“Don’t worry, he’s friendly”

[BigJean]

This should probably be in The Doghouse, but I’d really like to hear from people who probably don’t go there.

I know on MN that everyone is a perfect dog owner with their dogs properly under control, but I also know that in real life there are far too many people who don’t. If you are one of those people I’d love to hear your reasoning. Namechange for anonymity if you want.

My dog is reactive, for lots of reasons, and I am successfully working on it and every month is better than the last. She is a large dog, and as such could easily kill another dog if provoked enough to do so (she’s not a bully breed, she’s walked with a muzzle but could still damage another dog). I am a responsible owner, I have her under control.

Every week I come across at least two other dog walkers who don’t have any control over their dogs. They run up to people, dogs, horses, children and leap around whilst the owner calls it pointlessly, and cries out “it’s ok he’s friendly”. It’s not ok.

This behaviour enhances my dogs reactivity, it sets her back every time. I have a yellow “nervous dog” coat and collar, they don’t give a shit.

I put my phone on to film every time, because I’m very aware that if anything happened to another dog mine would be blamed, even though I’m doing everything I can possibly do to manage it, and it’s the friendly dog’s owner who is being irresponsible.

Please, come and tell me why you do this, and tell me what you would do if your dog was killed by a reactive dog because you haven’t kept your dog on a lead or taught it effective recall.

No anxiety here. Swing away. My off lead dog won't go anywhere near you

Because for every dog just walking by with an owner there another racing round with no owner in sight.
If no-one's going to look out for walkers, we'll have to look out for ourselves.
I'd feel more comfortable with some protection and I will keep it for as long as there are irresponsible owners with dogs off lead racing around our countryside and beaches.
You may be responsible but as we all know, and there are just as many stories from dog owners - there are many that just couldn't give a toss.

Jobs a good'un

You are making yourself sound a little silly now, I can tell you a lot of places here where you can walk, but you are not interested in that, you just want to go on your anti-dog journey, which has now taken the turn to threatening to hit dogs.

What is the point of me, or others telling you places, if you do not live in the same area?

But for the sake of it - look at Forestry England, they have thousands of acres, even you could find a nice walk where you will not see anyone with a dog, although I would then predict you will start a thread complaining about the mountain bikers who may come close to you!

Indeed it is.

There you go. You're free to walk about outside your house now! Yay for you and your big scary stick!

Walking around with mummy swinging a bat sounds like a shite time for the kids tbh.

I think more than a little silly.

It's not true - I really do actually want to know where I can walk. I am happy to hear about the places near you in case I'm ever in the area.

Just looked up Forestry England on your recommendation . . . dogs allowed at all sites

Why is it silly to request the location of dog-free countryside walks?

You all keep saying there are loads of dog free countryside areas - but every single recommendation I look into turns out to be a myth. I'm yet to find a single place I can walk unless I pay an entrance fee and travel over 50 miles.

It really shouldn't be like this.

Yet you laughed at options given earlier in the thread?

You want to walk the streets with a baseball bat...

There were only 2 options given - a place in Wales (yes I chuckled at that as it's 400 miles away), and the National Trust - which I looked into but turns out to be off-lead dog friendly on every single site except for two places in the whole of the UK (wales and liverpool)

The other option, Forestry England, has turned out to be a myth- all sites dog friendly.

Do you not see how ridiculous you sound though? No one can tell you where to walk - no one knows where you live. I, personally have been able to walk wherever I've wanted for the past 38 years without being bothered by a dog - I have no idea as to why this is impossible for you.
You don't like dogs, we get it. Others do. So you will come across them from time to time.

I can't stand smoking or vaping. It's the most selfish habit to exist. I should be able to walk down the street without having to breathe in the toxins of someone else's choice - so should my children.

Should I start walking through the high street, swinging a bat? Because at the moment I just go about my life, with the onus being on me to steer myself and my children out of the disgusting plumes of smoke that seem to come from all directions.

Unless you are rubbing yourself down with pedigree chum before your walk, I find it hard to believe that you couldn't take a simple stroll without a dog harassing you.

I'm horrified by the number of dog owners who can't stop their dogs from running up to people. We've been growled at, I've been bitten, one of my kids has been bitten, the other has been bowled over and licked (hardly life-threatening, I know, but he was terrified). The fact is, if another human had directly done those things it would be an assault. And these were "nice dogs" apparently. We hear about the ones that aren't nice on the news. I love dogs, but I do think we need to think differently. I don't consent to physical contact from anyone's pets when out walking. If they can't prevent it there should be consequences, the same as if another human came running up and licked my kids. Why should we have to put up with it?

I can't stand smoking or vaping. It's the most selfish habit to exist. I should be able to walk down the street without having to breathe in the toxins of someone else's choice - so should my children.

You might be able to soon, as people are listening and laws may be tightened so that people can't smoke in public so easily.

Why are people so angry that some of us would like some spaces away from dogs? I don't hate dogs - I just do not want to encounter them when I am trying to relax and get some fresh air.

