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.

I guess growing up in the countryside is a bit rose tinted but there are definitely more dogs everywhere and more dogs suffering, I think.
Not just the big scary dogs in estates. In our tenanted London terrace neighbour's on both sides have home alone dogs whimpering.
Middle class professionals who haven't children and wouldn't dare consider themselves negligent but have anxious pets being ignored.

I remember latchkey dogs in our estate.

We had a dog when I was a child but it was left all day from 8-4 with a flap in the garage to get out for the toilet. My parents were considered soft.

Yes. Let’s keep service dogs and working dogs and phase out the others.
Too many awful dog owners around.
The dog-worship in this country is so weird.

Yep. I grew up on a council estate and there were always dogs left to roam around unattended all day.

I do think more should be done to curb irresponsible breeders and owners though.

I'm 43 and when I was a kid there were puppies in pets shops that anyone could just walk in and buy.

My sister brought one home one day without any warning to my parents. She would have been about 16 and bought the dog in her school uniform. Dog lasted until she was about 3 and died of a heart condition. Not much different to Gumtree.

I think there are far too many dogs about that owners haven’t bothered to train.

There has been a massive increase in dog ownership in my small town but so many of the dogs are untrained - no recall, jumping up at strangers, stealing food from other peoples picnics etc.

The above isn’t the dogs fault, it’s the humans.

If all you're keeping is working dogs and service dogs, what's going to happen to the service and working dogs that don't make the grade? How are you going to stop dog breeding going underground?

My grandad (in his 80s) got a dog as security for his shop at some point when my dad (50s) was young I think, didn't work so her eventually took the dog out to some fields and let it go! And then was IN London!!!

There have always been crap owners, but yeah there are probably more now

I don’t know the details. I would never support dog cruelty btw. None of this is their fault. Dogs didn’t ask to be domesticated and become the playthings of the human population.

And of course it will never happen. Dog ownership will continue to increase.

And people will continue to let their dogs steal kids’ balls, ruin others’ picnics, go up and nuzzle strangers’ bags and shoes in cafes, jump up at others in parks, poo everywhere, slobber over people who don’t like dogs, all with the maddening refrain, ‘he won’t bite/he is just being friendly’.

I hold zero hope that dogs and their dreadful owners will ever disappear, don’t worry!

I completely agree OP. I live in London in an area where almost everyone lives in a flat and even where there are houses they don’t have gardens. This doesn’t seem to put anyone off owning a dog. The pavements are permanently covered in poo and the walk to school/work/shops is like running the gauntlet. Most of these dogs are shut at home by themselves for hours every day and when they are walked it’s just around the block.

It also used to be the case that people living in small accommodation got small dogs but there are some massive dogs living in tiny flats.

The numbers of dogs has been rapidly increasing for the past few years but during Covid it went completely crazy. I have friends who never liked and would never have considered getting a dog rushing out to buy daschunds. They never buy a dog that suits their lifestyle, rather whichever dog happens to be in fashion regardless of how unsuitable. Fortunately the craze for pugs seems to have passed and I wish I could say it was because people started to realise how cruel it was to breed such deformed breeds but that’s definitely not the reason.

Totally agree. I grew up with dogs but they were trained and there was someone at home with them a lot of the day. A dog ran up to me in the park recently and was leaping up and biting me - the owner said playfully - but he had no control of it. If I had not had a thick coat on or been a child I would have been in trouble.

Where I live in London there are lots of people with large bully xl dogs that are clearly untrained and straining on their leads - very concerning. I cross the road when I see one. I also saw a young guy on a train recently with a puppy bully xl which was gnawing the seat - he had no control of it, and I just felt the dog deserved more.

I'd like to see the return of pet licenses.

I'm in Northern Ireland. There are still dog licences here. £5 per year if neutered and £12 if not.

