I know it was wrong of him to spit in the man's face (or anyone else's) it's really hard for me to discipline him when he always get his way. It's his way or NO WAY! (I feel as though I failed as a mother)

dont feel like that, feelings are deceiving anyway, sometimes kids do things on there own, and maybe he thought he was defending you. I know my son would of punched him in the face, I didnt raise him like that , but, when a mom is threatened the warrior comes alive.That man was sick for saying that, what a moron. Just talk with your son about grown men acting like that, and how a man of great character and integrity would act.Parenting is a hard job, and we never get it all right, every day is a new day, to move forward, dont be so hard on yourself, every parent has a story to tell, and they are not always perfect , just let me tell ya.

by the way, your son is so cute, and so is your buttercup.....

I had a somewhat similar experience at a petsmart I went to. I was picking up some food for Raisin (she eats eukanuba puppy). I was thinking of changing her food to Nutro, I think it's called and there was a lady there to tell all the good things about it. She said well, Eukanuba is a premium food, but this is all natural, and so on.

My husband and I went and compared the two foods, which I was impressed with the Nutro, but in the end we decided that she was doing well on her current food, never had any stomach problems and we would just leave well enough alone, and change her food when she got to adult food, after all she had said they were both premium food.

We saw the woman selling Nutro on the way to the check-out, and she asked "So you guys are getting the eukanuba after all?" kinda snotty voice.

I tried to explain my reasons, but she cut me off saying "so you guys didn't learn anything then." She said it in such a rude way. I just smiled and my husband said, no I guess not and we walked away.

It left me a little taken aback because I thought that we'd made a fine decision and it seemed like by questioning my choice she was acting as though i cared for my puppy less because i didn't choose what she was trying to sell.

What a darling yorkie you have there and a handsome little lad. Sorry mom he is at the age where he needs to know that some things are wrong, you have a long way to go and many years ahead of you so I hope you realize if you don't get a handle ASAP and change from, " it's his way or no way" to "I AM MOM AND WHAT I SAY GOES. " You haven't failed as a mother, motherhood for you has barely begun. Disipline is good for a child by means of correcting them and taking favorite things they enjoy away for a time, I am not one that believes in harsh punishments nor spankings.
Children learn when they are corrected and also when they do good things to give them kind words of encouragement. I hope you know what I have said here is for your own benefit as well as your sons. The man was totally out of place, and he showed his low class character by what he said, and he really made a fool of himself. IMO it is good to ignore people like that. Patti and ~~Baby Blessing~~

I agree with Mikey's wise words...walking away is the best thing to do in many circumstances, and this was one of those.

I agree that the man was rude, but there are people like that everywhere and your son has to learn to just walk away. Lowering yourself to that man's level doesn't solve the problem...he got a rise out of you so he got what he wanted!

Spitting on someone is an absolute no no. (I believe it's also considered assault.) Your son has to learn that's not the way to deal with people...no matter how rude they may be. I've always found that if you treat someone with respect, they respond in kind (most times.) If they persist on being rude, I don't waste my time on them.

It is horrible for that man or anyone to be so abrasive to a complete stranger in a public place, especially over an adorable puppy and the perceived "worth". It is so hard not to react to obnoxious people like him. I'm sorry that you feel you've lost control of the behaviors of your son, but please don't give up on him...you must keep trying to curb habits like spitting. As an incentive, please realize that under tort law, spitting is considered battery just as much as if he'd purposefully hit him in the face. I would hate to see you open to liability like that.