To tell Dog owners control you fecking dogs!

[Wishfulmakeupping]

I'll get flamed I don't care. I'm fed up of people letting their dogs run wild just had another dog clamour all over me when I'm walking down the street with a 'sorry' from the owner again this happens to often. Last week a dog off its lead stuck its head near my child pram.
Its simple if you can't control your dog off its lead then keep it on its lead until you get to the park.
I think I'm going to go nuclear next time :(

Yanbu!!! I like dogs in general but I think many dog owners nowadays are irresponsible and selfish. They let their pets run around public places without calling them back when they get up close to other people which they do all the fricking time.

The other day, I was sitting with my young baby on a park bench when a very large dog came running towards us. The owner, a woman, was walking miles behind and when she walked passed us simply ignored her fucking dog, letting him sniff around the baby. In the end I had to get up and leave . She had kids as well but was oblivious that her dog was breaching my personal boundaries. Why would anyone in their right mind risk making other people feel uncomfortable or even frightened by not calling back their dog?

The omnipresence of dogs is becoming a public health problem pest imo. I wonder how much dog bites cost the NHS yearly. Like I said I am not generally afraid of dogs but am wary of dogs it don't know.

I absolutely think dog ownership should be regulated tightly.

Chickendog is becoming better and better at recall. He was taught to find me if he gets lost, trained that I need to be watched constantly as I might run away. I can't leave him outside shops as his training kicks in and he howls.

He did have a terrible chasing problem as a puppy, he's three now and it's only in the past few weeks I've felt safe to let him off around people, in parks, etc as opposed to keeping him on the lead or walking him at night. He's a lab though and becoming more and more greedy so his food motivation is a big help. I will ALWAYS put him on the lead around small kids, he wouldn't bite but he'd potentially knock them over and I don't want that on my conscience.

imonaplane: Fair enough, I do get a bit ott at times I suppose.

But, then, in the end, have you decided to keep your smelly, disease ridden, dirty stupid dangerous animal lovely cuddly pet away from strangers? After all, they could be me!

Meh

I don't like the cat that comes into my house and shits in my vegetable patch. I would never kick it of course, because I was brought up to be kind, respect and empathise with other living creatures, and kicking something smaller than me could cause it a lot of harm.

Fucking bizarre that some think it's OK to stick the boot into any dog within kicking distance as they're "dirty and disease ridden". I find the snotty faces on kids beyond boak-worthy (it's a personal thing against snot, not having a go at little kids here!), but oddly enough I've managed to refrain from goal-kicking toddlers across the park. Fucking soft push-over that I am.

Imonaplane,
"always pick up poo, even if it takes me half an hour to find it. I try to avoid busy times at our dog friendly park and if I see young children about I put her on the lead."

You sound like a responsible dog owner but many, many other dog owners don't put their dogs on the lead when apropriate or even pick up their dog's shit after them. That's why people get annoyed. Whenever I see someone being considerate enough to put their dog on the lead, I feel like going over and telling them how lovely and considerate they are as it so rarely happens.

I have to say that everytime Single time I go to a park, I see at least one dog owner who behaves selfishly and in an 'entitled' way.

Around here quite a few dog owners use their dogs to come across as tough and intimidating. In the last few months I have been jumped on and snarled at by dog owners many times. That is antisocial behaviour imo and needs to be addressed urgently.

Evalyn - you are sounding a bit ott and obsessive. It sounds like anyone in the same park as you who happens to have a dog is in for 'trouble'.
Yes there are bad owners. I once had a go at a guy who had an extremely agressive dog off the lead. He followed me for quite a while being threatening. Be careful who you target, it might not go the way you expect.
I do feel sorry for anyone who can't enjoy the pure goodness and enthusiam of a lovely dog. And even more sorry for their children.

*In the last few months I have been jumped on and snarled at by dog owners many times.
Well not jumped on by the dog owners but by their dogs.

One more thing, lots of people actually want to say hello to dogs. I am stopped every day by at least one person who wants to stroke her. Many more smile at her and laugh at her being silly.
Dogs bring joy to a lot of people's lives.

