What is it with posh people & dogs..? And

[Zuchon]

In our village (2 hours from London) the very posh who work in London during the week have multiple dogs... All similar breeds... Gundogs, Jack Russell's etc who also live in London with the family during the week... All the dogs have similar sounding names... Is it just me whose noticed this? All the upper middle to landed gentry types have at least 2 dogs... Is it similar in your area?

I did buy our ruff, tuff, terrier diamante collars for their trips to the shops and country store. My way of saying, "Fuck off" to judgy fuckers. The Bulldog has a manly reflective harness!

We’re very posh. Our cats are even posher, certainly superior to dogs

It’s one of those weird things posh people do so they can recognise each other. They have rules about everything. Round here everyone seems to have XL Bullies

It's definitely tribal. We used in live in Bath and the parks were overrun by cockerpoos. They seemed to be the middle class persons dog of choice. Walk into a park with a staff or a bully x though, and they would glare at you and gather their children and dogs closer. But anyone with a cockerpoo, kitted out in head to foot Barbour to walk through a city, was greeted with smiles and "how old is your dog?"

Sounds like the town 8 miles from us... My Shih tzu is right at home there, we meet other shih Tzus & he loves playing with all the cavachons & poo breeds... Amazing to think our village is literally gun dogs only & Jack Russell's, I honestly feel uncomfortable... DH & the DC don't give a shit, all the Dcs friends love our boy as he worships children so they don't care that he's one of a kind here...

I have been taking the pias so far OP but this one is actually serious - what on earth do you feel uncomfortable about? Are they pointing and staring and your dog? Are they shouting "its a mop" at it? Why do you need other people in your area to have a similar taste in dogs to you? What does it matter?

I honestly don't get why you give a shit.

It's not that I feel uncomfortable, I love walking my boy, on a waiting list for another one! I just feel they look down on him compared to walking him in the nearby town where there's loads of his type... If anyone of the gundogs come over to him to say hi very quickly the owners shout "Buttons over here old boy" 🙄 if my boy was a cocker old Buttons would be allowed have a good sniff...

Your words in your previous post were "I honestly feel uncomfortable". So which is it?

@SirSamuelVimes

Your words in your previous post were "I honestly feel uncomfortable". So which is it?

I slightly exageratted there apologies... It would be nice if they were more welcoming to my boy, he loves the woods, getting muddy (not so much the bath & combing afterwards!), he's so clever & even when their dogs come over they're not allowed mix as they clearly don't consider him a worthy playmate...

I think you are taking this waaaaay too personally OP. Your dog is tiny, theirs are huge in comparison. They are probably being responsible owners by not letting their lump of a lab or bouncy madman of a spaniel knock it flying. I think you need to let this go, really. It's not that you and your dog have failed to gain entrance to a secret upper middle class dog fraternity.

when their dogs come over they're not allowed mix as they clearly don't consider him a worthy playmate...

In my experience, when my dogs (labs) approach lap dogs for a play, I get yelled at by the owners that my dogs are too big/rough/dangerous

So I save myself the problem and keep them away from any dog that looks like it is a surrogate child
Giveaways include if it’s wearing a stupid coat or has a stupid haircut

It’s not a snobbish thing, it’s a these-owners-don’t-usually-like-their-dogs-playing thing

I don’t have a ‘small dogs aren’t real dogs’ thing - my old spaniel had a chihuahua-JRT x as a mate and that little bugger held his own just fine. However, I would be wary of letting my lab play with a very small dog as he’s only a puppy and is not always fully in control of all his limbs plus is learning the rules of playing together, yet weighs probably more than a tiny dog would already… he could hurt them so easily and I don’t want that.

I slightly exageratted there apologies... It would be nice if they were more welcoming to my boy, he loves the woods, getting muddy (not so much the bath & combing afterwards!), he's so clever & even when their dogs come over they're not allowed mix as they clearly don't consider him a worthy playmate...

I've got a Jack Russell, I'm a care assistant who lives in social housing....... Definitely not posh by any standards and the polar opposite by MN standards! I do live in the country side though, have had a long association with farms/horses and got this dog when two farmers meeting/helping each other out and taking their dogs resulted in puppies, they were free to good homes, only by word of mouth within the local horsey/farm community. So I've got her because of the dogs I've been exposed to basically, I know a fair few middle class people through horses and JRTs, spaniels, whippets and labs are common here because they're what's bred in these parts (on purpose or by accident!)
I wouldn't let my dog play with yours, clip her onto the lead at the first sign of someone else/other dogs. Not because I'm precious but because she's a little arsehole who gobs off and comes across 'well 'ard' until she knows another dog and despite her size she's robust and tenacious and could cause some damage, or could take on more than she can handle and get injured herself. She came from ratting stock, is excellent at pest control, but that's given her that tenacity and determination. She'll happily mix with dogs she's been introduced to carefully, but I'm just not risking it with dogs she doesn't know, I keep her out of the way/on the lead when we're around other people and dogs.

Totally understand that but getting back to my original point I wholeheartedly believe that there is a snobbery surrounding dog ownership & having the certain type of dog to fit the country lifestyle... I enjoy my life very much in the country with my Shih tzu

I’ve got a lab and a lab/spaniel cross. Totally working class but my family are mostly country folk and farm workers and these were the kind of dogs we grew up with.
The lab isn’t allowed to play with small dogs because she is ridiculously over enthusiastic and barks and body slams when playing. We only let her play with dogs that are able to deal with the stupid. Oh and they have dog/human names like Willow and Hazel. 🤣

@Zuchon

Totally understand that but getting back to my original point I wholeheartedly believe that there is a snobbery surrounding dog ownership & having the certain type of dog to fit the country lifestyle... I enjoy my life very much in the country with my Shih tzu

I think sadly, some people are snobby. But I also think some aren’t and just accidentally fall into a stereotype. I know I do 🥰

I have a cockapoo, I hadn’t Intended a cockapoo, wanted a dog for YEARS, didn’t actually care just wanted A DOG. Did a spreadsheet of things that were important to us (fitness, malting, kids etc etc etc), cockapoo won. I’m actually pissed off how popular they are as they weren’t when we decided.

I don’t think about it though, because I’m too busy trying to get her to listen to me instead of chase squirrels.

Ah cockapoos are fabulous, full of energy & personality... My boy loves bouncing around with the cockapoos in the town next to us!

I live in a council estate in the northwest, we have a beagle, she does look a bit out of place amongst all the staffies.