AITA – My Kid Approached a strangers dog in our front yard?

A father let his 2-year-old son run into their front yard while briefly stepping inside to grab water. In those few moments, the child approached a dog that had wandered into their yard, prompting the owner to yell at the father for not supervising his child better.

The father acknowledged his son’s mistake but grew frustrated that the dog was in their yard without permission. The argument escalated, with both calling each other names. read the original story below…

‘ AITA – My Kid Approached a strangers dog in our front yard?’

My (33M) kid is 2 years old.  He loves playing outside and running around so usually every morning we spend some time outside.  Its hot out, so I make sure he is drinking water. This morning, I opened the door to let him run out and before I stepped out I realized I forgot to grab his water.

I let him out while I went to grab his cup. In the literal 5, maybe 10 seconds it took to grab the water and then go supervise my son I heard a dog barking and a lady yelling . I rush outside and she is yelling at me to keep my son away from her dog.

We do not have pets, and so dogs are something he sees from a distance. And I actually agree, it’s not okay that he did that and I don’t want him near dogs at this age. I grab him as he is fairly close to the dog, he is saying “woof”.The lady is pulling her barking dog to her. 

She is laying into me that my son approaching her dog is not okay. However, This lady let her dog wander well into my yard and well into the area that my son plays in daily. I did not like this. I ask her what her dog is doing in my yard.

She disregards my question and lectures me that I need to supervise my son better and not to let him approach dogs. I’m pretty f**king pissed now and tell this lady that this yard is his house and i emphasized that her f**king dog does not have permission to come into my yard.

She calls me an a**hole and an irresponsible parent. I roll my eyes at this comment and call her an insane person. She leaves at this point. AITA?

Here’s how people reacted to the post:

LunaMay196 −  ESH. She shouldn’t be in your yard, and your son shouldn’t be outside unsupervised. In the literal 5, maybe 10 seconds it took. Even in those 5 to 10 seconds, something bad could have happened. What if that lady’s dog was aggressive or off leash?

Something can happen in the blink of an eye.. an irresponsible parent . She’s a j**k for letting her dog on your property, but she’s not wrong that it’s irresponsible to let your 2 year old outside unsupervised for any amount of time.

myfourmoons −  ESH. There no reason your two year old child should have been outside unsupervised, and this lady and her dog shouldn’t have been in your yard.

LowBalance4404 −  ESH. You should not leave a 2 year old outside, unsupervised, especially in the front yard where anything can happen. He could have run out into the street and been hit by a car. So that part is on you.

The dog owner is also TA because the dog shouldn’t have been way up in your yard (if it was). If the dog was on the side walk, then my judgement will absolutely change.

Snickerdoodle2021 −  ESH She shouldn’t be in your yard with her dog. I question whether or not she was “well within your yard” but she shouldn’t have been there. You should watch your child better. Every horror story about bad things happening to children starts with “I turned my head for a few seconds…”

your_moms_a_clone −  Sorry dude, but no, you can’t leave your 2 year old alone like that. Not even for the few seconds it takes to get the water bottle. What if it was a dog that wasn’t in a leash, that has escaped its own fenced yard?

ESH because she is clearly in the wrong too, but you need to start teaching your son animal safety NOW, even if you don’t have a pet or plan on getting one. It’s just something you have to practice, the earlier the better.

InternationalAd6614 −  ESH She shouldn’t be wandering into your yard. Your child should not be unsupervised. Was her dog leashed? I’m assuming she’s yelling because your child is approaching the dog and she could only really successfully rein in the dog.

In a worst case scenario, there was nothing she could possibly do to keep them apart. Her alarm does not sound like concern for the dog but for your child.

Waste-Dragonfly-3245 −  YTA for letting him outside without you. He’s a toddler, he needs to be supervised. He could have wandered off or worse

L2N2 −  ESH. You pick your child up and take him back in the house with you. You do not ever leave a 2 year old unattended like that.

trisharae_88 −  Esh. You are using her dog being on your property to shift blame. Yes her dog shouldn’t have been on your property. But …It doesn’t matter that her dog was on your property. It was on a leash. Your son wasn’t. Even if the dog wasn’t on your property your son could have still gotten close enough for something bad to happen.

FamousFortune6819 −  My friends grandpa was watching her 3 year old and ran inside to do this very thing (grab his drink) and he fell into the fire pit that was an active fire. Thankfully he pulled him out before he was burnt badly

I know another person in my old neighborhood who “ran inside real quick” and her two year old ran into the street and was hit and killed by a semi.
ESH but never leave a child unattended even if it’s for a second.

Do both share some responsibility here, or was one more in the wrong? What are your thoughts? Share them below!