Dogs

[apresski]

We live down a country lane very popular with dog walkers (despite dog walking paths by river just adjacent). Our gates are open on to the road (not the river) and we have had repeated dogs run into our garden. I am from a dog family, my DH isn't (allergic). My daughter is also allergic but seems to be growing out of it, but as a result of allergies at an earlier age is petrified of dogs come running at her or are overly bouncy/friendly etc. Now.... AIBU to think of you walk your dogs up and down a lane or in public you should be able to control them going in to other people's gardens or property? DH and I had an argument about it today but actually daughter was terrified by three dogs running around chasing her and was screaming.....! Thanks all

Standing in the lane all day quoting legislation at people and expecting them to immediately respond is more arduous than closing the gates, surely?

We have open gates too and often get dogs coming in. Our dear now deceased dog would go and wag at them (useless guard dog). So we didn't mind. But maybe I would we weren't a doggy family.

How about spraying chilli oil or sprinkling chillies (lots of them) round your gate entrance? Dogs don't like chilli.
Or citrus.

How about spraying chilli oil or sprinkling chillies (lots of them) round your gate entrance? Dogs don't like chilli.
Or citrus

Or maybe just shut the gate?

So you are saying that everyone has to dog proof their gardens so dog owners don't have to keep their dogs under control

No, I'm saying OP has a really simple solution (closing the gate) and is refusing to do it, instead creating a fuss over something she can't control.

Yes, dogs should be on leads but if you have small children you should also have a secure garden, no? You can't make other people control their dogs but you can control the security of your land.

YANBU. I love dogs and I love my own like its one of our children, but if we are walking around other peoples gardens we know to have him on a lead as he is likely to run off and explore someone else's garden, which would be inconsiderate and rude on our behalf if we didn't

I know you feel you shouldn't have to close the gate and your absolutely right, you shouldn't have to, but I'm afraid you should. MIL had the exact same problem their fields have a walking path down the sides and they just installed gates and the problem went away.

We live down the end of a lane and opening and shutting a massive old 5 bar gate every time you want to go in or out is a massive arse ache.

If the dogs are on road they should be on lead.

Mine are, always. People come pretty fast on our lane, there are horses, cyclists, farm traffic. My thick hounds could cause a major accident. Everyone round here uses leads on roads.

I get why you don't want to shut the gates but I honestly think that you're going to have to get new gates fitted that close easily. It's not worth the stress.

How do you cope with cats?

Get automatic gates so you don’t have to open and shut them? Arrange a safe place for deliveries outside of the gate?
You can’t leave the gates open so members of the public can access your property and then expect dogs to know that they aren’t invited.
She was allergic but now isn’t? Properly allergic? Needing an epi pen? That tends not to happen.

No yanbu but if it effects you and your family and you are able to get new gates that easily open and close then I would go down that route, feel a bit pissed off by having to incur the expense and then just put it behind you. X

I wonder if OP has gone to close the gate? 🤔

If my child was scared witless by dogs my priority would be firstly to fix my bloody gates and secondly to do something to help my child with her fear.Moaning on here solves nothing.

YANBU to be annoyed that dogs run around your garden. However, you can't control these flakey owners or their dogs, the only thing you can control are your gates. I know you shouldn't have to, but all you can realistically do to sort this issue out is to close them.

Well finneganswhiskers she said the gate was broken so I thought the chilli thing would be a cheaper alternative.

Maybe OP can close her large gates permanently and install a normal sized gate that the postman can figure out .....

I have a normal sized gate. It keeps my dogs in and other dogs out. It works well.....surprisingly 🙄

Close the gates.

We also live in the country and have large gates up, more to deter walkers and cyclists who want to cut through our garden rather than use the public foot path on the field next to us. We also have animals we don't want to get out onto the road (big ones, like ponies). We have a letterbox for post and for deliveries we have a wireless door bell fitted to the gate post. If we are not at home for the delivery, we go to the post office to pick it up, same as everyone else. The people who lived here before us didn't close their gates either and yet moaned constantly about people traipsing through.

Last time I checked, the OP is asking if she is being unreasonable to think dog owners should not allow their dogs into her garden - not WWYD, or for solutions.

So no, the OP is not being unreasonable to think it is the dog owner's responsibility to control their mutt and keep it out of their garden. It's not "creating a fuss" or anything else to be annoyed that people can't be relied upon to control their animals - it's utterly shit that people are, generally, so useless.

However, the reality is that most dog owners shouldn't be trusted with a stuffed toy, let alone a live animal, so the OP probably should look at installing new gates that can open and close easily. That does not change the fact that, in principle, she should not have to though.

No, not at all unreasonable. I am a dog owner and love dogs but appreciate that many people do not for many reasons. He is kept under control and I ensure that us enjoying our walks doesn't negatively impact upon anyone else at all.

Your garden is your own space. It isn't for other peoples' dogs to run around.

This is why I would never get a dog. I really like (nice) dogs but I couldn’t bear the embarrassment of having a dog who ran into other people’s gardens / pestered other people / barked at cats.

I think that people who have dogs see them as separate people whereas I tend to think of them as an extension of the owner. Dog runs up someone’s driveway? No different from the owner doing it.

They can never be truly, 100% trained.

Rather like dog owners.

You can’t leave the gates open so members of the public can access your property and then expect dogs to know that they aren’t invited.

I assume the dogs aren’t out and about without a human. You can expect them to know the dog isn’t invited. I have no gates and too bloody right I expect people keep their dog off my property. Just like i do with my own dog and other people’s driveways.

I’d never let my dogs go wandering into someone’s property! YANBU.
In reality though, if this keeps happening you have two choices.
Shut the gates or put up a big sign saying UNAUTHORISED DOGS WILL BE SHOT.

I don't think you are BU. I'm a dog owner and I'd be pretty pissed off if dogs regularly wandered onto my property and their owners did nothing to stop them.

However, you are aware that this is an issue so what are you actually going to do about it?

You will never be able to control other people's behaviour, but you can control your reaction to it and control your own personal environment to an extent.

The obvious option here OP is to secure your property so that wandering animals of any kind can't easily get onto your property.
Yes it's shite that you should have to but if you want a secure property then you have to take steps to secure it.

Simply, close the gate.

Nobody is saying dogs shouldn't be under control. I'm a dog owner and mine is always on-lead unless he's in his own space (house and garden) or in a secure field where dogs are specifically allowed off.

But at the end of the day, you can't control other people's behaviour. If dogs getting into your garden annoys or upsets you, then the obvious solution is to stop them from doing so - either by installing gates that work, or making sure the garden is fenced off from the road. You can't make other people control their dogs but you can make sure your garden/land is secure and dog-free.

Solution = electric gates