To be cross about visitors not liking my dog

[calamityJayne1]

I have a Labrador who is the daftest dog you’d ever meet.

Due to my work children and parents visit my house. They know I have a dog who is harmless yet people still make comments like why is he barking and I don’t like dogs and physically wincing if he comes near them.

This is only on arrival and I put the dog in a different room for the duration of their visit, but I am getting really tired of anti dog people making comments and someone even asked me to ensure the dog was locked in a different room on arrival!

Given the fact that new people are informed I have a dog and he’s playful and barks I don’t understand people’s reactions. I understand not everyone likes dogs but why can’t people stop act like snowflakes and move on?

AIBU to feel totally fed up and only invite dog friendly people to my house?

Adore my dogs, but they are not allowed to bark, jump up or misbehave with guests. If they get excited they go into the kitchen until they settle down. Barking dogs make me nervous to be honest. Is your lab a yellow one OP?

Ha ha, funny, OP! If you’re relying on these parents and children (are you a childminder?) for your living, then you are being exceptionally unreasonable.

I love my dogs, but I really don’t like other people’s dogs, especially not ill-trained ones that bark at me.

If you put the dog in a different room for the duration of their visit, why can you not put it in that room before you open the front door? Adds only a minute to his confinement, yet makes them much more comfortable/less scared.

This!

I like dogs but wouldn’t want one barking at me.

Why have you got so many people coming to your house?!

I love dogs but I can't be doing with those that bark and run up to visitors, mine stays in his bed until I give him permission to approach visitors, and he doesn't bark. Some people aren't keen on dogs

Expecting clients to deal with your dog when they come to your place of work is really bloody unprofessional, actually. If you did that to me I wouldn't be back.

You sound like a annoying type of dog owner tbh.

Tbh it sounds as if you're trying to make a point by not shutting the dog away before clients arrive.

I don’t like dogs and couldn’t care less that you love him and he’s harmless- I don’t want to play, have him bark at me, drool near me!

This is a reverse, isn't it?

I’ve always been careful around dogs I don’t know, esp if they bark.
Nothing to do with loving dogs or not or being a ‘dog hater’. Everything to do with some bad experiences when I was a kid.

You need to realise that both everyone is as relaxed around dogs than you are. If I was your u and I knew my dog is likely to be ‘daft’ and bark, I would put the dog in another room BEFORE letting people in.

You are either deliberately making yourself sound like a twat or are in fact a twat.

Oh I love being greeted by a dog 😀.
When we had one, it turned out that apparently half the population is either scared or can't be bothered with dogs.

Their loss, train you dog to not bark 😀, and keep him somewhere else if people are scared. Their reactions will be intimidating to him, and he will end up scared, too. So win-win for both sides.

Train your dog better.

And if you're having clients to your home, put their preferences ahead of your own.

Don't work from home. Simple.

Why can’t you train your dog? It sounds like more than one person has the same reaction to your dog so perhaps you need to address the mutt’s behaviour.

YABVU, but you know that already don’t you? And I say this as someone who’s always owned labradors. Some people love dogs, some people don’t. Some people are terrified of them. If people are coming to your home for your business and aren’t keen, you need to suck it up and keep your dog out of the way (if you can’t be a responsible dog owner and keep him under control when you answer the door).

I've got a small barky dog. I love her but not everyone does. When I know that visitors are due, I put her on the stairs behind a stairgate. After 5 minutes or so, she calms down.

YABU

Some people have been bitten by dogs and don't want to be near a barking one

YABU. Some people do not like dogs (I do incidentally) but I know some people who are sick of being made uncomfortable by having dogs jump up at them while their owners go 'Oh, don't worry he's very gentle' (it doesn't matter, some people don't like dogs however small, friendly or gentle jumping on them or trying to lick them). Others don't even like dogs being in the same room, in which case yes, you put your dogs elsewhere while they visit - you don't try to get them to like your dogs enough to happy to be in the same room.

I would find a reason not to visit a place again if I was confronted by a dog like that

My little dog is a lovable bundle of fluff who looks like a teddy bear, and he is utterly adorable. TO ME.

To others, he is almost certainly an annoying little shit who is more attention-seeking than a 2 year old and who barks at anyone who has the audacity to come anywhere near our house.

If I have visitors who are even the tiniest bit unhappy at being in close proximity to a dog, he gets put in the back porch (where he sulks) until they have gone.

I always find it strange that some dog owners don’t realise that not everyone feels the same as them...

This. Why on earth would I like a smelly dog barking at me? And before you tell me your dog doesn't smell, you're wrong. They all smell.

I would ask you to make sure the dog wasn't in the same room as me. A Labrador is a big dog and although you may love it, some people are scared of them.

I like visiting people not dogs.

Sorry I think YABU. My dog is very timid and is usually very calm when people come round, but I always ask new visitors if they’re ok with dogs, and put him in the garden or in a different room if a visitor is scared of or doesn’t like dogs.