Dog walkers

[Lockdowner13]

I’ve noticed that since the places we can visit are restricted at the moment due to virus, just how many dog walkers there are.

I’m finding it impossible to take kids out without seeing dog off it’s lead. I really don’t like dogs much.

I’m finding that dog owners round here are selfish. Taking up the whole of the path so I need to run in the road, off lead when kids are walking, taking over the local green space.

AIBU to think that during lockdown some better rules should have been implemented. Eg dog free hours for exercise. We usually go to dog free places for our fun. Eg kids parks, cafes, national trust. Now I’m being forced to mix with dogs and it’s annoying me.

Insinuating? So I didn’t say it did i ? No... I just want to go to a place where there are no dogs. And I can’t because they are all shut.

And i would welcome there to be places that dogs go where there are no bikes or children or runners. Eg dog walking beaches, fields at camping grounds specifically for dog walking away from the farm animals etc.

My previous post should say "Runners always go into the road"...

"She obviously thought she or her pet had recall but she was wrong, so how do dog owners know their dogs will come back if they call them? Not goading, just want to know."

It's almost like dogs are animals with wills and minds of their own who might not always do as their told. A bit like children...?

Well get back to work and stop stalking people on mumsnet to dig up irrelevant history to “win an argument”

Just a shame you feel the need to nc for a goady thread.

You must know, if you have been here years, that it just looks as though someone has joined just to create a bun fight.

Anyway. I’m out. As I said, not in the humour for goady posts today for reasons you won’t ever know.

@Bluesrunsthegame The dog you met doesn’t have a solid recall. It, sometimes, comes when called if it hasn’t anything more interesting to do.

I meet many dog owners who say their dog has a great recall - as it is jumping all over people, ignoring its owners frantic attempts to recall it.

Bloody annoying isn’t it

Having said that I also meet lots of dogs with a good, solid recall. Not all dog owners are useless 😉

Yeah but trouble is when was last time you heard about a kid mauling another one? Funny enough my local Facebook thread is full of dog walkers moaning about other dog walkers for a) not picking up poo this giving them all a bad name b) dogs attacking other dogs and the owners not having control

When out- of-control children start running up to dogs and frightening them, jumping on them and covering them in muddy footprints and possibly even finishing off with a good old bite that draws blood, I'll start thinking we ought to put the rights of dogs first.

Until then...

Oh and I name change every few months for security reasons. You should know all about that working for mi5

I just want to go to a place where there are no dogs. And I can’t because they are all shut

Well Tough Titty!

You’ll have to join the rest of us battling through the hordes of families, blocking the paths to eat their picnics.

Never mind rain soon - 🤞

I was most annoyed yesterday to find my previously deserted dog walking area full of families, meaning she had to be on the lead. It really pissed me off and wasted the couple of hours it took me to walk there and back.

You can understand my annoyance, what with the world revolving around me and all.

I can see what you are saying OP, but don't tar all dog owners with the same brush. Some of us do actually have very well behaved dogs, and try to walk them in appropriate places. However, there will always be shit dog owners who can't or won't control their dogs, just like there are shit parents who think their spawn can do whatever the fuck they like. For the record I have a dog aswell as a child, and I expect good behaviour from them both when out and about.

Where are all of these out of control. rabid, vicious, incontinent, child eating beasts? I've lived in a semi-rural area where dogs are common and I've never came across one.

Well the world was a better place when we all had our own routines and places. I avoided parks early in morning when there were lots of dogs. People didn’t walk their dogs on certain days/times as they were at work. I used to go to gated off play areas where my kids could run wild without fear of dogs jumping on them.

Ah fuck somehow managed to attach an image by accident. Can we please get an edit function MN?

I'm another with a dog, 18 months old, in that tricky trained but obstinately free willed stage.

Our usual quiet walks are now full of people, families, kids, mobility scooters etc. Great, I can use you all as distractions for his training, he has a big green sign saying he is in training, flourescent, big writing.

And still adults and kids alike head for him and get angry, surprised, tearful when he bounces. He's very friendly, just doesn't have as.much self control as I'd like... hence the training, the harness, the double ended lead, bag of high value treats and me saying no, please don't pet him.

