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.

Where I live it is like a family is not complete unless they have the obligatory dog. The shortsighted owners seem to forget that they need to work, bring up the children, and all the rest that comes with running a household. Then they wonder why they are knackered. But bringing a dog into all of that seems to make perfect sense to them. I don't care about that, it is not my problem. I care about the amount of dog mess, and dogs that are around as I go about my business.

Yep, I grew up in the 80s. Our dog was let out most days and came back for tea. We would often see lots of dogs out and about (a lot of shagging too... I think our dog must have sired hundreds of puppies over the years).

He was brought up on table scraps, including cooked bones. He was not neutered, wormed or vaccinated. The only time he met a vet was when one came to the house to send him over the bridge after his legs went (at the grand age of 15).

@YeOldeGreyhound remember white dog poo? I couldn't understand why you never see it anymore. I realised it's probably because dogs are better fed/treated now.

I think the white poo was to do with calcium/bone content. Dogs fed bones had white poo.
I did see a white poo earlier this year. Was a blast from the past.

I was in a cafe recently and the dog owner put her dog on the seat next to her and then got some napkins and was about to put food for her dog to eat off on the table. Someone said something to one of the staff about it not being very hygienic so she stopped. I swear to god people are treating their dogs like children and it is quite revolting in a food setting. I’ve also seen dogs in supermarkets. Not service dogs but just someone bringing their pet in. Just leave the bloody dog at home ffs.

@autienotnaughty @YeOldeGreyhound My dogs are fed a raw diet. Their poop is white due to the bone content. Much easier to pick up & doesn't stink.

Nope. Dogs are magic. Some owners however should simply NEVER have a pet rock, never mind a dog. A dog is not a toy, or a phase, it’s a living being that takes time, training, attention, medical care and money. If you cannot provide those things, don’t get a dog because you get out what you put in.
I have more dogs than I would probably chose to because I struggle to stay “no” to yet another dog that has been let down by a shitty owner and needs a home. I love them all wholeheartedly though, they are the best thing in my life and yes, I take some of them to cafes/pubs/restaurants. Not all of them, because some of them wouldn’t enjoy it, but the ones that do and behave well in public? Then yes I take them to places they are allowed. Why wouldn’t I? They bother no one, they sit happily under the table, usually eating from the doggy menu that the restaurant provides, you wouldn’t know they were there. They love a good long walk, they do not approach other people or dogs, they all have excellent recall (except one, who is a tiny asshole so he is on the lead forever and wears the worlds smallest muzzle) and they all heel perfectly, because I’ve trained them that way.
Dogs are some of the most loving and loyal creatures on the planet. Personally, I cannot imagine a life without them.

If you are so disgusted by dogs, then what is the difference between a service dog in a supermarket, and a pet dog in a supermarket?

And I have seen more people change nappies on a table in Costa than I have seen a dog in a seat in a cafe.

Why post on a thread dead since July?

^ This andI grew up on farms in the 70s dogs were treated like dogs. They rarely came into the house sleeping at night in barns or maybe the boot room in extreme cold weather. They were busy most of the time either working or amusing themselves, on market day they were often left alone all day they were happy not over weight and lived long lives when they got old they might move into the kitchen and lay by the Rayburn. No dogs were endlessly defleed or wormed monthly many weren’t vaccinated and none had complicated and expensive veterinary treatment it wasn’t available! You also never saw separation anxiety or reactive dogs. School friends who had dogs in more urban settings had working parents their dogs were left and also seemed to survive the words “fur babies” didn’t exist their owners believed they were in charge and told the dog what to do, no one took their dog for a “sniffy walk” they just walked then or felt their dog needed brain games again I don’t remember separation anxiety or reactivity and I pretty sure biting wasn’t tolerated a biting dog regardless of the reason in either settings was put down no questions asked. Dogs definitely didn’t sleep in bed in fact elderly ladies who “over indulged” their dogs anthropomorphising them feeding them biscuits etc were the butt of a joke.
Dog behaviourist didn’t exist.

Why are people importing Romanian mongrels - don't they realise Romanians make a killing breeding them and flogging them to the rest of gullible Europe, they aren't strays they are bred, NCA reckon gangs are involved - it's as lucrative as drugs apparently

Agree - especially importing them from overseas.

Dear God. I know a lot of dog owners can't smell their own dogs' smell, but are there really owners who think their dog's shit doesn't stink?

I can tell you right now that your dog's shit stinks. Because it's carnivorous animal shit. The shit of wild carnivorous animals stinks, so "raw food diet" is not going to remove that smell!

What got up your nose 😆

It doesn't stink. By no means does it smell nice. I don't use it as pot pourri or perfume or anything but picking it up doesn't make you retch or heave.
Dunno, maybe I have a hardened stomach to that sort of thing? Suctioning vomit out of a guy's nose at 4am, having been at work since 8am the previous morning, in an attempt to maintain his airway kinda gives you a perspective on stink? He definitely stank, he'd drank every available substance he could get his hands on.
Picking up dog poop, no problem 🤷‍♀️

Agreed. I have written a poem to express how I feel about the number of dogs in the UK at the moment:

Dogs.
No.
Dogs.
No.
Dogs.
No.
Sod off!

Dogs.
No.
Dogs.
No.
All
dogs
Bum off.

When the tide is low in the smuggler's cove
And the headless horseman's seen above
As he rides along with his wild 'hello' -
That's the time when the smugglers come and ride in their schooners and rafts and smuggle the whiskey and gin and place them into the smugglers caves and tell the dogs to all BUM OFF!

A dog’s faeces doesn’t smell any more than human faeces. As a responsible dog owner, I always pick up but the truth is, I rarely even get a whiff of it. You bend down with your bag ready, hold your breath and then scoop it up. All done without any drama.

I really fail to see what your point is.