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Original poster

Dog on the beach

222 replies

Redebs · 25/10/2023 12:47

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.

OP posts:
erikbloodaxe · 25/10/2023 13:28

Disappointed you didn't add the 'I hate confrontation' so often spouted by those who are deliberately confrontational.

Cakefolk · 25/10/2023 13:30

We were once sat having a picnic on the beach and a little terrier trotted across pleasant little chap, he had a sniff we exchanged pleasantries he then cocked his leg and peed on our picnic bag!

Greenshake · 25/10/2023 13:32

You brought this on yourself OP, and made it 100 times worse with your patronising poo bag comment.

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Dogs
Aquestioningmind · 25/10/2023 13:34

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LovelyGreenCushions · 25/10/2023 13:36

Your poor grandchildren
are they old enough yo gave been mortified by your odd behaviour ?

vodkaredbullgirl · 25/10/2023 13:36

Good job the dog didn't bite.

mistyfen · 25/10/2023 13:36

I don't know. I thought I might be on your side at first. I recently had a bad experience of a dog running loose on the beach, its owner miles away, but this dog had no recall and was aggressive and I thought it was going to bite one of us. I told the owner off in that situation, no apology but she shamefacedly put the dog on its lead and left the beach..

However, in your case, fortunately, the dog was friendly, I'd imagine a rock looked like a likely place for it to use. You shouldn't have pulled the dog I don't think. Sorry OP.

CaptainMyCaptain · 25/10/2023 13:37

TheFlis · 25/10/2023 12:52

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

This.

VeridicalVagabond · 25/10/2023 13:40

Was he weeing on a rock, your shoes, or your grandchildren? You seem to change your mind three times in your own thread, and I think your reaction would be more appropriate for the latter two than the first. It's not your rock and I promise it's been pissed, shat and fucked on by more than a dog before you decided you wanted to park your arse on it.

If Fido was going to piss on the children though, moving him away is a fair reaction.

Original poster
Redebs · 25/10/2023 13:41

My grandson had already gotten to the rock (only dry one around because it has been raining heavily and the sun hadn't reached the others yet). He was sort of leaning on it, standing next to it, so would have been sprayed.
I was a bit slower due to poor health and really needed a sit down.
I moved grandson aside just in time, as dog went to other side where granddaughter was sitting, leaning on rock. I pulled dog away so we would have a dry end to sit on. Shape of rock means feet dangle on it, if you see what I mean.

When we had dogs, we would never let them run up to people randomly and certainly not piddle where they were sitting or on things they were sitting on.

Grandson lives in inner city, so trip to the seaside is special. I made sure nothing spoiled his day, but I'm still annoyed at pathetic man.

And I was genuinely trying to be helpful about the poop bag, but it was perfect comedy timing 😄

OP posts:
Pezdeoro41 · 25/10/2023 13:42

Gazelda · 25/10/2023 12:57

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.

There’s a difference between letting them have a run and being nowhere in sight, not able to recall. What if the dog had been aggressive or the kids scared? And most beaches have an area all year where they can be (at least on my stretch of touristy coast).

I think you were completely in the right OP and have got no idea why anyone thinks it’s fine for their unsupervised dog to piss all over where someone is sitting - it’s pretty unhygienic for a start. Honestly this kind of “my dog is untouchable (literally)” attitude is why people are getting really sick of some dog owners.

SoupDragon · 25/10/2023 13:43

Magicpaintbrush · 25/10/2023 13:09

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.

Well, the dog was peeing on the rock, not the children. If I thought a strange dog was going to pee on my children I'd get them to move rather than pulling a dog I didn't know.

Flickersy · 25/10/2023 13:44

Dog pees on rock.

Has anyone alerted the church elders?

If the dog was that keen to pee on it I guarantee you it was already "marked" OP, so he did you a favour.

Neriah · 25/10/2023 13:44

Despite having a dog I often side with people about badly behaved dogs. But in this case, the problem is you OP. It was peeing on a rock. Not the grandchildren and not you. And you do not own the rock.

mistyfen · 25/10/2023 13:45

I can understand the dog going for the only available dry rock also. You can't really control where they decide to go.

Did you say if the owner was far away?

SoupDragon · 25/10/2023 13:45

And I was genuinely trying to be helpful about the poop bag

Sure you were. No one ever says that to be helpful unless they have a roll of poo bags with them and see the dog owner has run out.

