To dare to think that the Cult of Dog has gone too far?

My cat IS better than other people's kids - to me. I have no such illusions about other people though

Well, my dog is better than stranger's kids, to me. That is the crux of it really. And other people's kids are better than my dog, to them. I am fine with that.

I live in a really naice area and I have told someone to fuck off when they muttered at me for bringing my small doggie into a shop that allows dogs in.

Mea culpa too

I’ve had dogs for my entire life. As in I’m 36, and have not actually not had one for any point in my life. That’s been multiple dogs, too, often 3 of them at any one time from childhood to now. The only reason I have just one now is because she wouldn’t tolerate another in the house.

Anyway, the current calibre of dog ownership is what is potentially putting me off having another one when mine pops her clogs.

The pet dog world is currently dominated by a couple of sorts of owner. Firstly, the Disney dog moms; usually owning a Doodle of some sort, typically a first time dog owner. Dog gets treated like a surrogate child, training minimal, has separation anxiety, and is a matted mess by 6 months. Dog is either a reactive neurotic mess or an over excited “he’s so friendly” nutter, or a mix of both. Exercise consists of letting the untrained Doodle off the lead to do exactly as it pleases, and if you take objection to this, you are the devil incarnate.

Then you have the fashion accessory dog owner. Flavour of the month is the French Bulldog (but you can also insert other small yappy dogs here). Owner is typically overweight like the dog. Dog untrained of course, snorting at the end of the lead, wearing its fake diamond collar. Picking up the dog shit is 100% optional. If they let it off the lead, it can do as it pleases, as it’s “only a Frenchie” and it’s SO funny and SO cute. Harassing other dogs and animals? It’s only a Frenchie.

This wasn’t as bad pre Covid. Post Covid it’s absolutely bonkers. I avoid other dog owners at all costs now and the majority are clueless about their dogs behaviour.

Agree OP. Can't bear the stinky shitting things. So many places we can no longer go to, and it's very hard to find dog-free restaurants and cafes, so we rarely go to these anymore. Can't go on the beach, in the park, on public footpaths, in many shops. They're even in the local butchers FFS. I live in a rural area and am sick of reading about lambs and sheep being savaged by loose dogs, sick of reading about people, especially children being attacked or killed by dog attacks, yet nothing is ever done. It's all fecking bonkers. Let's hope it's reached peak dog, and so will trigger a backlash eventually.

My cat IS better than other people's kids - to me. I have no such illusions about other people though.

MIL uninvited us from the family Christmas (was to be their first turn of having our son with them on Christmas Day) rather than ask BIL to put his rottweiler in kennels.

Bonkers.

We had friends to stay with their dog and on the first night they asked if he could lie on the sofa and I said yes as long as he was on a blanket, plenty of room etc, no problem.

The following night we had dinner with them and my adult DD and her BF. They all went off to the lounge, I joined 5 min later and the BF is sitting on the floor as the dog was sprawled on the sofa 🤷🏼‍♀️.

Such odd behaviour. They seemed hurt when I got the dog down.

You must live somewhere very odd, OP, with peculiar (and rude) people. None of these things have ever happened to me and I live among dog lovers (defined large area of local beach is dog free May-Sept).

I'm amused that dog ice cream is a controversial topic. What about plain dry dog biscuits? Some of the resources that go to make even simple dog kibble food could be used to feed people, so is that okay, and if not, what are dogs meant to eat?

Why shouldn't a dog have an ice cream? It's not taking anything away from any human, any more than people eating ice cream are directly causing impoverished children to starve.

When you give up every treat food you eat, I'll take you seriously regarding the dog ice cream (and other dog treats).

That’s when you buy steps for your dog or lift them on and off. 😉

It’s a balance. I don’t like dogs off lead, or on long leads, coming up to my small children and I don’t trust complete strangers who assure me their dog is friendly/gentle/safe. But there are plenty of considerate owners whose dogs have good recall or who put them on lead as soon as they see children when we’re in the woods.

I think it’s like everything in life: we need to learn to exist as a society together. A lot of people are considerate, but you tend to notice those who are not especially when they endanger others.

There are only a finite number of topics to discuss. There are topics which come up more frequently than irresponsible dog owners.

Only you controls which threads you read.

I remember growing up and visiting my grandparents in Devon, many of the beaches were dog free during the summer. My grandparents had a dog, and despite living 5 minutes walk from the sea, we would drive considerable distances to get to beaches which did not have a ban, because you know, if having dogs on the beach is banned, then it's banned.

Last summer, we went quite often to some beaches near us on the Hampshire / Dorset coast, which were quite clearly marked as NO DOGS during the summer months, and they were heaving with dogs. Dogs on long leads tripping people up; dogs not on leads tearing around and jumping all over our picnic blanket, snarfing our picnic lunch, pissing on the kids' sandcastles; dogs jumping up at my kids and terrifying them.

