"Pumpkin picking" WTF

It's the notion of dogs enjoying activities that we do, or us telling ourselves they do that baffles me. So far as I can tell, my dog enjoys running, catching sticks, peeing against things and sniffing other dogs asses.

I'm not sure why dogs enjoying being out in the countryside running around is such a tricky concept though? My dog enjoys that and doesn't get to do it very often as we live in the middle of the city.

I’ve been to a couple of these, they were grown by the farms we went to but brought to a more accessible field and strewn about amongst hay bales, decorations etc. my kids loved stomping about in the mud, climbing bales and driving the wheelbarrow. Hot chocolate at the end, happy kids in fresh air, what’s not to like? I took a few photos to show the grandparents and to add to our family photo book at the end of the year. Pretty sad if you have an issue with it (not OP as such but read some pretty judgey comments about it)

Picking out a Christmas tree from the garden centre=picking out a pumpkin from a supermarket.

Picking up a pumpkin that someone has harvested and then put in a different field=picking out a Christmas tree that someone has cut down and then pushed into the ground in a different field.

Load of English people (who historically don't celebrate Halloween as opposed to November 5th) commenting on this thread.

"american nonsense"

Halloween is 100% Celtic (Irish/Scots).

*The hollowed out lantern (in my youth (late 1980s) we picked turnips)
*Guising (short for disguising), in costume (mask is called a "false face") going door to door for food
*Bonfire (collecting wood everyone did)
*Fireworks (sparklers was big as a kid, bit older it became bangers)
*Apple bobbing (tub of water, get apple out with mouth)

Zero of my Halloween had anything to do with North America. All the practices come from here. There has just been two alterations to the one we already practiced since, pumpkins instead of turnips (easier to carve, and look better), and since the 2000s the interjection "trick or treat" (a phrase from Ontario, Canada btw hence "american" is even more ludicrous) when out guising (side note: according to the Irish Times "help the Halloween party" was the most popular interjection prior to the 2000s).

our local farm does pumpkin picking. they are definitely grown there as they give you secateurs to cut them with. plus wheelbarrows, bales, photo opp next to a tractor. and no entry fee! between £3-5 for a large pumpkin. It was lovely!

i cant imagine paying to pick one up from a muddy carpark or dumped in a muddy field.

I have two children of the target age. I just don’t get it - it feels super fake. That said, I have trudged down a field (as part of a wider day out), and ‘picked’ a pumpkin this year! It’s such a weird concept.

Many farms do grow them. The farm I visited does, and they do a lot of good stuff to improve the local area.

Mine are a bit older now, but we used to go to a big field where they do pick your own. We always used to leave the pumpkins until late October and they were past their best. A bit smashed in or rotting. Very halloweeny though.

Maybe the dog just enjoyed a good sniff around? It's hardly the end of days.

I was a naysayer but this year went with a toddler contingent and they loved running around in the mud and the wheelbarrows. I even put a picture up on Instagram- basic bitch that I am! A bit miffed we has to pay to get in so next year we will go to a smaller, free one. Our small pumpkin will be made into soup.

Honestly it was cheaper than soft play and we got outside. I took that as a win!

It's OK not to like pumpkin picking and not to want to take a dog to one. You don't need to make up a ridiculous collapse-of-society justification for it.

I never said it was responsible for the failings of humanity, just symptomatic of a very individualistic and self indulgent attitude in general. The animals that WE treasure and can turn into some kind of extension of ourselves (fur babies 🤮) are treated better than many humans and the rest of the animal kingdom is generally treated appallingly through factory farming, habitat loss etc. The pet industry is now a massive global industry and significant contributor to global warming and resource depletion. And a large proportion of that industry is pure indulgence and in no way necessary to the animals actual welfare. It is far more about the human owners and their needs. I don't think the kind of attitudes towards pets I read about on here regularly are good for humankind or animals because it tries to turn dogs in particular into something theyre not.

It is pumpkin picking. Picking also means choosing. Like a tree at Christmas. Or picking which pumpkin you’d like from the box at Tesco. Our local patch is grown on site but cut in advance, still in the same spot though. Kids love it.

Well, would you look at that? You had plenty of words after all.

It's the notion of dogs enjoying activities that we do, or us telling ourselves they do that baffles me. So far as I can tell, my dog enjoys running, catching sticks, peeing against things and sniffing other dogs asses. I occasionally have him with me when I'm doing things that don't involve those activities but not because I think he would enjoy it or as an opportunity to take photos of him. I'm sorry, but I find that weird!

I’m not one for Halloween at all but I went with my friends and their children pumpkin picking with my toddler son last week.. I say pumpkin picking, I didn’t pick or buy a single pumpkin, but he played in the mud with his little pals, we went on a tractor ride (because he doesn’t get enough of those at home on our farm 🤔), we played on the various set-ups and had some adorable photos. It was just a day out, we all had fun, it’s not any deeper than that!

There are so many Mumsnetters who are so baffled and perplexed by the idea that some people like things that they don't. I wonder how they navigate, well, anything.

Although the reach to justify this wilful obtuseness by claiming that people who love dogs aren't just baffling and perplexing but actually directly responsible for all the failings of humanity and destroying the planet is a new one. A very very silly one.

@theleafandnotthetree I'm just laughing at the idea of the world completely going to shit and us being at war and PP thinking 'I wish I didn't take the dog pumpkin picking!!'

I actually think they'd be glad of the happy memories. Do I think it's bonkers to take a dog pumpkin picking? Yes I do but bonkers isn't a bad thing. I hope pp prints the pictures and puts them in a frame.

When you earn your money I think you should spend it on what you want to, if pumpkin pictures with your dog is that then why bloody not. Life is too short to not do things because grumpy people on Mumsnet don't approve.

So going to this type of activity to take photos with a dog is baffling to me, do you sit down years from now with the dog and reminisce over photos about the time you went pumpkin picking?

Presumably the dog enjoyed the activity, as did their owner and the owner will enjoy the photos.

Now is that really so hard to understand?

The farm local to us definitely grows them, some were cut, from the vine and some weren’t.
Acres of them and so many varieties.
It was a fun day, with delicious food, a local farm shop, ran a restaurant too.

Yeah, I think some here believe small children belong up a chimney, wielding wire brushes and smeared with soot.

Not shame them I am just genuinely perplexed. There is no 'with' here. A dog is a dog, not a human. So going to this type of activity to take photos with a dog is baffling to me, do you sit down years from now with the dog and reminisce over photos about the time you went pumpkin picking? The level of anthropomorphism which is in evidence on Mumsnet generally is staggering to me. And I genuinely believe that when we look back at some future time when the shit really hits the fan, we will look upon it as another sign of our decadence as a species, not least because it contrasts so horribly with how we treat the rest of the natural world, including mammals who aren't cats and dogs.

I took my dog to one for some photos
I love this!

If you've ever tried to carve a turnip, you will understand why pumpkins have become so popular. 😆

The smell of singed turnip is very evocative though - I'm six years old again.

Had a great time pumpkin picking, restaurant on site, loads of wheel barrows, pumpkin wash, entertainment for kids, prices were really cheap, acres and acres of pumpkin fields, a really great few hours of fun for us, and I would go again.

And we were happy to support a local farmer. So many varieties too, and by chance we were there the first day of their season, at the beginning of October and the pumpkins have stored really well, and were cut into lanterns today.

I'm pleased I didn’t have to spend hours carving a turnip, as I did as a kid.

We had a great day out, and I’d do it without kids too