DOGS

[Getmeoutofhere2019]

At the beach with my 5 and 2yr old today. Sitting by the wavebreaks building sand castles. Too many dogs off leads coming over and invading our space. Trampling our area and getting in the children's face. Closely followed by an owner saying "oh its ok ... they are friendly " AIBU to be totally annoyed by this. I never know how to respond to the owner. NO Its not OK .... or just smile and nod.

@LadyMayoGoodway

Dod owners are in the majority selfish and entitled assholes. Of course this is not ok. But most dog owners think it is.

What a load of utter bollocks.

As another poster said, you simply don't notice the responsible ones. Who are in the majority.

YANBU. When they say the “it’s ok he’s friendly” shit to me they get a hard stare back. If it’s in my village and I know them vaguely, they might get a tight lipped polite smile, but they’ll be in no doubt about my feelings. People I know well I tell straight, but they usually apologise straight away because I’m known for being a cat person island in an ocean of dogs.

YANBU,

Am a dog owner and I get very annoyed with owners who let their dogs wander unchecked in areas where there are lots of kids. (Lots of parents in my area bring their dogs on the school run and it bugs the shit out of me.) Lots of children a scared of dogs and lots of dogs, even docile ones, can be unpredictable when an over-enthusiastic toddler suddenly reaches out and grabs at them.

YANBU.
My dog walks nicely off lead and doesn't bother other people.
It drives me nuts when people across the other side of the field let theirs run riot, (they are usually looking at their phones) a quick sniff is fine but some just won't leave us alone. Even if I yell 'your dogs about to get told off' they come back with 'its fine he needs to learn' it's not fine he's bothering us!!!!

I digress, must be a nightmare with kids, I can't understand the mentality of these owners.

@hazandduck that's awful! I can't believe someone thought it was OK. People can be blind when it comes to dogs.

For some reason we can't fathom, my DD is terrified of them. She'll happily step into a road rather than walk past them - I've shouted at her so many times about this (because I'm terrified in turn); with guidance about how to react to them she's getting better and thankfully older and taller, so I hope it will continue improving, but if she had been little during this lockdown dog boom it could have made things loads worse 😕

I'm a dog owner and would be mortified if my dog would do this and would apologies profusely.It doesn't matter if they are friendly,some children are terrified of dogs.
Not to mention that some dogs are likely to cock their leg and pee or take a dump next to you

I’m a dog owner and never let me dog off lead for walks as I respect other people. It’s a shame that some dog owners do not do the same, but this is just a small number of dog owners that don’t respect others and let their dogs do what they want not the majority which another poster said. It may seem like you only hear about the bad dog/owners but no one has needed to complain or talk about the good dogs/owners

I am not getting why so many people think that being fearful of something so everyday is OK. If I was frightened of cars for instance I’d seek help, I wouldn’t want cars to not be around, changing the environment to cater for my phobia would be unthinkable.

The vast majority of dogs are absolutely lovely. I’ve got two and each child that visits who is fearful by the end wants a dog. It’s not difficult to stop this phobia in children, who are really only learning it from fearful adults.

I had a plane phobia for years and when I finally went on a plane my children were really excited and didn’t have a clue about how scared I was because I didn’t want to pass it on. Planes aren’t an everyday occurrence either so less reason to tackle that one. There’s no justification for passing on such a damaging fear. You’re never going to eradicate an entire species so all you’re doing is making your kids uncomfortable in case one of these furry demons comes your way!

I’m beginning to wonder if there should be some service that people can use to stop their dog fear, looking at Mumsnet it’s incredibly widespread. I’m not sure if it’s because the Mumsnet audience are more urban, certainly round here in the sticks you don’t see this kind of hysteria - hopefully it isn’t coming our way with Londoners moving out here.

@thecatsabsentcojones despite what you think it's not at all simple getting over ANY phobia.

It's even harder when what you fear comes running up charging to you on a regular basis, especially if you HAVE made efforts to overcome it.

It's up to dog owners to control their dogs, it's not for people with phobias to have to tolerate unruly and viscous dogs and lazy, selfish owners who don't "get" why people would be scared of their fur baby. Even if someone DOESN'T have a phobia it's never OK to let you dog bound up to random people

@thecatsabsentcojones

My dc weren't afraid of dogs. At all. They were used to my family's dogs.

Until every time we went out and dogs would run up to them and jump at them, put their paws on them and bark at them. Now they understandably are quite wary of an animal bounding up to them that's often bigger than them with very large teeth.

And some useless twat 20 metres behind shouting 'he's very friendly' weirdly doesn't help.

It has got worse round here. Last weekend the dc commented 'what a nice dog' when the one well trained and behaved dog walked past without a sniff. It was so rare they noticed it.

These kind of people make it difficult for responsible dog owners as well. I’m trying to train my pup to ignore strange dogs and that she can only play with “friend dogs” when I tell her it’s ok. But every walk we go on is interrupted by other peoples dogs hassling her and jumping on her.

I always recall and put her back on lead when I see people coming, but then their dog gallops towards us and makes it pointless.

Also in the balance of fairness, I’d like to point out that during lockdown it has been very challenging to find spaces where dogs can exercise off lead. It’s important for their physical and mental health that they get chance to roam around, run and follow scent trails freely.
However all of my usual quiet dog walking spots are now overrun with kids and families at all hours of the day.

Pre lockdown, I used to pass maybe 1 or 2 people (also with dogs) but now I’m having to dodge round 10+ family groups, cyclists and mums dragging prams through the mud!

