A dog may tolerate a child’s breech of canine protocol (though not all do); however, that does not mean you properly observed canine protocol.
If, as a child, you had behaved rudely before adults and they turned a blind eye to your breech of etiquette, most people would view that as a credit to their maturity, not your behavior or maturity.
Since you have posted that the dogs did not discipline *you* for that breech of protocol, you reveal that the dogs overlooked your major canine faux pas—you do not justify the faux pas.
You are blaming the dog for acting like a dog and for responding to aggressive/dominant behavior on the part of your friend.
Taking personal responsibility for your behavior—particularly when it comes to inter-species relationships—is a conservative position. Responsible dog owners remember that dogs are dogs, and study how dogs process human behaviors so they can be better owners.
Irresponsible dog owners pretend their dogs are human infants or children, and try to treat them as though they were human infants or children.
You are taking a liberal position—”it’s not my fault if I behave inappropriately (in canine terms) with a dog; it’s the dog’s fault for enforcing proper canine boundaries”.
Cliff Note version:
Her dogs were smarter than she was.
;]