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The original was posted on /r/AmItheAsshole by /u/FeelBad2023 on 2023-07-31 02:07:26.

So I (27F) have a large dog. He is very sweet and well behaved, but he does not like kids. He has never bitten or so much as snapped, but you can tell he is super uncomfortable when they try to approach him. Because of this, I don’t let kids pet him, ever.

We were at a dog friendly store a few days ago. It was pretty low traffic and I was searching for something when a woman approached us. She asked if her son could pet my dog. I looked around her and her son, around five, was standing down the aisle, watching us. I told the woman, very politely and warmly, that no, unfortunately my dog couldn’t be pet. But I appreciated them asking. I turned to go back to my shopping.

The woman interrupted me again, and when I turned back, she was visibly upset, boarding on angry. She said that her son really wanted to pet my dog. He loved dogs and always got to pet them and he was going to be very upset if he couldn’t pet mine. I kind of laughed and said I’m sorry but that’s not possible. Mine does not like to be pet by strangers. She insisted again, and said he was autistic and this was really important to him. I said, again, no it isn’t safe; please excuse us. I left the aisle and tried to continue on my shopping. I heard the woman speaking in the next aisle, and then her son started hyperventilating. That escalated to screaming.

My dog was getting a little fidgety because of the loud noise, so I decided we just needed to go. I went to put my stuff back and the woman came hurrying up the aisle towards us, carrying her son, who at this point was very upset and was continuing to cry and have a meltdown. She told me that this was my fault and I needed to help by letting him pet and cuddle my dog to calm down.

I admit, I did raise my voice, just so I could be heard. I told her that they were not petting my dog, and that we were leaving. She took a couple steps towards us and I held my hand up and told her if she kept following us, I would be alerting the staff that she was harassing me. She looked absolutely thunderstruck. My dog and I went to leave and she started yelling after me that I was a complete bitch. We left the store quickly.

I was recounting the story to a friend, and she told me I definitely could have let the boy pet my dog and that I handled it very poorly.