If you don’t have a garden, don’t get a dog!

too few people realise that the only reason their dog exists is due to their decision to get one. Their decision. They can decide to get a dog, but they cannot let that decision of theirs impact negatively the lives of other members of the public. Don’t let it off the lead in public. Let other members of the public avoid you’d dog if they want to. You have no right to let your decision impact the lives of others.

too few people realise that the only reason their dog exists is due to their decision to get one

My dog was a rescue. He existed anyway before I got him.

I am not sure it was quite the picture painted by the OP. I agree though that there are far too many people who have dogs who do not have the space in their property for them, and do not have the inclination or time to give them the care they need. Some also have what I think is the wrong breed for their house or them.

Perhaps too much having a dog (or other domestic pet) is seen almost as a right, instead of a happy privilege.

Doggy day care is not the problem here and nor does it mean the owners using it don't have time for s dog, that's like saying people that make use of child care facilities don't have time for children and shouldn't have them. We use doggy day care 3 times a week so our boy is not left home alone. He gets socialisation with dogs and people, ongoing training and is a better dog for it.

One thing I have seen and I don’t know how widespread it is , is someone being pressured by a small rescue , to take a dog that the potential rescuer wasn’t sure they could deal with. I wonder if this type of behaviour by a few rescues is contributing to issues with dogs?

I would love to know when and where this idyllic dog ownership state existed. I am 65 years old and I have never seen any of it.

When I was a child people left their dogs in the yards or to roam the streets, dogs mated and bred indescriminately, and many many household had at least one dog. If there was someone in during the day that did not mean the dog got training, attention or anything else - it was usually the case that it was the woman, at home because there were no nurseries or others to look after the children.

My parents were the only people who actually had a dog licence.

The UK does not in principle have "too many dogs" (I'd love to know what you think "enough" or "the right number is") - it has a minority of people who are irresponsible owners. It is those people that need to be changed.

But I do agree with some of the sentiment here. The rise in dog-walkers, for example (and my friend is one) is worrying because when I was growing up what I was taught that with your dog comes responsibility - for training, feeding, attention and walking. If the one thing you ought to know about a dog is missing - that it needs walking - isn't obvious, then we are in serious trouble! Looking at my friends walkees, not one of them has been socialised, many are entirely untrained, and some of them aren't even walked daily. And you need to bear in mind that people who can afford dog-walkers are not the "bully boys" or the type of owner often typified in these threads.

And many dog walkers have no insurance, no relevant skills, and walk far more dogs than they can control at one time.

What needs to be addressed is the people who are irresponsible.

I remember the dog packs in Wales roaming all day I remember my grandad acquiring another dog that just came home with his dogs but in England not so much in our area it wasn't the norm to have dogs we had two they were rarely walked in the week only at weekends because both my parents worked

Same street these days its full of dogs

yes I agree. I wish I could go to the park or for a nice walk without some random smelly dog running up to me and my toddler and without numerous encounters with shit. I’m scared of all
these dogs off lead.

They should be strictly licensed and the majority culled. Unbearable creatures - shitting everywhere and being a nuisance.

I’d love to see your data, too.

This PDSA data shows that dog ownership
has increased but not enormously.

My anecdata is that when I was growing up in the 70s/80s people never trained their dogs, or even really walked them. I think dog owners are - broadly - far more concerned for their dogs behaviour and contentment today than when I was growing up.

I'm not sure people were necessarily more responsible in the past.

Back in the 80s as a kid I remember the annual "a dog is for life, not just for Christmas" and appeals from dog shelters in January after they had an influx of new dogs. (I still can't believe that people would ever think a dog was a suitable Christmas present!)

I also remember the local Council estate near us had packs of feral dogs marauding the estate that either had been abandoned, or were let out by owners during the day whilst they were at work to roam the streets. The Council even had a full-time dog catcher!

So yes, people are very irresponsible now... But people were very irresponsible in the past too, if anything, more so!

@RambamThankyouMam

They should be strictly licensed and the majority culled. Unbearable creatures - shitting everywhere and being a nuisance.

I completely agree with you. They’re awful for the environment too.