Aww frida! I was having a good chuckle at that mental image and you had to go and spoil it.....

ormirian If it makes you feel better jumping on people and snarling at them is how I get my cardio. After I've done that for a while I light up another ciggie and unleash my 90lb German Shepherd before tootling into the local primary school playground and ramming Fruit Shoots down the throats of unsuspecting kiddies. Then I escape with my hoodie drawn down over my face, leaving a trail of Greggs sausage rolls in my wake.

I can't help being common as fuck though I was raised this way

The other day I took a parcel over to neighbours which had been delivered while they were at work. When she opened the door, her dog jumped at me and dug it's claws into my arms, drawing blood. I have quite a severe dog allergy so spent a very unpleasant evening, close to ending up in a & e. Neighbour said "oh sorry, he's a bit excited cos he's been on his own all day". Well that's all right then. Surely if the dog behaves like this it should be shut away before they answer the door? Next time they can collect their bloody parcels from the post office!

How about offering too close, off lead dogs a nice bar of chocolate?

Do you often go round advocating poisoning living animals, weeder?

For anyone who isn't aware, chocolate is fatally toxic to dogs.

Nope - but I've watched off-lead dogs scarfing chocolate off the pavement with their unconcerned owners too far away and disinterested to take care of their 'beloved' animals.

Actually most dogs are not 'dirty and disease ridden'. The vast majority of dog owners ARE responsible and worm and de flea their dogs on a regular basis. What I really object to is the fact that a few bad owners give the majority bad name. Something else I object to is the fact that it seems to be ok to call a being that I love dearly "a smelly, disease ridden, dirty stupid dangerous animal". If I dared to call a precious prince or princess " a snotty nosed, whining, precocious, spoiled, entitled little brat" I would be flamed. By the way, as previously stated, I have managed to raise three children to near adulthood without resorting to this hysterical behaviour. I cannot believe the absolute hatred of dogs that I witness on here on a daily basis. What happened to raising your children to be kind to all living creatures? Thats how I was raised.

I'm not sure how observing some dogs negligently allowed to eat litter from pavements equates to it being perfectly OK to poison any dog that gets too close to you. Frankly I find that a bit sick.

I saw two small spaniels playing on the village green today. At one point one wandered off to sniff something at the side of the path. Several people managed to walk past the sniffy dog without either party batting an eyelid at the other. No need for poisoning, despite the fact that they were within a foot of each other.

10 mins later they and owner were joined by two school girls around 11/12. I'm sure the kids would have been completely understanding had one of their pets been poisoned because it dared to be "too close" to a human.

I think most of us would agree, imonaplane. Most people on this site would discourage their children from being intentionally cruel and unkind to any animal, and would agree that dogs have certain rights and are not responsible for their unacceptable behaviour, their owners are.
I've never harmed a dog that didn't threaten me first, and I do like calm, well-behaved and well-trained animals.
I don't want to own a dog, walk one or share a house with one. I don't want to be approached by one when I'm out in public. I want me and mine to be left alone. Neither of my children have ever been afraid of dogs, and they were both brought up knowing all the rules of how you deal with strange dogs and the sequence of how to make acquaintance with one.
There are bad owners and frightened dog-haters, and that's when the problems happen.

I don't think wishful is speaking about charming well behaved little spaniels but what are we supposed to do about aggressive dogs who completely uninvited jump on us and cover us with mud, slether or worse?
You are not BU Wishfulmakeupping. The chocolate thing was a joke but really what do you suggest?

Not funny or a joke weeder.

FWIW I don't find spaniels charming, I find them to be frequently under-worked in pet homes and therefore prone to being a little hyper. Opinions and perceptions of course will vary.

I can't advise you on what to do every time you encounter a dog. I can't tell you ahead of time whether that dog is aggressive or just an overly friendly pup that still forgets his manners when he's excited.

Being jumped on is unacceptable and the owner needs a good bollocking. I'd in general recommend you stand still, avoid eye contact and sudden waving of limbs, and yell for the owner to collect their slobbery beast. Then administer said bollocking.

