Dear dog lovers/owners...

[INeedABiggerBoat]

A few tips for 'dog lovers':

• Don't leave your young children to pet a dog while you p* off to the loo or go to buy a pint, without checking with the dog's owners first. Dogs may not find your children as adorable as you do. Some dogs also bite children/when scared and I'm betting you won't be blaming yourself if that happens.
• It is not okay to feed a dog without its owners' permission - especially when you give the dog a small bone that could choke it/splinter in its throat. Unless you're happy for us to pass on the vet bill to you.

And one for dog owners:

• Whistling for your unleashed dog to follow you while you merrily cycle off home does not constitute 'having control' of your dog.

Any other tips to add, MN-ers?

Ah come on now Womble don't try to pretend you're better than others simply because you don't grasp the attraction of 'pets' and consider dogs and guinea pigs to be the same (although you're right, guinea pigs lead the field these days in IPO, agility, obedience etc.,).

You're the same sad waste of carbon as us dog owning folks. The only difference is you don't have a dog to daily tell you you're the best thing ever.

Here, have some instead.

Cold poo is somehow worse than your own dog's warm offerings I still pick it up if I see it though, largely cause I'm bound to step in it on the way back/in the afternoon/the next day if I don't!

Really? If I picked up all the dog poo I see I would never be at home.

Exactly

womble

Not really contributing much to the thread there, are you.

We don't really get all that much around here. For some reason the main hotspot is right by the bin just before the playing fields I always pick it up and bin it if it's on the path there, as the bin is right there.

Obviously I don't go searching for it in the bushes and long grass, but now and then there's a bit on the paths which I'll pick up. Might as well, I'm usually carting my dog's shite around 'til I get to the next bin anyways.

May = nearly summer = horrible dogs/owners threads aplenty on mn.

Possibly helps that I grew up around livestock- shit is just shit to me, I'll bag or shovel anything! Although I draw the line at dealing with human shit. For some reason it's just so much worse than animal shit.

Please be a responsible dpg owner and pick up poo after your dog does its business. Don't be a lazy arse and walk on to let someone else stand on it, bring it into houses on the bottom of shoes, its disgusting quite frankly. Not your dog..you are. How would you like dog shit brought into your house because someone is selfish and can't be fucked picking it up. I think not. Oh and I don't want my ds ending up with upset tummies and sickness cos he's been running in the park and trod on your dogs poo, then brings it into house on the solesof his shoes..(I always take shoes off at the door now thanks to all you irresponsible dog owners) dont you realise dog poo is full of nasties and can even cause blindness in children? One last thing before my rant is over..when you see a sign that says " no dog fouling" please adhere to it!! Grrr (and if you do use poo bags then yippee. .but don't leave it dangling)

Passed another dog owner this morning just as he was trying to ignore his dog doing a big dump. Couldn't resist asking whether he'd run out of bags and kindly offered him a couple of mine. His face was a picture....but I did shame him into picking it up. Hopefully he'll think twice next time!

To group of parents having a party

No I am not mean for taking my dogs away as quick as I can when 8 children, 3-5 ish come over squealing about wanting to stroke the doggies. Don't whinge at me. You have no idea what my dogs are like and you all stay in your garden drinking beer and letting the group of Holstein out of the back gate to harass two big dogs. Yes they're cute. Yes I now know they're friendly. But they night not be when faced with a big group of small hands wanting to stroke them. They had been with us less than a week as adult rescue dogs. I didn't know their temperament. And it would have been me and my dogs in trouble had one of the snapped.

To other dog owners around our block. If I find out which poo belongs to who, I will deliver it back rather than picking it up and binning in your behalf.

And also to the other local dog walkers. If you're walking near a dog who is obviously distressed and/or your dog is becoming snarly and barking, why not stop, wait, turn around, do something to diffuse the situation if you can't stop your dog from being loud. I don't care if your dog 'just wants to say hello' when it's barking loudly at mine - when you can see one dog cowering behind its owners legs, don't keep walking towards it with your dog barking because you want to say hello to the cute doggie. Move. Away. Or at least give me the opportunity to. Don't follow me until I let you stroke my distressed dog who hates yours. (They are the same breed - who knows if my GirlDog has had issues with another of their breed before, but she cowers. Only at this dog)

Oh and other dog owners - if you don't have a bag for any reason, ask another dog walker. I'm sure I can vouch for almost all responsible owners here when I say we'd rather be asked for a spare poo bag than for you to leave it around and give us all a bad name

You can even buy rucksacks with a 'poo pocket' so it can be carried until you find a bin www.paws4designs.co.uk/index.php

I have poo bags everywhere - they also come in handy for 'doggy bags' when I don't finish my dinner and know the Mutt would love a bit of steak

LtEveDallas. That's a brilliant bag. Just what I've been looking for. By the time I've walked the dogs my ordinary rucksack stinks. This morning I'll be out walking two labs, one Cocker Spaniel and one lab mix. By the time they're finished I can't help wishing I was mugged for my rucksack. I can just imagine the mugger's face when he/she opens the bag looking for goodies.

My dog has virtually no recall - and I've tried everything. He will, however sit and stay while I hobble over at a fast pace, so that's what we do in fenced areas with no children around. Other than that, he isn't off the lead unless it's in the garden because I cannot fully control him. It's about accepting his limitations and working around them. I don't feel he is suffering from not able to gallop around, although I'd love it if this was possible. But I can't guarantee he won't run off and get lost, or run over to a group of children and possibly frighten them

What really gets me is when parents over-react to a small dog on a short lead, behaving as if he is a free-ranging wolf about to gobble up their children. this morning we were walking down a path at the side of the school (which is at the bottom of my street) when a mother came bursting out of the bushes and then shrieked in horror as she saw my westie innocently sniffing the grass. She grabbed her son, glared at me and announced loudly "we should have gone the long way around!" and then stalked off. That child is going to grow up with one huge phobia unless she learns to put things into perspective. I just smiled sweetly and did not tell her I had every right to be on the path with my on-lead dog but it really hacked me off.

It always amazes me when parents don't teach their children not to approach dogs without the owner's permission. DD loves dogs but knows not to run up to them or stroke them unless their human says it's OK; she also knows not to ride her bike or scoot close to them as it freaks out some dogs. No problem - so why is it such a big issue for other parents?

I like (most) dogs too, but my personal annoyance is bouncing - when an unknown dog bounds towards me head-on and leaps up, my first reaction is not 'he's just being friendly'. I have no idea if the dog is aggressive, nervous or what. If a dog I don't know bounds up and bounces on DD - particularly a large one that's the same size as she is - she doesn't like it either, and saying "Don't be silly, he's being friendly! He's great with little children!" is.. well, silly.

Just as it would be if I let DD bound up to an unknown dog and hassle it for ages with a "Oh, but isn't it sweet! She's great with dogs, she loves them!"

I have poo bags everywhere - they also come in handy for 'doggy bags' when I don't finish my dinner and know the Mutt would love a bit of steak

Truly an excellent example of cutting out the middle man