AITA for expecting a real apology after my friend’s dog bit me on the dick?

Using fake names for obvious reasons

I know this sounds absurd, but I genuinely need outside perspective because nobody in my life seems to be taking this as seriously as I am. My dad couldn’t stop laughing when I told him. My best friend Randy laughed and made a lot of jokes about it over the next few days also. Not until two days later when we were hanging out and I kind of opened up to him about how crazy this all was did he get serious and admit that I should have probably gotten an apology at the very least.

My best friend Randy was graduating from a prestigious training event about nine hours north of me. We also have a mutual friend, John (61), who lives in the area. I’m 34, and Randy and I used to work with John years ago. When John heard I was coming for Randy’s graduation, he offered to let me stay at his home instead of paying for a hotel. I initially declined because I thought it might be awkward, but Randy had just visited his home and reassured me that John was still the same guy we knew back in the day and that his house was very nice. So I messaged John back and accepted the offer.

On the day of the trip, I updated John throughout the day and even called him 10 minutes before arriving to let him know I was close. He said he was looking forward to seeing me.
I got there around 9pm, parked, and walked to the front door. Through the glass, I saw John sitting inside. He waved, stood up, and walked towards his front door. His dog jumped off the couch and followed him to the door. For context, I’m usually very cautious around unfamiliar dogs because you never know how they will react. But John never warned me about the dog, never mentioned any behavioral issues, never leashed it, and made no effort to restrain it before opening the door at night to greet a guest. I figured if he let his dog come to the door unrestrained then it was probably a friendly dog so honestly I just didn’t pay any attention to it.

John opened the door, I smiled, said “Hey, John!” and reached out to shake his hand. His dog then lunged out the door and bit me on the shaft of my penis. Not my leg. Not my arm. My dick… my fuckin.. dick. I stumbled backward, bent over, and covered my groin. John grabbed the dog, who kept growling, barking, and trying to lunge at me. John’s wife, Krista, came around the corner and asked if I was okay.
All I could manage was, “Your dog bit me on the dick.”
John looked extremely awkward and stunned, like he genuinely couldn’t believe what just happened. But still no apology, no urgency, no “sit down, let’s get you taken care of,” nothing. Just shock as I stand on his doorstep, covering my bloody groin. I then, tell them that I need to use their bathroom. After krista leads me over to the bathroom, past the hellhound still barking and trying to get at me while john restrains him, i pulled down my pants to find that the dog had ripped open the skin on the shaft. It hurt really bad, and there was quite a bit of blood. I took a picture and came back out to find krista, john, and the dog sitting on the couch in the living room waiting for me. The dog immediately went crazy again, barking, growling, and trying to pull toward me. John was restraining it, still looking awkward and stunned, repeating things like "man, are you alright,” but not taking any real action. I told him I needed a minute and went out to my truck. I called my wife and sent her the picture because… how else do you explain coming home with an injured penis?
After about five minutes, John came out and asked if I was okay. I told him no, and kind of joked that I could show him. He looked down at my groin, and kind of gave me a look like "yeah, no thanks" but then I turned around my phone and showed him the picture, making sure it was zoomed in so you could only see the injured part, not the whole dick. Again he reacted with that same awkward disbelief, but still no apology. When I went back inside, the dog was still out and extremely aggressive. Krista needed to go to bed for work but couldn’t, because the dog kept getting triggered every time it heard or saw me. Finally, after a while of trying to get the dog settled down, she asked, “Would you mind if I brought the dog over so he can smell you? Maybe that’ll calm him down.” I felt like I was in some kind of fucking bizarro world. I had been bitten ON THE DICK less than an hour earlier by this same hellhound, and now they were asking to bring the dog over to me. That same dog that was currently growling barking and pulling on the leash to get at me while she’s asking this. I told her that i’m sorry, but I would need more time before I’d feel comfortable letting the dog approach me, given what had just happened. She said okay and took the dog into her bedroom, but asked if John and I could go upstairs so the dog wouldn’t hear my voice and get riled up again. So we went upstairs. I told john that I needed to take a shower and clean the wound, and after getting undressed, I sent the picture to chatgpt and asked how severe it looked and if I needed the ER. It told me that it looked bad, but because it wasn’t deep I should be fine as long as I clean it and avoid infection. That shower was so painful. To this point, still nobody has said sorry, they haven’t offered me anything such as neosporin or aspirin to treat the wound, and i’ve basically just been asked to stay upstairs and be quiet so the dog doesn’t start barking. A little later John and I talked, and he mentioned that the dog was a rescue he’d gotten in July, and that during Thanksgiving he pad over like 5 different people and warned everyone to be cautious because he didn’t know how the dog might react.
I told him I wished he had told me that. He said, “Yeah, in hindsight I should’ve let you know.” When I asked why he didn’t restrain the dog before greeting me, he said, “I just didn’t think about it.” Still no apology.

Over the next day or so, in different conversations, he made several comments like “If the dog bit somebody, I can’t trust it anymore." He said this multiple times, and its relevance will come into play later in the story. Meanwhile, the dog was still extremely aggressive every time it saw me. While it was on a leash, it was still out in the living room over the next couple days.

The next day was Randy’s graduation and also my birthday. Now, I’m 34.. idgaf about my birthday. All the same, spending your birthday dressed up celebrating somebody else’s accomplishments with an injured dick isn’t the best way to spend a birthday. For the graduation I had to wear a uniform that rubbed directly across the injured skin. That was… not fun. On the drive, John kept saying things like, “Why the dick, though? Why would the dog go for your dick?” as if I had any idea. Later, when talking to Randy about what happened he said something that actually kinda pissed me off. He told me that when he visited last week, John leashed the dog and met him in the driveway to warn him that the dog didn’t like strangers. John did none of that for me.