I've never had a genuinely aggressive dog jump up and slobber all over me. A dog's reflex is 3x faster than a human reflex, so it's unsurprising that if a dog wants to bite you it will lunge in suddenly, do the deed, and then be out of your reach less then a second later. Badly trained friendly dogs jump all over you, aggressive dogs lunge and back off. Neither should be off lead in a public park in an urban area.

However jokes about poisoning animals are still sick.

I think we might be getting somewhere, imonaplane. I do agree with bringing up children to be as kind as possible to other creatures (Or, well, certain ones ... I don't include malaria parasites or their hosts, for instance. Generally, though, I know what you mean and I agree.)

Now, I know some people think of children, including mine, in terms of 'snotty nosed, whining, precocious, spoiled, entitled little brat[s]' and doubtless other similar endearments. I even have some childless friends with such opinions and feelings. I think these friends are wrong to think that, but, well, live and let live, as I keep trying to say. As you'll doubtless guess, these friends don't get emailed pictures of DGCs or engaged in conversations about DCs many successes in life. Furthermore, on the basis that any random stranger might be one with such opinions and feelings, I try to keep my children (or, these days, grandchildren - DCs are pretty much grown) from bothering any strangers until I'm sure they'll appreciate any close contact.

All I want is the same consideration from dog owners such as yourself, imonaplane. You now know that some of us think of your well-loved pet as 'a smelly, disease ridden, dirty stupid dangerous animal'. OK, so what about a bit of live and let live? Keep your well-loved pet away from strangers until you're sure they're not like me and would appreciate close contact with said pet. That's what seems to me to be reasonable behaviour. No?

If, contrariwise, you let your pet come sniffing around me or my DGCs, what is it reasonable for me to do? Ignore it? I think not.

All I'm asking is that you and other dog owners take their responsibility as dog-owners seriously. And that involves, in particular, keeping them away from children you don't know. I'm sure you can agree with that.

Sometimes, I know, you'll not be able to keep your dog away from others. Live and let live applies here too. Circumstances alter cases. Here's a few scenarios - things that actually happened to me in the past year:

1. On a train, someone gets on and sits behind me with a dog on a lead. My response? I get up, smile at dog-owner, say nothing, move to another carriage. I'm actually allergic to dogs, something in their fur brings on asthma attacks. But that's not the dog's fault, nor the owner's. Would it be unreasonable for me to attack the dog or its owner in such a scenario? Surely yes.
2. Sitting outside with some friends having a drink. Loose dog ambles over, fits itself under the table I'm sitting at, starts sniffing my crotch close up. My response? I punch the dog on the nose. Hard. Dog owner, amazed, 'Did you just punch my dog?' (Yes, the guy was watching his animal sniff me!). Me, 'Yes, and I'll punch you too if you come sniffing round like that.' Was it unreasonable for me to attack the dog like that? Surely no. Whose fault the dog got hurt? Its owner's, not the dog's. Or mine.
3. Pushing DGC in her buggie. 'Friendly' dog comes over for a sniff at her. She's afraid, cries out in fear. My response? (Left as an exercise for the reader ... what would be reasonable under these circumstances?)

'3. Pushing DGC in her buggie. 'Friendly' dog comes over for a sniff at her. She's afraid, cries out in fear. My response? (Left as an exercise for the reader ... what would be reasonable under these circumstances?)'

I would have blocked the dog, putting me between the dog and my toddler. Then I'd have told the owner to get the dog under control, firmly and loudly.

What actually happened when my father was pushing the buggy and I was wandering along behind, nattering with my mother, was that dad blocked the dog, picked it up and threw it a considerable distance. It was a large springer, by the time it had landed, dad was ready for it and had the owner not grabbed it with much yelling, the dog would have risked being killed.
Dad doesn't dislike dogs at all, but he saw a threat to his GD and responded.

Ooh. Heated.

Train your dog or keep it on a lead.
Don't leave it's poo lying around.

Is that difficult?

Apparently so of some ppl.

Anyone who touched my dog would not do it again.