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.

“he still gets to run because I bought him a 50ft lead”

Hate those damned things. Lost count of the number of times my dog and I have been tangled up in them as a lunatic dog runs round us in circles, whilst the owner thinks it’s under control because it’s on a lead.

Yanbu! So many dog owners use that excuse and I hate it. I don't care if your dog is friendly, I'm not. Get it the fuck away from me!

@excuseforfights in that case the comment was well justified. Read my post about the dog to see. I forgot to add 'stupid and absolutely careless' for the dog owner too.

my terrier does the telling off with the bouncy dogs!

@vikingwife that's not the same.You have a dog that could do some serious damage if they went mad.

It's not only kids though,adult with disabilities and elderly people are just as much at risk.

@vikingwife I am telling you that if a dog ever comes up to my child and attacks, then I will kick it hard. I'm sure it won't go down well at all with irresponsible owners. I will always protect my kids, and myself. Assaulting children is in no way comparable so don't be ridiculous.

@Notredamn like I said am not talking about a dog attacking. Of course if a dog attacks you must defend yourself. But to suggest that kicking someone’s dog won’t result in them having the same “mama bear” instinct to protect them that you have for your child is naive at best. Because the thought of someone kicking my dog makes me feel as angry as you feel at the thought of your child being bitten by one.

In reality most people are describing a boisterous spirited & bothersome dog the same way children can be. Both dogs & kids can be a downright embarrassment to their parents!

We had a bull mastiff, an absolute cowardly custard, but looked fierce as hell, so we made very sure that we had her on a lead when out. We were at the pet shop one day, and someone else's dog came out of nowhere, went straight up to poor poppy, and bit her!

When we approached the owner very calmly, they got quite irate, saying how their dog had poor eyesight, and could become aggressive if it felt threatened as a result.

Full blown temper tanty from the owner, when we pointed out that their dog had actively sought out our dog and then bit it, there had been absolutely no reason for their dog to have felt threatened by ours, we weren't anywhere near their dog, and that perhaps if this was the way their dog behaved, they should have a bloody muzzle and a lead on the damned thing - it could have been a kid?!

It made our poor ol' cowardly custard even more anxious.

Ok I am really not engaging with someone who thinks animals and humans are the same. It's offensive. You might want to look up where you stand legally if this situation ever arises if you think you can lash out at victims of dog attacks however 'playful' you think they are.

That was to @vikingwife

We’ve just come back from the beach.
I had two 4 year olds, a 7 year old with autism who has regressed a bit due to lockdown and my dog.
My dog was on a lead as she does greet people or jump on people etc and she stayed on the lead the entire time we were there. I understand if I can’t guarantee her recall she shouldn’t be off her lead. And she isn’t. The beach was full of families picnicking and there were loads of jellyfish in the sea so I didn’t want her to go in either.

Half way during our picnic a cocker spaniel off lead comes over and takes the sandwiches from the 4 year olds hands and eats them whole as quick as he possibly could swallow them. Then goes for the rest of the food. Followed by an owner “sorry, he’s such a foodie, he’s a bit too friendly sometimes”
I mean excuse me? I now have 2 4 year olds who don’t have the largest part of their lunch, an adult that’s had to come close to them in covid times and beach blanket and kids clothes covered in dog slobber. She looked embarrassed and I know accidents happen but if your dog is going to steal food from children having a picnic it should t be off lead in a warm day at the beach where people are picnicking.
Yes it wasn’t an aggressive dog but this was insane. My dog just sat beside me looking forlorn that her scraps had been eaten by another dog and that she couldn’t join in the fun.

@shinyredbus my cat is exactly the same. He's terrified of little kids because he was abused by children - they kicked and hit him - and the cat home stated he couldn't go to a home where there were kids because he'd just freak. I'd imagine there are a lot of dogs like that too.

Drives me mad that people don't train dogs. One pip on the whistle and mine are back at my heel. I hate dogs jumping up people or approaching dogs on leads. I also hate poorly socialised dogs approaching my dogs.

I do dislike children screeching and jumping at the sight of a dog though. Teach them to approach cautiously but not to be scared.

I do dislike children screeching and jumping at the sight of a dog though. Teach them to approach cautiously but not to be scared.

Especially if the dog is some way off happily playing fetch with its owner.

Teach them to approach cautiously but not to be scared

Or better yet, just stay the fuck away.

@Notredamn said:

"In reality most people are describing a boisterous spirited & bothersome dog the same way children can be. Both dogs & kids can be a downright embarrassment to their parents!"

FFS, I've never had a child run up to me, slobber all over me, steal food from me, dirty my picnic and food, run rings around us or otherwise ruin my day out.

My daughter is now terrified of dogs because all of the above have happened. In all cases owners looked at me with disdain as if I had done something wrong.

@SerenDippitty

I do dislike children screeching and jumping at the sight of a dog though. Teach them to approach cautiously but not to be scared.

Especially if the dog is some way off happily playing fetch with its owner.

This

[quote Notredamn ]Ok I am really not engaging with someone who thinks animals and humans are the same. It's offensive. You might want to look up where you stand legally if this situation ever arises if you think you can lash out at victims of dog attacks however 'playful' you think they are. [/quote]
Well said.

