Sick and tired of being jumped on by random dogs in the park

[strawberrycheesecakey]

So I walk every day in our local park. I can go at various times in the day but whenever I go there is always a dog walker or two there and 9 times out of 10 I will get a dog running up to me and putting its muddy paws all over me. It absolutely ruins my walk; I'm not a dog person and I don't want someone's muddy dog putting its paws all over me when I'm trying to have a quiet walk. I don't know why but I've never seen it happening to anyone else ! Dogs seem to go crazy when they see me. Whilst I'm not afraid of dogs and don't mind them being in public places, I really don't want them coming and jumping at me, wanting to play, running themselves against my legs etc. if I wanted that I would have a dog of my own! The owners are usually apologetic and I can get irritated and ask them to keep their dog on always if it can't be trusted. But it's always a different dog every time.

How do I stop random dogs from approaching me in the park? It's starting to completely put me off going for a walk!

[strawberrycheesecakey]

*dog on the lead

[BringMeSunshineAllDayLong]

Tbh I don't believe this happens 9 out of 10 times. I go to the park at least 5 times a week and maybe once every 3 months a dog runs up to me and jumps up.
A dog obviously should never jump up but I think you are either somehow attracting them or exaggerating a lot

[Springcat]

Keep walking totally ignore them .
No attention at all ,and they usually go away .
I've two dogs at home who jump all over me and cover me in hair and I only just tolerate it , certainly not going to put up with other people's dogs doing the same

[strawberrycheesecakey]

@BringMeSunshineAllDayLong errrm excuse me?! Did you have anything constructive to add there at all?

[strawberrycheesecakey]

@Springcat I do sometimes but by then they've leapt up at me and I'll have at least one set of pawprints on my legs .ًif the dog approaches from behind like it did today then it can startle me and I do stop and freeze abit.

[strawberrycheesecakey]

I definitely do not give them any attention/make eye contact , I'll usually cross the path now to the other side of a dog and its owner if I see one approaching.

[Yulona]

People these days tend to treat dogs like children, with the result that many dogs are incredibly ill mannered and badly trained.

[vodkaredbullgirl]

Shame

[Lovemusic82]

A walk a lot and rarely get jumped on by dogs, the times I have been the owners have been very apologetic. I actually love dogs and often stop to stroke them so if the ones I say hello to jump up it’s kind of my fault (it happens rarely). I did witness a very large scruffy dog take down a child at a national trust place one day, totally not ok 😡. Our local park has a “no dogs off lead” policy, we have a lot of fields where people can let their dogs off.

Of course it’s no ok for people to let their dogs jump up at people.

[Springcat]

The problem is ,dogs go everywhere these days ,every coffee shop lets them in ,barking and crapping on the floor and no one dare say anything.
Dogs are the new unruly children.
Hopefully there will be a backlash soon ,and people will start being more reasonable about dogs ,they really are not baby substitutes

[Ilovemyshed]

Carry a water pistol?

[pelargoniums]

YANBU but the last thread like this got leaped on by dog defenders like a person minding their own business gets jumped on by dogs. The arguments were:

But dogs are nice
It’s never happened to me so you’re lying
Parks are muddy anyway, what do you expect
What can you possibly be wearing that’s so precious
My dog is always off lead but I live in a country of only one person, me
My dog has never done that except for several occasions when it has

[vanillawaffle]

Is it really 9 times out of 10? If so I'd look at what you're wearing - is it the same each time? Perhaps it's particularly attractive to them? Do you cook a lot of meat at home and dry your clothes inside?