The next morning, which is now day 3 and the last day of staying at john’s house, John wanted to show me around his place. The dog was still on a tight leash, still barking, and still pulling toward me the entire time as I would squeeze past him when he showed me a room. When he wanted to show me the back deck, I said “Hey man, I’m really sorry to ask this, I know this is the dog’s house, and it’s not really fair to him, but I’d feel more comfortable if you could put the dog away before we go outside.” He looked surprised and was like “Really? You want me to put him away?” Like he couldn’t fucking believe I would ask that or that I was asking something unreasonable. He did put the dog away with a demeanor of mild disbelief, and when we stepped outside i said "thanks man, i know it’s not fair for the dog, but it does make me feel more comfortable." He then made a little comment like "yeah, well, I guess dogs can sense energy."
That one annoyed me so I fired back with “My energy might be off because your dog bit me on the fucking dick two days ago.” He didn’t really respond to that one.

Now here’s the kicker.. remember how he’d been saying repeatedly that if the dog bit someone, he couldn’t trust it?
Well later that day, Randy, his wife, and their kid we’re coming over. As soon as they pulled in, John immediately said,
“I need to put the dog away since I can’t trust him if he’s bitten somebody.” When he came back from putting the dog away, I asked him “Why’d you put the dog away?” He goes “Well, I can’t trust him if he bit somebody.” Dude, i was flabbergasted. I go “I am the somebody he bit. I’ve been here for three days, he’s been aggressive toward me the entire time, and you looked annoyed the one time I asked you to put him away” He kinda just laughed it off as if to say like "oh yeah, guess you’re right haha" After I left his house, i received the closest thing to an apology I had gotten the entire time. “hey, it was great to see you, thanks for staying with us, sorry how everything started with your stay.” That was the closest thing to an apology I ever got.

Looking back, No genuine apology, No urgency, No first-aid supplies until I asked, No precautions taken for me, Dog left out and aggressive around me the entire time, he did take precautions for others, just not for me..

So now I’m genuinely wondering, am I overreacting? Am I just being a little bitch about it? Everyone else just thinks it’s funny but i’m genuinely annoyed I never got an apology.

14 thoughts on “AITA for expecting a real apology after my friend’s dog bit me on the dick?”
  1. You’re not overreacting; getting bitten on your dick and being treated like it’s a joke deserves a real apology and some basic care, not awkward laughter and shrugging

    1. Exactly. Anyone brushing off a serious injury like that is minimizing what you went through. An apology and basic care are the bare minimum.

  2. NTA, the friend is a shitty dog owner and is not scared enough of consequences because his dog can and should be put down for biting, especially down there

  3. Sounds like you expected basic care and a real apology after something serious and painful happened, and that is totally fair. You got hurt in a very vulnerable spot, the dog kept acting wild around you, and John did nothing to make you feel safe or supported. Anyone would feel upset in your place. You are not overreacting at all, you just wanted someone to take responsibility and show some concern.

  4. Your friend is not a good friend or pet owner and that dog is going to wind up hurting someone even worse that it hurt you and will wind up being put down. I hope your injury is OK.

  5. NTA, and honestly you’re underreacting. There’s an artery right there. You could have died. Infection is also still a serious risk. You should still go the the doctor even if it was a week ago. What if it scars? chatgpt is not a reliable source of medical advice (or any advice.) 

    John is an incredible asshole. My dog has bitten people before, and thanks to lots of training and EXTREMELY CAREFUL introductions I have been able to get him to like my friends, but it still remind them every time and keep him locked away when I can’t guarantee everyone’s safety.

    If my dog injured someone like that, my dog would be kenneled, then my friend would be driven to the ER, and i would immediately assume I was on the hook for my friend’s medical builds. My dog is my baby, I’m responsible for his actions.

    Why did you even stay all three days? I’d have gotten a hotel or gone home.

    It’s not fucking funny. That’s scary as fuck.

    1. Dude at this point it was around 10pm, i had just driven nine hours, and I was dead tired. Plus the entire reason I was there was for my best friend’s graduation that was in 9 more hours after that. The last thing I wanted to do was spend the next 4-5 hours in an ER in an unfamiliar city. My options for medical information were pretty limited at that time unless I wanted to go to the hospital.. which I didn’t

  6. I’m not victim shaming, because clearly you are NTA, but why didn’t you immediately go to the hospital?

    Not only for wound cleaning and a professional once over, but don’t you need to get a rabies shot?

    Or are you in a country where that isn’t a potential issue?

    I am aussie so we don’t have to worry about that there, but in the rest of the world it seems like something you have to do right away.

    1. At this point it was around 10pm, i had just driven nine hours, and I was dead tired. Plus the entire reason I was there was for my best friend’s graduation that was in 9 more hours after that. The last thing I wanted to do was spend the next 4-5 hours in an ER in an unfamiliar city. My options for medical information were pretty limited at that time unless I wanted to go to the hospital.. which I didn’t. And you only need a rabies shot if you don’t know if the dog has been vaccinated or if you do know that the dog has rabies. It’s my buddy’s dog and he had just gotten the dog from a shelter and in america a dog has to get all of its vaccinations before it’s allowed to leave the shelter

  7. You’re under reacting. I would have immediately went to the hospital Especially considering the area where you were bit. He’s not a responsible dog owner in the slightest and the fact he kept that dog around while you were there says all you need i know and that he doesn’t care.

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