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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To shout at this dog-owner?

308 replies

AnotherNC · 09/01/2016 10:44

Surely if your dog jumps up at strangers it should be on a lead?!

Walking in park, 4-month-old baby in baby-carrier (with his feet dangling in furry bootees) a Westie started jumping up at me, scrabbling at my leg and making grabs at baby's foot when he jumped! I yelled at dog to 'get down then shouted at owner to 'get your dog under control' (she responded with a cheery sorry!)

Did I overreact? I wouldn't care so much had I not had baby strapped to me. I get it that baby's bootees might look like toys but I don't want a dog tugging on them or getting mud/slobber everywhere. And I don't want dogs running round my feet particularly when ground is slippery.

Why can't people keep dogs on leads?? It's not the first time random dogs have jumped up in the park.

OP posts:
Andrewofgg · 09/01/2016 14:11

laughingGnomette MN is full of people who if they own dogs take responsibility for them. RL is different.

And dogs aren't people: to talk of their "rights" or being "fair" to them is nonsense; we may have duties to them (if we make pets of them or use them as working animals we obviously do) but that is not the same thing.

Towns free of dogs (other than properly trained working dogs) would be cleaner and safer for us all, especially for children. If they were confined to their owners' (detached) homes and gardens that would be good - but not as good.

WaitrosePigeon · 09/01/2016 14:12

I'm sorry you've encountered so many - it gives us all a bad name which is a massive shame!

cupcakelovinggirl · 09/01/2016 14:14

Don't walk in a muddy park if you don't want a dog jumping up at you.

Andrewofgg · 09/01/2016 14:15

Don't take your dog to a park used by children - muddy or otherwise - if you don't want their parents to defend them against your pet.

Alisvolatpropiis · 09/01/2016 14:18

As loathe as I am to agree with you Andrew, you are right in your last statement.

As someone with both a child and dogs I'd have no compunction doing whatever it took to get a dog off my child. Be it one of my own pets (extremely unlikely because I am a careful parent/owner) or a random dog in a park.

Children are more important than pets.

Kingfisherfree · 09/01/2016 14:18

I wouldn't mind someone giving my dogs a little kick if they jumped up, if you turn your back to the dog it usually gets the message.

Andrewofgg · 09/01/2016 14:25

Alisvolatpropoils I know a post of mine on another thread upset you and others. So let me say this. I'm not justifying at age 63 what I did at age 18; it was not the right thing to do. You may remember the context was a "true confessions" thread.

But nor do I feel myself obliged to keep my opinion about pet dogs to myself - I don't think they should be kept in towns.

cruikshank · 09/01/2016 14:31

Andrewofgg I agree with you totally. Cities and towns are no place for dogs anyway - they're animals, ffs. Just in terms of the animals themselves, they shouldn't be trotting around on concrete and cooped up in tiny gardens. Imo they shouldn't be indoors at all, and I do find it strange that some people want to fill whatever void they have in their own lives by putting an animal on their sofa or in their living-room or whatever, but I guess that's up to them. What is happening though as a result of this weird behaviour is that those who live in cities and towns are being negatively impacted - dogshit all over the street, animals jumping up at them, frightening them and their children, damaging their clothing and taking over/ruining what precious green space there is in urban environments. I live in a city where we are lucky enough to have a fair few parks and also a couple of nature reserves but tbh they are pretty much inaccesible because of twats letting their dogs run around and shit everywhere - great for the dogs, not so good for the people whose council tax funds the upkeep of these spaces but who cannot use them because they are full of fucking dogs.

iceyrider16 · 09/01/2016 14:32

No not rubbish at all Anthony. I don't understand the mentality of parents who allow their children to be scared of ridiculous things like a dog walking past them! How is that setting them up for life! It isn't!!!
A few months ago I opened my front door (I used to live on the high street) my dog was in the house on the lead ready to go. A man walking past screamed and picked his child up and ran across the street. How is that helpful to the kids? Why teach them that being afraid of dogs is ok and normal? Screaming and running makes the dogs think that something is happening and works them up.
I am currently training my dog to be a PAT dog with the aim of taking her into schools to educate the poor children whose parents seem incapable of teaching their kids how to behave around animals.

iceyrider16 · 09/01/2016 14:35

Cruikshanks
What a load of rubbish
I have dogs because I live them not because there is some void in my life. What utter garbage!

