Dog Lover Left Miffed After Woman Screams At Him For Petting Her Unmarked 'Emotional Support' Dog

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kalila courban
May 19, 2023 10:00 AM EDT

Hey pals. Boy, do we have an uncomfortable and unnecessary situation to dive into together today.  We're not here to debate if the original poster did something wrong or not. No, no, no! The real question is: Are they the a-hole? And the real answer? No, they are absolutely not.  Picture this: a dog saunters up to our original poster, ready to make some new friends. Our friend, in all their excitement, extends a hand—without touching—to test the waters. Seems like a reasonable move, right? No objections or attempts to stop the doggo, so far, so good.

Then comes the moment we've all been waiting for: a friendly head pat! But hold your horses, folks, because here's where things take a twist. The owner suddenly pipes up, claiming their furball is an emotional support animal and accuses our original poster of some serious doggy-petting misconduct! That escalated quickly! Now, should our poster have asked for permission? Yeah, maybe. But does that automatically make them an AH? Absolutely not! Let's be real, folks. Our original poster made a friendly gesture, and the owner had plenty of time to intervene if it wasn't okay. Can you blame them for assuming it was all good? We think that the woman in question could probably use another emotional support dog to help her control her emotions, or two, or five. 

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  • 01
    Font - r/AmItheAsshole Posted by u/Ultralusk Asshole Enthusiast [6] 21 days ago AITA for petting someones emotional support dog without asking them?
    via u/Ultralusk
  • 02
    Font - I normally work from home but today I have no internet so I have to go to the library to work. I got on the bus and I sat in a section where other bus riders sit across from you. 20 min into the bus ride a woman got on the bus and sat across from me. She had an incredibly beautiful golden retriever.
    via u/Ultralusk
  • 03
    Font - Now something I need to preface is that I love dogs. They're my favourite animal and whenever I see a dog I get giddy and I smile like an idiot. The dog came up and sniffed my leg. I placed my hand in front of them to see if they were friendly. The dog waged it's tail and I started petting the top of their head.
    via u/Ultralusk
  • 04
    Font - The owner pulled the dog back and said to me that this was their emotional support animal and that it was wrong of me to pet their dog without permission. I apologized and kept my hands to myself. She would not let it go though and she continued to chastise me for having pet her dog like that. I was confused and I asked her what she meant. She told me that what I did was incredibly improper and rude. I apologized again but she wouldn't stop.
    via u/Ultralusk
  • 05
    Font - She went into a complete tirade telling me that everyone knows you shouldn't pet peoples emotional support dogs and I was being a selfish asshole. This woman worked herself up so much that she started crying and told me that I wasn't treating her like a human being. I was so freaked out and I couldn't believe what was happening.
    via u/Ultralusk
  • 06
    Font - I was about 2 stops away from the library so I just got off and walked the rest of the way. I really didn't mean for any of that to happen. Was what I did really so bad? I know you're not supposed to pet service animals, but there was nothing to indicate that her dog was an emotional support dog.
    via u/Ultralusk
  • 07
    via ICanHasCheezburger
  • 08
    Font - Sergeant Fawlty- 21 days ago Asshole Enthusiast [9] NTA. I think a lot of people here are making grandiose claims and missing the point of this sub. The question isn't, "was what you did wrong in any way?" It's, "Are you the AH?" A dog approached you and interacted with you. You initially reached out, without touching, to test if it was friendly and interested. No one corrected you at this point, or attempted to correct the dog. You then pet it as all indicators pointed to that being okay
    via SergeantFawlty
  • 09
    Font - De-Brevitate-Vitae 21 days ago edited 21 days ago Partassipant [2] It almost seems as if the owner was using the dog to initiate conflict and have an excuse to have a melt down. I was bothered by the description of her "yanking" the dog away. This almost sounds like animal abuse. 3.1k Reply Share
    via De-Brevitate-Vitae
  • 10
    Font - underlightning69 21 days ago "There was nothing to indicate that her dog was an emotional support dog". That's it. That's where it ends for me. OP didn't know, there was no signage on the harness etc. Even if the woman hadn't been as absolutely ridiculous in her response as she was, OP is NTA here. NTA. At all. Service dogs have signage for a reason. If she felt that strongly about it then she should have done the same.
    via underlightning69
  • 11
    Font - Own-Cauliflower2386 21 days ago This person emotionally collapsed when their unmarked dog went up to you and wanted to be pet. I think the person needs more emotional support than what the dog can provide. ↑ 1.7k Reply Share
    via Own-Cauliflower2386
  • 12
    Font - snipesmcduck · 21 days ago Nta She let the dog go up to you and interact with you. Its not a service animal that has a vest, nothing to indicate from the dog or her that you shouldnt touch the dog. I woulda done the same, you seem to have givin ample opportunity for her to say something and she didnt. It is more polite to ask but i dont see anything wrong with what you wrote. Reply Share 1.7k
    via snipesmcduck

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dogs aita thread doggos doggo funny emotional-support
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