Sick to death of dogs

[SwordToFlamethrower]

Went to the beach today with dh and dd1.

Got jumped on by a dog off its lead. Owner said "oh. Sorry"

Two dogs ran up to us and started growling and snapping at me and dd who was playing on the sand.

Another dog ran up to us, had no idea what it's intentions were!

All off lead, all owners using their baby voices "don't do that Fido darling!"

Dog shit bags everywhere despite their being loads of bins and even free dog bags!

Absolutely so fed up of entitled dog owners and their nasty little dogs.

Exactly this!

It makes me so angry that people push their own fears onto their children. You see it everyday, I’ve seen it with extended family members.
Usually due to some bad experience themselves (like the OP) they end up with a fear of all dogs. Sometimes though, let’s face it, it’s just that they hate animals. It’s then pushed onto the children.

In 2011 21% of homes owned a dog. In 2022 this had increased to 34%. I have no evidence, but I would suggest that 20 years ago it was even lower than 21%. Again, I would have no evidence but I would suggest that the majority of the 13% of the population who own a dog now but didn't 10 years ago probably don't have a lot of experience with dogs. That is millions of dogs who may well not have been properly trained and as an owner of dogs all my life I know that training can be hard work and some dogs, however well trained, just always need an eye kept on them.

Other than the most ardent anti-dog person, most everyone would say that well behaved, well trained and well looked after dogs are a benefit to society. But we now have a situation where a third of the population owns one and there is no way you can tell me that these are all well trained and looked after. The bite statistics tell me this is not the case and the behaviour that people think is acceptable - although anecdotal and also only my own experience - confirm this. There will be a lot more people in the future that have had bad experiences with dogs who will be scared of them.

So I would wager that in the past people scared of dogs would not often experience a bad behaved dog compared to now where it is really commonplace. And sorry but no - I believe you have an ethical and moral obligation (and often legal) to keep your dog on a lead near strangers if they do not exhibit instant recall, however friendly you think they are.

The thing I don’t understand is how dogs seem to ‘target’ people who dislike/hate them? Why don’t they approach all the dog lovers? Amazing!

I love dogs. All dogs. They do come up,to me, but I've never experienced this dreadful behaviours that half of MN seem to.
I can only conclude that the humans are being drama queens and making a big fuss if being around a dog, that the dog just thinks WTAF.

In all the many many years I've been around dogs, I've never had a problem so logically I'm thinking it isn't the dog (or owner) who are causing these problems....and there's a bit lot of dramatic licence on here 🤷‍♀️

I love dogs.
I don't actually care what you think.
I prefer dogs to people, always will do 😘

This thread highlights exactly why I like dogs better than people. Aside from the fact that they're kinder, more loving, protective and loyal than the majority of people.

We devastate our planet, hunt other species to extinction and think the other animals sharing our planet are somehow lesser than us (because humans are just another animal as some people tend to forget) and insist that only animals who are restrained are allowed in public. Public land that used to be their habitat before we destroyed it. Yeah, we're the superior species alright.🙄I think the world would probably be better off if we were the ones being leashed, put down or castrated.

Dogs are more loyal than anything, it's people you need to teach your kids to beware of not dogs

@Balloonhearts and @Copperoliverbear have it right. Our children are at higher risk from humans than they’ll ever be from the tiny minority of dogs that would harm anyone.

Regardless of what people on here think, there are way more responsible owners than irresponsible ones. If there weren’t, things would be a million times worse.

Oh and I also believe that the way someone feels about and treats animals says a lot about them as a person!

Dogs are often vilified but really only dog haters see dogs behaving badly. Pretty impressive how well behaved dogs are in general. I expect them to be excited on the beach. However, sick to death about them sounds like you are a miserable person.

There are plenty of posters who have dogs / have previously had dogs that have commented about noticing bad behaviour.

