Dogs can be unpredictable. Even when a dog looks perfectly friendly, if you don’t know the owner, it’s safer to keep away.

The woman who shares this story knows this very well, since her rescue dog is mostly calm, but will still act up when feeling unsafe or bothered by strangers.

So she let people at the dog park know before they petted her, but it backfired when they blamed her for the situation.

Let’s read the whole story.

AITA for not letting people pet my dog in a dog park?

I have a 4 year old rescue dog, and like most rescue dogs she has some “tendencies”.

She’s not classically reactive in the sense that she doesn’t bark, lunge, etc at dogs or humans.

But she is wary of strangers and in particular of people she doesn’t know petting her.

It can be dangerous.

If someone is petting her too long or in a way she doesn’t like, she’ll give them a warning bark.

I take her to an off leash dog park regularly where she absolutely thrives playing with the other dogs and has excellent dog etiquette.

But every time I go, someone tries to pet her because she looks and acts so friendly.

But it can bite, so her owner kindly warns people.

She’s usually just standing here catching her breath, not going up to people asking for pets.

On a recent visit, a guy went to pet her and I nicely let him know that she doesn’t like to be pet and can be reactive (not sure if this was the appropriate word).

People don’t really listen, though.

He was visibly annoyed about this and said that I shouldn’t be bringing a dog to an off-leash park if they’re not friendly.

He said that the park is a free for all and anyone should be allowed to pet anyone’s dog without worrying for their safety.

I said I didn’t think people should be petting strange dogs without permission from the owner, even in a dog park.

AITA?

Idealizing/romanticizing dogs in general can be dangerous for all involved. Safety first.

Let’s see what Reddit thinks about this.

A reader shares some thoughts.

This commenter shares their opinion.

Exactly.

A good idea.

This person has a different take.

Another reader chimes in.

She’s being a good dog owner and citizen by at least warning people.

But the bandana saying “Don’t Pet” idea will probably solve the issue.

If you liked this post, you might want to read this story about a teacher who taught the school’s administration a lesson after they made a sick kid take a final exam.