He has such a weird local reputation.. lovely, bouncy, bitey, friendly puppy!

All I can do is bear with it.... he'll grow up, lockdown will end....

Well I live in a normal English town. This year alone we have had an unprovoked dog attack on a child. It was a lab and it was on a lead but lead was too long. Child bitten on face. Long hospital stay. Several operations.

We’ve had a dog attack a family pet on private land. That was sadly killed. There is cctv footage of that.

And we have a dog that has seemingly attacked several other dogs in local park. Description seems to be same. Owner doesn’t give a shit.

I love how the OP gets called out and totally loses it.

It's not stalking if you post it on an public forum for the whole world to see.

Well the world was a better place when we all had our own routines and places

Oh yes!

I avoided parks early in morning when there were lots of dogs. People didn’t walk their dogs on certain days/times as they were at work

Eh? In your little bubble maybe.... definitely not in mine!

I used to go to gated off play areas where my kids could run wild without fear of dogs jumping on them

Best keep little Tarquin in now then OP. Nobody wants kids running wild in dog walking places

Unless you have any actual statistical evidence for an increase in dog attacks rather than your own personal anecdotes, you don't really have any kind of point. People have been getting bitten by dogs since dogs were a thing. It's not sudden news.

This reads as thought you're bored in lockdown and looking for someone to blame: dogs.

Boring!

*Well I live in a normal English town. This year alone we have had an unprovoked dog attack on a child. It was a lab and it was on a lead but lead was too long. Child bitten on face. Long hospital stay. Several operations.

We’ve had a dog attack a family pet on private land. That was sadly killed. There is cctv footage of that.

And we have a dog that has seemingly attacked several other dogs in local park. Description seems to be same. Owner doesn’t give a shit.*

Sadly the number of unprovoked attacks/physical violence on children perpetrated by other humans, commonly a family member far, far outweighs dog attacks. That doesn't include emotional abuse or 'failure to thrive'/casual neglect. The ONS gives the data. I'm an ex nurse, worked in A&E and that reflects my experience.

So I think OP should stop goading everyone, (this thread is clearly feeding their need to be noticed) be far more worried about that and get a sense of proportion

One of the issues with recall in our park atm, especially since ‘picnics’ are allowed, is the amount of edible detritus people seem to leave behind on the grass and around the benches, combined with loads of stale duck bread. Grrr.

And wherever there is a park bench, there now seem to be tempting leftover food remnants. Please take it home with you. Dogs have amazing noses and great memories.

Thank you for the answer to my question. I have another. I walk past a house where a little dog lives and if his family are in, he does everything he can to alert them to me walking past. He goes loopy, barking, running about, if he is in his garden, rushing at his gate, making as much noise as possible. I assume he does this to everyone, not just me. He is little so it isn't at all alarming. However, if his family are out and I walk past, he does not care. The depth of his boredom with me equals the height of the excitement. I realise his family are out as their car is gone or there are no lights on etc.

I have neighbours with a dog that also gets excited if the doorbell rings when they are in but doesn't make a sound if they are not. My neighbour says that if a burglar rings the doorbell when they are out, the burglar will hear the dog and not burgle the house. But it only barks when they are in, I think.

I'm assuming these dogs are too sensible to make a fuss when there is no one to hear them. Why tell your family someone is at the door or walking past if the family are not there?

So will some dogs only bark if there is someone to bark for? I haven't mentioned to my neighbour that her dog only barks when she is in as she is a huge expert on all things dog and is unlikely to believe me.

So basically because the places that you would normally walk or spend time outdoors are closed you are visiting places that the dog walkers most probably always visit and your annoyed they are there? Do you realise how silly you sound?

Hate to break it to you OP, dogs are allowed in some cafes and on some National trust properties.

Actually it was at a National Trust property that some toddler threw stones at my dog and then their parent excused their behaviour because ‘they were only 3’. Also, I’ve worked in a kids fun house - kids do run up to strangers and jump at them, kids do bite other kids. Imagine the outrage if I’d started a thread about parents because a few children bite other kids.