[InTheUpsideDownToday]

@strawberrycheesecakey

So I walk every day in our local park. I can go at various times in the day but whenever I go there is always a dog walker or two there and 9 times out of 10 I will get a dog running up to me and putting its muddy paws all over me. It absolutely ruins my walk; I'm not a dog person and I don't want someone's muddy dog putting its paws all over me when I'm trying to have a quiet walk. I don't know why but I've never seen it happening to anyone else ! Dogs seem to go crazy when they see me. Whilst I'm not afraid of dogs and don't mind them being in public places, I really don't want them coming and jumping at me, wanting to play, running themselves against my legs etc. if I wanted that I would have a dog of my own! The owners are usually apologetic and I can get irritated and ask them to keep their dog on always if it can't be trusted. But it's always a different dog every time.

How do I stop random dogs from approaching me in the park? It's starting to completely put me off going for a walk!

I'm with you OP.
At a particular place I walk, I get dogs jumping up all the time or growling and snapping at my feet. Not sure why!

Owners occasionally apologetic, some just shrug when I tell them their dog is not under control.

[D3LAN3Y]

Kick off with the owner every single time. If they say "my dog is friendly" say "well I'm not".

[Chypre]

Hm, in my whole life I have been jumped on by a dog 3 or 4 times. Are you walking around with pockets full of sandwiches or something equally delicious by any chance?...

[EasyPeelings]

Dogs can be an absolute menace! Far too many of them are owned by people who have no control over them and molly coddle and dress them up etc. The bloody things are a pain in the arse and I'd like to see some sort of legal restriction around the ownership and management of dogs.

People should not be able to just buy whatever dog they want to. The breed should be appropriate to their circumstances. All would-be dog owners should be vetted beforehand as to their suitability to own a dog and which type of dog. They should then be licensed. It should then be illegal to sell a dog to an unlicensed person - or for an unlicensed person to attempt to buy one.

It should be mandatory for all dog owners to have public liability/3rd party insurance and the licence should be renewed annually, a bit like VED. If your dog injured someone, your licence could be revoked and you wouldn't then be permitted to own dogs.

[WhatsTheUseOfWorrying]

Whether or not the frequency of your being jumped on by dogs is exaggerated or not, it’s a whole lot more believable than the complete bollocks spouted by dog lovers about the number of times their dogs are attacked, pushed, pulled and jumped on by strangers’ small children. That really is fanciful.

[strawberrycheesecakey]

Yes I pretty much wear the same - black leggings , trainers , jacket .. tumble dry all clothes and don't really cook a lot of meat , I certainly don't cook and go! And definitely don't have any food with me whilst there ! Maybe I just live in a area where people have very poor dog training skills 😏

[vodkaredbullgirl]

Or dogs are just attracted to you 😉

[strawberrycheesecakey]

@pelargoniums well I have three children and they certainly have never gone running up to a stranger and wiped their sticky hands on their pants so why would this be any different right ? Don't know why dog owners are so entitled !

[strawberrycheesecakey]

@vodkaredbullgirl yes but why ?! I want to understand why and how I can un-attract them!

[Tara336]

I'm a dog owner and it drives me bloody mad when I'm jumped on by other people's dogs. I actually had a dog yesterday bothering me, chasing my dog and at one point when I'd picked my puppy up was actually between my legs reaching up trying to get at her. The owner was an idiot, couldn't catch the damm thing and I ended up with muddy paw prints all over me and he was trying to justify it by saying his dog was "young" so is mine mate but she's under control and on a lead! I just assume that people like that are just twats in life generally and happen to be a dog owner as well. Gives decent responsible dog owners a bad name.

[LegalAlienated]

My dog likes to jump up on people. I hate it and I’m working on it. But 90 percent of other dog owners say ‘oh, it’s ok’ and stroke the dog whilst she’s jumping. It’s not easy to say ‘it’s not ok, I don’t want them to jump’ when people are friendly and others encouraging her to jump is really not helping my training. I agree with you OP, I would not like dogs jumping one me (or wiping their dribble on me) when I’m in the park.

[SwordToFlamethrower]

It does happen all the time, happens to me too! Owners think you're mad for being angry their shitty dogsgot you dirty.

Keep your fucking flea bags on leads, how about that?