Woman lets dog run free in garden, neighbor says, 'this is triggering my phobia.'
When this woman is annoyed with her neighbor, she asks Reddit:
'AITA for letting my dog run free in my garden when my new neighbor has a phobia?'
I (25F) have a 10 year old Golden Retriever, Limo. He is already a very old and grumpy dog who loves his routine.
The routine consists of: at 8AM, I open the front door of the house and let him go to the garden, he Lays down and watches the street for 1 hour (he just looks, he doesn't bark) and goes back inside; At 1PM my husband goes out for a walk with him and at 8PM I walk down the street for him to do his stuff.
All the neighbors (we live in a condo) know Limo and know that he has never lunged or barked at anyone on the street, he is just living his good life and loves a cuddle every now and then.
Another point is the houses are open at the front, so the garden is open to everyone, so everyone sees Limo lying down in the morning. I've lived in this condo for 9 years and I've never had a problem with neighbors regarding Limo until now.
Recently, two houses away, a new neighbor moved to the condominium, I didn't have much contact with her, but I noticed that always at 8AM she would walk in front of the house walking and run out when she saw Limo leaving the house to literally go even the garden and that's all, he doesn't give a damn about her.
Yesterday, it happened, according to what another neighbor said, one of the children who always plays with Limo called him and the neighbor was returning from the walk, Limo just walked towards the child who was a little far away from her, but she thought he was going to attack her and started screaming for help. This created a mess.
In the afternoon, she came to the house and asked me to start going out with my dog on a leash in the morning, as she doesn't feel safe with a dog free in a common area and he was causing her nervous breakdowns in the morning in her walks.
I just chuckled and said I wouldn't do that, in 9 years here there's never been an incident and she might as well change her walk schedule or just go the other way without having to stop by my house.
She complained that I should think about the collective and that she would file a complaint with the condo about my dog being free and causing danger (it's not), and called me a selfish bitch and that people shouldn't give up walking in common areas for others.
I'm at peace because Limo has never been a danger to anyone and all, but some friends say I might as well change Limo's schedule to avoid this mess. Btw, Limo can't run. AITA?
schlobythel writes:
It is your garden, but if it isn't fenced and you can't 100% your dog will never ever take a step out of it YTA. You need to put up some kind of fence or at least a net or whatever. I understand not wanting to leash your dog in your garden, but either you supervise or fence it.
pinkrelay87 writes:
It's a common area? What are your condo association's rules about this? It's extremely common for there to be a rule that dogs in common areas must be leashed.
Even if that rule somehow isn't in place, until now you've had the implicit permission of your neighbors to have the dog off leash. You don't have that anymore. It's a common area, your dog really should be leashed.
ESH. You have an off-leash dog in a common area and are refusing to address this now that someone has raised the issue. She did not need to insult you.
greedywhile99 writes:
Just because nothing has ever happened doesn't mean it never could happen.
We humans sometimes react irrationally how can you expect an animal to be on optimal behaviour 365 days a year 24/7?
YTA for not taking responsibility for your boy. Sure he may be a good boy but he's still your responsibility. If you can't be with him then fence the area.
What if next time she screams he gets nervous and goes to the road? (I'm not even suggesting an attack just causing an accident or getting killed).
This is something most people forget. Dogs are the equivalent of human toddlers, they never grow mentally older. A toddler no matter how well behaved needs supervision. Either put a chair and sit out with him or put up a fence.