AITAH for yelling at a man whose off-leash dog rushed me and son?
I (adult male) was fishing at a river with my 8-year-old autistic son in a shallow area.
While I was reeling in a fish, an off-leash dog suddenly came running out of nearby reeds and charged directly toward us. The owner was not immediately present.
The dog was very excited and aggressively jumping around us, getting close to my fishing gear and clearly scaring my son, who became frightened. I started yelling at the dog to get away in order to create distance and protect my son.
As the owner approached from a distance, he yelled, “Stop yelling at my dog, asshole,” before I had said anything to him.
I told him I was there with my child and that the dog was scaring him. The owner responded, “So what?”
I then told him to control his dog and put it on a leash. He insisted his dog was leashed (it wasn’t) and dismissed the situation, saying things like “the dog likes fish,” while the dog continued trying to get at my catch.
The situation escalated into a verbal argument.
At that point, I decided to leave the area to get my son out of the situation and moved to a different spot.
I also contacted the sheriff to report the dog being off-leash.
This is not the first time I’ve had issues with this same man and his dog at this location.
So, AITAH for yelling at the dog and confronting the owner, or was I justified given the situation? PS, I'm going to open carrying and carrying bear spray for future visits.