AIBU bloody “dog people”

[mumof2exhausted]

Ok so I know there are some decent, responsible dog people out there but AIBU to say that there are some absolute arseholes who genuinely don’t seem to understand that not everyone loves dogs?? My 4 year old was recently bitten by a random dog so understandably is little nervous around them. A huge dog has just ran after him in the park (double the size of him) and he was petrified. Dog obviously thought he was playing game of chase. I don’t blame the dogs, I blame the owners. They didn’t call him off immediately just laughed and shouted “oh he’s just being friendly”. This happens all the time. Another big dog jumped up and pushed over my 2 year old couple of weeks ago. And no sorry or anything. Again a “he’s just being friendly ha ha” and off they walked without so much as a backwards glance to check my crying 2 year old was ok. I don’t have a dog but if I did and this happened I would be mortified and would apologise immediately and dog would go straight on a lead. Nearly lost my shit today with the owners but honestly don’t think they would have even cared.

The face licking I find disgusting. It might be worth suggesting to the stupid woman who said your child is oversensitive that she thinks about how a dog cleans its bum. I am also very firm about dogs being on leads in public places. I love dogs, I have had at least one dog every day of my adult life and would be bereft without them. I too often prefer their loyal company to some people of my acquaintance, but they are capable of knocking a small child flying and can snag and dirty clothes and get over excited if they are allowed to run amok around squealing children. The same silly people probably let their children wreck shops and spoil other people's possessions - too lazy to train either dog or child

We went on a walk on Saturday and DS took a turn holding the lead which is something that doesn't happen very often but the path was quiet and we were having a nice day.

Up ahead, a dog off lead is heading towards us. DS asks if it is a wolf as it looked very much like one! Dog then lays down and I (stupidly) thought perhaps the owner had given it a command to do so and I just hadn't noticed in order to let us past.

Nope. As we get closer, owner tells DS "my dog is going to pounce at your dog, but in a friendly way" and just as I hear what she's said, her dog comes up to mine and DS snarling!

Who on earth thinks it's OK to let their dog behave like that??

YANBU. We have recently got a puppy but my DD was absolutely terrified of dogs for years and it used to give me the absolute rage when owners said “He won’t hurt her.”😡

I am v v cautious around everyone when I am out with our dog because lots of people - adults as well as children - really don’t like dogs. I am sorry you’ve had some bad experiences and awful for your DS.

Good dog owners are not incredibly rare. I have had dogs isnce I was a kid, (have 2 now) they did various training sessions, right from puppy socialising, are regularly wormed, not walked on beaches where dogs are not permitted, are walked on dog friendly beaches where we live, a young lively dog isnt going to get decent excerises on a lead, (I know some folk think dogs just go out to go to the toilet, untrue) I also pick up heir poo, even places where its not compulsary, I go to woods,forests, early morning, school holidays, very early so as not to upset folk who dont like dogs.

My horse nearly killed someone’s dog last week that was biting at her heels as she walked. The owner was very lucky the horses didn’t kick his dog into next year and I wouldn’t blame it either.

Shit, that's awful. One of things I made sure I did with both my terriers was to socialise them with horses when they were small. We live near two racing yards and there's a livery stable very close by, so we encounter horses all the time.

It's really paid off, we forgot about the hunt one Boxing Day and they were coming up the bridleway as we were coming back from our walk. They both sat at the side of the track and just sat still until about 50 riders had passed. They were on their leads, but I needn't have bothered, they didn't budge until I told them to.

I'm eternally grateful to the friends who have rock-steady, gentle horses that made it possible for me to expose the dogs to horses in a very controlled way.

I had a classic this winter. Walking in a beauty spot very large dog ran at me bounded up jumped up paws on shoulders covering me in mud. Owners response? "He never does that". To which the only rejoinder is "he just did!". No apology or offer to meet cleaning costs. Really hacks me off.

YANBU OP. I have 2 dogs. The older one is friendly and well trained, she will come back if I call her. She is often off the lead in the forest or the park. The second is young and a work in progress. I do let her off the lead if there is no one around but she is super friendly, bouncy and may not come back when I call her, so she is often on the lead. Other dog owners are so considerate including one who's dog was off lead and growling. "Don't go near him he's not friendly." Was shouted at me from quite a way away WTF was he doing off the lead?
Having said that it is 2 way street. People need to respect the dogs and teach their children not to race up to strange dogs and hug them, give the dog space, and generally think if I don't want the dog to that to me I won't do that. I was walking my dogs on my left so moved over left, closer to the Wall, so I was between the on coming woman and the dogs. The woman decided she was going closer to the wall and walked straight at the dogs. Super bouncy dog then jumps up at woman and I get a mouthful for not controlling my dogs!!! In have always taught my children to share the space. Wish other people would too.

In my opinion dogs who run up to people even if they are friendly and just want to say hello, should not be aloud to run free. I am scared of dogs and don’t understand dog body language so have no idea if they are friendly or not. I also don’t want them to sniff all over me.

Me neither. I have managed to modify the internal panic that I feel (having been bitten twice by dogs who were 'just being friendly), but I honestly wish more dog owners would get that not everyone wants their dog jumping up, licking or nipping heels.

I like animals but I do not like other peoples' animals when they are not controlled properly. Whether it's dogs jumping up or cats or dogs pooing where they shouldn't or whatever. Either look after the bloody things properly or don't have them. Seriously a pet peeve of mine.

