To think bad dog owners don't realise that they are bad dog owners?

[WayTooSoon]

Kind of a thread about lots of threads...

Every so often, threads appear on here saying someone's dog ran up to them/their child/their dog and how the owners respond with "it's ok, he's friendly" or similar. What usually follows is a load of posters saying "bad owners give us good owners a bad name". So is mumsnet entirely populated by "good owners" or are people oblivious to their own shortcomings as pet owners? Aibu to think that if someone is a bad owner, it seems likely that they have no idea that other people see them as a bad owner?

Are you now or have you ever been a "bad owner"?

@MarleyTheDog

Cats inconvenience everyone except the person who decided to get it and throw it out to torment the neighbours 🙄

I personally love bumping into the neighbour's cat. I always stop to give him/her a stroke. Beautiful animals in my opinion.

there will be many offbeat areas which aren't full of families where you can exercise them off lead
Actually no there isn't. Places popular for dog walking tend to be popular with walkers without dogs too. Not everyone lives in the middle of the countryside.

but amongst many dog owners there is an attitude of we can and will do what the hell we want
You mean what we are legally entitled to do? That's attitude? Those with attitude are people who think dogs should be on a lead, in an area where they are entitled to be off, and don't cause any problems, just because a small minority if people are scared of dogs, see all dogs as potential threat of attack and think no dogs should be entitled to exercise in areas they are legally entitled to.

@Goldenbear no one has said that is ok though?

Tenbananas

My neighbours were delighted when a family moved in recently - with their 6 cats - NOT!

@MarleyTheDog

Tenbananas

My neighbours were delighted when a family moved in recently - with their 6 cats - NOT!

Sounds like my idea of heaven!

@MarleyTheDog
But clearly not everyone else shares your opinion about neighbourhood cats. Much like some people don't like dogs as much as you do. It works both ways lol.

@tenbananasaday you'd love my big ginger tom. He likes to choose the house he spends time in each day 🤣

LS, Vinyldetective, advised not to run where numerous dogs walk, others have said they don't mind if their dog has a sniff of someone. This is exactly the behaviour I am referring to, I should be able to do the activities I have come to do at a park for instance without bother from others dogs, unless of course I have invited that. I don't want to have to stop what I am doing because your dog fancied sniffing me, my bag or running after me. I don't sniff people in public or steal their ball or impose on their sport activity.

dogs getting in your personal space which happens loads, getting in the way of a ball game, or putting its muddy feet on you, it's annoying as I haven't come to the park to play with your dog but the classic, 'he is friendly'
There are annoying kids in parks, annoying cyclists, annoying teenagers, annoying older people, annoying frightened people, annoying crying babies, all within the remit if the law. That's part of life in society. Why should it be dogs only that get thrown out?

They don't sniff me, chase me and I've never been stopped from enjoying the activity I have come to do at a park, plus, again, 'society' refers to human beings that interact it does not refer to dogs who have no idea what 'society's means.

@Goldenbear my dog has never done any of those things either. So why should I keep him leashed?

@tenbananasaday

You are being pretty disingenuous and misrepresenting me in what you're choosing to quote.

Your latest post:

'If you went on a walk with me you would see that's not true at all. I go to great lengths to stop my girl approaching randoms using distraction, recall and her lead. I just don't believe a dog that goes in for a sniff is committing the cardinal sin that Mumsnet would have you believe!'

Your ORIGINAL post (and what I was referring to when I agreed yes, you're not a great owner if you think it's okay) actually said:

'I'm probably what some on here would consider an irresponsible dog owner. I let my girl off lead where it's quiet and her recall is maybe 70% good. She will jump up as she is friendly and wants to say hi'.

Please don't conflate a dog jumping up on a stranger with a dog casually having a sniff as it walks by and then make earlier responses to the former out to be hysterical.

I don't think dogs should be thrown out anyway but I don't think they should limit me with their presence and getting in to my personal space. If somebody put their muddy shoes on my coat, leaning against me, it would be assault, if they sniffed me it would be intrusive and is not socially acceptable, if they took my table tennis ball and deflated it by biting in to it, if they started chasing me whilst I was jogging, i would call the police, do you see how they are not comparable.

They don't sniff me, chase me and I've never been stopped from enjoying the activity I have come to do at a park
No they do other things that are as annoying but we all have different tolerance levels. I will tolerate a dog sniffing me a 100% before kids screeching at the top of their lungs. I accept that if that cause me problem in an area where kids are free to do so, I'm the one who should remove myself, not the kids.

