My dog isn’t overly defense or aggressive, but he does get anxious around crowds and lots of dogs. He’s medium size, 40 lbs, well socialized, and spends two days a week in day care playing with other dogs his size or larger.
I take my dog to the dog park because even though he gets nervous around large groups of dogs, he does just fine when it’s not crowded. He’s gentle, playful, and has no bite history.
Last weekend I took him to our favorite dog park. Only 4 other dogs there: two labs, an aussie shep mix, and a ginormous Anatolian shep mix. This was a big boi. He was LORGE. Around 120 lbs. I let the dogs sniff each other through the fence first before letting him in. All seems well. Then I unleash my dog and let him inside.
There’s 20 seconds of "let’s all go sniff the new guy" then the big boi immediately tries to mount and hump my dog. Normally this is undesirable but sort of expected and we give the dogs a chance to sort it out before intervening. But size is a factor here. Around 120 lbs of weight on my 40lb dog’s hips. It hurt my dog. He yelped loud, took one quick nip at big boi’s neck, and backed away with his hackles raised and his tail between his legs.
I grabbed my dog’s collar and walked him away to de-escalate, but the big boi growled and backed us into a corner. I yelled out for the owner to please call their dog away, but their dog didn’t listen. So the owner send his 10ish year old son to haul the dog away, which obviously doesn’t work out. So he finally comes over and leashes his dog, then says "You should know better than to bring a defensive and anxious dog to the park." He waits a bit as if he expects me to leave, then huffs and leaves with his dog and son.
At this point, I’m 100% sure I’m NTA. But then I leashed my dog and decided to walk him around the perimeter of the park to cool off, the other dog owners leave too, all at the same time as if somebody pooped in the punch bowl.
So given the other dog owner’s comment and how everybody left right after, I’m starting to doubt myself. AITA?
NTA your dog was just defending itself tbh the owner should’ve properly intervened since his dog was the problem, you can tell hes a great person just by thst and the fact he sent a 10 year old child to handle a dog that’s like 2 times his weight I hope for both of their sakes he has a partner thats at least mildly competent ( the child and dog that is)
NTA
That’s what I was thinking. Dog didn’t listen to owner. Then owner sends a child, probably smaller than the dog. 🤬
What a lazy owner. Then expects OP to leave, when they’re the one too lazy to be a responsible dog owner.
NTA. His dog was the whole problem.
NTA. Large dog owner here. The owner should have interviewed when their dog started jumping a much smaller dog.
Large dogs are a responsibility.
NTA People leave awkward situations because it’s not fun anymore. It’s not an indicator of who was at fault.
Dog parks are great in theory but awful in practice. Even the friendliest of dogs get into it sometimes, and they can be havens for germs and diseases, especially when people don’t pick up their dog’s poop or toys. I think your pup will be happier if you avoid them in the future.
NTA. I have two large dogs. One is a male and will try to hump from time to time. I always say no and get him off the other dog. It is the owner of the humping dog to intervene, not the other way around.
NTA and wow what an AH that owner was.
dog parks are literal war zones where people fight more than dogs
NTA. This is why i hate dog parks. Some dog owners are just clueless.
NTA, that dog/owner was the problem, not yours.
Nta except you ARE the AH for no dog tax!!!!
NTA. He should be in control of his dog at all times. Sending a 10-year old to deal with a 120 lbs dog is insane
Nah, this is redirection.
He wants you to feel bad because he did wrong…twice. No, three times; he wasn’t paying attention forcing you to call out, dog didn’t respond to commands, sent a child to stop a potential dog fight.
Wow. What a d!ck.
NTA Hope pup is ok.
Maybe there are better places for you and pup to hangout.
NTA. what an irresponsible owner, i hope your dog is okay!
(LORGE was lowkey funny ngl)