Thesearepearls some people will get anxious about the dogs running up to them however friendly the dogs are. My son isn't scared of dogs but is scared of things that invade his space and may behave very unpredictably if that happens.

YANBU. Fed up of the minority of dog owners who don't retrieve their intimidating dogs. Twice I have had dogs crouching down on their front paws and growl and snarl at my toddler. Owners, at a distance, do not bother to shift their arses to get the dog back but just limply call 'Fido' whilst Fido completely ignores them. The second time, it happened and the owner wasn't shifting their arse, I told her if she didn't come and get her dog, that I was having to hide my toddler behind me as he growled and snarled at us, that I would start kicking it. Suddenly she was able to run; and swear. 'Fuck you, don't you dare kick my dog, fuck you, fuck you!' Right, its ok for your dog to corner us but not for me to defend ourselves. It took me two years to help my child get over his fear of dogs after these incidents. Then a few months ago a bloody dog ran at him, chasing him round and round and bit him, puncturing the skin. Back to square one.

This happened to me. I have a very friendly dog 🐕 . We were on a beach demarcated for dogs. Puppy, who no longer looks like a puppy at 8months old, decided to run toward 2 small children who were playing totally ignoring me. Dogs are allowed off leash at this beach. Puppy thought the kids were his family (I have 2 small dcs). Once puppy got closer, he slowed down... and then went close to the kids, sniffed them and came back. It was an honest mistake.
Meanwhile I ran to the puppy. The father of kids was close by and he had a word with me. That his kids are afraid... I apologised.

Not sure what else I could have done... puppy is still under training...

Harajuki
Longline is the answer. Attached to a harness.
You must be in control at all times.

I understand that dogs want to greet nose to nose, hence the jumping up. They can be trained out of it or kept on a lead. The owner has full control if they choose to do something.

if it doesn't respond to no, punch it in the face or kick it in the balls. Same as with a human.

before you all start squealing, would you prefer a bite?

I was once having a picnic on a blanket with friends and our kids in the park, a dog ran up and ran off with some of our food. I went over and told the owner and she said ‘you shouldn’t have been sitting on the floor’, no apology- nothing it was apparently our fault for having a picnic in a public place!

I personally don't think a dog that goes up to kids and doesn't have the ability to recall befofe it gets there should be out in areas where children are without being on a lead.

Mine woild have found it scary too.

I can’t bear badly behaved dogs, they really annoy me. I’ve also had to call to other owners to recall their dogs that are herding/bullying my dog. I take my dog to a great training class. It’s not difficult, it just takes a bit of time and effort. My dog is very laid back and submissive and other dogs seem to want to dominate him. I don’t want his lovely nature changed, I don’t want him hurt or scared and I don’t want him learning their bad habits and becoming aggressive himself.

I have booted away an aggressive dog. It came at my beautiful boy, snarling and slathering but before it could grab a hold of him it had my foot under it and I propelled it away. It landed about a metre away and just stood there looking completely confused. The owner never said a word. I snarled at him to put the bloody thing on a lead and then I stalked off. I was so bloody angry I was worried that if I started yelling I wouldn’t stop.

I was in a cafe at the beach the other day where dogs are welcome. A couple came inside and sat at the other end of the table and I could hear them talking about all the dogs outside and what a nuisance they were. I ate my sarnie and drank my coffee and then got up to leave. My beautifully behaved lab followed me out from where he’d been laying under the table, on the lead. They did have a bit of a look. I like to think I educated them that not all dogs are a nuisance.

Mine is the most friendly labrador ever, he has never growled in his life. He is full of love for everyone but he is big and he does try to get close to people to show his love. I would NEVER let him run up to a child as I can see that the size and exuberance of him could be frightening. I would be ashamed to have a dog that I couldn't call back easily.

And by the way specialsubject no dogs do not approach each other face to face, that’s actually quite rude and confrontational for a dog. They like to sniff each other’s bums first. Although not all dogs like that either.

My dog is very small and friendly ,so parents dont seem to see her as a threat to their child,ive often had to yell across the grass can you take your child away please..I'm forever saying to children,no you can't pick her up ,she dosnt like it..or can you not try to grab her tail please she dosnt like it.....if I see children I head the opposite way as I'm sick of hearing ..oh she's so cute can I pick her up.....she's small ,she's cute..but she's still a dog ,with a lot of teeth that could bite after one to many toddler pokes...plus she has a sore paw at the moment courtesy of the vets crap nail clipping skills...so she's slightly irritable at the mo.

If you're yelling across the grass at a child surely that means you're not able to recall your dog?

I used to be s dog person. I adored dogs. I actually still do, but hate dog owners. My little girl has a near phobia about dogs after an incident when she was 2. Nothing overly scary but very traumatic for her.
And now it’s almost impossible to go anywhere. Dog owners seem to think that s giant lumbering dog running up to a child the same size of it is somehow funny. Oh he just wants to play, he never growls or bites! Really? I don’t care. Can you not see a shivering petrified little girl, the same size or smaller than your dog, is not amused? It’s really sad to say that most dog owners don’t care or at least do not see it as their problem at all. I’m an adult. I know that most dogs off of their leads that go chasing down children are lovely and playful. But I can’t explain that to a child who’s met one of the rare dangerous ones.

Dog on lead next me ...child wandering over

Don't let mine off on parks ..to many kids about