Dogs are everywhere?!

[LadyMonicaBaddingham]

I took DS to a university open day today. Two separate families had brought their dog with them! Is this someone I've missed?! Why is this necessary?!

The whole dog craze has got out of hand. They're animals and need to be treated as such. People who treat them as humans and consider them "one of the family" are insane.

They are dogs and yes they are part of your family.

How is saying 'our dog is lovely' irrational?

In what context are people exhibiting irrationality saying 'children are worse'? Because it makes no sense to say they are being irrational without context. An out of control child (which could be a 17 year old or a 5 year old) in a public setting can be considered far worse than guide dog quietly sitting next to its owner. And yes you can switch this scenario round endlessly, using different extremes either way. So really, this is irrelevant, but not for the reasons you think it is. You have made it irrelevant.

I have seen dog-hate on this thread. I am not going to trawl back through to find it. I feel sorry for anyone that hates animals, particularly companion animals - it must be a miserable existence. And phobias/allergies do not have to lead to 'hate'.
Like people, not all dogs are the same. Those vocally disliking 'all dogs' and homogenising them seem to (reluctantly) backpedal when it comes to service dogs, contradicting themselves.

If you look at the OP in this thread you will see that the original post was about two dogs seen at a University Open Day, which resulted in the OP concluding that dogs are 'everywhere'. That is irrational.

What places are completely dog-free? There aren't many.

Including or not including service dogs?

Both.

I am more tolerant of service dogs because I have never seen one that is badly behaved.

I've actually noticed the opposite in the last few months.

Yes there are loads of dogs in cafes and restaurants, but they are so much more socialised and at ease and well behaved compared to before the pandemic.

If the dog is well behaved and doesn’t bother anyone I don’t see what the problem is, unless you have allergies or are incredibly afraid of dogs. Otherwise I think it’s quite harmless. I have a poodle so no wandering hair, they’re also hypoallergenic. He just sits next to me and doesn’t make a sound, you’d barely know he’s there.
its also great for socialisation so you have a good, well-rounded dog.

Service dogs everywhere except zoos with roaming animals

And I’m not going to trawl back to my posts where I literally just explained why I think dragging children into the debate is irrelevant. Go find them, they are the context you are asking for and I’m not repeating it.

As for the posts talking about lovely dogs the poster knows, they are irrelevant to the OP . I know the posts I’m talking about. They want to focus on one or two dogs and not engage with the wider issue the OP is raising.

You get a few outliers on all threads, but the vast majority of people agreeing with the thrust of the OP are doing so in a measured way and, as I’ve said already, many are dog lovers themselves. There are attempts to shut down that debate with cries of dog hate.

There are attempts to shut down that debate with cries of dog hate.. Agreed @eastegg this drives me nuts. It's so lazy to do this rather than take part in an actual grown up conversation.

I absolutely love dogs, I have three myself and walk dogs for the local dogs trust shelter most weekends, including this morning. People telling me that I must hate dogs because I object to their darling pooch being literally everywhere is laughable. Someone upthread brought children into the debate (why?), but if we're going down that road - there are many places that are just not suitable for children and many places just not suitable for dogs.

Just out of curiosity, as you say they need to be treated like animals - what do you propose?

Not take them to human places like schools, workplaces and retail areas. They're dogs, largely pointless things, a bit of company at home maybe, where they should remain with the occasional walk. Quite how they've infiltrated so many public places is staggering.

Because people want them there. Including the owners of pubs, cafes etc. It obviously makes financial sense or they wouldn't be there.

People dont want them on public highstreets taking up pavements and urinating everywhere but as its no crime the councils wont do anything.

How do they get to places then? Fly? Walk on the road?

Not all people want them there. But if we voice our concerns we are labelled "dog haters".

I have a friend whom I rarely see now because she takes her (untrained lockdown Doberman rescue) dog everywhere and it is a total pain - reactive to other dogs, constantly begging for food (which she invariably offers).
I have arranged to meet her with another friend and have insisted the dog does not come. However either shortly before we meet she will say the dog is too distressed to leave so she will have to bring it, or if she does come her only topic of conversation will be the wretched animal
So I’m basically done with her.

Well it's tough titties really isn't it. You don't own a footpath and people with their dogs have as much right to use them as anyone else

People need to start walking cats and rabbits and gerbils then

No-one is complaining about dogs on footpaths as long as they are kept under control. It's dogs in shops, pubs, restaurants and universities etc that are the problem.

Bloke round here walks his cat more times a day than most people with dogs. So if you have a cat happy to be walked, have at it I say

I keep saying we need an epidemic of canine flu to get them all banished to homes. Cant Wuhan work on something?

It is not so much you don't like dogs. It is how you describe people with dogs too. Saying that people who consider their dogs family are "insane".

The poster I am replying to has an issue with sharing footpaths with dogs

Nothing wrong with dogs in pubs.