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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think that dogs in the past were well 'ard compared to dogs now?

126 replies

Antiqueanniesmagiclanternshow · 08/06/2021 10:35

Dogs of yore...didn't wear coats, ran around unsupervised a lot, ate crap they found on the street, chewed on bones, had fights, did white dog poo.

Nowadays i am also seeing friends having to take their dog to the emergency vet because they ate a bit of chocolate, dogs in fluffy jumpers etc

Is it because many more dogs were mongrels and so they were just tougher? Or or is there another reason dogs seem much wussier these days?

OP posts:
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KevinTheGoat · 08/06/2021 14:45

@80sMum

In the UK, dogs are viewed very differently from how they are in other countries. In other countries, dogs are not considered to be part of the family in the same way as they are here, so they don't go everywhere with their owners, don't go to doggy daycare and don't get walked by a professional dog-walker. Dogs are usually either tied up outside their houses or shut in their gardens behind a gate. They are guarding the property whilst the owners are out of the house. That's their role, it seems.

DH and I have often commented on the fact that when we are out walking on footpaths in Spain, Italy, Canary Islands etc, we very, very rarely see anyone out walking a dog. I think in the past 10 years I can only recall one occasion, when we met a man walking with a dog.

Dogs in the UK are treated as if they were human. And that causes lots of problems, imo. Many dogs are unruly and untrained and don't take any notice of their owners. Such dogs can be a menace to anyone who just wants to go for a walk without being pestered by dogs!

Really? When I've been to Spain I've seen shitloads of pet dogs, but then I was in Barcelona so it might be different in cities. There was a woman one time I went carrying her chihuahua in her handbag, and IIRC Parc Guell has a dog park nearby.
SunflowerOwl · 08/06/2021 14:48

My dog doesnt wear a jumper or a coat because he would eat it but I'm totally guilty of the unnecessary vets visits and he gets treated like one of the family (within reason, we have rules and he is very well behaved). He is still a dog though, he hangs out in the garden if he wants to and goes on long off lead walks, daily swims in the river, gets muddy etc. I dont really understand people who wont let their dogs do things like that.

Also I definitely wouldnt want to just let him roam around the street unsupervised and potentially get stolen or hit by a car! Cant really see why anyone thinks free range dogs is something positive, there would be shit everywhere, imagine the constant AIBU posts!

jellybeansforbreakfast · 08/06/2021 14:50

mutts are underappreciated. There are some gorgeous ones out there! I'd have had a mutt, but none of the rescue places would let me... after 10 years I gave up and bought a breed I had always wanted (more fool me, as it turns out Grin)

plinkplinkfizzer · 08/06/2021 14:51

This thread reminds me of ' Oliver and company ' . This was my sons favourite Disney cartoon . If you have not seen it , have a watch you'd love it .

godmum56 · 08/06/2021 14:55

"Yes I agree, im on a dog facebook group and people pay an extortionate amount to insure their dogs, then don't claim for smaller things as it will affect their premium."

It blooming will if the insurance company find out....its like any other insurance, you have to declare incidents even if you don't claim. Failure to declare can invalidate the insurance. its also a silly thing to do if you have an excess on your policy (most people do) because those small claims will be taken off your excess if its a total one so that if you do need to make a big claim, it won't be eaten up by your excess.

vegas888 · 08/06/2021 14:58

Sorry for off topic but does anyone here have any experience with daschund crossed with a Jack Russell. I’ve done a lot of research but wondered if any of you MN’s actually have one? 🙂

KOKOagainandagain · 08/06/2021 15:01

My dog has 'character' ie can be a git. Also has white poo because he eats deer on the bone supplied by local gamekeeper.

He would eat a coat but loves a towel after a walk in the rain.

To think that dogs in the past were well 'ard compared to dogs now?
To think that dogs in the past were well 'ard compared to dogs now?
VeganVeal · 08/06/2021 15:09

Its the same with horses. With modern day horses you have to creep pass them in you car at 5mph in case you scare them.

In olden times cowboys used to fire guns when riding horses, not even a flinch

Modern horses are shit

KOKOagainandagain · 08/06/2021 15:10

This is him sans towel looking out for the arrival of a fresh deer carcass.

