Fed up of other peoples dogs complicating my life.

[CrystalE]

I don't mind dogs. We don't have them because of environmental concerns - we have vegetarian pets.

However recently I am fed up as trying to arrange to meet various family members seems to be totally constrained by their dogs . Here are examples:

Lets meet up for a pub lunch - family member A - "are dogs allowed"
Lets go for a country walk - family member B "can it be dog friendly"
How about a beach visit - family member C - "will dog have to be on lead"

I want to see family - not their dogs. Why can't the dogs just stay at home ...............

We love our pets but we don't want to take them everywhere with us.

Mine starts to smell doggy after about a fortnight.

@FrangipaniDeLaSqueegeeMop

Of course your animal smells!! Do you think your dog is the exception 🤣🤣 no polite person is gonna tell you your house stinks, and a quarterly groom won't take away the whiff that dogs naturally bring.

It's not a failing that it smells you know, no one is judging you, but your dog will smell the same as every other dog

This! Who is going to say “God your house stinks! “ 😂😂😂

Growing up we always had two dogs at any one time, most well behaved dogs I've ever known (I've often told my mum she should be a dog trainer by profession as she's a natural and so quick at whipping them into shape) but even they smelled. It's not a bad thing. Or an indication that you've failed. But you're seriously deluded if you have any animals and think they don't smell

@Maharajah20 exactly!!

My friend has got a lab last year and made me promise to tell her if her house starts to smell. It absolutely stinks. I don't tell her this though because it's still so rude - I just say "a little bit but nothing a wax burner wouldn't cover" (which is true BTW wax melts are fantastic)

@FrangipaniDeLaSqueegeeMop

All dogs do smell 😂 if you think yours doesn't you are nose blind.

The two I mentioned aren’t my dogs! I’ve never owned a dog. Most do smell but some breeds are far worse than others.

[quote FrangipaniDeLaSqueegeeMop]@Maharajah20 exactly!!

My friend has got a lab last year and made me promise to tell her if her house starts to smell. It absolutely stinks. I don't tell her this though because it's still so rude - I just say "a little bit but nothing a wax burner wouldn't cover" (which is true BTW wax melts are fantastic)[/quote]
Labs do absolutely stink I agree. Have to say labs are really not my thing generally, no idea why they’re such a popular breed!

@SlipperyDippery same here - as far as I can see they're smelly, jumpy and needy.

I far prefer a smaller breed (not so small that I can't see it though and nearly step on it - looking at you chiahuauas 🤣)

I don't have a dog because, frankly, I CBA. I do really like hanging out with other people's dogs though 😁

Jeez op what’s the big deal. Meet them or don’t meet them 🤷‍♀️

Fun sponge central

@Mishuckliza

Blimey I’m surprised you’ve got any friends at all!

You haven't RTFT, have you? The OP is finding quite a lot of people agreeing with her, on here; some who disagree, but only a few like yourself who cannot conceptualise that anyone might think differently to yourself.

They like their dogs more than they like you OP. Sorry.

If someone invited me on a walk it would be strange not to take my dog. I'd just get home and have to go on another walk with my dog....

A)
Ask them to organise the place and do the leg work to make sure it's dog friendly
B) do activities that aren't dog friendly e.g. evening meal, bar, coffee shop, your house
C) do whatever you want, provide details and they can come or not

I've been around far more untrained, naughty children than dogs!! And they can't just be given a bone and hidden under the table

@thisplaceisweird

I've been around far more untrained, naughty children than dogs!! And they can't just be given a bone and hidden under the table

Children don't get 'trained' - like you they are humans, and having the dog is not the same as having a human child.

They can also communicate with words and aren't held back by leads and have more freedom than animals so it probably seems like they're more 'untrained' when in actual fact they're just being normal whereby dogs are essentially enslaved

I couldn't be bothered to RTFT but just wanted to say the livestock excuse is thin- you absolutely can go through field with a public right of way, with livestock, with dogs AS LONG AS THEY ARE ON A LEAD. That's not news, or difficult. And then that takes away the worry of being shot by the farmer as well.

YANBU for not liking dogs but YABU for making up crappy excuses for why they would the the ruin of a walk in the countryside.

