‘For the love of all things canine, teach your kids to ask before touching a dog’: Dad ignores a “Do Not Pet” vest and sends his daughter to pet Luna, the anxious rescue mid-training, then shouts at the owner for blocking them

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  • Entitled dad screamed at me because I wouldn’t let his kid pet my dog, while my dog was wearing a “Do Not Pet” vest.

    DO NOT PET Please don't!
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  • So this happened yesterday while I was walking my rescue dog, Luna. She's a 4-year-old shepherd mix, super smart and sweet with me, but she's nervous around strangers (especially sudden movements or loud voices).
  • I've been working with a trainer, and she wears a bright red "DO NOT PET, IN TRAINING" vest every time we go out.
  • We were in a quiet neighborhood park, and Luna was sniffing the grass while we practiced recall.
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  • Out of nowhere, I hear this man say, "Go ahead, honey, go pet the dog!" and this little girl (maybe 6?) starts running straight toward Luna.
  • I immediately said, "Please don't!” and stepped in front of Luna. The dad rolls his eyes and goes, "She just wants to say hi.
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  • She loves dogs." I said, "I'm sorry, she's not comfortable being touched." He scoffs and says, "You shouldn't bring her out in public if she's aggressive." At this point, Luna is just sitting behind me, calm but tense, tail tucked.
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  • I told him, "She's not aggressive, she's in training. That's what the vest is for." Then he yells, "She'll never get better if you don't let people pet her!
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  • You're the reason dogs end up mean!" Like... what? I literally train her daily and take every precaution.
  • I told him, "I'm protecting both your kid and my dog. Please leave us alone." He threw his hands up and muttered something like, "Crazy dog people," and walked off while his daughter said, "Sorry." The thing is if my dog had reacted badly, he'd be the first one to demand she be put down.
  • People don't realize how dangerous it is to let kids run up to strange dogs, even friendly ones.
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  • Please, for the love of all things canine, teach your kids to ask before touching a dog.
  • Refrigerator Rare4463 I HATED it when random people would pet my dog. My dog is private property not a public petting zoo, hands off.
  • WomanInQuestion I'm one of those people who wants to pet every dog I see, but I always ask permission because you don't know what the situation might be. Added: one of my favorite moments ever was when we had a biannual sniffer dog training exercise at my workplace. It's a large warehouse-like building with tons of shelves where local law enforcement come to train drug and ordinance sniffing dogs. One time, they let me play with one of the dogs after he was done with his training. It was SO COOL
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  • Peorgie Tirebiter I cannot even comprehend why anyone would try petting a strange dog without asking first? Vest or no vest, you don't know how the dog is going to react.
  • babydan08 Who in the world says it's ok for a child to pet a random dog? How absurd. It's not safe for the child nor the dog. Even the most gentle of animals can lash out if they feel they are in danger and it would not have been this pups fault at all. Parents need to stop encouraging children to do. whatever they want. Teach them boundaries
  • Baguetele Well, let me pet your kid, whether they're interested in it or not. Same vibe. WTF. You don't walk up on sentient beings trying to molest them. Well, I hope you won't. ETA: obligatory jk in case anyone is offended thinking I'm actually promoting some sort of offense.
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  • Square_Band9870 Depressing this guy doesn't care enough about his kid to teach her to ask before touching.
  • ShelLuser42 So, I'm pretty decent with (and around) dogs, and for some reason many seem to realize this. Wouldn't be the first time I got a comment about how a certain dog seems to like me while "they're quite shy around strangers". Thing is... despite that... I'd never "just" touch or pet a dog. Not even if it's owned by some ignorant who lets his dog walk without a leash; I always ask (or ignore). Common courtesy if you ask me.
  • shadow-foxe So last saturday me and a bunch of friends all took our dogs out for a group walk. The mall totally welcomes and encourages dogs. I've two, had a friend walk my other dog and I had my girl dog. She is fine around people she knows but isnt friendly to strangers or kids. NOT aggressive she just avoids people, strangers touching her make her anxious. SO we are standing around talking on a nice grassy area, when this lady with her 2yo son come over and asks if he can pat some dogs. So th
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  • McDuchess That poor kid, with a father like that.
  • Momo222811 My older boy is a certified therapy dog. He goes to a local library and the children read to him. Last week while we were waiting to go to our room, two moms with toddlers too young for the program were very excited to see him. They rushed over with their moms, but both in their own way asked permission to pet him first, I was so impressed and complimented the mom's on how well behaved their kids were
  • DO NOT PET
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When in trouble, deflect.

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