The most galling thing is the approach taken by most of the owners of these dogs wasn't even to try the 'oh he's just saying hi' approach, it was just to avoid eye contact and walk on by as if nothing was going on. It feels like the ungodly offspring of the modern tendency to shut out the outside world (headphones and eye contact avoidance), and the idolisation of dogs as on a par with or better than human beings.

And I say this as someone who grew up with and loves dogs...

Sick of the local beach. Went for a family fish and chips there, kids all sat on the beach on a blanket, a dog off the lead bounded through it all and covered the kids meals with sand and sent half it flying. It's supposedly dog free but people rarely take notice (there are 3 other beaches in same stretch that AREN'T dog free, this is one 500m area). The nature reserve has so many signs saying keep your dogs on leads, but it's ignored. I watched two large dogs running through an area that was marked as off limits due to nesting birds.

Our local park is dogs on leads, and the play area and picnic area isn't fenced off due to this - again, rarely is any notice paid to this because their doggies need to able to run (again, another area 10 minutes walk away that is fine for dogs to be let off leads, but it doesn't have a cafe and isn't as pretty).

I love dogs and am very much a dog person. But please please, keep your dogs on leads in areas they should be, especially around kids eating.

I live in a holiday area and we’re knee-deep in undisciplined dogs. Virtually nowhere bans them. I don’t want someone’s little Fido staring at my food while I eat it.

It's also common sense. Sooner or later the dog won't be able to jump on the sofa, be it illness or age. Then the poor dog thinks it has done something wrong.

We tried, the rescues we tried never even replied 🤷🏻‍♀️

Gosh we had this near exact thread only last week. I doubt people’s opinions have changed since then.

I have a dog but yes I agree. I don’t take him to pubs or restaurants. One we used to love now stinks of wet dog and the floor is covered in hair, it’s vile. I finally stopped going when I slipped in a puddle of a dog bowl that had been tipped over.

I really wish that parks had areas for dogs and areas that were not for dogs (and not just the kids' play areas that are usually fenced off). It should really be the other way round - dogs not allowed off lead unless in a fenced off area.

My local garden centre has recently stopped allowing dogs in unless they're guide dogs so I assume they got fed up with having to clean up after them. It's always busy so doesn't seem to have affected their takings. I was also recently in a farm shop cafe which didn't allow dogs. It was huge, and about 2/3 full just before the main lunchtime period, so again doesn't seem to be affecting custom.

I have a dog. She is very well behaved, and I don't take her in spaces she is not welcome. I pick up her poo, and I don't let her approach people unless they are happy for her to.
I hate seeing badly behaved dogs too. I also hate having to dodge dog poo in the park.
Dog owners are not one huge mass of people who have low standards about dog behaviour.
So it is annoying to see threads like this tarring us all with the same brush.

So the first (and prob most popular) place that comes to mind in Pembrokeshire is Tenby -a quick google says 2 out of 3 beaches don’t allow dogs in summer. In fact - quite a few beaches have got dog babs particularly in the summer

www.pembrokeshire.gov.uk/dog-control/summer-beach-bans

This happened to me and my dog a couple of weeks ago (no snarling and growling but playing).

I had changed my route 3 times to avoid this family, who just kept coming down the path, but had to finally cross near them to get to my house. My dog was totally under my control , ignoring them entirely, until their toddler bounced a football which landed about 3 ft in front of my dog. My dog doing what dogs do when someone throws a ball to them, jumped up and tried to grab the ball. The toddler screamed, my dog barked once and ran between my legs and sat down (her safe space) and the mother shouted at me for not having my dog under control.

My dog had a pretty good impulse control but she is still a dog who loves chasing a ball. What am I to do in that situation?

If the customers are furious, they may just use another garden centre.

The cafe near us that didn’t allow dogs was always very quiet and has gone out of business now but the one that allow dogs is thriving.

I hope your daughter called the police as a man threatened her.

I was responding to your comment 'Where are you allowed to go with your dog then?'

Many people aren't taking their dogs for a walk in the woods, the park, the beach. They're going to these places and then just letting their dogs loose, not monitoring behaviour, dogs not under their owner's control.

It puts these places off limits to people who don't like, or are scared of dogs (often with good reason) or who just don't want a dog jumping at them, their child, their picnic, or to be tramping through dog shit which irresponsible owners have chosen not to pick up.

If dog owners took some responsibility, kept dogs on an appropriate length of lead where necessary and didn't expect everyone to be as enamoured of their dog as they are themselves, everyone would probably get on much better.
ETA responding to Jellynellycat at 13.55