Dog ate my picnic

Yes it’s very disgusting and selfish - can you imagine the poor cleaners, it’s hard enough having to clean after humans never mind adding this into the mix. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-64566448.amp

Many people warned this sort of thing would happen before the trial went ahead and were speaking against it on social media, but I guess the management were set on trying it out.

At least they had the sense to pull it when they realised the “naysayers” (many of them dog owners themselves) had been correct.

This makes no sense.

Nowadays these dogs are “exposed to those things” and still - look at the behaviour of many of them. They may have been banned from this specific shopping centre in Glasgow, but I see them in many other shopping malls, bookstores, restaurants, public transport etc the list goes on…

I grew up in the 90s and many people in my neighbourhood had chilled out well behaved dogs that didn’t invade places designed for humans such as shopping centres, libraries and restaurants. They didn’t need to be trained to be in these spaces, because most sensible people recognised they shouldn’t be there. For the sake of both the dogs and humans.

They got to sit at home with familiar faces and play in fields and walk around their neighbourhood and relax in their garden, which the dogs probably enjoyed more than going shopping with their owners for makeup and clothes.

many of the more dogs - particularly “lockdown dogs” - go to all these places I’ve listed above. You claim these spaces are an opportunity “to teach” them and yet they seem far more anxious, highly strung “reactive” and badly behaved.

I have seen people let their dogs run up to random people including me in public spaces and behave badly so no, the mere act of taking your dog in these spaces doesn’t automatically teach them how to behave. The owners need to actively train them and many are not.

And it’s not really acceptable to use public spaces as an opportunity to “teach your dog” if it negatively impacts people in the process such as having to dodge poo in shopping centres or as in the catch of OP having your picnic ruined.

And it’s all very well saying it’s the owners fault because yes of course it is, but the point is many of these owners exist and inflict their chaos on everyone. It not being the dogs fault doesn’t really help much.

We need more dog free spaces and many dog owners and dog lovers agree with this too. Not everyone needs to drag their dog around everywhere with them.

Exactly. Or in today’s world she probably has a banking or money app like monzo or PayPal for easy money transfers.

With PayPal you just need to give them your email address, so you don’t even need to share bank details.

How do you stop dogs and what does that even mean? Or crack down on them? Or heavily restrict them?

You do realise that the context of dog ownership in the UK is one where successive governments haven't even got up off their arse to have compulsory registration.

dogs are a menace and need to be stopped or at least cracked down on and heavily restricted.

Sounds like the dog is going to be really ill and probably die as the owner will be unaware it ate grapes.

Allowing your dog to eat other people food and not control them can be lethal

You need to open your eyes and look around you. So many younger people do it, it's utterly commonplace.

Er...because she did. Presumably afraid. Shar-peis are medium-sized chunky dogs. I've found them consistently challenging to other dogs, though ones I've encountered indoors have been nice enough. They tend to charge up their objective.

Op you did nothing wrong.

it’s the owner’s problem if the animal ate what it shouldn’t. You were happily in the park enjoying a picnic with your son.

The dog is not your responsibility. Tough luck for the owner

"ran in a panic and stood behind a tree"

😂 😂 😂 😂

Even small dogs can be aggressive and bite. And not all dangerous dogs look dangerous. I was bitten by a very friendly looking dog off a leash who just jumped up and bit my arm. Luckily, it only ripped my thick coat and didn't break my skin but I was shocked. When its owner appeared from round a bend in the path (with three other dogs) and I told her what had happened, she just said that she hadn't known I was there. We were on a public footpath in a popular area so I don't know why she thought it was ok to let her dog loose.

This is fudging the issue and blame-shifting.

Are you suggesting that by staying with the picnic, the OP might have deterred the dog? That’s not my experience of dog behaviour around food. Little deters them.

What does tend to work, is their shitty owners putting them on a lead.

Even if OP could have changed her behaviour to deter the dog, why should she have to do that? They’ll always be someone along to tell her she’s getting it wrong. No-one should have to second guess canine behaviour. It’s up to the owners to keep them under control.

Don't be rediculous. The owner is required to keep her dog under control and that includes eating something which may poison it. Had the dog been under control, it wouldn't have eaten the picnic. No blame can be associated with the OP, nothing to do with her, totally the owners fault.

It’s not the dog’s fault! Jeez - why the hate for dogs?! This whole thing is a stupid mountain out of a molehill

Oh a good note if the dog ate the chocolate the owner will be paying a hefty vet bill because it will have most likely made the greedy little shit rather unwell

The dog was supposed to be on a lead!

Rubbish - most owners have no control over their dogs off the lead, they don’t bother training either.
Owners and their dogs can be a nightmare - suspect you’re one of them.

The dog should have been on a lead!

So your friend has another out of control, off lead dog then?

No it wasn't.

What on earth? I hope you are being sarcastic!

What a ridiculous overreaction. Dogs are just scavengers and opportunists. Yes ideally the dog should have been under better control but some times mistakes happen. I also agree the owner could have been more apologetic but really the hysteria about a dog coming over is just ridiculous- if you’d have just sat there and covered the food it would have gone away. It’s very very unlikely that the dog would have been out to attack anyone and if it was its body language would have been a lot more aggressive. Maybe if you’re that terrified, go for a picnic somewhere that doesn’t allow dogs - there are many such parks and playgrounds!

You should pay the vets bill if the poor dog is taken ill because you left dangerous food lying around. Really irresponsible of you OP

@Gardeninrags the owner can pay the bill herself for not being on control of her dog. That’s what she gets for being a bad owner.

Anyone else read this whole thread just to see if the dog lived?

🤣🤣🤣🤣