There are far too many dogs in the UK

[habibihabibi]

I am a huge dog lover but dog ownership is out of hand.
Growing up, dogs were the exception rather than the norm.

In the past dogs were..
Working dogs and nippy little raters,
on farms or in the countryside where they could be active throughout the day.
Or
In town or city houses, the odd mid sized low energy doggies with at least one adult at home e.g parent or retired person and a garden.
Or
If in small cottages or flats, small dogs.

People who didn't have time for dogs didn't have one.

They thought long and hard about whether they could afford, exercise and had the lifestyle for a dog and not pick one up off Gumtree..

They did not leave dogs alone for hours getting bored, lonely and aggrevated.

They did not have to sub out dog walking to someone who has so many dogs to exercise that one or more maul her to death.

They did not get a dog if they couldn't afford it because they are costly and time consuming.

They trained their dog using a book or going to kennel clubs.

Shelters housed lost dogs ( whose owners came and got them) and poor dogs whose owners had died or went into care not dogs that people couldn't be bothered looking after anymore.

Yes, definitely.

There are too many owned by unsuitable owners.

The maddest thing, IMO, is importing dogs with problems from overseas.

The stats on dog bites/injuries/attacks are concerning.

100% disagree. Dogs are great. Love a bit of doggo therapy. Few things in life nicer than a happy dog.

Too much of on MN = Dog Haters.

People who didn't have time for dogs didn't have one.

You've hit the nail on the head with the problem these days. Far too many people wanting to enjoy a dog for an hour a day and not take proper responsibility the rest of the time. All part of the instant gratification, zero investment entitlement culture sadly.

Are there stats on this? Because where I grew up a lot of people had dogs 20-30 years ago, many poorly looked after, usually came from puppy farms, lots of breeding to sell at the pub. I actually think more people do think about taking a dog on now.

I agree. I wouldn't care if they weren't affecting others, but there are two here that are constantly barking. Cruel owners just leave them on their own. Not to mention people bring them to cafes, again fine if they were well behaved but there will always be one that barks or is aggressive. I hate it. And I like dogs.

The issue is there are an awfully high number of unhappy, reactive dogs.

100% agree OP. It seems to be considered a god given right now not only to have a dog but to take it everywhere, whether that is conducive to the dog’s welfare and happiness or not.

Yes, ownership is way higher.

Grew up with big dogs and absolutely adored them. As a teenager I could walk at night in a rough area because who is going to cross a German shepherd and it’s walker… so, I get dogs. I know the joys of dog ownership.

But there are now far too many not really good enough dog owners. I think the expansion of all the doggy daycare services (that were never a thing when I was a kid) means that dog ownership is now accessible to a wider variety of homes, but it doesn’t really mean they’ve got time for them.

I do wonder where OP grew up. We had a medium sized normal rescue. But I knew one girl with a very mean German shepherd who we were all scared of. And a bloke with two rotties on chains he used to yank about. There were scary dogs. And bored dogs. Someone else had a neurotic collie they had no time for. Never walked.

Saaf Laandon innit. And that was decades ago.

I am the opposite of a dog hater lljkk but have only owned them when I could fully afford and commit to the time they require.
Grew up on farm with many dogs but on the rare occasion the whole family went away, someone working on the farm looked after in situ.
Uni - no dog
Working long hours and living in central London - no dog
Mother with kids and living abroad with many relocations - small easily flown breed, dog friendly accommodation with garden, regular live in dog sitter when travelling.

I think this might be a bit rose tinted.

I'm 42 and remember campaigns trying to stop/reduce latch key dogs - dogs let out during the working day to roam at will.

There were less dogs but I don't think it's true to say they were not left alone (they were) or that people never got them if they didn't have time. There were no dog walkers, true, but that's because the dog were just not walked or were let out to walk themselves.

Your past is different to mine. When I was a child 30 plus years ago, there were lots of dogs on our estate. Big yellow dogs, Rottweilers, German shepherds. Many were let out to roam and poo. Many were kept in small gardens all day with multiple dogs, barking constantly. Many were bred, so there were always puppies for sale and kids getting puppies for Christmas. There may be too many dogs about now, but the past wasn’t a golden era of responsible dog ownership.

