To think if you go to the dog beach you should expect dogs

[Blackdogagain]

I took my pooch to the beach for the first time today. The beach is huge and split in half, one half is for dogs, and there were many of them. Most dogs were off the lead and playing freely.

A few families were also on the dog beach, but were without a dog. However, a few families were obviously irate with the dogs running and swimming everywhere.

Is it me, but if you sit on the dog half of the beach, you can't get huffy over dogs running around.

One father and daughter were on inflatables in the sea and 3 dogs were running into the sea next to them and the girl was obviously worried and scared of them. The owners called their dogs back and walked up the beach a bit, which was good of them.

Surely though, if you don't want dogs around, bloody well go to the dog free half of the beach!

I would imagine you would need to be having repeated issues with the same dog(s) and owner and to speak to your dog or animal warden. The police will (usually) only get involved if a person is actually injured. Or you could try your safer neighbourhoods team - I've known them to get involved as well. Of course in this situation you will need them to be in the local area or to know the name/address or if the owner walks in that place at a regular time so they can get in touch with them.

If you are on a beach or a park that has it's own system of governance (my experience is with the City of London Corporation) then contact them as the council will refer you back to them. They tend to be very proactive in policing their land and may have their own by laws which they can use to fine or ban people.

But again it needs to be reasonable - a dog jumping up at you and scaring your kids once is highly unlikely to be considered a reasonable situation. An owner allowing their dog to do it repeatedly is more likely to be cracked down on.

everlong I have to wonder why any sane person would think it acceptable to let their dogs interfere with other people.

Do you with your dogs?

The beach where dogs are allowed here is much bigger than the non dog beach everlong. It leads from one village to another, about a 40 minute walk and many people would go on that beach because it is big.

It's not a dog beach, that makes sound like a beach specifically for dogs, it's a beach where families or people who own dogs can enjoy the seaside. Out of the hours or seasons where people are not generally doing people things on the beach, then it does pretty much become a dog beach, but this does not imply that it is one all the time.

This is why I rarely venture into AIBU anymore;

Question - AIBU to have my two calm dogs on the beach not bothering anyone?

Answer - Yes, you totally, totally unreasonable bastard, making those of us with out of control dogs look bad, stay at home you uptight shit.

Translation: yes.

We go to the beach with the dog or to surf all year round. Unless it's boiling when the place is ruined by day trippers so we head to the moors instead. I'm with you OP (as a user of a beach with a similar set up).

Not all dog owners are like you.

"Back in the real world would anyone really go and sit on a beach dogs were allowed rather than the part of the beach they weren't if they knew they would be annoyed by said dogs running around flicking sand, possibly pinching their sausages or splashing their children."

Well, they might if they had a dog!

Not everyone who owns a dog is sympathetic to inconsiderate dog-owners.

"I am talking about the dog haters on here. They wouldn't have a dog."

Where are these dog haters?

that you've gone from saying that you would tell anyone who objected to a dog jumping up at them to "piss off" because they were on a dog friendly beach to "I am talking about dog haters" in the course of a morning!

"I'm not inconsiderate, but..." lol

I think people are disagreeing about proper dog conduct here b/c two different situations are being discussed. There are dog beaches expressly marked off for dogs to run and play freely and there are beaches that allow dogs, marked as allowing dogs.

On a beach that merely allows dogs, dog owners have to control their dogs much more tightly, as those are beaches that other people can reasonably expect to be able to use for sunbathing, picnicking, etc. On those beaches, people should not let their dogs run around unchecked.

The OP is talking about a dog beach. It is marked as a dog beach. Those are for dogs to run around on. It WBU for people to expect to be able to picnic or sunbathe in peace there.

Really? A beach just for dogs? I want to go there- where is it?

Okay but even if it is a "dog beach" it's not like you drop off your dogs there with some pocket money and then pick them up at the end of the day. It's a communal space for families to enjoy with their pets.

Not all dog owners are like you.
Fortunately not!

I don't have dogs, but I have friends who do and I have even taken their dogs for walks.

But I do expect to be able to sit in a park or on a beach without being disturbed by a dog. And I usually can, thanks to the dogs' owners being responsible like most are.

What I do NOT expect is for owners to allow "friendly" dogs to jump up at me and then be called a "dog hater" or told to "chill out".

Irresponsible, aggressive dog owners are just like irresponsible, aggressive cyclists - it only takes just a few of them to give a bad name to the vast majority of responsible ones.

So while I probably wouldn't chose it for a run I would certainly expect to have a day out with kids and dogs and have other dog-owners be considerate of us.