To despair at dog owners

[Justmydarlinpet]

Aaaaaaaaaaarg. Grrrrrr.

I was sitting with dh and dc in the park sharing a pizza between us which we had got from a nearby restaurant. Suddenly dh leaps up and grabs a dog that was about to jump on us whilst we were sat on the ground eating our food. He had to hold on to the dog until it's owner a stupid fuckwitt cunt woman came (about a minute later). The woman made no serious attempt to call her blood pet (massive in size, some sort of mutt). She just meekly called whispered "emmieeeeee, eeeeeeemmiee" but unsurprisingly stupid dog didn't listen to fuckwitt woman at all.

She then proceeded to tell us the classic line "he's harmless" to which I responded "well I still don't want him jumping on me, the dc or our food.

She had the bloody cheek to answer back "the park is for everyone and that we should get used to dogs". I said "sure, i'lm used to dogs but still don't want one humping me, the baby or slobbering my food".

She went on to say some more tosh and I warned her that I would call the police as it was clear that she couldn't control her bloody dog.

She went off in a huff but not without lecturing me that I should not be rude to her in front of the dc.

Seriously, how can some dog owners be sooooooo blooooody stupid? I don't get it. I love dogs, hope to have our own dog one day but I will make damn sure to train the dog and not allow it to bother other people.

The dog didn't bite the OP though but these threads do usually descend in a free for all.

OP may be sitting back with a cup of coffee enjoying the arguments.

wonders if any OPs have came back under different name to encourage bun fight

I'm a dog owner, I have 2 'mutts' as you call them , we are not all irresponsible twats.

Dogs should be kept on leads in parks. Mine are on leads everywhere unless we are in a field and there's no one else in sight ( we can do this a lot here ). If my dog saw food on the floor he would assume it was for him and would pinch it, which is why I wouldn't have him off the lead.

I can't think of a single picnic table in our local park. Most local parks don't have loads of them. A couple of benches, yes, but guess what, on a warm day, they are often taken.

And dogs are off the lead in most parks. I'd be hard pushed to find a local park with plenty of free picnic tables on a warm day or a park where dogs are only on leads.

We all need to co-exist with each other in common spaces like parks (the all-weather versus fair weather thing is clearly nonsense).

It's not a case of 'people shouldn't do this or that in a place where there are dogs, or what do they expect?', it is quite simply a case of owners keeping an eye on what their dogs are doing and calling them off sharpish when they bother people. That is all. It is the not calling off convincingly and quickly that people are complaining about, including OP. I think everyone accepts that dogs will go after food sometimes.

Same goes for children who bother dogs. Call them away. It's very simple and it's common decency and consideration for others.

Marne, you're very lucky you have a lot of fields near you but not everyone does and, as you're obviously aware, dogs benefit greatly being off lead. I'm lucky as there are great parks near me but I let done of my dogs off lead and don't feel that those who don't have benefit of being near large spaces should be penalised. I love all mutts, little ones for cuddles on laps and big ones for running and sporting, between giant cuddles of course.

Some not done.

I think generally accepted dog manners are that you shouldn't let your dog approach another animal or person without their permission, and you shouldn't stroke (or feed) a dog without it's owner's permission.

Obviously at some point in your dog's life it is bound to do something embarrassing e.g you come across a picnicking couple getting down to it in a 'secluded' spot in some long grass and you don't notice them until the dog has stolen the quiche.

However, I find it's pretty easy to avoid picnickers by walking the dog before lunchtime, training them to have good recall, putting them on a lead near picnickers or walking them away from popular picnicking spots. I think I am right about this being common practice because I always picnic on the ground and don't have a problem with dogs.

merrymouse, this is just what I mean. It is common decency and common sense and surely this is stuff most dog owners do? The what do you expect/I use the park more often argument just reinforces the view that some people have about dog owners: that they feel a bit entitled and share the park grudgingly. Luckily, the vast majority of people with dogs I encounter in RL are like merrymouse.

Spot on, merrymouse.

Only on MN could a picnic in a public park be portrayed as bad parenting, antisocial or otherwise wrong.

Those peoe who can't keep their dogs from interrupting picnics are also those who wouldn't be able to keep them from chasing livestock if the mood struck them. That means your dog is poorly trained, which you should probably do something about. As someone who's had to deal with fatally injured sheep, lambs ripped to shreds and known injured horses and riders due to dogs who are usually 'gentle and harmless', I have limited patience for those like ffallada who don't see the need to properly control their dogs.

