To be utterly exasperated with the ‘but she’s really friendly’ dog owners out there

[Flamingolingo]

You know the kind - the ones who holler after their bounding dog who barks and bows and jumps at you about how friendly they are.

I feel like since lockdown I’ve had multiple altercations with people and their marauding dogs. Especially either while out running or out with my small children who are terrified.

That’s not to say there aren’t loads of really responsible dog owners out there who do try and call their dog back/put it on the lead, but the few who make no attempt other than shout about their friendliness really get my goat. For clarity: we are mostly using city centre green space, that is quite busy, I think in a rural location it’s a little different.

So I guess my Aibu is about my being annoyed at people who assume everyone wants their ‘friendly’ dog to bound into their social space, and who make no attempt to call their dog back unless specifically asked to.

A child that screams is likely to provoke a dog to bark at them and a child that runs away is fun to a dog so they will chase.

I'm pretty sure there is no law stating I have to keep my daughter on a leash. Dogs who chase random kids should be under control.

@YouJustDoYou
sorry that's cruel.

where does everyone live to have all theses dogs bounding over to them. I'm at my local park twice a day, my two children used to go everyday before they started school, only once has one being knocked over by a dog and licked all over the face ( my boy loved it) I can't think of any occasions where dogs have approached them. even now we explore new places every weekend places full of dogs and we never get approached by big jumpy dogs.

Have you not read about the massive decline in beautiful song birds. Who’s killing all the birds?

NoIDontWatchLoveIsland
So my dog is exercised off lead in a big open green space. There's no roads and no cars. We don't go near other people unless we know them. My dogs don't approach people. Their recall is good. There is no issue.

If someone who hates off lead dogs chooses to walk in an area known for being popular for off lead dog exercising (rather than any other available green space and park near by), they have absolutely no grounds to be arsey with me because they don't like the fact I'm exercising my dogs in a perfectly legal way.

In fact, if their feelings towards off lead dogs are so extreme that they consider each and every one of them to be a savage wolf on the inside, what on earth are they doing going there over any number of places that don't allow off lead exercise?

It's a classic case of 'I don't like something but rather than accept there is space in society for everyone to do their thing and we can all use different facilities depending on our preferences, I wish to have my way all the time'.

Scottsberger Who'd have thought a belief tha dogs shouldn't run up to people and there's space in society for everyone to do their own thing according to their preferences would be such a controversial opinion.

A dog weed on my rucksack on the beach. I had the rucksack down and was sitting beside it, then this dog just sauntered over, cocked its leg up and fecking weed all over it!!! (NOT envy) The owner then shows up and lightheartedly says “Oops, sorry!”, then just walks off.

I had to throw the rucksack as it just reeked (even after being washed).

YANBU this might be out in as to where I live but there have been several reports of dogs killing cats in a particular area whilst the owner watches.

That wouldn't have happened if the cats were kept safely in by their owners.

I don't hate dogs per se.

I just think domestic ownership of them is pointless. I regard them as a bit like guns. They have a purpose, especially in farming communities, but we dont need to have one in every home.

Forgive my ignorance of dog breed origins, oddly enough it's not an area of general knowledge required to succeed in life. I googled the JRT, what came up was that it's a breed with its origins in fox hunting.

That wouldn't have happened if the cats were kept safely in by their owners

WTF

YOU are the reason people hate dogs and dog people BTW. Excusing shitty dog behaviour because someone else should have foreseen a dog attack

I hate these owners with a passion. My dog is scared of other dogs getting close, so the other dog being friendly is irrelevant. I find it extremely poor manners to allow your untrained lump to jump on my terrified dog, don’t care how friendly it is.

That so sad, open up your mind. Embrace the love! Who knows, there might be a chihuahua out there for you too.

You can't love what you don't love. It's like me saying "God why don't you like frogs?! They're amazing, how sad for you".

Dogs smell, they shit in public, they can be dangerous and have no boundaries. How can people not understand why others don't love dogs?!

@NoIDontWatchLoveIsland

Some of those parents think their child comes first in every situation

That's because the child does come first. From a legal perspective, from a moral perspective, in every single fucking way the child always comes ahead of the dog. Always.

Hallelujah

Why do people find this so hard to understand?

Everybody shits in public, it seems, as this Lockdown has shown.

I’ve got a 10cm scar on my arm from a dog that had ‘never bitten anyone before’.

