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

They even try to bring them on the psych wards!!!!

Ok we did 'have' to allow a 'support' dog with a visitor. So many people say they cannot leave their dog alone. Well train them you stupid lazy people!!

I have two dogs, I absolutely love them and they mean the world to my family however they are not bloody fur babies!
My (not very scientific theory) is that young people are delaying parenthood, often almost towards middle age so they use pets as 'children for now'. In their minds they should be able to take their 'children' everywhere with them.
My biggest annoyance is going out to pubs and bars at night and dogs being there, I have put my nice clothes on so I don't want random dog hair/slobber/smell all over me thank you!

Agree OP!! Also can’t believe people say things like ‘I can’t come to work int he office today because I can’t leave my dog’ and get away with it!

Peri-menopausal wild eyed harridan is my favourite statement ever on mumsnet.

I fit all but the peri bit of that statement and find nothing bad in it at all. Most of my street have always had horrible dogs and the neighbours - utterly entitled anyway - stick their dog waste in the bin on the lamppost instead of putting it in their own bin or in the designated dog bin a street /short walk away. In their 20's and no problems walking either.

This is the best analysis I have seen. It really is the attitude of some people that is causing issues.

It happens with parents who believe their child has rights over everyone else, the people who talk through the film or the show/theatre, who film the concert with their phones held high so you can't see.

IT'S PEOPLE WHO ARE THE PROBLEM

I don't know how we change the current selfish, entitled attitude

Anywhere that serves food and drink should not have animals of any kind in it, IMHO.

Also all dogs should be on leads unless they are on private property.

There you go I've solved it.

Completely agree. I was walking out to my car a few weeks ago and one of my cats was happily trotting along next to me when one of the neighbours came out if his front door with his dog, the dog saw my cat and lunged for him, straining at the leash and barking and snarling, poor cat was terrified. The owner laughed, I turned to him and said "that isn't funny" and he looked mortally offended and grumbled "he wouldn't do anything" before sloping off. Same dog has been seen by other neighbours off the lead and chasing another one of my cats, again the owner has stood there and laughed. If that dog ever gets hold of one of the cats and kills it I doubt the police would even do anything about it. Our cats are very much loved and part of our family but that POS could let his mangey mongrel kill them and it would be funny and he'd get away with it.

My son has autism and is afraid of dogs, there aren't many places we can go these days without him being jumped up at or approached by them. Did an Easter Egg trail at a National Trust property at the weekend and went for an ice cream in the cafe and he was jumped on by a dog being handled (barely) by a little girl, he nearly jumped out of his skin. No apology or acknowledgement from the girl or the adults at all.

I'm a "dog lover" and you are absolutely not being unreasonable. If a dog has sufficiently poor recall that it cannot be called away from a child's ball or frisbee then its owner should put it on a bloody lead. DDog wasn't off her lead in public spaces til she was about one year old, lots of people thought we were crazy but her recall wasn't solid enough in our opinion til then. If my dog ever did damage someone's property (she never has because I've never allowed her to) I'd be absolutely mortified and pay to replace it.

People who allow their dogs to run up to people uninvited and don't pick up their shit are equally as annoying to responsible dog owners as they are to other people, trust me.

So do i and i have 3 .
Same as with kids of which i also have 3😊
I do not impose either my dogs or my kids when they were younger on other people and prefer the same respect back.
I wonder how much stock in shops gets pissed on .
That said the majority of dogs are so much nicer than many people !

Well that in itself is madness. The rescues are full of abandoned ones.

Keep them at home if you're going shopping/cafe then.... simple.