And whether you like or not, dogs ARE part of our society and entitled to be in an area they are legally free to run.

LST, good for you, when did I say you need to put it on a lead? I was responding to your post that stated nobody on this thread has said those things are acceptable but actually they have as I pointed out. There is a lovely dog on our road that is so well trained and never does anybody those things, he is just lovely, if there were loads of him, we could all interact in harmony, sadly, that is not the case and some dog owners even feel they are entitled to dictate where I keep my pets on my property because everyone must accommodate their dog!

If somebody put their muddy shoes on my coat, leaning against me, it would be assault
Same if a kid comes to me and put his dirty fingers full of wotsit on my coat? Is this assault?

if they sniffed me it would be intrusive and is not socially acceptable If a kid comes to me and start asking me questions when I'm talking to another adult, isn't that intrusive?

If they took my table tennis ball and deflated it by biting in to it
If a kid take my dog's ball, throw it to him but kiss and it goes in bushes that means I can't retrieve it, is that stealing?

if they started chasing me whilst I was jogging If a kid runs in my way without looking and make be fall, should I call the police?

Should I consider the parents of all those kids bad parents who should be banned from the parks?

All those things happened to me. Annoying but I don't make a drama of it as dog haters love to do.

No, 'Society' by its definition is concerned with humans.

A child screeching can happen anywhere though, a neighbour's child may do so for instance but you have no recourse on that. You can't report child noise but you can report excessive dog barking to environmental health and they can prosecute. You talk about the tolerance as if it is comparable but it is not because again, human beings have more legal rights than dogs.

@Goldenbear there are lots on this thread calling for all dogs leashed. I apologise if that wasn't you

@Goldenbear

LST, good for you, when did I say you need to put it on a lead? I was responding to your post that stated nobody on this thread has said those things are acceptable but actually they have as I pointed out. There is a lovely dog on our road that is so well trained and never does anybody those things, he is just lovely, if there were loads of him, we could all interact in harmony, sadly, that is not the case and some dog owners even feel they are entitled to dictate where I keep my pets on my property because everyone must accommodate their dog!

This.

I don't hate all dogs - well trained dogs are absolutely fine! Some of my friends have lovely dogs.

The problem is that this thread has shown there actually are a lot of owners who think it's acceptable for their dog to literally chase someone running or jump up on you (because they're just being friendly) and who seem to think the rest of the world should get down on bended knee and thank them because they pick up their dogs poo (like, well done, you successfully managed what is really just very basic social decency).

If this isn't you then great! You're a good owner! We thank you and want more owners to be like you! Please help your friends train their dogs too

Can we all stop yelling at each other now?

Good owners and dog haters unite against the mean, bad owners!

Sniffing someone is not in any way the same as being interrupted in a conversation, I would be pretty scared if a human did that to me. It is bizarre, an adult deliberately running after you again is pretty intimidating not comparable to a child walking in to you, one is an accident by all accounts, another is deliberate. Wotsit hands accidentally touching you not the same as adult muddy boots being pressed against your jacket whilst doing a handstand is more akin to the predatory behaviour of the dog. The ball is not theft if you can retrieve it but yes, you should certainly talk to the person involved and ask for a new one or money for replacement, funnily enough I can't speak dog language and could not tell him that he needs to buy me a replacement.

@dontdisturbmenow you and so many posters here are having trouble distinguishing between dogs and animals. They are not remotely similar and can not be judged in the same way. I know some crazy dog people thing they are their babies, but they are absolutely not. It’s frankly a bit bonkers.

I would happily call for all dogs to be leashed, especially the crazy ones whose owners walk them on country roads without a lead, which is actually illegal.

Today I walked the dog. We met a little boy and his mum. He was quite clearly fascinated because she’s tiny but he was also apprehensive. His mum said he’d never been around dogs.

Encouraged by both of us, he gave her a treat which she took gently (as she always does), then he stroked her and she licked his hand. He commented on how soft she feels, then they both thanked me and we walked in opposite directions.

So you see dog owners and non dog owners can be perfectly amicable if they want to be.

@poorlykitten why? When the vast majority cause you no harm? Just the ones with dickhead owners? Why do you want my dog to suffer? For what reason?

I’m a fairly mediocre dog owner to be honest. I’m careful about letting her off the lead and when she does she has pretty good recall but she did once almost sniff someone’s bum, it was a bit over friendly tbh.
She’s missed a set of jabs despite being insured up to the fecking eyeballs.
She gets fed an eclectic diet.
Sometimes I ask her why she’s such a fuckwit.