Booboostwo · 09/01/2016 14:35

Andrew on purely utilitarian terms it would be madness to restrict all dogs to lead walks. It would just create energy crazy dogs some of which would come into contact with the general public, e.g, by escaping their gardens, and all of which would be in contact with people in their own home. It would be a very dangerous suggestion made by people who know nothing about keeping animals.

I do have 'a large garden' as I live on a farm. I have a small dog at the moment but again the idea that only large dogs need exercising or that only bites from large dogs are dangerous is just ignorant, ask anyone who has been bitten by a JRT.

To the extent that you are responsible for teaching life skills to your child you should be teaching them how to interact safely with dogs. Otherwise you might as well not teach your kids anything about traffic laws but expect everyone to drive at 10m/h, or not teach your kids how to swim and expect all lakes rives and swimming pools to be emptied. Out of interest do you also avoid telling anything to your kids about how to behave around horses, cows, pigs,etc or do you limit ignorance to dog behaviour?

cruikshank · 09/01/2016 14:38

I might add as well that friends from other more enlightened cultures who have settled in the UK are aghast at this whole strange dog-owning fetish that we have here and the knock-on effects that it has on urban environments. In other countries dogs are looked on, quite rightly imo especially considering the damage they cause to human activity and living space, as pests. That is certainly how I view them too.

MitzyLeFrouf · 09/01/2016 14:39

I'm laughing at all the people who don't think animals should be kept in towns. for as long as we've had towns we've had animals resident in them. This is not going to change.

cdtaylornats · 09/01/2016 14:43

Dogs have never bothered me half as much as uncontrolled children running about in restaurants. I think we should bring back reins for children.

AnthonyBlanche · 09/01/2016 14:46

It could well change in the future Mitzy. Not so long ago people in some towns used to throw raw sewage out their windows and into the street. Not so,long ago people routinely kept pigs in town centre gardens. Neither of these behaviours are acceptable now, I'm sure over time keeping dogs as pets in towns will go the same way.

cruikshank · 09/01/2016 14:46

Yes, because dogs and humans are just the same. Hmm

cruikshank · 09/01/2016 14:47

That was to cdtaylornats.

AnthonyBlanche · 09/01/2016 14:48

icey what strange behaviour from the man and his child. Maybe it was you they were frightened of?? Grin

schlong · 09/01/2016 14:50

Spot fuckin on cruickshank. Anthropomorphosis, loneliness and narcissism to blame for this dog epidemic. As our humanity's being eroded it's being replaced by perverse doggy love.

Agree 100% with Andrew too.

I feel sorry for these hounds made to compensate for their owners lack of a balanced emotional life.

Booboostwo · 09/01/2016 14:50

Anthony according to that impressive piece of logic anything could change in the future, maybe dog ownership will become compulsory instead of dogs being kept on leads!

MitzyLeFrouf · 09/01/2016 14:51

You're so wrong Anthony. If there is one thing guaranteed to make British people rise from their armchairs and take to the streets in protest it would be the suggestion that dogs and cats be outlawed from towns and cities.

It would be a bigger vote loser for a government than any war or any tax hike.

iceyrider16 · 09/01/2016 14:51

Your right Cruikshanks there not equal. Generally children are far far more of a nuisance to the public than dogs!

cruikshank · 09/01/2016 14:54

I am currently training my dog to be a PAT dog with the aim of taking her into schools to educate the poor children whose parents seem incapable of teaching their kids how to behave around animals.

This is such an urgent issue that I'm surprised the UN hasn't enlisted your help.

Or, wait, could it be, could it possibly be, that disliking dogs isn't something that people need to 'get over' and the problem could be resolved by animal fetishists not expecting everyone else in their city to love and respect their filthy shitting hound, and to realise that not every parent wants to spend their leisure time cleaning dogshit off their child's buggy/clothes/shoes after a trip to the park, or to be told for the umpteenth time 'he's only playing' after being jumped/salivated on.

iceyrider16 · 09/01/2016 14:54

No Anthony it was definitely the dog he ran from as he screamed 'Watch out there's a dog'. It was a small town and people were laughing at him/about him for weeks!

AnthonyBlanche · 09/01/2016 14:56

I don't think so mitzi and who said anything about cats? I am confident that more than half the population of UK towns and cities would wholeheartedly back a law prohibiting dogs from towns and cities. Anyone who has had to clean dog shit off their or their children's shoes, or do a sort of side to side dance down a pavement to avoid the piles of shit, is likely to be in favour.