I didn't say any of that, @flashbac . Argh. Haha! I agree with you.

@Samster45 I had a very similar incident with a dog when I was picnicking with my oh, in-laws and my son when he was a baby. A dog ran up, ran around our picnic Matt sniffing at everything and ran around and sniffed all around my son who was about 9months at the time and was just sat eating. The owners did F all. Came over eventually and no apology. FIl gave them a mouthful (I think because the dog running around the baby had scared him) and all the owners could say is “well we live here and walk here all the time. You’re just a tourist”.

Similarly my son cane back covered in scratches when a large/muscly dog jumped up at him and knocked him over. Then was all over him sniffing about. My FIl has to hold my daughter up, while my MIL and my older nephew got the dog off my son. Owner apparently no where to be seen, eventually comes out from the trees to get the dog and gives a pathetic “oh sorry”. MIL was very angry, swore at her and left as my son was in tears, but later wished she had got the woman’s details as she clearly had very little control over the dog.

I gets my goat too. So annoying. Dog owners seem to think that everyone will
Love their pet as much as they do. I do not.

Not scarred of them (unless they are big) but I don't want one slobbering and jumping up at me. I'd rather it didn't come up to me at all - I don't like it.

Please keep control of your dogs and just assume that people do NOT want your dog near them.

I'm pretty wary of dogs and hate when owners let them jump up without trying to control them. I've been bitten twice but two different dogs, both times I was stood frozen in fear as they ran up with their owners saying "don't worry, he's friendly, he's just saying hello." Admittedly I don't know much about dogs, but I'm fairly certain a dog who bites hard enough to draw blood is not just saying hello...

As a dog owner, of various breeds, for over 40 years I agree that dogs WHO CANNOT BE KEPT UNDER CONTROL USING VOICE COMMANDS should be put on a lead around people or other dogs on lead. There is nothing worse for an owner of well trained dogs to have to deal with unruly dogs bouncing all over you or your dog. My dogs have been trained to ignore other dogs and people.

Last week I came across a very distressing incident. A very elderly lady 80+ was being shouted at by a man, his wife and their adult daughter. Lady was shaking and crying. I intervened and asked what had happened. It turns out elderly lady was walking her dog, off lead, as she usually does on a cycle track. The track leads to a large wooded area. I have met this lady many times. Her dog is no problem at all. It doesn’t leave her side. Anyway the family started screaming at her to put her dog on a lead as THEIR dog was reactive. The lady didn’t have a lead. To diffuse the situation I put my dogs on their leads and held the other dog by its collar for the family to pass. They continued to shout at the lady telling her they would be reporting her to the police. Their language was disgusting!

A FB post appeared on our local site from the lady’s daughter asking for witnesses to this incident. Another barrage of abuse ensued with people - mainly cyclists and joggers - staying that dogs should be kept on a lead at all times. Wrong!! The area in which this happened is not a PSPO area and therefore there is nothing stating that dogs should be on a lead. Whilst I agree that unruly dogs should be on lead around others, for everyone’s benefit, it is not the law.

People who bully elderly ladies for walking a perfectly controlled dog, off lead, should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves! 🤬

I have a lovely natured spaniel - well trained. When we go for walks she wouldn’t go bounding up to anyone and will heal command - often I use this when walking past families with young children. (As even though I know she probably wouldn’t but a dog going one way and an child skipping every which way they could clash and that’s unfair on the child and dog) When we walking she only wants to be with us has no interest in other dogs at all - it’s when people let their dogs run up to her (she is completely focused on me usually as I use varied hand and voice signals) so sometimes a dog will bound into her she usually runs off, other dog chases - she shows a growl a bit of teeth.....dogs still persist and eventually our dog will snap (not bite but a sharp woof) the owners never seem to recall their dog or have any control? Mine at that point I’ve commanded to either heal to me or go down - which she does whilst the other dog is being a twat around her!
Drives me mad - I think because she is a spaniel a lot of people think she be friendly - which she is at home etc but on a walk she not interested .
You can usually tell a person if they very nervous of a dog and I will always recall her in and walk to heal passed them before releasing her.

Also, we had a lovely dog growing up who was rescued from a nasty group of people who had been training him for dog fighting.
He was a really lovely friendly dog, fantastic with people and very very protective of us kids, but we never managed to completely retrain him when it came to other dogs. For that reason, he was NEVER off lead, and we used to walk in the most secluded places we could find. The amount of times other dog owners would let their dogs run up to him and when we'd tell them to put theirs on a lead, we'd get told told not to worry as theirs was friendly. That might be the case, but ours is not!! We were so scared he'd hurt or kill another dog because their owners were too stupid to listen to us.

In the end, it was one of these owners that killed him. We were on a walk when this huge mastiff bounds up. We went through the usual thing with the owner, and explained our dog wasn't friendly with other dogs. She wouldn't listen, and as we were trying to get away, her dog got right up in our's space. He snapped and gave a warning bite, and then the mastiff, understandably scared, attacked him. Owner tried to recall him but at that point the dog wasn't going to listen to anyone. Or beautiful dog ended up with a chunk out of his throat and having to be put down. Never found out what happened to the other dog, but he didn't seem injured. All could have been avoided if she'd just listened to us and put hers on a lead.