Thinking about it further - the old 'puppies drowned in a bag with a brick' was also still a thing when I was a kid. I remember appeals from the RSPCA not to deal with unwanted puppies that way.

I own a breed of dog known for being a people loving ‘Velcro’ dog. I’m at home 99% of the time and when I’m out it’s either with the dog or for a couple of hours max. There’s a FB group for the breed I’m on where someone asked if they could be left 8 hours a day every day. Why would you bloody want a dog if that’s what you were going to do? Why not volunteer to walk a neighbour’s dog?

I agree that there are a lot of reactive dogs around and I don’t know if it’s social media highlighting it or if the number is actually increasing. My dog is the friendliest, most bumbling dog

Of course welfare is a huge concern but overall I think dogs are a Good Thing in humans’ lives. Tbh it does sound like you don’t like dogs or people very much. Of course you can focus on the upsetting injuries or attacks but dogs also do a huge unquantifiable amount of good for people’s mental and physical health. Everyone I know with a dog has treated it as a huge decision so I don’t recognise the gumtree thing but maybe I just don’t know twats.

also I just don’t get being against rescuing animals from terrible suffering overseas? You’ve completely lost me there.

Pressed go too soon, forgot what I was going to say 😂

Yes, maybe OP means more middle class people now have more dogs?

The scary German shepherd was a staple of our street. Then the staffie craze.

www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56362987.amp

Pet ownership has increased and deaths from dog attacks are sharply rising. I agree that dog ownership should be discouraged.

I agree, nothing is better than a happy dog. This is OP's point - we are seeing an increasing number of unhappy dogs due to poor ownership and inappropriate living situations.

Definitely rose tinted. Dogs roamed. People got bitten. People had scary dogs- there was a GSD and a massive Airedale on our estate we were all terrified of- they kept the Airedale chained up and we couldn’t get past it to play.

there was a lurcher that roamed that would kill cats, birds, whatever it could find. It nearly killed our dog too. It was only when it killed the owners cat and chickens they put it down.

we got our dog off a man in a pub who was saying he’d shoot it if no one wanted it.

friends got their dog from a puppy farm. Been kept caged all it’s life.

there were more Sahm’s so I suppose fewer left alone, but I remember letting out dog out in the am and it came back when it came back.

dog shit everywhere.

less cats. I definitely remember cats being an unusual pet and more had dogs.

middle class suburbia.

Just because it interested me enough to go and find it.

Looks like Covid played a big role more recently...

Growing up on estate in the 70s, dogs were turned out in the morning, and they went home in the evening.

Dogs were fed scraps. They didn't bother anyone, just entertained themselves.
My DGM looked after a dog for her employer. She usually sent back the dog food that had been sent as unnecessary. She was walked on lead but had no training as such.

Roll forward to now, my dog is insured, walked on lead, I spend a fortune on dog training, hiring dog fields, taking my dog out for enrichment activities.

In fact, pet ownership seems to mirror parenting at times.
70s, we roamed, largely unsupervised, extracurricular activities were few and far between no helicopter parenting. Now kids are supervised constantly.

I also grew up in South London in the 1970's.
People used to open their front doors and let their dogs out to exercise themselves.The estate next to our house was full of roaming dogs in packs, which were very scary. Dogs were never neutered and puppies were common place ..As was drowning unwanted puppies or kittens in buckets. You'd see run over, dead dogs in the road. Dogs fighting in the streets was common.

German Shepherds were the status dog iof the day. I don't ever recall any of the XL bully type dogs we see today.

This was all despite dog licenses existing.

I think this died out in my part of South London in the early mid 90's.
I never see dogs walking themselves now.

Dogs as a whole are far better treated and trained now.

However, what we need is far better controls and laws for dog breeders. Puppy farmers, puppies brought in from other countries need to be stopped and only heavily regulated breeding with extremely high care standards brought in by the government as law. Regular inspections carried out and far greater powers to remove and close down unacceptable breeders.

I also saw on another thread that in another country anyone wanting to own a XL bully type dog or similar had to register it with the police and justify why they needed that type of dog. I think this would be a good thing, however you always get a subset of people who will go underground for a status dog.