Hey,

So yesterday I took my dog to the dog park and got into a bit of an argument with someone there. In essence, my dog was humping his dog, I disciplined my dog multiple times and put him in a time out. My dog continued to do it occasionally so I figured that the best thing to do was let the other dog tell him off. (this is pretty common, myself and others often allow other dogs to discipline ours - they often learn quicker than if we interfere.) 

The guy decided to hit my dog with his dog's leash. It wasn't very hard but it made my dog afraid. Myself and a couple of other people saw it happen. After he went to swing at my dog with his hand I confronted him. I was so angry and so scared, I started yelling at him. I asked him to leave, I lost my temper and we exchanged words and then I immediately started crying. He walked away and I just crouched there, hugging my dog. He left shortly afterwards.

Yes, I know, I should have removed my dog and left. I know that now. I honestly didn't feel like my dog was doing anything wrong, and my dog has never acted that way before, so to be told by that guy that my dog had behavioural problems and that I was a bad owner and that I had done nothing to intervene was hurtful. 

The guy had also been chasing around the dogs and trying to scare the other ones as well, which included one that was very timid and that the owner was trying to get so they could go (she didn't want her dog to be terrorized by this guy anymore either.)

So now that you know the background... I can't get this out of my head. The situation just keeps replaying over and over again. I cried off and on yesterday for about four hours after I got home. I called my boyfriend to pick me up after the incident happened because I was too scared to walk home.

My dog was my source of confidence to walk and go out on my own. Now I'm terrified to leave the house without my boyfriend. I'm scared to go to the dog park again. I can't help but feel like crying every single time I think about this. 

I've been practicing my DBT and trying to distract myself but I just have no idea how to deal with this situation. I don't know how to quiet my mind. I asked for some advice yesterday in a dog subreddit but I deleted it because I just felt like I was getting reprimanded over and over again and that it was all my fault. This shit has really rocked my self confidence and given me a lot of doubt about myself. 