Dog on the beach

[Redebs]

So I'm here on the beach with two small grandchildren. Just about to sit on the only dry rock (I really NEEDED to sit down) when a smallish dog runs up and tries to pee on it. Grandkids aren't happy with dogs running up to them and peeing on their shoes.

Owner nowhere in sight, although they must have just arrived at beach.

I tell the dog 'No! Off you go!" but it ignores me and carries on sniffing. Total disregard. It cocks a leg, so I take a hold of the collar and guide it away. I'm annoyed, but calm and gentle. It has sprayed over the rock and immediately runs to another part of it to spray again. I repeat, taking collar and pulling dog away. Dog is unconcerned about it and quite happy sniffing everything.

Owner comes up and starts being all passive aggressive. At first I thought he had come to retrieve his dog or apologise, but turns out he wants to accuse me of 'pulling his dog'. I was about to accept his apology, but then had to assure him I was appropriately gentle with his dog but I didn't want dog urine on the children.

He protested that it was a public beach ( presumably giving his dog freedom to pee on anyone) and it didn't look like I was gentle. I again assured him I was gentle and that I have had dogs myself. He replied that that didn't count for HIS dog.

While he was muttering away, his dog squatted and pooped amongst the rocks and I pointed to it and helpfully asked him if he had a bag. He said he did, because he was a RESPONSIBLE dog owner. I replied, 'Excellent!'

He went away complaining to anyone near that I had PULLED his dog and how totally unbelievable it was.

I suffer from extreme anxiety and depression, so I'm venting here to get it out of my system.

I held it together throughout. Dignified, calm, reasonable. Just feeling so angry now.

Bluddy ignorant man.

You wee-policed a dog?

It was a public beach and the dog had as much right to be there as you!

Was it trying to pee on your grandchildren’s shoes? Or just peeing on the rock?

If dogs are allowed on that particular beach, you can’t really complain about them peeing on it.

It’s different if it was trying to pee on people. In that case it should be on a lead.

Either way, grabbing any unknown dog by the collar is a bad idea. It could have panicked and bitten you.

I think it's pretty normal to not want a dog to piss on the thing you're sitting on. But I can see from the first two replies that this thread is about to give you a kicking. Best log off now, OP.

Why did you keep dragging the dog away from the rock after it had already pissed all over it? Was you still going to sit on the pee covered rock?

I think it’s perfectly fine that you guided the dog away from your family, but it strikes me that if the dog is that determined to pee on the rock, it was unlikely to have been the first.

If a dog tried to pee on my shoes or my kids I probably would of booted into the sea lol

The op seems to be making things up though. Dog peeing on rock- acceptable. Dog pissing all over her grandchildren-unacceptable and would surely have been the main focus of her thread if it had actually happened. And the op said herself she kept dragging the dog away when it had already done it, maybe she did get frustrated and a bit rough?

That was stupid - you knew nothing about the dog - what if it wasn't gentle itself and had not taken to being dragged around by a complete stranger and then bitten you. Frankly, you'd have had no one to blame but yourself.

Our dog is friendly and gentle but I've no idea how she'd take to being man handled by a stranger when she was half way through a wee because no one has ever been stupid enough to try.

Did the dog pee (or attempt to pee) over you or your grandchildren?

Dogs are restricted from most beaches during the summer, so I don't think it's unreasonable for the owner to led his dog run free on the beach when restrictions lift.

If he pee'd or attempted to pee over you or the GC, then of course you were right to lead him away and he owes you an apology. If he was simply peeing on the rock, then it was you who were being unreasonable.

The only unreasonable bit was this "helpfully asked him if he had a bag". You weren't being "helpful" you were being arsey.

Apart from that, you did nothing wrong.

Just to add - I'm not clear did dog actually wee on your grandchildren's shoes? If so I can understand you being unhappy and the owner should have been extremely apologetic

@Cloclo93 if you did that isn’t dog I’d return the favour ‘lol’

Of course you would 🙄

Why should anyone have to put up with a random dog peeing where you are sitting? Or on any part of you or your children? Just because dogs are allowed, doesn't mean they can just do whatever they want! Gently removing the dog from where you are seems perfectly reasonable to me.

But the OP wasn't sitting there.. she was just about to sit there. Must have been a pretty small beach for there to be only one dry rock,, there's frequently quite a few above the tide line

Good luck with this one🫡

FFS. This is AIBU all over. A woman tries to prevent a dog from pissing on her grandchildren and apparently she's the unreasonable one. You'd all be happy to let some random dog cock its leg up and piss all over your kid's shoes presumably? She said the dog was small and that she moved it along gently. Should she have just stood there and let it happen???

YANBU OP. Providing you were gentle with the dog then there was no harm done to it by leading it away a bit. The dog's owner should have apologised to you.

Oh goodie, today’s “I hate dogs” thread.

This topic should actually have its own board

The dog shouldn’t have been out of his sight and when he saw it approach you and the children he should have recalled it or distracted it by throwing a ball or equivalent.

It’s okay for dogs to be off-lead on beaches when local bye-laws permit but like all public places, they should be under their owner’s control. If an owner can’t recall their dog or distract it from annoying other people or animals then it needs to be on lead. Just another shit owner being defensive aggressive.

If you want a dog to go away you hiss at it. Basic, I thought everyone knew that.
Getting hold of its collar was stupid, it could have tried biting you. My dog would have screamed blue murder if you’d grabbed his collar —he was held and beaten before I got him and has never forgotten.

You massively over reacted.

And a bit of dog wee, squirt some water over it. Or sit somewhere else.

If my dog was out of my sight and had been bothering a family even just sniffing I'd always go over to apologise, even if the people appeared to like him.

More of a hating shit owners thread surely? It’s not the dog’s fault.

Shit owners may well lead to changes in laws and bye-laws that will penalise all dogs and also all the decent owners. Personally I think it would be really sad if dogs have to be on a lead at all times in public spaces, as is the case in some countries, but the increasing numbers of lazy and entitled owners risk just that.

One of my three dogs had zero recall when she came to me at 2 years old and I never got a reliable recall. She was always on the lead in public spaces if other people were around. She didn’t jump up and wasn’t aggressive at all but as a bull breed, many people would have felt nervous if she’d approached off lead.

A dog peed on a rock? Flipping eck - get the Daily Mail out now. You're lucky you didn't get bitten for pulling an unknown dog out the way. You overreacted. You complain about owner not supervising their dog but you're on Mumsnet instead of being with your grandchildren.