Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Picnics on the dog beach...

66 replies

Queenofthedrivensnow · 30/12/2018 16:15

So there are two beaches side by side. One has a dog ban. The other one doesn't. The no dog beach is nicer and bigger as it should be. Right now both have free parking and are both easily accessible down ramps. They are very similar.

I let my dog off the lead as it's far from the road and he's fine with other dogs. It's usually a fab walk.

Today there's a family with toddlers down there, and a tent. And a barbecue and fecking glasses of wine. On the dog beach. So ddog stayed on the lead because the bbq is on the floor and I'm not risking the potential consequence!!!

If I was on my own I might have made my feelings clear but I had the dds with me I didn't.

I wouldn't walk him down there in summer.

Aibu to think this is a bit out of order? Happy to be told aibu

OP posts:
LagerthaTheShieldMaiden · 30/12/2018 16:18

Of course you're not unreasonable. There's another beach that dogs can't go on and they chose not to use it - idiots! I would have let my dog off his lead to be honest.

FannyAndMoonface · 30/12/2018 16:19

Did they definitely not have a dog with them on or off lead?

HilaryBriss · 30/12/2018 16:19

YAB a bit U. Maybe the family are not local and don't know the rules/etiquette regarding dogs or no dogs?

PineapplePen07 · 30/12/2018 16:20

Maybe they are not from the area and didn't realise there are two beaches?

Luvey · 30/12/2018 16:22

As an owner of 2 dogs ... you need to calm down! It's not a dog beach! It's a beach that dogs aren't banned from. Therefore anyone can take their family there anytime they want.

Thank god you didn't make your feelings clear to the family.

Yes it has annoyed you and meant you had to keep Rover on the lead. Suck it up buttercup. At least you were allowed to walk your dog on the beach. Be grateful for that. Just because you're allowed to walk your dog on that particular beach doesn't give you privelleges or priority over anyone.

And I say this as someone who takes her dogs everywhere.

mrsm43s · 30/12/2018 16:25

It's not a dog beach! It's a beach that everyone, including dogs, can go on. The family had as much right to be there as your dog did, and every right to have a picnic/BBQ there. YABU.

Lindy2 · 30/12/2018 16:26

Perhaps they didn't know there are 2 different beaches.
I'm not a dog owner but in a public space like a beach or a park I would expect to be able to have a picnic without a dog interferring. I would expect the owner to keep it under control.
If BBQs are allowed on both beaches they didn't really do anything wrong. Personally I would have chosen the non dog beach because I would expect it to be cleaner and free from dog wee and mess.
Perhaps suggest to your council that the non dog beach is allocated as the one for BBQs.

Pommes · 30/12/2018 16:27

Absolutely agree with @Luvey. There's no such thing as a dog beach, it is just a beach that dogs aren't banned from. I understand your annoyance OP, but people do take priority and you should be able to control your dog around a BBQ or lead him/her.

Ohheyyy · 30/12/2018 16:30

It's not a dog beach for dogs, it's just you're allowed dogs on there. It's not just for your use so YABU.

pineapplebryanbrown · 30/12/2018 16:35

It is annoying as there are so few places you can take your dogs whereas people can go everywhere.

SaucyJack · 30/12/2018 16:37

If your dog can’t behave around people eating in public place, then yeah- you need to suck it up and keep him on the lead.

Makes no odds whether they had a dog themselves, or were on dog-friendly beach or not.

You have a legal duty to keep him under control.

Luvey · 30/12/2018 16:39

Think you need to change the thread title

Should be

Picnics on a beach that dogs are allowed on

Its not a dogs beach

redsummershoes · 30/12/2018 16:40

it's not a dog beach, it's just a beach where you are kindly allowed to bring your pet.

you still have to keep your pet under close control and if it's the kind of dog likely to snatch a sandwich it needs to stay on a lead.

BettyBooJustDoinTheDoo · 30/12/2018 16:41

why on earth does the OP need to “calm down”? She is hardly frothing at the mouth, just a bit irritated.

Luvey · 30/12/2018 16:47

Bettyboo because the OP actually considered letting the family know they were out of order. She actually said if she didn't have her kids with her she would've let them know her feelings. She said she thinks they were out of order.

