AITA for bringing my large dog to an outdoor festival where he knocked over a purse stand ?

A Redditor recounted their experience at a local fall festival with their gentle giant of a dog. The user’s dog, weighing about 95 pounds, accidentally knocked over a display of purses while wagging his tail. Although the user immediately picked up the fallen purses and offered to buy one as a gesture of goodwill, the vendor insisted that they should pay for the damaged items.

The user declined, pointing out that the event was dog-friendly and the purses were undamaged, and they had a heated exchange with the vendor. Their husband supported their decision, but the user continued to reflect on the interaction and whether they should have just purchased more items. Read the original story below…

‘ AITA for bringing my large dog to an outdoor festival where he knocked over a purse stand ?’

Today my town is having its usual fall festival. I have a gentle super friendly giant. He’s about 95 lbs. There were plenty of other dogs there as well. We were walking through the craft areas and unfortunately his tail swish knocked over a purse rack.

(Not the whole rack mind you, just a couple purses from the bottom) I handled the leash over to my husband and I picked up every purse and put them back where they were. The lady at the table said I needed to pay for the purses. I refused to buy the 5 or 6 purses that touched the floor for a few seconds, but in good faith would purchase a purse from her.

I selected one, paid and she kept ranting about my dog being allowed in here. I told her it’s specifically states it’s a dog friendly event (and the location is in general during other times too). She told me he damaged her stuff. (I checked, they are crocheted purses and there wasn’t a spec of dirt or grass on them).

I told her if she didn’t like dogs maybe she should setup at other locations. She told me if I wasn’t going to buy anything else to keep walking. I rolled my eyes and walked away. My husband is on my side on this but I can’t stop thinking about the interaction.

If he had knocked over something and it broke I would have 100% paid for it! He is very good in public spaces and we’ve never had a problem. He waits for people to approach him, doesn’t jump, and never barks! (Disclaimer: we are NOT those people. He goes to dog friendly places only as he is not a service dog!)

But maybe I should have just bought them….AITA?
Edit to add: I’ve brought it up in the comments but I’d like to add some context. The event was not crowded, this was a very large event at our county park sponsored by a local animal rescue. There was a dog beauty pageant during the event (and a chicken one too!).

This was 100% a dog friendly place and there were tons of dogs, some even bigger than mine. My dog was fully under control, but yes his tail wags! I didn’t think this was going to be the thing everyone would focus on. I was requesting judgement on the purse incident.

If an item doesn’t break or get damaged when it falls, does it need to be purchased? Should I have bought them? I will fully accept the judgement that I’m an AH about how I handled the vendor situation, but my dog being there is not up for judgement.

(I mean, it’s the Internet so do what you want) But I’m done defending if my dog should be there because I was definitely not an AH because of that. Dogs do not need to go everywhere, agreed. But this event he was fully welcomed and approved.

Here’s what the community had to contribute:

ProgrammerLevel2829 −  If your dog is so large, why wasn’t either you or your husband walking him in the center of the aisle, away from the booths, while the other browsed?
It’s not as if his tail wagging and potentially hitting something was something that couldn’t be anticipated.

I have dogs, I take them to dog friendly events, but it is 100% on me to keep them from messing anything up, damaging anything or approaching anyone who doesn’t want to be approached. Because, you know, they are dogs. I don’t think you were obligated to buy the purses — if they were undamaged — but you were obligated to keep them from being knocked over in the first place.

viewerfromthemiddle −  This is a tricky one, but I’ll go with ESH based on the account given. A 95-pound dog knocking something over with his tail seems like a problem to expect and mitigate by not walking into tight areas, so some blame lies with OP on that count. However, accidents happen, and the vendor’s reaction seemed way over-the-top, so she is clearly TA.

However-however, OP’s version of the story switches from “knocked over a purse stand” to “just a couple of purses from the bottom” to “5 or 6 purses”. Knocking over a purse stand would mean, well, knocking over a purse stand. The inconsistency begs for the other side of this story.

gabrielofthemountain −  E**itled dog owners are the worst. Of course you’re an a-hole.

blahhhhhhhhhhhblah −  YTA. A festival that’s bound to be packed with vendors and their wares, and just packed with people in general, probably isn’t the best place to bring a 95 lbs dog, regardless of how friendly he is or if the event is dog friendly or not.

The vendor may have overreacted, but, as a crafter myself, I do appreciate being anxious about trying to sell items you’ve put your heart into to the general public. That can be scary enough without also adding in having to worry about swishing dog tails knocking over your products.

Fairtogood −  YTA – if your dog is so big that his tail can knock over a stand, you need to take more care.

Logical_Read9153 −  YTA. If you can’t control your large dog you not have brought it. 

ACanWontAttitude −  Oh for God’s sake can’t you just be without your dog and not make him a nuisance to everyone? I have a dog that is one of the largest breeds in the world. He doesn’t come with me to places like this because he gets in peoples way and truth be told it isn’t fair on him either.

You knew it would be crowded and maneuvering around those stalls is difficult without a dog.. YtA.

Necessary-Candy-7219 −  NTA for not buying all the purses. Vendors need to realize if it’s a dog-friendly event, then sometimes accidents happen. If a small child accidentally bumped it and dropped 5-6 purses would everyone here expect the parent to buy all the purses?

Doubtful. You made up for it by apologizing, picking the purses up, and making a pity purchase of likely an u**y-ass overpriced purse.

LividBeach5364 −  Well going against the grain here but if it was a dog friendly event then NTA. I wouldn’t have even bought the one purse

Was the user right to stand their ground and not pay for the purses, or should they have offered more to appease the vendor? How would you handle a similar situation where pet behavior affects others? Share your thoughts below!