'A stranger made rude comment about my child in the supermarket - I was gobsmacked'

An innocent child's reaction to seeing a service dog for the first time promoted a furious reaction from its owner in the middle of a supermarket aisle.

A mum-of-three was shopping with her set of three-year-old twins - a boy and a girl - and a ten-week-old baby. While chit-chatting their way through the supermarket and picking up a few items, the twins spotted a sight unusual to them.

They saw a service approaching them and naturally burst into excitement and bombarded their mum with questions and asked if they could pet the dog before their mum explained that they were not to distract the dog as it was working.

READ MORE: Heartbroken Edinburgh daughter in desperate bid to fly mum's body home after tragic cancer battle

READ MORE: Heartbroken Scottish couple scammed out of £14k as conman drives away with their BMW

As the Mirror reports, the mum's animal-loving daughter immediately shouted 'puppy mummy puppy look' after she saw the cute animal as the mum took to Reddit to share what transpired afterwards.

She wrote: "I made it clear to them they could look at the dog but we were NOT going to call the dog, pet the dog, speak to the dog, or try and play with the dog. The dog is not like our dog at home, this dog has an important job and we don't want to distract him. They are three but did a really good job of respecting the dog's space. I was so proud."

Their mother answered all their questions patiently as they continued with their shopping trip. She recalled: "We walked right past the dog and the twins did a really good job of respecting the dog's space and not distracting him by shouting or reaching for him. (again so proud we have been working on respecting others' space)."

Just as the family exited the aisle, however, an older woman tapped the mother on the shoulder and declared that her 'daughter was poorly behaved because she shouted when she saw the service dog'.

Rushing to defend her brood, the indignant mum said: "I informed her my child was three and three-year-olds do that sometimes. The older lady just looked at me and said that HER kids never shouted in stores THEY were ALWAYS quiet or asleep. I said okay thank you bye now and walked off.

Sign up for Edinburgh Live newsletters for more headlines straight to your inbox

"For two three-year-olds hopped up on the one piece of candy each the doctor gave them AND were super excited to go to the park later. They were shockingly well-mannered in the store. Besides the initial shout when they saw the service dog they didn't scream, cry, try to pet, talk to, call, or do anything besides just watch the dog and ask me questions."

Reflecting on the 'odd and kinda funny' experience, she continued: "I am so proud of them. My husband and I have been laughing about this story all night. The kids weren't even behaving badly they've definitely behaved much worse than shouting once in public (I'm not afraid to admit they have had complete meltdowns in public over the smallest things).

"Maybe that lady had a stick up her butt or something. I thought they were being incredibly well-behaved sweet children today."

Join Edinburgh Live's Whatsapp Community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages.

A number of fellow Reddit users empathised with her bewilderment and reassured her the fault was with the woman, not her parenting. One person commented: "I love the quote 'don't take criticism from someone you'd never go to for advice'. She's a mean spitfire woman. Don't give her a second more of your thoughts."

Another remarked: "I swear parents with adult children have no memory of what their kids were truly like. They're all the same! Throughout time and around the world."