Some people want guard dogs for a reason.

Especially young women. In this story, one woman’s dog stood up for her.

Let’s read on to see why her neighbors want the dog to stand down.

AITA for “threatening” my new neighbors with my dog?

For some context, I (F28) just moved from my city to my first house in a suburban neighborhood about six months ago. Just me and my dog Oaken, a Dutch Shepherd.

My dog is trained as a Personal Protection Dog (PPD).

I get it. Sometimes you want a big dog around… will she need his protection?

I’m a runner and Oaken runs with me. We were running in our neighborhood’s park and pond area, I had my AirPods in, it was just getting dark.

I’d noticed in passing a guy on his bike on the same trails, and as we were coming around the pond he was stopped on our path.

He waved us down and said he had dropped his keys, asked if I had seen them on the path.

Then he asked if I had a light on me because he thinks he dropped them in the grass, wanted to know if I lived in the neighborhood, which house was mine, if I was nearby because he didn’t see any cars in the parking area that he didn’t recognize. Basically anything to keep us there and keep talking.

Yeah too much talking to a stranger in the dark. What does Oaken think?

Not scary, but annoying with a definite hint of creepy.

After he finished his initial story he said, “I’m gonna be so mad at myself if I lost another earbud, that’s my third pair and they’re nearly 300 bucks a pop.”

Hmmm… there’s a hole in this story, bud. Will he recant?

I moved to leave and he stood in the path and started asking about Oaken. Oaken wasn’t doing anything aggressive at this point, no hair raised, no growling or barking.

He was doing exactly what he was trained to do and every time the guy would move to get closer to us he would just stand between me and him. The guy asked if he was friendly, asked to pet him, and I said I’d rather he not.

Fair enough. Does Park Guy keep barking up the wrong tree?

He kept saying dogs loved him, blah blah, I again said no and we started to walk around the guy to go.

That’s when he decided it would be a good idea to try to grab Oaken’s leash. (I have no idea why, your guess is as good as mine.) Oaken backed us up, low growl, showed his teeth.

Didn’t snap, didn’t bite. We left.

No harm, no foul, right?

The encounter was strange enough I posted in the Neighborhood app. Nothing accusing the guy of attacking us or anything over the top like that, just that my dog and I had gotten stopped by a stranger out running and a reminder not to grab at a person’s dog or dog leash without permission.

Apparently, Park Guy’s wife read the post and recognized her husband immediately, because since then she’s been telling every neighbor who will listen about my “aggressive attack dog.”

Uh-oh. That seems hyperbolic. Wonder if Park Guy’s bark is bigger than his bite.

I’ve now gotten a letter from the HOA and apparently the next homeowner’s meeting has breed specific bans on the agenda. While I believe Oaken’s response was appropriate and controlled, I’m feeling sad and disappointed that my new community has the wrong impression.

I’m not out to terrify people.

Yeah what a bummer.

AITA for posting what I posted to the Neighborhood app and apparently starting a feud with my new neighbor?

Was I wrong for calling out Park Guy publicly?

Who’s the bad boy here, Park Guy or Oaken?

Let’s see what the comments think…

One person votes that Park Guy sucks!

Someone else says there’s a big difference in :”I love dogs” and: “Dogs love me.”

This person says Park Guy’s wife is part of the problem.

Another person says this sends shivers down their spine.

Another user says, Little Women: relate.

This creep didn’t know come here from sic ’em.

But either way, he needs to back off.

If you enjoyed that story, read this one about a mom who was forced to bring her three kids with her to apply for government benefits, but ended up getting the job of her dreams.