AIBU to scream and panic when knocked over in the dark suddenly?

Lavazza1st. I do hope you soon feel better.

If I may answer a little pompously as a retired Psychologist and as a dog lover please:

I want to tell you that I think your response - screaming - was
entirely normal and justified.

Of course you screamed! That's what our automatic screaming response is for! To scare off the cause of our injury and to alert others that we need help!

As for the dog's owner.... he is a pillock of the first degree and should not be allowed to have a dog. What a totally nasty man! Of course he should keep his dog under control and on a lead, for his dog's safety as well as for the safety and comfort of others.

I do hope the aches and pains soon ease up and you feel much better. I would not worry too much regarding the dog. With luck it will be found by good people who will take it to a Shelter and it will go to good Owners. More likely it will go back home though.

It is always difficult on gransnet when the issue of dogs being a nuisance comes up. Quite understandably, those people who train and keep proper control of their dogs feel aggrieved at the depth of feeling that comes from those who have been on the wrong side of an out of control dog, as they would not allow this to happen.

But the sad fact that there are many many dog owners who are totally irresponsible and risk causing injury to people innocently out on a walk. It is a big problem, especially in these lockdown times when getting out for a walk is so important. It is important to me to get out and walk, but I am put off by the loose and uncontrolled dogs that I encounter - I have osteoporosis and a fall could be very serious; I am out walking on my own, so if I fell or was attacked by a dog I have no way of getting help; if I was knocked over by a dog I would be unable to get up myself.

It is very scary when the sound of a dog barking and growling comes ringing through the wood.

The dog owner is at fault and it is his fault that his dog ran off. If you had not been there his dog would probably have run off anyway. Please don't blame yourself for this man's stupidity. He wants to think himself lucky that he were not badly injured and hospitalised.
Awful man. Please get well soon and try not to let this impact on your life.

If you chose to report the incident the owner would be in trouble for not having his dog under control. Hence why he tried to lay the blame at your door. You should indeed report him because the next time it happens, the person on the receiving end may not be as generous as you or escape serious injury.

Millit64
You made the fatal error by assuming. Next time you have doubts search the OP.

You are not unreasonable - the dog owner was in the wrong and he knew it, otherwise he wouldn't have blamed you for his dog running off.

Have a go? Me? How words can be misread. Indeed, it never ends well does it Marydoll. Bullitt seems to have got away with it though, Shane the subject of the thread has been lost.
Someone being frightened by an out of control dog. That's what's important. There have been too many accounts of incidents involving dogs where people have come off worst and that's what needs discussing. Why don't dog owners keep their dogs on lead and why don't they accept that a dog can cause a lot of distress even if it didn't mean to. Big dogs especially can really hurt someone simply by weight and impetus if they're going fast, even if it's unintended.

Good advice Petra.

RTF thread Luckyoldbeethoven. Support and understanding for the OP was readily offered.

What caused the disruption of this thread was when sympathy for the OP turned nasty with such posts as typical dog owner and more posts of the same vein.

So, the dog owner helped you up.
I didn’t see that in the original post.

Also, why would he accuse you of taking his dog.
It doesn’t make sense to me either.

I was knocked over by a large dog earlier in the year. I spent 5 days in hospital suffering a broken arm and leg. Had plate and pins fitted to broken bone in leg. Not much fun being taken to hospital alone and no visitors due to Covid. I’m having physio at the moment and still in discomfort months later.
I’ve gone from walking my dog for a couple of hours a day to shuffling along for half hour or so feeling frightened when I see other dogs charging about. I feel sad that I may not get back to how I was before.
I love dogs but this incident has really shook me up.
The owners are denying all responsibility as they say their dog is well trained. Apparently I got in their dog’s way. I was on a path in our local woods , their dog was racing about amidst the trees and came onto the path but couldn’t see me.
I would be devastated if my dog had caused an accident. They are totally unconcerned. Just worried their dog may get a bad name. I wonder what the world is coming to.

Don't worry about words spoken in the heat of the moment.

What a dreadful experience Kittye. Disgraceful behaviour from the owners who would feel very differently had it happened to them.

Sorry to hear you are still suffering and I hope you are on the mend.

I hope you're feeling better today Lavazza sometimes you can feel worse the next day because you 'seize up'.
A nice bath with magnesium salts might help.

Maybe your DH will oblige and walk the dog today so that you can take a day's rest after that traumatic experience. If you have fully retired like most of us you will have the remainder of the week to get over it.

Oh MawB2 as someone who once spent 3hours trying to get one of her greyhounds back I loved the gentle understatement ‘ poor’ recall ???They are all on leads now! Sorry for the fright and injury Lavazza; we are not all like that wretched man, honest!!

NO YOU ARE NOT BEING UNREASONABLE . The foolish man was definitely in the wrong for not having the dog on a leash !! He had probably been letting it defecate in the church grounds. What a horrible person he is. Did he even ask if you were alright. As far as he knows you might have broken a hip or something.

As someone who is always falling or having accidents, I know you get over the physical injuries eventually, but it's more difficult not to relive every moment and question if you could have done things differently.
Hindsight is a great thing.

Charleygirl has the right advice. Ask your partner to help.

I know this is a subject that has been dealt with in other threads, but I literally just started reading this and on the first page had an advert for dog training equipment. In German.

Now I shall get back to reading what everyone has said. As you were.

Jacky, Big Brother is indeed watching us. Das ist sehr beunruhigend.

The other day I asked my husband if he thought Alexa was eavesdropping on our conversation.
Alexa then started speaking!

Perhaps there should be a more prescriptive law requiring dogs to be on leads

www.gov.uk/control-dog-public

Out of control
Your dog is considered dangerously out of control if it:

injures someone
makes someone worried that it might injure them

're comments about dogs defecating, responsible dog owners carry poo bags, and dispose of them appropriately.

Now, peeing is a different matter, and short of putting nappies on the pooch, I can't see a solution to that.

Many people think that urine is "sterile" I believe the actress Sarah Miles used to drink hers

Have you someone who would walk with you for a few days because with time your confidence should return. Don’t let it overtake you as these experiences can.

Well I just RTF thread again, (thanks for a useful acronym Kalu) having been out all afternoon. I have often read GN threads where people launch in and don't bother to RTF thread at all but actually I usually do. I did not use the term 'typical dog owner' as I do not think there is any such thing having owned dogs myself over the years.
In fact, I've spent quite a lot of my time in the dog world and have been concerned at changes in the way dog owners anthromorphise their charges ('be nice' means nothing to a snarling dog!) and fail to understand that not everyone loves dogs and that dogs can do damage to people.
It's not ok that someone is knocked over by a dog and then shouted at by the owner. I do agree with everyone who has said that.
I hope that Lavazza feels supported by the vast amount of support in this thread. It is very sad when someone feels afraid to leave their house and I hope she is able to access help and overcome that. It's not necessarily easy to overcome fears and some fear more than others. Warmest support to you Lavazza.

I bet it was a lab the young ones are terrible for galumphing .I'd have screamed too at being knocked down in the dark. Very natural. You never know what will be running out from dark churches especially around Halloween.