Are dog people more friendly?

[dibsmum]

discuss. People are nicer to me when I'm with my dogs and even on here the doghouse seems more friendly than the child focused chat, there is always someone there wanting to start an argument but people seem to respect each others views here. I wondered if there was a scientific or other explanation.

[YouveCatToBeKittenMe]

No
I have 3 and I'm an unsociable old cow!

But I have 3 cats too, maybe they cancel out the dog friendliness!

[NorksAreMessy]

Yes we are...with other dog people
I walk in a lovely lonely unspoiled countryside and whenever I meet another dog walker we have a friendly chat.

However...start a thread with 'shall I regime my dog' or 'shall I buy a puppy off the internet' and see how very unfriendly some dog people can get :)

[zandy]

I've lived here ten years. Had the dog one year. I've spoken to more people in the past year than in the whole of the nine previous years.

Dogs are ice breakers in conversation. You wouldn't go up to a lone person walking up the street and chat to them, but if they have a dog you can make a dog comment to that stranger and a conversation begins.

[IceNoSlice]

Not the ones who don't pick up poo! Or the ones who hang poo bags on trees or fences. Why???

But most of you are luffly

[D0oinMeCleanin]

Imo, yes, although we do not suffer fools gladly, hence the 'shall I buy Gumtree' reactions

[NewYearNewNN]

Gosh thanks Ice

[ShowOfHands]

It's just common ground isn't it? If I'm out with ds, I tend to chat with other mothers of similarly aged dc as we have something to chat about.

And respecting other people? Ooooh tricky. This topic is probably like the rest of MN, predominantly supportive but I had my most serious run in ever on here and saw some truly disgusting behaviour, including threatening, personal attacks and some spectacular flouncing.

[Purplemonster]

Yes of course, apart from some people who own working type dogs like spaniels and collies, in my experience some of those are a bit uppity and stand offish, the rest of us are nice!

[NewYearNewNN]

The vitriol that's spread if someone says (for example) they want to breed from their bitch is up there with anything on AIBU on a bunfight night, but usually this patch of the site is great. I spend far more time here than on the official website for my trade association (dogwalking and petcare), and get fantastic tips and advice.

[toomuch2young]

I think so!
My whole life is doggy related. Work with dogs, walking my dogs, agility, I really can't imagine my life without them and almost all my friends are connected to dogs and are all lovely.
You can't beat the friendships formed over daily walks.

[YouveCatToBeKittenMe]

Aah see Purplemonster, I have a working collie and a working spaniel although they don't really do proper work
I'm not uppity though, just socially awkward!

[dibsmum]

haha great comments, really interesting, thanks I think cat people are friendly too but I'm biased, i've always had cats, dogs are a more recent addition!

[Floralnomad]

Where I live its the Labrador and doodle owners that think they're something special , the spaniel and collie people are fine.

[NotMostPeople]

Yes but there are those who are horrible too. This morning I had a man swearing at me because my dog growled at his dog. His dogs have been bounding up to mine when mines been on the lead and the owner too busy chatting on the phone. No point saying anything to him but he was so intimidating to me in the middle of nowhere, so I'm not feeling to kindly towards other dog owners.

[HoneyDragon]

But Labrador owners are special


The reality is Labrador ownership gives you balls of brass as you spend your entire fucking time offering to pay strangers dry cleaning bills or being known as that mad woman with that Lab that

[NorksAreMessy]

People with four terriers are lovely but loony

[YouveCatToBeKittenMe]

I don't make many friendships through dog walking as my collie would like to eat any other dogs that she passes, and my spaniel either ignores people or presents them with some regurgitated bit of rubber that vaguely resembles a ball.

I have a 10 week old puppy now too. I've never had a small dog before I keep tripping over him, I'm not quite sure how I'm going to ever walk them all together!

[coffeeinbed]

My dog and I talk to about 20 people, 15 children and assorted dogs on any given walk.
So yes, I'd agree.

[GrimmaTheNome]

If you want a walk with extra joy, get a dachshund. Children are entranced by a real 'sausage dog' ... including big hoody lads who might on first glance look a bit scary but who go 'awwww how cute' with the best of them.

Of course dog owners chat with each other but there's that odd thing where you are so busy admiring the dogs that you haven't a clue what the other person looks like from the knees up!

[elastamum]

Have 3 delightful, well behaved labradoodles whom everyone we meet IRL seem to love, but on this site owning a labradoodle is considered a major sin, even though one is a rescue ducks and runs

[dibsmum]

Oh no What's the problem with labradoodles? I think they're cute. I have a staffie cross and a lurcher for the record!

[D0oinMeCleanin]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with Labrador crosses. The breeders of such crosses otoh....

[dibsmum]

I've spent the evening googling lion outfits for my lurcher. Does that make me a bad person?

[weegiemum]

I'm not a doggie person. My dh was bitten as a child and is phobic. My ds(dc2) almost lost an arm and had extensive plastic surgery as a toddler after a collie-bite (personally I'd say mauling, dog attacked ds from behind and severed a shoulder vein).

So I'm not big on doggie-people who think everyone who doesn't like ogs is nuts. I'm friends with lots of people with dogs, just not the ones who insist their dog is fine to see my 10yo ds -cos there's not a dog out there I'd trust, and I'm not sorry!