Training a dog may sound easy, but it actually requires a great deal of time and consistency.

So, what would you do if you were working with your dog in public and someone ignored your instructions, going against everything you tried to teach your dog? Would you stay calm and just let it slide the one time? Or would you enforce your boundaries and tell them to get away?

In the following story, one dog owner tries to be patient with some strangers, but it doesn’t end well. Here’s what happened.

AITA for telling someone off for approaching my dog

I bought a new golden retriever puppy back in early December, and she’s been an absolute joy. Our goal for our new dog was for her to pass the CGC test and eventually get certified as a therapy dog (which would be really beneficial for my clinic). She is now around 5 months and super amazing.

As part of her training, we’re working very hard to help her learn not to react to other animals or humans without being prompted. This means that if someone wants to say hi to her, we make her sit or lie down calmly before giving her the ok to say hi.

For well-behaved dogs, it’s very important to drill and reinforce these behaviors early.

He follows very specific training patterns.

Part of her training involves us just sitting on an empty bench at the park and doing nothing. If someone walks by and my dog ignores them, I reward her with a treat (to reinforce the good behavior of not being reactive).

If someone walks by and wants to say hi, I usually ask them to wait until my dog settles, and then I give the OK, and they can say hi. I would say the vast majority of people respect our boundaries.

Yesterday at the park, we were sitting there minding our own business when a lady walked by with her kids. The kids immediately started running towards us, and I quickly said, “Hey guys, we’re training. Can you please not touch until I say ok?” but they ignored me and started petting right away.

He tried to tell them again.

I then stood up to try to stand between my dog and the kids, and I said again, “Please don’t touch without permission, we’re training.”

The kids looked to their mom, and the lady just said, “They’re only kids, let them touch! It’s not that serious,” and then told her kids, “It’s ok, go ahead!”

That’s when I got kind of mad, and I admit I lost my cool. My dog LOVES being touched, so in her mind, she’s being rewarded without understanding the permission part. Inappropriate rewards and undo good conditioning very quickly.

Here’s where he lost his cool.

So I basically said, “Look, can you guys get lost? I said don’t touch her,” then pulled my dog away, waited for her to ignore the kids/mom, rewarded her, and got ready to leave.

The kids were obviously sad they didn’t get to continue petting my dog, and the mom is furious, basically calling me an ******* for ruining her kids’ day and “being mean.”

I essentially told her off again and said, “I got the dog for me, not you or your kids.”

AITA?

Yikes! That was harsh, but it’s not like he didn’t warn them.

Let’s check out how the folks over at Reddit feel about everything.

This person adds another thought.

Here’s a different way of looking at it.

According to this reader, children should not approach strange dogs.

Yet another person who doesn’t agree with kids touching dogs without permission.

Everyone was wrong here.

He didn’t need to be so mean to kids, and the mother should’ve corrected their behavior.

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.