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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To demand people keep their dogs away from me on the seafront

999 replies

TigerPath · 29/04/2016 07:16

I'm sick of random dogs coming up to sniff me and DS or getting under my feet. All dogs make me nervous even small ones. And I hate it when they cock their leg on my pram wheels Angry

So now when a dog comes up to me or just before it reaches me I shout to the owner (politely but firmly) 'please keep your dog away from me/my pram'
Most oblige but a number are rude! Yesterday a woman retorted crossly 'but it's the sea-front'. I replied 'they should be on leads' and got a mouthful of abuse. There is a bloody great sign saying 'dogs should be on leads on the promenade'!! I wouldn't care if people kept them to heel but I don't want them touching me, my pram or tripping me up Angry

AIBU??

OP posts:
Thread gallery
12
Slowlygettingthehangofthings · 30/04/2016 14:00

What a childish retort MrGrouper. Its arrogance like yours that gives dog owners a bad name.

mrgrouper · 30/04/2016 14:32

don't see how its arrogance. My dog was stood next to me, causing no trouble, in a park where they are allowed off leads. Do you enjoy insulting total strangers online? Does it make you feel grown up?

zeezeek · 30/04/2016 14:49

There really are some stupid people in this world on this thread.

In future I think I'll just not bother to open these sort of threads and spend the time I waste reading some of the downright insane and hysterical comments about dogs, with my dogs. They are better company.

derxa · 30/04/2016 14:51

my dogs do not like kids, put those things on a lead then Oh for pity's sake Confused

Atenco · 30/04/2016 14:56

Don't have a dog but I hate this idea that dogs should always be kept on leashes. Dogs need a lot more exercise than any owner can give them on a leash and the pleasure they experience running free is a treat to watch.

Shining12 · 30/04/2016 15:12

Dog mace
hmm, I might get some, I am frequently accosted by dogs when I'm running

Shining12 · 30/04/2016 15:18

usually I stop and address the owner in a friendly manner, I figure that if I am at all confrontational the dog will be more of a problem because it will instinctively defend it's owner.
I suspect that if I sprayed the dog I'd end up getting beaten up by it's (probably feral) owner
then again if I was actually attacked it could save me from serious injury

Shining12 · 30/04/2016 15:21

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

storynanny · 30/04/2016 15:24

Our beach is dog free May-September and over the years have been cross with loose dogs etc. So now I say in a fake concerned voice "just to let you know the council man is just over there handing out fines"

storynanny · 30/04/2016 15:24

As for adult cyclists who cant read the signs either.....

Original poster
TigerPath · 30/04/2016 15:25

I responded "my dogs do not like kids, put those things on a lead then"

What a silly response to a perfectly reasonable request. Your dog is an animal, how can you compare him to a child? What threat is a child to him?

Dobermans are big, intimidating dogs. How was the man to know yours wouldn't run at his kids and bite or knock them over? Only YOU know he is harmless and well-trained, to everyone else he is just a big scary dog with the potential to hurt someone.

Everyone should be able to enjoy parks, beaches etc without fear of dogs. I wish there was a law in UK that all dogs must be muzzled and on leads in public places like parks.

Recently I was walking around an ornamental lake in the park when a woman came the other way with two big Boxers on leads. They were straining at their leads and it was a narrow path. I called over 'please keep your dogs away from my pram' expecting her to move the dogs off the path so we could pass safely. She glared and just moved them to one side of the narrow path, so I had to pull the pram off-road into the mud and bump it up the slope to avoid squeezing past! Either that or jump into the lake if one snapped Angry
I don't want any dog getting within snapping range of my baby or ankles, that includes not having to squeeze past them. Surely it's simple good manners to move your dogs off the path to let a pram past?!

Other dog-owners have been lovely, holding dogs by the collar or stopping to give way when I ask them to keep the dogs away. But a large number still think it's ok for their dog to approach!

