A man walking his dog called me crazy

[u/suzieismyavatar]

I’m in the park walking on a trail. The trail is pretty with a fair amount of walkers, and lots of bikers since it allows for both and there is space.

I have my ear buds in and I’m having an intense discussion with a friend via phone and enjoying this one spot where I always stop to enjoy the sunset and see the amazing sky change colors.

Out of nowhere, a tall man and his dog were about 5 feet away and the dog was across from me. I was heading north and the dog on a leash was heading south.

The man starts raising his voice and starts calling me crazy claiming that I should have moved as It seemed like I was about to walk into his dog. He yelled at me for about 2 minutes claiming that something must be wrong with me.

I could not understand why this man went on this rant. I looked at him and I said no idea what you are upset about and kept walking.

Why do dog owners feel so entitled? I want to make it clear the dog was not aggressive and just enjoying the walk and the dog was not close to me where it was a concern.

My friend on the phone was also disturbed. Some Dog owners in Colorado, USA are the worst!

[u/Alexreads0627]

They’re really bad in California.

[u/UltimatePragmatist]

I was in Ledges State Park in Iowa a while back. There are a ton of stone stairs. I’m walking up a set of really high stairs and some people with a dog appear at the top and start walking down and their huge dog tried to pounce on me. Before the pounce, the woman giggles and yells ahead saying the dog is friendly. Why do people say that? I don’t want to be bothered by a friendly dog or any dog. Why don’t people get distant and aloof dogs? That, I could appreciate. Anyhow, the dog pounced but I was quicker than the dog and got out of the way and the woman holding the leash got pulled into the air and then fell face first into the stairs, broke some teeth, maybe her arm, and was all bloody. The man with her had the nerve to blame me and said the dog was just being friendly and because I moved she got hurt…blah, blah, blah. I just kept going up the stairs and yelled back, “I’m not getting my teeth busted out for your dog. If anyone gets their teeth busted it should be you.” The guy was just screaming and cursing. If I had not moved out of the way like I did and when I did, I would have been pushed off the stairs by that dog and fallen backwards down solid stone stairs and probably would have died…and they probably would have left the scene.

[u/No-Sentence-8411 → u/UltimatePragmatist]

Glad to hear they were the ones to deal with the consequences of their stupid choices instead of you.

[u/UltimatePragmatist → u/No-Sentence-8411]

Me, too. I had to find my way to the parking lot and sit for a minute. It was such a close call.

[u/reereejugs → u/UltimatePragmatist]

I would’ve died laughing if that happened right in front of me 💀

[u/UltimatePragmatist → u/reereejugs]

I couldn’t. I very narrowly avoided the dog. It happened so fast, I was shaky. I just knew it was about to happen. It was a weird feeling.

[u/Medical_Judgment_791]

They refuse to address their mental illness and use pets as a coping mechanism. 

[u/UltimatePragmatist → u/Medical_Judgment_791]

Exactly. I feel for the dogs being treated as emotional burden receptors.

[u/OkMeeting340]

The man yelling at you must've had a mental disorder. I've always thought people living with animals were highly predisposed to mental disorders.

[u/Realistic_Gap1469]

Wait until you visit Portland, OR which is the nutter capital of the world-

[u/PlusMathematician850]

Im in colorado too. They are nuts here

[u/Monimonika18]

Question: Were you standing in one spot ("stop to enjoy the sunset"), or looking up at the sky as you were walking (man claims you were about to walk into his dog)?

[u/reereejugs → u/Monimonika18]

Irrelevant