AITA for telling a nieghbor to leash their dog in their front yard?

A man was walking with his wife and son when an unleashed dog approached them in a neighbor’s front yard. He repeatedly tried to shoo the dog away and eventually yelled at the owner to retrieve it. After the owner dismissed his concern and told him to move along, the man insisted that leash laws apply even in front yards.

Their exchange escalated, leading to insults before his wife pulled him away. Later, she suggested it wasn’t the right moment to confront the neighbor, but the man disagreed. read the original story below…

‘ AITA for telling a nieghbor to leash their dog in their front yard?’

I go for a daily family walk with my wife and son. We were a few streets over from where we live and we keep to ourselves on these walks. Walking by a neighbour’s house they had a golden or lab or something unleashed in their front yard.  It quickly approached us and I pointed the other way and said go away.

I did that 3 times and it continued approaching. The owner heard me yelling at his dog and walked off the porch. It was sniffing us by that point. I yell at him to come get his dog. He calls it and it goes to him. I tell him he should control his dog and we didn’t appreciate it approaching us and told him he should have it leashed.

I also reminded him that leash laws apply to his front yard. He tells me to move along and calls me an a**hole. I’m like Why are you getting mad at us? You are the irresponsible one.  He tells me if I don’t like it I shouldn’t come by his property.  He told me he didn’t need a lecture for something that doesn’t matter.

I called the guy a f**king p**ck and my wife got me to leave. After the fact, She told me I was right, but it wasn’t the time or place.  I disagreed with her on that. AITA? . ​

Here’s the comments of Reddit users:

ViennaFox −  I also reminded him that leash laws apply to his front yard. You are allowed to have a dog run free without a leash on private property. The best thing to do here was de-escalate the situation and remain calm rather than immediately trying to confront the owner.

Considering the guy called “you” an a**hole when you did so, I imagine your delivery wasn’t the greatest..  Contrary to popular belief, “yelling” at a dog can just rile them up and cause them to become aggressive. It’s the last thing you want to do if your trying to avoid being bitten.

AngelicBear05 −  ESH. Yes, he should control his dog. It may be friendly, but there are people with phobias and allergies who probably wouldn’t appreciate being approached by an unleashed dog either, especially since it apparently came out of the yard and onto the sidewalk to greet you.

This isn’t safe for passerby’s or for the dog (it could run into the road). With that being said, your wife was right. Getting into a screaming insult match in front of your son isn’t usually good idea.

Yelling at him for being a “f**king p**ck” wasn’t going to change his mind or make him see the error of his ways, it just caused a scene and set a bad example for your son. Your frustration was reasonable, but as your wife said, it wasn’t the time or place.

StAlvis −  NTA ~~INFO~~ It left the yard. we didn’t appreciate it approaching us. It was sniffing us by that point. “Approaching” on its own isn’t much. Did it **leave the yard** and come out onto the sidewalk/street with you or not?

Could this guy have had **an invisible fence system**? I also reminded him that leash laws apply to his front yard.. … that doesn’t sound right.

Discount_Mithral −  ESH. But mostly you. The dog came down to greet you, it sounded friendly. I could understand not wanting a strange dog to approach, but you way overreacted. His response was uncalled for, but was probably based on how to spoke to him.

Tone and body language are lost via text – if you speak to someone like an AH, expect to be called an AH.

stroppo −  ESH, you for carrying on and calling him a “f**king p**ck.” Now that neighbor is never going to listen to you again, because he thinks you’re the “f**king p**ck.”

After your first comments you should’ve just walked on. And yes, in future simply avoid walking by the neighbor’s yard. If you want to take it further, call whoever it is where you live that enforces leash laws.

ahknewb −  YTA. Based on what you described, the dog wasn’t aggressive at all. It sniffed you. Oh no! What an awful thing! Your reaction to a friendly dog was to yell? Come on, grow up.

SmartyMcPants4Life −  NTA. Not everyone likes dogs, including “yours” (not OP). Some people are even scared of them.  Were this an extremely obedient dog that could be trusted not to approach anyone along by without express permission, that would be one thing.

But this dog clearly was not well-behaved enough to be loose in an unfenced front yard. Maybe OP could have been calmer, but the onus of this is on the bad dog owner due to their irresponsibility. They obviously don’t love their dog enough to proactively prevent a possible bad outcome.

PirateJohn75 −  NTA This can be dangerous, too.  I had a neighbor who never leashed her dogs and they would sprint for a good 100 feet toward my very skittish German Shepherd and bark like crazy.  I’d have to yank on my dog’s leash to prevent a dog fight.

And the neighbor had the audacity to try to blame me for it.  She never leashed her dogs even though the police had warned her that she could get fined for violating the city’s leash law.

KikiMadeCrazy −  NTA Dogs should NOT left alone to roam on public property without supervision.

wittyidiot −  NTA, animals are required to be under full control any time they’re outside the owner’s property, and it sounds like you guys were on the sidewalk. That said, don’t make this a conflict with the owner, don’t get into a shouting match, don’t call the guy a p**ck. Just let him know that if this continues you’ll call animal control and he’ll lose the dog, and let him sort it out.

What do you think? Was it justified to confront the neighbor, or did he overreact? Share your thoughts below!