CaptainMyCaptain · 25/10/2023 13:47

think you were completely in the right OP and have got no idea why anyone thinks it’s fine for their unsupervised dog to piss all over where someone is sitting - it’s pretty unhygienic for a start. It's very unreasonable to expect the beach to be hygienic in the first place. You don't know how many dogs had peed on the rock before the OP got there. The sea is full of all sorts of stuff including sewage. It's very unlikely that a dog would deliberately pee on a person. The reason they do it is scent marking, 'messages" to other dogs, so a moving human wouldn't be ideal from the dog's point of view.

Justcallmebebes · 25/10/2023 13:50

TheFlis · 25/10/2023 12:52

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

Eww no. Dogs shouldn't be on beaches. It's disgusting

Flickersy · 25/10/2023 13:50

CaptainMyCaptain · 25/10/2023 13:47

think you were completely in the right OP and have got no idea why anyone thinks it’s fine for their unsupervised dog to piss all over where someone is sitting - it’s pretty unhygienic for a start. It's very unreasonable to expect the beach to be hygienic in the first place. You don't know how many dogs had peed on the rock before the OP got there. The sea is full of all sorts of stuff including sewage. It's very unlikely that a dog would deliberately pee on a person. The reason they do it is scent marking, 'messages" to other dogs, so a moving human wouldn't be ideal from the dog's point of view.

Edited

Don't forget seagull shit, dead crabs, rotting seaweed etc

The natural world is never hygienic, yet somehow we manage. Anyone who expects it to be sterile is bonkers.

Flickersy · 25/10/2023 13:51

Justcallmebebes · 25/10/2023 13:50

Eww no. Dogs shouldn't be on beaches. It's disgusting

Show quote history

Beaches are natural environments and dogs are animals. Seems a pretty ok place for them to be, just like humans or any other animal.

Frequency · 25/10/2023 13:51

If the dog was that keen to pee on it I guarantee you it was already "marked" OP, so he did you a favour

This.

The dog was replying to a pee-mail. Any rock or surface you sit on outdoors is going to have been pissed and shit on by an animal. Even park benches, unless we are now expecting foxes/rats/badgers/birds to understand what park benches are for?

You are not being unreasonable in expecting the owner to keep the dog in sight. You are not being unreasonable in expecting the owner to call his dog away if it looked like the dog was going to bother you or you were already sitting on the rock. YABU in expecting the owner to know you were about to sit on the rock or to call his dog away if his dog was just pottering about close to you and not attempting to interact with you.

You are extremely lucky the dog was placid. Many dogs do not react well to being dragged by their collars. IDK how mine would react as I have never attempted it knowing it is a common trigger.

Next time just sit on the other side of the rock or accept that you have shoes on and the pee will not hurt you if it touches your shoes, and again, if your shoes have been on the ground outside they have touched piss and shit regardless of what the local dogs are up to.

Prescottdanni123 · 25/10/2023 13:54

@Jaxhog

They weren't sitting on the rocks. They were about to but the dog didn't understand that. Children's shoes must have got splashed when dog peed on the rock, which is unusual because dog piss should have hit the rock and trickled down. Maybe owner didn't see that

Prescottdanni123 · 25/10/2023 13:58

@Justcallmebebes

I suppose dogs shouldn't be near lakes, mountains, forests or fields either. So where the hell is it ok for them to be according to you?

Frequency · 25/10/2023 14:00

CaptainMyCaptain · 25/10/2023 13:47

think you were completely in the right OP and have got no idea why anyone thinks it’s fine for their unsupervised dog to piss all over where someone is sitting - it’s pretty unhygienic for a start. It's very unreasonable to expect the beach to be hygienic in the first place. You don't know how many dogs had peed on the rock before the OP got there. The sea is full of all sorts of stuff including sewage. It's very unlikely that a dog would deliberately pee on a person. The reason they do it is scent marking, 'messages" to other dogs, so a moving human wouldn't be ideal from the dog's point of view.

Edited

A dog once cocked its leg and pissed up DD2 when she was a toddler. She was not sitting on a rock. It deliberately pissed on her. She asked if she could pet it, the owner said yes, it cocked its leg and pissed up her tights. The owner was mortified. I have never seen a grown man squirm so much. I actually felt very sorry for him.

DD2 was just a bit confused. I was too busy trying to stop myself from laughing hysterically to sufficiently assure the poor man it was fine. DD would live and she and her tights could be washed.

I can only assume it was because one of the dogs we were fostering was coming into season.

ginasevern · 25/10/2023 14:03

@Redebs

I only hope your grandchildren didn't come into contact with any sea water because that stuff is loaded with human pee, crap, disposable nappies, bum wipes and a million and one other obnoxious things the human race pumps into it every day. A bit of dog pee on a rock kind of pales into utter insignificance. Given that, I'd stay away from the beach altogether.

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