I think pinching interrupting a picnic and pinching food is a bit different from killing sheep?

Some dogs are totally obedient until there's food involved, many dogs are trained using food and some breeds find food very tempting ( my lab would pinch food from a picnic ), I took my dog to a family dog show last year ( he was only a pup, less than a year old ) and he got the wiff of someone's burger, he almost had it out of the blokes hand. Today when we went for our walk he was off the lead and there were new lambs in the next field, he ran over to have a look but came straight back when I called him, he always comes back when I call him unless there's something yummy such as pizza involved ( this situation would not happen as he would be on a lead ).

Marne2 you are spot on. good dog ownership means you know your dog and therefore it means taking preventative steps to avoid an unpleasant situation (dog licking child, dog jumping at bikes, dogs nicking footballs, dog walking on a picnic). Obviously this being real life it may happen that it doesn't go as planned in which cases plenty of apologies are appropriate.

If I go to my local park on amonday morning I'll find it empty and dog can run free. On a sunny sunday it is full of picnics or people sunbathing. Dog is on the lead or chasing obsessed a ball.

If my dog runs into a stream and it is soaking wet I do my best to avoid him to wet passes by and I warn those who want to stroke him. Seems common sense. I would apologise if he shakes near them.

After all that I also believe that if you walk in the park you accept some kind of encounter with animals etc, so if the resonse to my apologies is you going mad I'm afraid you're on your own.

yanbu at all

imo all dogs should be on the leash at all times out in public.

Yea right!

Don't, I'm not sure why you believe that dog owners are second class citizens on here. Stupid thread title aside, it's pretty clear that nobody here has much of a problem with responsible, considerate dog owners. It's those that can't control their pets who are moaned about.

Can I just ask what all this 'park used by dogs' etc is really about? Parks are communal spaces and some people take advantage of the space to take their dogs for a walk and let them off the lead, fair enough. But are parks generally created for this purpose? I really only think it is those owners right to use the space to let their dogs off the lead if they are under control and aware of the other people using the park. I don't think the people enjoying a quiet stroll, picnic whatever should have to avoid the open space because some people choose to let their dogs run there.

I HATE dogs.

I was bitten by a Jack Russell when I was 8 - still have the scar on my leg.

Annoys and scares the hell out of me when at a park and some dog comes over and starts jumping and sniffing. I can't recite how many times the dumb ass owner has said - it's harmless, it's just being friendly etc... So sitting on a bench with two dcs enjoying a nice ice cream and your animal comes over for a lick and I'm wrong to be pissed off? ( yesterday by the way). My dcs are friendly would you want them sniffing, jumping and trying to lick your ice cream?

Get a grip it's an animal.

Yadda Yadda Yadda to those who say my dog is like my child ( which is what the loon woman in park said to me yesterday) err no - a child can be told right and wrong, a dog pffft you have no idea what they are thinking or planning to do next as demonstrated by all those horrific cases in the news.

Have just spent 200 quid at vets because of people with picnics in the park. Deciding it was ok to feed my dog their picnic. So how does my dog know that some people hate dogs approaching them and some will feed him. Oh and don't start me about the guy who thought my dog was so big he could put his child on it and say he was a pony.

pasi
if your dog approaches strangers (called by them or not) it is not under control and should be on the lead.

hope the vet fees teach you this lesson!

And here we go, from one sniffed pizza to mauled children in 193 posts...I presume that's what "horrific cases in the news" means.

What do you know about the "loon" woman in the park?
Maybe she can't have children, maybe the ones she has are grown up and have left home.
Maybe she's lonely and all she has for company is her dog?

Who are you to judge her?

I would hope that any dog owner rates the life of a strange child over their much loved dog though. Regardless of whether the dogs are like children and no matter how precious etc.

I'm interested to know where anyone said that picnicking on the grass is "bad parenting". I'm sure the answer will be "it's implied" but can't see that either. Much drama on doggy threads. Chill out, people, maybe go for a pizza picnic and a stroll.

Never argue with fools!

You had every right to tell her exactly what you did - perhaps she should acknowledge that her responsibility as a dog owner is to ensure that everyone else in the park is comfortable and are allowed uninterrupted space to do what they came to do.

Also, Battersea Park used to be dog-free! It may not be anylonger and maybe it's too far from you, but I just remembered we used to go their all the time :-)

slithy even if someone were stupid enough to consider a dog's life to be more valuable than a human one, the law does not, fortunately.