Some of us are trying. I'm training a retriever at the moment and being really careful about it. We check if the coast is clear before going off lead. I've trained him to sit down when there are children going by, walking near and I stop him on the street to let frailer / younger / people without dogs go by! Basically unless someone indicates they want to say hi to my dog I'm teaching him to ignore them. He puppy plays (which looks like fighting but isn't) when it's safe for him to. I take him out at times of day when it's quieter because he's big. But he's a retriever. He's easy to train. So many of the problem dogs are actually smaller ones who are badly trained and allowed seemingly everywhere. I don't want a dog near me in a cafe either. It's true that some dog owners are incredibly entitled and can't seem to understand that while you know your dog is friendly it doesn't matter because someone else is scared and asking you to take it away...genuinely puzzling why this is hard to understand for some dog owners but there we are. I'd be mortified if my dog disturbed or jumped on someone...and I think possibly you're right about the 'fur baby' thing...knowing that he'd be big I didn't want him to associate affection with jumping up so I don't allow him to do it even with me...I think I'm in a minority with this though. It's sad. Your post comes across as angry and a bit sexist though and kind of tarring everyone with the same brush. We're not all the same and we're not out to get you.

I didn't mind dogs at all until they morphed into fur babies, and now they are molly-coddled, undisciplined and absolutely bloody everywhere.

Only if you support puppy farms though.... adopt don't shop and all that (I wont be doing either!)

I agree. The funniest is when you see dogs in prams who look desperate to get out and walk.

Came into the office today. 3 out of 5 people in reception had a dog with them. Wtf is going on?

Regular requests at work for dogs to come in. Fortunately landlord isn’t haven’t it (assistance dogs excepted).

Dog mess on the streets, in the parks, even on country walks (more there than anywhere as I assume no one picks it up).

One of the nicest things about going on holiday overseas now is having fewer dogs around.

I’m afraid I’m one of those people who takes their handbag chihuahua everywhere. He’s great and makes me and lots of other people very happy and I much prefer his company to anyone else’s. He’s quiet and often people don’t even notice him. And he brings so much joy to people. I actually have the opposite problem, that people, especially small kids, are always running up and wanting to touch and pester him in cafes and public spaces if he’s visible to them. Luckily he’s an absolute wonder with people and tolerates all the patting and ear pulling like a champ. I once had a woman literally shove her face up to his and try to snog him (complete stranger) and I had to tell her to back off because I could see his warning signs that he was not comfortable (and would you be if a stranger did that to you?!).

I’m sure I’ll have plenty of people disagree and think I’m the enemy here but I could be sitting next to you in a cafe right now with my snoozing pocket chihuahua and you probably haven’t even noticed him!

Same, this peri menopausal woman was completely in agreement until 'peri menopausal harridan' comment.

No I completely get it and I say this as a dog owner. I love my dog 😊
Yesterday I was in a graveyard in my hometown and I witnessed a dog walker u loading dogs from her van, then walk them amongst the graves. Totally ignoring the signs everywhere that forbids dogs

Same in the area further out which is a nature reserve, it’s so beautiful and peaceful but ruined by the bags of dog poo swinging in the trees, dogs running around off lead. Again, signs everywhere saying to keep your dog on a lead and other signs where dogs are not allowed are ignored.

I work in a pretty popular cafe and they recently allowed dogs into some of the cafes. My manager decided against allowing them into ours and the abuse we have received for not allowing dog into the building is insane 😂
I don’t think it’s a dog issue, it’s an entitlement issue from people.

Took my dogs up the hills near us, dogs had to be on leads. Sign saying that there were nesting birds in the grasses and the wild ponies were around. Every other dogs were on leads. Wouldn't take them into town too many people around. They prefer to stay at home.

Because they cost £2k! That’s like leaving your keys in the car to be stolen!

Agree with this. I can’t stand Entitled Dog Owners and the last place a dog belongs is in the Homeware section of John Lewis, where I have seen one but this descriptor was out of order

It could be argued that the frequency of these threads is a good yardstick for how big a problem it’s becoming… but it’s definitely more appropriate to yawn emoji someone and add nothing useful or thought provoking to the discussion.

I love dogs and volunteer in a dog friendly establishment but I totally agree with you OP. My (popular, busy) neighbourhood is overwhelmingly ‘dog friendly’ which is touted as a positive thing but the reality is dog shit everywhere, inattentive owners trying to clothesline passers by on the pavements with long leads, dogs snapping at each other everywhere and frankly questionable hygiene standards in many of the cafes and food establishments that allow them in. It’s tiresome. I love seeing dogs in the parks where they look happy. Most that come into our store look stressed