Dogs being allowed places shouldn’t mean people can’t also use the space without being disturbed by dogs. But an increasing number of dog owners don’t seem willing or able to actually train their pets.

Have you read the rude, dismissive and patronising posts to the OP, attacking her? How dare she not respond in kind.

Going by this thread, some dog owners are so rude, patronising, selfish and dismiss the concerns of others. They are like gun owners because they put their rights above the rights of others, including children.

That dismissive, patronising response, that attitude of indifference and not caring is exactly what we're talking about!

The stories here always seem on the wild side.

Probably because if something was unremarkable there'd be no need to post it. The stories I'd read on here seem completely believable and common place though.

Then if you're a responsible owner, what's the problem? If you do as you say, you'd agree with the OP. It sounds like you're protesting too much, to me.

Why do people say this like it’s some kind of brag. If you prefer dogs to people, then you should see a professional.

Not so. My 3 year old is scared to death of dogs because of repeated incidents of dogs twice his size running at him and sometimes knocking him over. His fear is the result of dog owners who have no consideration and are oblivious to everyone around them. I now have to put extra effort into ensuring he’s NOT scared of dogs, otherwise he might not ever want to go out. Who knows how long these fears will last for? Hopefully just until he’s taller than them.

The posts on this thread highlight the problem that dog owners just don’t care about others. Says it all when they write that they prefer dogs to people, these are probably the kind of owners that let their dogs charge at children.

Comments such as this only serve to further cement my reasoning 😂

And comments like yours only serve to further cement my belief that dog owners are thoughtless, inconsiderate, self-absorbed, careless, selfish narcissists.

@SoreAndTired1 I protest because I'm sick of the incessant bashing towards dogs and their owners. It's boring, and every thread like this turns out the same way. No one of allowed to have any joy in their life unless it suits some grumpy twat's ideal.

These threads only exist because some dog owners do the wrong thing. Why shouldn't it be pointed out? If it's not you, then it doesn't affect you does it.

So the dog ‘bashing’ must be a result of being a grumpy twat then, not anything to do with inconsiderate owners, untrained dogs, mess everywhere, invasion of space and daily news articles of another child that’s been mauled to death because of a dog.

Why can’t everyone just like my dogs incessant barking, overbearing nature and just forget about the amount of dogs that have caused serious injury to children.

I'm not a grumpy twat and I love dogs, I've had 5 all together and have 2 now, I adore them.

I am however absolutely sick of the owners that refuse to take any control or responsibility for their dogs and that impacting on me. I, and my dogs have the right to walk somewhere without someone else's dog(s) harassing me and them, because the owners don't have control or don't think they should. They're sucking the joy out of walks for me and my dogs - but seemingly that's ok? Other people can take the joy out of my life with their actions but I'm not supposed to object? Don't think so.

All they have to do is control the dog they chose to get, that's it. Me and my dogs are not there to entertain other people's dogs, I'm there to entertain my own. They're there to enjoy themselves, I am their owner, so that's my job to facilitate that, not anyone else in the vicinity.

I often think when I see posts such as this......what would happen if I allowed my 2 Mexican Red knee tarantulas to wander freely. I guarantee that many of those saying Op is being precious because she dislikes dogs, would be trembling in fear (even the common house spider is seen as scary to many), despite the fact that more people in the UK have died from a dog attack than a spider bite. Did those people have "the fear" pushed on them by their parents? Would you be quite as nasty to them or would you just accept that some people have a fear regardless? Now apply the same logic to those of us who don't like dogs.

@JamJar59 apologies. You're correct, you didn't state everyone. This is other posters behaviours and insinuations.

Factually there's a lot of self righteous and self entitled people in this world. Dog owners who don't train their dogs and allow their behaviours to impact people are no doubt the same people who display other selfish behaviours in life from litter dropping, parking in disabled spaces with ni disability, not picking poop up, queue jumping, loud music, failure to parent their own children etc. Walking around with the expectation the world should revolve around them.