AITA for pulling our neighbors dog away from our baby when it wasn't listening to the owner?
In the quiet stretch of farmland where innocence should flourish, a family's peace is shattered by the unchecked chaos of neighborly neglect.
Their young child, vulnerable and defenseless, is suddenly confronted by wild, unruly puppies that invade their safe haven, turning a simple driveway into a battleground of fear and frustration.
What should have been a moment of calm turns into a desperate struggle for control and protection, as the husband's quick action to shield his baby exposes the raw tension simmering beneath the surface.
This is a story of boundaries crossed and the fragile line between harmony and conflict in a close-knit community.
My husband and I live in a farming area and have an<1 year old and a 5yr old German shepherd. Neighbors got 2 golden retriever puppies shortly after they moved in a year or so ago.
They didn't really train them and when the dogs would see us they would run over and jump up on us, not listen when being called back, etc.
It wasn't unusual to see our neighbors on our porch or in our yard trying to get them. Overall though we didn't really have an issue with it as our dogs would play together.
Fast forward to a few weeks ago, my husband was out with the baby in the driveway and the puppies run over, start getting into the babies face and won't listen when being called to get away.
The owner doesn't come over to get them just stands in their yard yelling.
Our baby starts crying bc they won't get out of it's face, so my husband grabs the dog by the collar and quickly pulls it away causing the collar to come off(it's the kind of collar where you feed it through the square and the tension holds it, no buckle or belt type closure).
He gets the dog back to our neighbors house, goes back and hands them the collar while holding the still crying baby.
Our neighbor freaks out and starts yelling at him "what did you do to my dog?" No question about if the baby was ok or what happened.
A few days after we're out back and our neighbor's dad is mowing their lawn(husband is on vacation, wife is home) walks over with and attitude asking why we're mistreating their dog.
We said we've never and he says they have us on their Ring. We repeat that we never have and try to explain what happened the other day.
he cuts in "they're not going to hurt the baby" I said "I know that, but my baby doesn't know that!" and he replied "they're just puppies, they don't know better"..."let's keep the dogs in their own yards from now on" We said fine and he walked away.
I sent a text to our neighbor telling him about the interaction with his dad, the accusations and sorry if our dog has ever been a nuisance in their yard(ours will wander over on occasion but comes back when called and listens if we say "stay"or "leave it").
He texts back that no one ever said anything about abuse and they were upset bc of how forcefully my husband pulled on the collar, they were just puppies and they would never treat our dog that way.
Their dogs have come over to our yard a few times since but we just ignore them and go inside while they yell from their yard at the dogs to come back.
Yesterday was the first time ours has wandered over and the husband yelled at us from his porch to come get our dog! They've still never asked if our kid was ok, it's been all about their puppy.
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HERE’S HOW REDDIT BLEW UP AFTER HEARING THIS – PEOPLE COULDN’T BELIEVE IT.:
What started as a simple post quickly turned into a wildfire of opinions, with users chiming in from all sides.
Remote-Visual7976 - :- NTA--next time take pictures and call animal control and keep doing that until they stop letting them roam.
Just because they are "puppies" doesn't mean they can't take a babies eye out or cause a cut that will require stitches. I think you are under reacting to the situation
gryphynshadow - :- Puppies or not, they could have hurt your baby very badly. NTA But your neighbors definitely are.
Efficient-Tailor7223 - :- NTA dont own dogs if you dont know how to properly control them. Idc if its a shitzu, golden retriever or a pit bull. Keep control of your dog especially when there are small children around.
Scouthawkk - :- NTA. Tell them that next time their dogs are out of control, you’ll just call local animal control to file a report instead of handling it yourself.
Scenarioing - :- I had a dog snapping and snaling at me on the verge of lunging and the owner told me the dog won't bother me despite what was happening before his very eyes.
Some dog owners have this mentality and your neighbors are among them. There nut jobs are dangerous and child protection is paramount. You are as NTA as it gets.
Logical-Shame5884 - :- NTA your neighbor should have been over to you to get his dogs off your property As you went to get yours. The neighbors are lucky you didn't actually harm the dog as you had a right to.
Relatents - :->"they're just puppies, they don't know better" And soon they will be adult dogs with no clue how to behave because their owners refuse to do the bare minimum of care to control and train them.
The central conflict revolves around the parents prioritizing their infant's safety against the neighbors' misplaced focus on their untrained puppies' minor discomfort.
The original poster's actions were driven by immediate protective instinct, clashing sharply with the neighbors' emotional attachment to their pets and their failure to acknowledge the potential danger posed to the child.
When neighbor disputes involve safety and differing views on responsibility, how should boundaries be clearly established and enforced to ensure both child safety and responsible pet ownership are respected by all parties involved?