To not want other people’s dogs to jump up at me when out walking

[Trevorwhatever]

Have just been on a walk in the sunshine and during the walk (across a football field in a park at that point) a medium/large sized dog ran up to me and kept jumping up at me putting its muddy paws down the back of my light coloured coat. I shouted at it to go away as the owner stood by making no effort to put it on a lead or to call it away. She just shouted ‘sorry’.

She then walked off shouting ‘you shouldn’t be walking across the fields if you don’t love dogs’.

I then shouted back ‘if you you can’t keep your dog under control then keep it on a lead’.

I was really mad I had to finish my walk in a muddy stained coat and now have to wash it because of someone else’s laziness.

Aibu to think I should be able to walk where I like without other people’s dogs jumping up at me?

Ah, I see OP has started an emotive thread that's bound to get people from both sides worked up. Well done! And to ask if you're unreasonable when you're clearly not is 🙄 Now, can someone start a "AIBU to not want my next door neighbour's cats to shit in my garden?" thread to piss people off even more. Or maybe one about lockdown rules or brexit. You know, done to death but guaranteed to set the cats amongst the pigeons.

I always stop to talk to dogs that I go past - but I always ask the owner if it's OK, and they'll generally warn me if the dog is likely to jump up (puppies mostly). But no, owner is BU

I have a question.

We meet a lot of crap dog owners on our walks whose pets are "only being friendly!!".

In order to keep the dog away from sticking its slobbering head in the buggy, would I be totally unreasonable to dump a pile of dog biscuits on the floor and walk away?

Keeps the dog away from us safely so we can move away.

I mean a big pile, or scatter them round a bit too keep it busy.

Obviously giving it one biscuit would probably mean it would follow us straightaway!

Nobody can guarantee to control their dog 100% of the time any more than they can guarantee their child will always do as they’re told.

I agree. That’s why I think dogs should be on leads in public places.

At least children don’t jump up at strangers, cover them in mud or frighten them so much they never want to visit a park again!

I think the bigger problem is that so many dog owners don't seem to realise that other random people don't want their dog jumping up at them, whether on a lead or not.

I have a 14 month medium sized hairy puppy. He's very reactive and will jump up at people if not on a very tight lead. So I keep him on a very tight lead.

@RattleOfBars no I 100% don't agree. Untrained dogs yes, but not ones that do 99.9% of the time come back. My collie has zero interest in other people, kids or dogs and enjoys playing with his ball. He wouldn't be able to do that

Nobody can guarantee to control their dog 100% of the time any more than they can guarantee their child will always do as they’re told
If that's the case they shouldn't be off lead in a public place. An uncontrolled dog can instil fear in many people including me. A. toddler never scared the crap out of me. Not even my own.

[quote LST]@RattleOfBars no I 100% don't agree. Untrained dogs yes, but not ones that do 99.9% of the time come back. My collie has zero interest in other people, kids or dogs and enjoys playing with his ball. He wouldn't be able to do that[/quote]
Ours is only interested in other dogs, not people of any size. One of her greatest pleasures in life is running until she drops and other dog walkers love her because she wears theirs out too. Fortunately at this time of year they’re the only people we meet so she’s off lead all the time.

would I be totally unreasonable to dump a pile of dog biscuits on the floor and walk away
Good idea, but that could get very expensive very quickly.

@VinylDetective I wish he enjoyed playing with other dogs but no. He likes to keep himself to himself and avoid public dog interaction. A bit like me really 🤣

At least children don’t jump up at strangers, cover them in mud or frighten them so much they never want to visit a park again!

Maybe not. They do run up to stroke my dog without asking for permission and without their parents attempting to stop them. They grow up to the be louts that harass people, vandalise, destroy and intimidate. Or at least some of them do. And by the time they are not that old either. But I don't feel a need to start a daily thread about how much I hate them, or how irresponsible or awful their parents are, and nor do I think all young people are like this.

[quote LST]@VinylDetective I wish he enjoyed playing with other dogs but no. He likes to keep himself to himself and avoid public dog interaction. A bit like me really 🤣 [/quote]
Ours became very popular during lockdown as she’s so friendly and sociable with other dogs. She helped socialise a lot of newly acquired puppies.

Ineffectual owner said “She’s just friendly. Doesn’t mean any harm”

IME of irresponsible variety that's stage 1
Stage 2 is "Don't worry they're only playing"
Stage 3 is "Ooooo they've never done that before"
And stage 4 is an aggressive "what's your problem?" or worse

As ever it's a shame when they spoil things for the majority who do care

I can't bear dog owners who think everyone loves their animal as much as they do. It is irresponsible ownership and these people don't deserve to have a pet.

I'm terrified of dogs and feel quite within my rights to tell them in no uncertain words to get their f*ing dog off me or I'll phone the police to report a dangerous dog.

Yanbu
You can report to the police under the dangerous dogs act .that covers you feeling threatened by any breed of dog.

@mummytonicekidz

Yanbu You can report to the police under the dangerous dogs act .that covers you feeling threatened by any breed of dog.

Er, no. It's an offence under the DDA for a dog to be "dangerously out of control". It's not an offence for a dog to make someone feel threatened unless the dog is also dangerously out of control.

You most definitely can train dogs not to jump up at home.

Our Golden Retriever puppy was a bugger for it. You train by ignoring them when they jump at you at home. You turn around back to dog and walk away. Only fuss them when settled and don't ever reward jumping up behaviour.

A puppy will make mistakes but a dog should not if trained properly.

Likewise a dog can be trained recall and to ignore food that does not belong to them.

OP you are definitely not being unreasonable.

I understand frustrations around this however, I can’t help feel that this is definitely a small issue that escalates. An animal has jumped up at you and got you muddy. I have an 8 month old and we have tried training him to not jump up but like another has said, often people will encourage it and if they get their own way once, they try their luck over and over.

I don’t want to be out walking and worry I’ve got someone who is so strict on what my dog cannot do. That is why I live in the country, so the risk of getting people that are not understanding to a way other than there’s is limited

FirstTimeMum, it's not just that though is it? The owner made no effort to put it on a lead or call it away.

Insult to injury, she actually said ‘you shouldn’t be walking across the fields if you don’t love dogs’. Why the fuck should the OP be expected to 'understand' that?

I'm spending a small fortune on dog training precisely because of these scenarios. I keep my dog on short lead while we are training her, unless I am actively doing a training session with her. She had got quite good but lockdown stopped socialisation and because of distancing she went back on short lead. That, and her getting to the independant teenage phase.
Although she is big she looks cuddly so people are either keen to say hello or blatently avoid, which is fine. We are working hard on 'disengaging' to stop her getting silly with either people or other dogs.

And to those saying about comparisons to kids....even though my kids are in their 30s as a result of PND back then I still get a fight or flight reaction to screaming children. I can cope with dogs better than children.
And YANBU to not want muddy pawprints though. Although locally we have a area set aside for dog walking/training and I did witness a small dog jump up at a woman in a white coat,who had a go at the owner and the owner did say you have parks all over but you choose to go to a specific dog area where there is a dog training area and then complain there are dogs still being trained. I hasten to add this was not me!

I agree, they were probably embarrassed about what happened. But a light coat walking in a field in winter is kind of asking for trouble. Could be a cow that slobbers on you...

@FirstTimeMum882020 a cow on a football pitch of a park field?!

www.rspca.org.uk/getinvolved/campaign/bsl/dda

A dog is considered dangerously out of control if it makes someone worried that it might injure them....