Now just for a minute, imagine you've bundled up your family to get out of the house for a bit over the hols. You set up with a wee picnic on a nice spit on the beach. You're having some nice food and enjoying chilling and chatting.
Then a woman with her dog comes over and tells you you're out of order . She says she can't let her dog of the lead because you're having a picnic and says this is a dogs beach.
Like seriously

KC225 · 30/12/2018 16:49

I have posted this before. Years ago we decided on a beach picnic with friends and assorted kids. Everyone would bring something. I pushed the boat out and made one of those picnic loaves. A cottage loaf, hollowed out and filled from outside in to the top. I proudly put the picnic loaf on a plate on the centre of the food blanket, turned round to get out knife and suddenky eveyobe was lagging and shouting. From nowhere a small wet sandy dog, ran across the blanket and started shagging my cottage loaf. Right going at he was too. Practically no one rushed to push him off because they were laughing too hard. My DH had to wipe away a tear. I was livid. The owner came over and was very apologetic. I was gutted, worse thing is years later DH still talks about the dog shagger loaf. And I have never made another. Guess what OP, we had no idea it was a dog beach.

PerryPerryThePlatypus · 30/12/2018 16:52

Where do you live? I'm in the north east and the chill would slice you on the beach today.

Junkmail · 30/12/2018 16:54

I know people are saying it’s not a dog beach, just a beach that dogs are allowed on. But if there is another perfectly good beach for humans only and only one area for dogs it is a bit frustrating that the OPs walk was interrupted when there was an alternative for the family but none for her. I get it. It’s frustrating. Unfortunately there’s nothing to be done about it and they were perfectly within their rights to picnic there. A bit odd maybe though—a much greater chance of being bothered by a loose dog than on the other side. We had a picnic at our “dog beach” during the summer but we chose the spot because I had three dogs with me. We were inevitably interrupted by an off lead dog but had no come back as that was the risk we took 🤷‍♀️ Seems strange the dogless would choose to do that tho.

GemmeFatale · 30/12/2018 16:56

I have no idea if this beach is a dog beach or a beach where dogs are allowed but dog beaches are very much a real thing. They generally have signs warning you dogs will be off leash on them, and fencing to Lee the dogs in and many don’t allow picnics, unsupervised children, etc. Basically like a dog park that happens to be on a beach

buckeejit · 30/12/2018 16:58

Yabu.

ginghamstarfish · 30/12/2018 16:58

I have never seen a 'no dogs' beach which DIDN'T have dogs on it, so maybe the family thought there was no point in deciding on the other one ....

thesnapandfartisinfallible · 30/12/2018 17:00

I think you are being a bit unreasonable. It's not just for dogs and allowing them doesn't mean they should be allowed to be running wild.

If they don't have good enough recall to keep them away from one group of people then I think I'd be a bit cautious of letting them off anyway. I say that as the owner of two dogs, one of whom just cannot be trusted around other people. He is just way too friendly and thinks everyone who sits down is fair game for cuddles. As you can imagine not everyone wants a massive Labrador on their lap. So even in the dog park I keep him on a long lead.

So really if he is well behaved enough you could have let him off and if he is like mine, well that's our problem not theirs.

ForalltheSaints · 30/12/2018 17:03

Where is this place that is warm enough for a beach barbecue on 30 December? Not in the UK surely- is the OP living in the southern Hemisphere?

Bambamber · 30/12/2018 17:05

I think a lot of people won't look for signs as to whether or not it's a beach that allows dogs unless they actually have dogs. Even still, your dog has to be under your control whether it's a beach that allows dogs or not.

My dog is part beagle so loses absolutely all her manners when she smells a tasty treat. She quite often has to go back on her lead while on walks to prevent her from annoying other people. It's not the fault of other people if our dogs can't behave around food

shpoot · 30/12/2018 17:07

No such thing as a dog beach. And they probably didn't know that one beach had a dog ban. YABU

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.

Join Mumsnet Log In

This thread is closed and is no longer accepting replies. Click here to start a new thread.

Swipe left for the next trending thread