To think that dogs in the past were well 'ard compared to dogs now?
VeganVeal · 08/06/2021 15:11

I have a bulldog, there is now way he could floor a bull like his ancestors could, but saying that he can hold his own with a badger

KevinTheGoat · 08/06/2021 15:22

@jellybeansforbreakfast

mutts are underappreciated. There are some gorgeous ones out there! I'd have had a mutt, but none of the rescue places would let me... after 10 years I gave up and bought a breed I had always wanted (more fool me, as it turns out Grin)
I like the photo of your dog! Bull terriers can be little shits, I'm not surprised he eats coats.
dottiedodah · 08/06/2021 15:29

I think dogs are treated much better now TBH. Often dogs would be strays wandering the streets , on scraps rather than nutritious food avaliable now .

Iquitit · 08/06/2021 15:30

@VeganVeal

Its the same with horses. With modern day horses you have to creep pass them in you car at 5mph in case you scare them.

In olden times cowboys used to fire guns when riding horses, not even a flinch

Modern horses are shit

Hmmm, I kind of agree on the way some horses are lacking in manners and discipline in general, the same as some dogs are, but, the reason that cowboys horses etc were immune to gunshots etc is the way they were broken, they were a tool, and standing in a field eating and taking 2 years to break wasn't doing anyone any favours, they were broken hard and fast, and if they didn't make the grade, disposed of, they also didn't last long. There's been a swing too in general horse training, and some of the more extreme have imo, led to downright dangerous horses because they haven't learned to respect their handlers, there's no need to beat any animal, but you need to have their respect, and you need to teach that on their level, they don't have the reasoning skills we do. Modern horses also have the breeding problems that affect temperament that dogs do - same reason as dogs - aesthetics. There's also a lot more cars on the road compared to even 35 years ago when I started riding, and I can't remember any incidents with cars until about 15 years ago, and they've become more and more common every year, and aggressive too. I no longer ride as my horse is retired, but the local bridleway that kept you off the road for miles has been fragmented now to stretches of a mile or so on pretty busy roads, the bridleway bits are totally isolated by roads, and another reclassified as a footpath. Ironically when we need more bridleways because the roads are increasingly worrying to ride on, we're having them taken away. So exposure is probably a thing too.

I am annoyed when I come across owners of either dogs or horses that blatantly do not understand their animals body language, and treat them like a human. I love my animals, they're my life, I spend more time with them than other humans - but I understand they are animals and treat them accordingly.

DeathByWalkies · 08/06/2021 15:32

With regards to behaviour, I think expectations and perceptions have changed.

When I was a child (90s!) we had a grumpy older dog. If she snapped at you, it was automatically assumed to be the child's fault - no sympathy and the first question would have been "what did you do to deserve that?". It almost always was the child's fault - bothering the dog when she wanted to be left alone, for instance. In other words, back then a dog was allowed to set boundaries and say "no".

Nowadays if a dog bites a child people seem to think it's the worst thing in the world, to the point of people talking about PTS the dog.

Back then people knew that "let sleeping dogs lie" wasn't just a saying. People let dogs eat in peace - now they get disturbed, growl and are labelled as "resource guarding" etc. etc.

Part of it is down to more knowledge about canine behaviour (good), but part of it involves people just having expectations of dogs that are way too high for beings that function at the level of a 2-3 year old human.

But I also think there's a lot of issues around where puppies come from - so many of them are puppy farmed nowadays, and the first 8 weeks of their life are really important for their development, but they frequently spend it in a squalid shed with a stressed mum, and if it's from a puppy farm then probably from parent dogs with less than stellar genes and a strong element of inbreeding. A few decades ago dogs roamed, shagged at will, gave birth in the kitchen and were socialised to all manner of household things and were sold for very little money.

dottiedodah · 08/06/2021 15:34

DartmoorChef Hes gorgeous ,much more fun than a flowerbed ,Sorry!

DeathByWalkies · 08/06/2021 15:40

@vegas888

Sorry for off topic but does anyone here have any experience with daschund crossed with a Jack Russell. I’ve done a lot of research but wondered if any of you MN’s actually have one? 🙂
I do - there's not many about but they do exist. Please DM me with any questions. Love mine dearly but it's not a combination that makes for an easy life!
1forAll74 · 08/06/2021 15:41

Most people in my family owned dogs years ago, as in the 1950's and 1960'era onwards, and they were usually mongrels of all sorts. They were all pretty strong dogs, and never seemed to get ill,and I don't remember anyone of them ever going to visit a Vets.

They were all well loved by the families,and well trained, but nobody put dog clothes on them. They all just had warm places to sit and sleep. no fancy dog beds, and definitely no cages.