OP posts:
Winterbiscuit · 30/04/2016 15:26

Dogs are usually good company for their owners. That doesn't mean other people want your dog's "company".

Dogs that don't run up to children who are not much bigger than they are and knock them over or put their face right up to theirs, or jump up on someone walking along and leave slobber and mud on them, are not "good company" for someone minding their own business in the park. Dogs that may do this should be on a lead.

Dogs that keep themselves to themselves, fine.

Winterbiscuit · 30/04/2016 15:27

Dogs that run up to children, not "don't".

Winterbiscuit · 30/04/2016 15:28

But a large number still think it's ok for their dog to approach!

Yes, because their dog should have exceptions made for it.

Shining12 · 30/04/2016 15:30

So we should just kill of yet another species because to some people they are a nusiance?
you do realise Kali that dogs arent wildlife, they are not a important part of the ecosystem, propagating them is not an act of conservation

TheSolitaryBoojum · 30/04/2016 15:30

Many dogs are not OK around children, many dogs are not OK around sheep.
If your dog chases a child, frightens them by stealing food from their hands or their picnic, jumps up at them, there are very few consequences for dog or owner if a significant bite isn't part of the assault.
Do that to sheep round here and the farmer may shoot your dog.

BombadierFritz · 30/04/2016 15:35

Do you literally say 'please keep your dogs away from my pram' and expect people to step off paths for you? I'm not entirely surprised you sometimes get a rude response.

Shining12 · 30/04/2016 15:35

Dogs need a lot more exercise than any owner can give them on a leash
I agree and it follows that for the sake of animal welfare no one should have a dog unless they have access to an area of private land large enough to exercise it.

It does not follow that because dogs need exercise they should be allowed to run freely in public area's

a dogs right to a good life should not trump the rights of humans to enjoy public spaces

Slowlygettingthehangofthings · 30/04/2016 15:42

MrGrouper - you already suggested that your 7 stone Doberman was intimidating - if someone asks you to leash your dog, surely it would be a common courtesy to do so? Or do you enjoy insulting small children in the park? Does it make you feel grown up?

Zeezeek - bye then.

SabineUndine · 30/04/2016 15:43

I hate it when dog owners don't control their dogs. One of my friends has a little mongrel, about 10 yo now, and it only takes one word to bring her to heel. It's a pleasure being out with them and their dog. I don't see why all dog owners can't train their dogs like that. Trouble is, it's the uncontrolled ones you notice cos they are in your face (or worse, other places).

squicketysquack · 30/04/2016 15:46

I have the opposite issue...I love dogs and get really excited when one comes over to me as I don't have one of my own, but it hardly ever happens!

Slowlygettingthehangofthings · 30/04/2016 15:47

Shining 12- could not have put that better myself, and I say that as a dog lover.

Shining12 · 30/04/2016 16:01

I think that is often what it comes down to Slowlygetting, the dog is an extension of the owners ego....a mechanism whereby the owner asserts his/her rights over and above those of other people.
I do like dogs, but I dont want to be approached by them, and I dont want to have to wonder about whether large powerful off the lead dogs might attack me.
I think I should be able to run in a public park without being chased, lunged at or tripped over by dogs

Jeremysfavouriteaunt · 30/04/2016 16:07

Does a well behaved dog trump the right of the humans who leave soiled nappies and glass on the beach near us? I find it interesting how humans are insistent that their rights trump every other species on this planet.

To carry on with the generalising (as we are doing about dog owners), in my experience dog haters are the type who hate any other creature spoiling their dream of a sterile environment. Who raise humans to think that they can trample over any other form of life and care little about the world that we SHARE with others.

Not really, but it's odd the efforts that some go to on this forum demonising an animal that brings a lot of help and support to our 'superior' race.

TheSolitaryBoojum · 30/04/2016 16:07

I like the idea of dog parks as well as people parks. Large, interesting spaces where like-minded people and their pets can roam free.
Fenced-off so that they don't roam free with the likes of me.