't on a lead. My reasons are justified after some silly cow was walking a very large dog in an area where dogs are required to be on a lead and said dog left the owners side, bounded up to my ds who was 2 at the time and be for I could grab my son the dog licked him across his face, leaving Crap from the dogs mouth all over his face. I seriously thought he was going to bite my sons face. He was hysterical. And the owners response? Something along the lines of "he loves children! He wouldn't hurt a fly" and wandered off. No apology, nothing. Silly cow.

So op, She probably did over react and the swearing was pretty bad, but some people have very good reasons to hate dogs.

That's your proble Hector not the OP's. One of my dogs was scared of people waiting at bus stops. It wasn't their problem.