I see the ‘but what about cats?’ brigade are out in force. Cats do not routinely bound up to complete strangers and jump at them. They don’t present a danger to humans.

My experience of this recently is people letting their off lead dog come near my dog on a lead and he doesn't like it so then he gets snappy and I end up dragging him off! It's really irritating!

Yanbu. I am fed up of it. My 3 year old used to love dogs until he was knocked off his feet by several different ones within the space of a couple of weeks. Always met with a half apology and ‘he/she’s only being friendly’. I do not care if that dog is friendly. If they can’t be controlled or called back to the owner they should not be off a lead.

The worst one I had was a huge Alsatian came running at full speed towards my pram, jumped up all over my baby, I had to physically pull him off the baby (while absolutely terrified) and then it jumped up at my toddler, knocked him over so I had to pick up my crying toddler, then go back and pull this bloody dog off my baby who he had now gone back for, whilst holding my toddler. The owner then ambled over, no apology whatsoever and just called the dog away and walked off. I was quite shaken. He may have been confident his dog wouldn’t hurt them but I wasn’t. It was a horrible experience and I’ve gone from quite liking dogs to really being very wary of them.

Why do people find this so hard to understand?
Because nowhere in law does it say someone's preference (or their child's preference) not to see someone exercising their dog off lead comes above someone else's right to exercise their dog in a perfectly legal way.

If a dog bounds up to someone then that's out of order.
If someone is exercising their dog off lead and someone doesn't like it, then tough luck. It's a free country and 'but my child doesn't like your perfectly legal action' doesn't come first.

@LolaSmiles,say you are afraid of spiders.And your friend brings over a huntsman.Wants you to pet it and love it.
But you can't cause you're afraid of it.

That's what it's like for some kids.

And talking of parks,unless it's a dog park dogs should be on leads.

I live in a village.

There's only one open space where dogs must be on a lead, it's a tiny childrens playground. There are 4 areas if woodland, and every single one allows dogs off lead.

Believe you me I would be fine if off lead dogs were restricted to specific isolated spaces. But actually it's the reverse. Children are confined to tiny parks if they want to avoid off lead dogs which are permitted every where else. That is completely the wrong way round.

Yeah I like dogs but I'm also SO sick of this. Was recently called precious by someone when her fucking dog jumped all over me and I objected! She then told me it was a 'dogs park'!
If your dog doesnt stay to heal put its bloody lead on FFS.

[quote rayoflightboy]@LolaSmiles,say you are afraid of spiders.And your friend brings over a huntsman.Wants you to pet it and love it.
But you can't cause you're afraid of it.

That's what it's like for some kids.

And talking of parks,unless it's a dog park dogs should be on leads.[/quote]
Omg this! Love it

#heel even!!

My children were very frightened of dogs when little, one especially so. We were having a picnic in the park one summer when they were around 3 and an enormous unruly dog can bounding over which made my dc panic, the dog came straight over and licked the food one the blanket. I asked his owner to please keep him away and she got very defensive and angry and told very rudely that we should be picnicking in the park .

No one is saying a childs preference should always be adhered to.

We are saying a childs safety comes first. I'm sorry but many of us here believe that any dog has the capacity to hurt/attack a child. Unlikely though that may seem, it's a matter of safety, and we believe that trumps your desire to have your dog off leash in public spaces.

I literally had this experience yesterday. Woman walking a Rottie I think...massive thing, shoulders bigger than Tyson, growling and salivating and bearing its teeth and all the while she's telling me "she's really friendly". That dog wasn't fucking friendly, it wanted me, the dog nearby and everybody else for dinner. I don't get it. I was out doing a workout, I removed myself from the situation sharpish. This is not the first time this has happened to me. I was once admonished by a woman with a small yappy thing that literally hurled itself at me while I was out running. She told me to stand still and put my hands in the air and I was so shocked I did...she then had the bloody cheek to tell me off and say that I shouldn't "go out running wearing dark clothes" as her dog thinks I'm a man and she doesn't like men. On what planet is this normal?

*No one is saying a childs preference should always be adhered to.

We are saying a childs safety comes first. I'm sorry but many of us here believe that any dog has the capacity to hurt/attack a child. Unlikely though that may seem, it's a matter of safety, and we believe that trumps your desire to have your dog off leash in public spaces.*

Yes. This