A well trained dog isn’t a bother to anyone. My lab is beautifully behaved and I can take him anywhere. He’s even been on holiday with us twice. We’re very outdoorsy people who love a good walk and he fits in with us brilliantly. Most pubs are accepting of dogs even if you have to sit in the conservatory or the bar which is absolutely fine, I don’t care where I sit as long as I get fed. You wouldn’t know my dog was there, he’ll be laying quietly under our table not getting drunk or shouting or arguing or being loud and annoying like some people. I don’t care if my house smells of dog, most of my friends and family are also animal lovers. He can be left perfectly happily for a few hours, he’s perfectly able to manage if I have to go out. Everybody that meets him makes an enormous fuss of him because he’s just a lovely dog. But then I’m a responsible owner that’s taken the time to train him correctly. I wouldn’t accept a bad mannered dog being forced on me and I’d be telling the owners why.

You sound utterly joyless and your excuses about not wanting to see family with their beloved dogs are frankly pathetic. You clearly hate dogs, just be honest about it. No one who ‘doesn’t mind dogs’ would bitch about them as much as you. If your family’s love for their dogs is anything like mine, of course they want to spend as much time as they can with them

And to the rest of the dog haters:

My dogs don’t smell AT ALL, neither does my house. Your kids are undoubtedly smellier than my dogs!

My dogs are better behaved than 80% of the kids I come across (and cuter )

Pubs/beaches - not always dog friendly. Many beaches have a dog ban in the summer and even if pubs allow dogs sometimes the dog gets a bit stressed with people bothering it/treading on tail etc.

But you suggested a country walk and we’re surprised the invitee wanted to bring their dog? Bizarre!

@HowToBringABlushToTheSnow

My dogs don’t smell AT ALL, neither does my house. Your kids are undoubtedly smellier than my dogs!

It will. You just won't noticed S there's nothing wrong with having dogs and a house that smells though, it to dent it is deluded.

And I'm not a "dog hater". Hate takes a great deal of passion and I just don't have passion for dogs - I'm either terrified of them or utterly indifferent. "Not liking" dogs doesn't mean hating them - and so what if people do hate dogs anyway? Rather that than people here who clearly hate humans

@IrmaFayLear every single beach that bans dogs I've ever been on has owners walking dogs on them anyway. And if you say "dogs aren't allowed on this beach" they nearly have a coronary at the thought of not bending the rules for their fur baby

Any house with a dog will smell of dog.

The people who live in the house will stop noticing the dog smell because it’s what they know. They’re so used to it, it’s their normal.

It’s exactly the same principle as people who have BO not realising that they smell - they are so accustomed to it that they don’t realise how they smell to everyone else.

We had a lab and he was gorgeous but yes, our house smelled of dog!

I genuinely like dogs btw and am in no way a ‘dog hater’ - would never have one myself but I really enjoy going for walks with (sensible) dog owning friends who bring their (well trained) dogs along. Most of my friends have dogs who have beautiful natures and they are a pleasure to be around. (A few others have dogs who are not well trained and I avoid spending time with them).

I do think that most dogs are lovely and most dog owners sensible but unfortunately there are a significant minority of dog owners who are bat shit bonkers about their ‘fur babies’ and cannot understand why everyone doesn’t adore them. And funnily enough, the bat shit bonkers owners are generally the ones who don’t train their dogs properly either.

I'm with you OP, I hate dogs, I have all my life. My older brother (who I hadn't wanted to invite anyway but was forced to by my mother) turned up at my formal wedding in dirty jeans and sweatshirt...and his dog.

Final straw for me. That was 19 years ago and I've not seen him (or the fucking dog) since.

Oh and used said mutt as an excuse to leave after an hour. He was the only family member at my wedding (there's only 4 of us and my younger brother and mother live on the other side of the world and couldn't afford to attend) so he managed to completely embarrass me in front of my ILs (first and only time they met him).

What is it with the whole dogs at weddings thing?! I've seen one bride being pulled walked down the aisle by her dog, and another couple I know had their wedding pictures all over social media, 99% of which were the two of them holding their dog and gazing into each other's eyes/cuddling the dog/running with the dog etc. Which is fine except she has a son from a previous marriage who was in a grand total of 1 picture alone with them, standing at the side as they both cooed over their dog

I was talking about this with my mother just last week, and she told me that apparently him and his wife take their dogs (more than one now) EVERYWHERE...whether the fucking things are invited or not. They also never dress up for occasions, either, apparently...

@AlmostSummer21

Why on Earth would you expect someone with a dog, to go out for the day on a walk, without their dog?

It's a walk, not afternoon tea at a swanky hotel.

Personally I'd rather meet up with my brothers dog, than my brother

This. All of this.