As I, and others, have said - I've had some very scary situations with off lead dogs and now I am too fearful to walk in the countryside because of it.

It's just not fair. There should be more restrictions so that it doesn't harm other peoples lives. It makes me anxious and down that I cannot literally walk across the road and into our local country park because there are a thousand people a day letting their dogs race round it. All the dog owners can go. Children, older people and people who are anxious of dogs don't go there all for the reason that there are thousands of dogs. There should be two dog free days per week there - for some fairness.
What is wrong with that?

The number of times I have “friendly” dogs race over and pester me and my dog (who does have excellent recall and will turn on a dime when recalled) while the owner yells “he’s friendly” is infuriating - especially as my dog is 4kg and these dogs often are much larger and don’t seem to read my dog’s cues that she’s scared and doesn’t want to be jumped on / “played with”. When we were training our dog, she was on a long leash until we could completely trust her. Some people shouldn’t have dogs.

You've honestly never been able to walk through that country park without a dog jumping up at you?

the issue I have with posts like this is all the hysterics : ‘dogs are everywhere’ - well, they aren’t. There’s plenty of places they can’t go.

’I can’t leave the house without someone mutt jumping up at me’ - really? Every single time you leave the house?

i don’t think there’s a dog owner out there that would deny that there are owners who have badly let their dogs down on the training front, I just find it hard to believe that not a day of someone’s life goes by without them having a negative experience with a dog, just from walking around.

Or running full pelt towards us round a corner. One or the other.

Perhaps about 5 times in 30 years but because it happens so often you're on hyper vigilance, it's not a pleasant experience unfortunately.

Well, let's flip that round. Should a person ever get jumped up at or run up to when walking through a park? Would you jump up on them? Or your kids or partner maybe stick a muddy footprint on them? How many times is an okay number of times to be jumped up at? Or maybe it's just okay to expect dogs to be under control or, if that's not possible, exercised away from people.

Same here. Mine's reactive too. When they shout, "mines friendly!" I reply, "mine bites, sorry!" They quickly grab their dog and put the lead on!

There really are a lot of dog hating asswipes on here. For every sensible and rational answer people have given for there being plenty of sensible dog owners or lots of places in the uk to walk where you won’t see many dogs, there seems to be the ridiculous counter arguments!

I walk out my front door into a pit full of dogs

my grandmother had her arms bitten off by a Dalmatian

50 dogs ransacked the hat museum while we were trying to enjoy it, one shat in a 1987 princess Di floral ensemble

while on a woodland walk, hundreds of dogs perched in the trees in a Hitchcock like fashion waiting to pounce on us

where the fuck are you all walking where there is so much dog activity! Problem is with life is that it’s all me me me! If shit has happened to you concerning a dog, then that’s unfortunate, but you don’t get to then call the shots for everyone else

Also you hit my well behaved dog with a stick, I put you in hospital!

100% dogs should be under control. There is no one disputing that.

But I aren't keeping my dog on a lead in places that are public, in which he is allowed off. He has never failed to recall. In 13 years. He drops, stops, sits, returns on command and he never approaches other people or dogs or any other animals for that matter.

People who have no control or allow their dogs to approach others or other dogs should have them on a lead. Full stop.

To sum up the suggestions so far for those of you who would like not to be approached by dogs:

Stick to human-only areas
Hire a field
Go to a place 400 miles away where dogs are required to be on a short lead
Go to places with dog bans. We all know many owners ignore bans but it doesn't matter because:
You're exaggerating
You're a dog-hating asswipe
I'll put you in hospital

I hope this provides some indirect answers to the OP, too

It depends where I am. If I am in an on-lead area my dog is always on-lead. If I am in a designated off-lead area then he is off lead. If you’re frightened of dogs don’t go in an are where they are allowed to be off lead. Appreciate circumstances may differ depending on where you live and what facilities are available.

even in an off lead area your dog must by, BY LAW, under close control.
it must not be allowed to bound up to other people.
if you want your dog to do that you need to have a large garden or hire a secure enclosed field.

Well, let's flip that round. Should a person ever get jumped up at or run up to when walking through a park? Would you jump up on them? Or your kids or partner maybe stick a muddy footprint on them? How many times is an okay number of times to be jumped up at? Or maybe it's just okay to expect dogs to be under control or, if that's not possible, exercised away from people.

@Boeufsurletoit no, I've not once said anyone should be ok with being jumped at - I've purely been baffled with the fact the the previous poster is supposedly jumped at or has a dog rush her every time she she so much as walks on a piece of grass, and it's not once happened to me, and I purposely seek out dog friendly areas.

Also, even though people LOVE to put all dog owners in the same group, I am very careful about my dogs ability to make someone muddy. Every single time someone stops us and asks to fuss him I tell them to watch their shoes, as he will be enjoying the attention so much he won't be paying any attention to where his paws are and I don't want him step on them.