Chased Out Of Dog Park

[DaffodilDilly]

Just been to our local dog park as i do every day, usually twice a day. I've got a Lab who is 14 months old. Mostly well behaved with good recall.
This is a designated dog park and 99% of the dogs are off lead. They all run around together quite happily
Well today a lady was walking a small dog, she saw us walking towards her and picked up her dog. Well, my lab saw this and jumped up at the dog. I quickly got him off and put him on the lead. I apologised to the lady and said if she left her dog on the ground my dog would have just walked past it.
She started swearing at me, took my photo and demanded money for her dirty coat.
She then followed me so I had no choice but to leave the park. All the time she was asking for my address and money.
I said I had no money, just poo bags and my phone.
I said she should expect to get dirty in the dog park and most people wear old clothes.
I was muddy and a few smaller dogs had jumped up at me. it doesn't bother me.
I've not seen this lady before and it really shook me up.
Was I in the wrong?

oh ffs. Nobody's hip got broken. Nobody went to hospital.
Nobody was so scared that their first thought was anything but demanding money.

What matters is what actually happened, not 65,000 "What If" alternative outcomes.

I don't find you were unreasonable, OP.
She was a cow for demanding money.

Lets be honest, the woman was a dick. OP offered to write her a cheque and she got a round of fucks. She demanded cash that she didn't have with her and took her photo without her consent.

A dog jumping up isn't ideal but let's not pretend the woman was reasonable to react like that.

By law in the U.K. your dog must be under control. It wasn’t. And the OP made it worse by blaming the woman for picking up her own dog.
I’ve been leapt into by a few dogs and even knocked flat once. I have never been abusive or demanded money. I’ve often laughed and owners are generally lovely and apologetic.
But legally a dog jumping up can be classed as a dangerous dog. The laws are draconian but that’s the rule.
A person only has to say that they were frightened that harm may come to them and the police could (not saying they should) be on your doorstep.
If my dog jumped up at someone I would be bloody mortified and nothing but apologetic. That wasn’t the case here.

@Wolfiefan I didnt tell her off!! And as i already said, there are plenty of elderly people walking dogs, my dog has never once jumped up at them.
I think you and I will agree to disagree.
Thanks for everyone's comments.

Yanbu!

Blimey, sorry OP you’ve had harsh responses. She had a dog. Not a newborn baby.

And I was frightened that harm would come to me! I really thought she would follow me home. She was extremely aggressive.
As I say many a dog has jumped up at me and I've laughed it off.

I’m entirely with you OP. She was ridiculous. Totally over the top. I hope you don’t lose your confidence.

@DaffodilDilly please discard a lot of this thread. Unless you have rhino hide for a skin!

You blamed her for what happened by saying she caused it by picking her dog up.
You’re minimising and justifying rather than straight up apologising.
Even now. It’s happened to me and I laughed about it. That doesn’t mean everyone needs to react the same.
And if the next person your dog does that to has a reactive dog then you could be facing much worse consequences. Start being more considerate.

You were in the wrong, yes, but the woman reacted badly.

Is the aggressive lady known to other dog walkers in the park? There are a few unreasonable people in our dog park who use any excuse to be superior and downright aggressive. A dog jumping up is hardly the end of the world, being abusive and threatening is never ok. Demanding money like that is close to mugging behaviour and I wonder if she tries those tactics regularly with other people.

She sounds awful, quite deranged. But when your dog jumps up at someone you can only say a sincere sorry and pull them off straight away. There shouldn't be a 'but' or 'that wouldn't have happened if you'd done something different.' The apology should be the end of it, though. Mud brushes off.

Second that. Never post in the doghouse if you are a dog lover or owner. Posters don’t help, seem to aim to make you miserable.

She could've been taken pictures to show the dog warden, though i imagine it's most likely to intimidate you. She sounds like a bully.

As almost everyone has said, if you go to a dog park, you gotta expect to get muddy. Or heaven forbid come into contact with dogs. no, your dog shouldn't have jumped up, but it could be argued whether she was in the right place if she has a nervous dog.

Chin up op. If i let my hell hound off leash, there'd be news coverage of it! Yours is Crufts ready compared to mine.

Sadly it's really upset me and I have lost my confidence, I will leave it a few days until I venture back round there.
One of the dog owners round there is a trainer so I will speak to her about it.
Thank you

@Stellaris22 I've never seen her in the park before. The dog looked like a poodle.

She probably has a go at people quite regularly. It'll be someone else tomorrow. Try not to take it to heart.

That's horrible and I'm sorry they made you feel like this OP. I find some dog owners can be very hostile which is a shame as dog walking can be sociable and should be fun for dog and owner.

It's a great little park and as I say I've never come across anyone being aggressive.
I will be back there but just need to have a few days off I think.

Tell the idiot to put her coat in the washing machine. Dont pay for it to be cleaned professionally. Who does she think she is? Silly aggressive woman

Yanbu

@DaffodilDilly dog walking can be a messy business. if it makes you feel better a lab came up behind me- so I didn't see him coming as I was looking at my dog in front of me -and he lifted his leg and did a wee on the back of my leg

@mumsiedarlingrevolta - I hope you charged them cleaning expenses!

Thanks, some of your messages are cheering me up.

She can take photos of the OP all she likes. Proves nothing at all. Certainly not that OP’s dog was out of control to the extent that any authorities would take her seriously.

OP, none of us have perfectly behaved dogs no matter what some would like you to think. I can think of a few scrapes that my labrador got us into, even when out in the middle of an apparently empty field on a warm summer's day. He trotted behind a hedge and wouldn't initially come back. I went to grab him and then realised that he had discovered a young couple there, doing as young couples do behind bushes in deserted areas on warm summer's days!! He was fascinated by them and licking them. I was mortified, put him on the lead and frog marched him away whilst trying to apologising profusely.

The woman you encountered was an idiot. Of course in an ideal world your dog would not have jumped up at her, but her aggressively pursuing you out of the park was not on either and I would say that was disgraceful behaviour by her.

Don't let her put you off going to the park. Maybe try to go with some friends to start with. You'll feel more confident in a group and the dogs usually have a great time together. Even if she is there again, she is unlikely to be so brazen if you are in a group, and even if she does try anything, there will be witnesses.

Don't let her chase you out of the park again. She doesn't own the place. Your offer to drop off a cheque at her house was more than sufficient, but she hadn't liked that. That would have been the point at which I would have told her very firmly to back off and stop harassing me.