Even well-trained pets can make strangers uneasy, especially when one suddenly runs towards their children.

One dog owner knew his dog was contained behind an invisible fence, but when the neighbor couldn’t see the boundary, he panicked and accused the dog owner of being irresponsible.

But when the dog owner responded with attitude instead of sympathy, things really escalated.

You’ll want to keep reading for this one.

AITA Let my dog loose behind electric fence.

I (37M) have a very friendly German Shepherd, Rocky. He is well trained and would not harm a fly. I have an invisible electric fence in my front yard.

This morning we were hanging out on our front porch when a dad and two kids were walking by my house.

The dog owner thought Rocky was just being friendly, but the dad read the situation very differently.

Rocky trotted up to them and just wanted to say hi.

The dad yelled at Rocky to go away and dramatically picked up his kid who wasn’t in the stroller.

In response, Rocky barked twice.

Things begin to get tense between the dog owner and the dad.

I called Rocky back and yelled at the guy to calm down. I said literally nothing happened.

He got mad at me that my dog was loose in his own yard. I explained I had an invisible electric fence installed and my dog was safe.

The guy kept going off on me.

I told him to move along and stop setting a bad example for his kids.

AITA? I’ve seen this guy a few times, but this was our first interaction.

The owner knows his dog is harmless, but this father definitely doesn’t.

What did redditors make of all this?

To an onlooker, how would they even know there was an invisible fence?

This user doesn’t blame the father for reacting with caution.

There’s a much better way this dog owner could have responded.

Many dog owners refuse to realize that other people have very different experiences with their dogs than they do as the owner.

What felt like an overblown response to the owner was really just a dad protecting his kids.

Sometimes safety has to come before politeness.

If you liked this post, check out this story about an employee who got revenge on a co-worker who kept grading their work suspiciously low.