Tins of dog food were not widely available in the 1950 era, and dogs were given left over food, My late Mum and Grandmother, used to cook up some cheap meat and veg, like a version of a stew, to feed the dogs with, and they always had some Spillers shapes dog biscuits at hand.

I had to laugh the other day, there was a woman in the village here, she was walking along with a new dog, about two years old,,It was raining and a bit muddy underfoot, so she picked up the dog near a puddle,and carried it for some time, and said, come on charlie, let Mummy get you home quickly out of this nasty weather,we don't want you getting wet darling.

cupsofcoffee · 08/06/2021 15:42

Hmm, part of me agrees, but I also think dog training in the past generally consisted of choke chains, shock collars and dogs being beaten, smacked with leads and hit. Dogs that behaved badly were just put to sleep, so nobody generally kept dogs who had behavioural issues in the way people do now.

My dog comes to work with me, but I'm a dog walker so he spends all day running, sniffing, scent-marking, swimming and playing with his friends. He gets fed Harringtons dog food and has a huge selection of natural chews that he gets to keep him occupied. His only real behavioural issue is barking, but he's a beagle, and, well, that's what they do lol.

I think too many people these days pick dogs for their looks and don't consider the breed and what their dog actually needs to be content and happy. Eg. don't get a dalmatian if you can only walk for thirty minutes a day. Don't get a pug if you want to go running with your dog. Don't get a dachshund or a beagle if you want to leave it on it's own for nine hours a day etc.

EmeraldShamrock · 08/06/2021 15:43

So many owners insist on making them humanised.
My Dsis dog is an anxious pet with an attachment disorder her 5 y.o and dog fight for attention.
Dsis brings dog to the bathroom with her.

antsy · 08/06/2021 15:48

Even forty years ago people knew that mongrels were much healthier than proper breeds.

Christmasfairy2020 · 08/06/2021 15:55

We adopted our new cat recently and he's been a house cat whom is afraid of going outside. He's been mummied lol. My other cat is sunbathing on a roof of a shed a few doors down lol

To think that dogs in the past were well 'ard compared to dogs now?
BigSandyBalls2015 · 08/06/2021 16:00

I’ve been amazed by how little you can walk young dogs ... 15 min a day, building up! Was that a thing years ago? Or are we just more knowledgeable about the impact on their joints etc now. And if that is the case how come they can charge up and down a big garden most of the day but I can only do a couple of streets on a walk.

antsy · 08/06/2021 16:06

@BigSandyBalls2015 because they are overbred.

cupsofcoffee · 08/06/2021 16:13

@BigSandyBalls2015

I’ve been amazed by how little you can walk young dogs ... 15 min a day, building up! Was that a thing years ago? Or are we just more knowledgeable about the impact on their joints etc now. And if that is the case how come they can charge up and down a big garden most of the day but I can only do a couple of streets on a walk.
There's actually no real evidence behind the "5 minute rule" that's widely spoken about - it's just a general guide so that you build the amount of exercise up slowly, rather than expecting a 4 month old puppy to walk for miles on end.

Sadly lots of dogs are overbred (or rather, badly bred) and so issues like hip and elbow dysplasia are on the rise. If you build your pups' muscles up over a long period and don't force them to walk on improperly formed joints, you stand a better chance of them staying fitter and more active in old age.

I met an overweight Labrador recently who was just plodding next to it's owner looking really out of breath - I thought by looking at it that it was a senior dog - no, the owner said, it's two, it just "doesn't like walking" Hmm

LakieLady · 08/06/2021 16:23

@UthredofBattenberg

Totally worth you on that.

Dogs of yore were bred for a purpose, whether that was terriers for catching rats, foxes, herding, retrieving game kills etc. Bull terrier, fox terrier,
Fox hounds, wolf hounds, the clues are all in the names for many.
Working and fighting in all kind of conditions and weather, eating whatever crap they can get hold of or what their masters gave them.

Without a doubt they had a shorter and harder life than dogs of today, but they were bred for a function, not aesthetics. And I think you are right, they were just harder, because they had to be, and they were bred to be!

Nowadays it's about how the dog looks and if it's a "breed standard" some of this standard is not good for the health of the dog. Hip problems, breathing problems are known issues in certain breeds.

Look at old photos or dogs from 100 years ago, and see how much breeds have changed, it's quite shocking really.

Totally agree with this. Bull breeds especially looked completely different 200 years ago.
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