I never get hassled by other people’s dogs when out for a walk. I wouldn’t mind if they did, I love dogs. When we had one she wasn’t interested in people, she wanted to do dog things. But it was frustrating when out of control children wouldn’t leave her alone even when we asked them to.

It’s not difficult to stop this phobia in children, who are really only learning it from fearful adults.

No - my youngest is scared of dogs because they repeatedly run up to him, get in his face, knock him over, try and take sticks out of his hands etc. He has already learned that most of the dogs we come across have no recall and that makes him nervous. His fear is legitimate and it keeps him safe from the dicks who can't or won't control their pets.

I’m not scared of dogs my kids aren’t scared of dogs I just don’t want them running up to me and jumping all over me and my kids that’s not a phobia 🙄🙄,

See all the dickhead dog apologists are out. Oh how dare you have a problem with a dog pudding up your toddlers back, you must address this phobia at once.

Get to fk, keep your dogs on a lead and off other people!

@KizzyKat91 I do agree with you there, I trail run and the places where I do that the only people you come across are dog walkers mostly exercising them off lead, but now yes these places are overrun - there is nothing else to do though.

when I do trail training never been harassed by these off lead dogs though, it’s always at the country parks, children’s play park or the NT property we have locally, and this is pre-lockdown, these are clearly community and family areas where you should not be exercising a dog off lead.

My dog is afraid of other dogs. She’s a rescue German Shepherd and looks scary to most people. She was attacked twice in our first week by small, off lead dogs and she lay down crying while they snapped at her. Now she has more confidence and will bark back....of course that makes her the dangerous one. I keep her on the lead and warn people to keep their dogs, and children away. I hate people who say “it’s okay, he’s friendly “. My answer is “well we’re not”

I've noticed an increase in out of control dogs roaming free, owners at a great distance, lead round their neck and oblivious to their dogs actions.

On radio 2 last week was a piece about 'lock down dogs'that have been newly homed, reporting that 60% rarely leave the home, and when they do they're not correctly controlled. My my p*ss boil

@magicstar1

My dog is afraid of other dogs. She’s a rescue German Shepherd and looks scary to most people. She was attacked twice in our first week by small, off lead dogs and she lay down crying while they snapped at her. Now she has more confidence and will bark back....of course that makes her the dangerous one. I keep her on the lead and warn people to keep their dogs, and children away. I hate people who say “it’s okay, he’s friendly “. My answer is “well we’re not”

Apart from the breed, I could copy and paste this for myself. Just glad my dogs can properly defend themselves, must be awful for one's that cant that are subject to these selfish encounters

"The vast majority of dogs are absolutely lovely. I’ve got two and each child that visits who is fearful by the end wants a dog. It’s not difficult to stop this phobia in children, who are really only learning it from fearful adults."

I'm not scared of dogs, I just don't like them! I don't want them near me, or to touch them or for them to jump at me or slobber near me. The vast majority of dogs are not "lovely" .

People should keep their dogs on a lead, near them or in designated dog fields etc. Entitled dog owners thinking because you don't want the bloody manky things near you that you must be "scared". Jesus.

I am not getting why so many people think that being fearful of something so everyday is OK. If I was frightened of cars for instance I’d seek help, I wouldn’t want cars to not be around, changing the environment to cater for my phobia would be unthinkable.

Cars tend to stick to moving in a predictable manner along roads. It’s easy to avoid colliding with them.They tend not to suddenly charge up to children and knock them over in parks and on footpaths.

It’s hardly the same thing.

There should be designated places for dogs off lead.
I'm fed up of walking in my local area and dogs running up or trying to avoid dog poo because an irresponsible owner let their dog off lead and he pooed unbeknownst to the owner or the owner just couldn't be bothered cleaning up.
Also if my dog is with me on a lead I don't want other off lead dogs coming up and causing trouble.
If I was in charge there would be hefty fines for off lead dog owners but. I would ensure there are designated spaces for off lead fogs available.

My dogs are always, always off their leads. But their recall is spot on and could not be less interested in other people. If anything, they avoid other people. Unless people can train their dogs to that level, they should long line them on beaches.

Thanks everyone. Glad to know I'm not being silly.
I am also not scared of dogs, but like has been said several times, my children have become scared due to the amount of times a dog has bounded up and invaded our space.
I think this has given me the confidence to be more assertive to dog owners. I will in future be asking dog owners to take control of their dogs and highlight that it is not acceptable to allow them to approach small children.
This was never I tended as a dog haring post. Just some advice on how I should behave in that situation.
At the end of the day, I have my children to protect and no one is ever sure how even the friendliest of dogs would react when faced with a screaming toddler.
Thank you again everyone.

There should be designated places for dogs off lead

You mean a park then? Unfortunately there aren't many of these because they keep being built on them for new houses because they apparently aren't important enough.

I am worried that we are going to get a generation of dogs that aren't good with other dogs/people because they wont have had a chance to be properly socialised as puppies with people and other dogs.

I think most dog owners are very responsible. Sadly we only notice the irresponsible ones.

There are a couple of older men who walk near me and have no control whatsoever over their large and very poorly socialised dogs. My small dog will be trying to hide behind me as they jump all over him as they call out “he just wants to play”. Well read the room mate, mine doesn’t.

One particularly ineffectual owner always shouts to “just keep walking” (with his dog practically mounting mine) as his will “lose interest eventually”. I sometimes call out “mine is quite likely to bite”. He’s not, but they will sometimes bother to come over and fetch theirs then.

Sadly that’s not an option that works with children. Maybe call out “put that pencil down Ben, you’ll have the dogs eyes out!”