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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To have carried on running?

718 replies

OdettySpaghetti · 02/10/2021 08:06

Went for a run this morning. Ran past a couple of women with offlead dogs (cockapoo and a frenchie) which chased me as I passed them. They were not aggressive, more like running alongside me. The owners shouted of them but the dogs ignored them and carried on following me. I kept on running - before long we (me and dogs!) we’re quite a distance from the owners who were miles behind shouting and running (in a fashion) after us. I ran my usual route, off this path and into a wooded cut through, dogs still by my side. I’m getting pissed off at this point as I know I’m coming to a road and will need to stop so the owners can get their dogs. Sure enough I come to the road and stop. The dogs stop too and just start sniffing around but because we’re now close to a road I feel I have to take the dogs back before they dart across it so I head back the way I came, fuming that this has messed my run up. When the owners catch up one says “if you’d just stopped running we could have got them ages ago!” I replied that their dogs are not my responsibility to which they replied “no need to take them close to a main road though is there? Where is your common sense?” So livid now I say “get your fucking dogs under control, next time I don’t stop at the road”.

AIbU to have not wanted to mess my run up?

OP posts:
Roxy69 · 04/10/2021 10:52

[quote sunflowerdaisies]@EarringsandLipstick lots of things aren't our responsibility but we do because we are decent people. [/quote]
Quite right. Why does everything have to be so confrontational? Just stop and jog on the spot for a few minutes and let the owners get their dogs for goodness sake.

TheOrigRights · 04/10/2021 12:11

I used to go to a boot camp in my village, held on the village green, which has a very clear sign stating dogs should be on leads.

More than a few times a dog would come over to sniff or jump around while we'd be doing our core exercises on mats on the floor.

Honestly, my kindness runs out after a while.

Margerine78 · 04/10/2021 12:40

Dog owner here, YANBU OP. The woman is blaming you as she hasn't trained her dogs. You looked after them by stopping at the road, she should've thanked you and apologised!

Macncheeseballs · 04/10/2021 12:44

'We do it because we are decent people', haha, why is it decent to let dogs harass runners? Why is it decent to leave dog shit every where?

LaetitiaASD · 04/10/2021 13:01

@Leibham

Some dogs will have ‘bullet proof’ recall and some will not, they’ll have something like 80% or 90%. They do need to be trained consistently which involves hit and miss tries before they can get to that level.

The plain hatred of dogs, advice given to let them be knocked over or to kick them to spite the owners is really sad.

I don’t think anyone has defended having an unpredictable animal off lead, at all. No one has said she’s not within her **rights to lead them away from their owners and if they die they die.

If people choose to be unkind because they resent the idea of being kind, or would prefer for the animals to die to teach their owners a lesson then that says everything about them.

I think very few people actively want the dogs to die. I think what people want is the owner's to learn the lesson (regarding animal welfare and your responsibilities to the rest of society). Said people find it hard to work out how these selfish entitled arsehole morons (who don't give a shit about their animals as evidenced by letting them off a lead without having them trained) might learn their lesson without seeing the dogs splattered across the road.
Reallyimeanreally2022 · 04/10/2021 13:45

@TheOrigRights

Not seen you around for a bit!

Saw you on the ED thread (name changed)

Hope all ok? Xx

lockdownmadnessdotcom · 04/10/2021 13:51

If dogs had followed me on a run I would have been screaming at the owners! And if they had followed me into a busy road, well tough. Cold and psychotic? Why would it be my fault?

Dogs should be on short leads or under complete control. One or the other.

I find that most owners either put their dogs on leads or grab their collars when I approach, or their dogs just ignore me anyway.
But it's often those with three of four off-lead dogs who prefer to let them chase after you. I never run without my phone so I would take photos and report them to a dog warden in the scenario the OP describes.

ChaoBella · 04/10/2021 14:01

So you telling me dogs never get knocked down because drivers see them

I dare say it will happen sometime much like it does with rabbits, foxes, squirrels and badgers. Generally these do not cause much damage. However fully grown deer in the countryside will make a mess of a car.

toconclude · 04/10/2021 14:10

@HelloDaisy

As others have said, you could have been kind and slowed down or run back towards them so they could get their dogs.

Kindness, tolerance and decency seem to be vanishing in society sadly…

How about dog owners showing some, then?
tintin13 · 04/10/2021 14:35

Ok.. I agree that the dog owners have the responsibility and it is not your problem.. but jeesh people.. when did we became so mean and selfish?
Ruin your run.. wow! It wouldn't hurt to be nice no matter who is at fault.

No wonder the world we live in is getting shittier and shittier... :(

RedMarauder · 04/10/2021 14:40

@tintin13

Ok.. I agree that the dog owners have the responsibility and it is not your problem.. but jeesh people.. when did we became so mean and selfish? Ruin your run.. wow! It wouldn't hurt to be nice no matter who is at fault.

No wonder the world we live in is getting shittier and shittier... :(

You clearly aren't a runner who has trained for a race.
Summer23 · 04/10/2021 19:52

Tintin I agree. Runner hear and would just hit the pause button on my watch, same if stopping on a road. No big deal. Agree owner at fault but hey ho these things happen. What is mumsnet coming to.

TractorAndHeadphones · 04/10/2021 20:10

@LaetitiaASD exactly!

FeeLock · 04/10/2021 20:10

@OdettySpaghetti This is almost comically pathetic on their part! Do people like this actually manage to walk upright and chew gum at the same time? Grin

Isahlo · 04/10/2021 20:13

Yanbu.
I suffered a really rough injury and haven’t run for almost 2 years after being a daily runner ☹️ My springer used to join random runners as she missed it, and was used to running with my club I was hugely apologetic and explained my situation and people were generally nice and I nipped it in the bud in a fortnight but it was always my problem not the runners.

Tardigrade001 · 04/10/2021 20:22

Obviously their dogs are their responsibility and you don't have any obligation to stop running. But it doesn't hurt to be a decent person and help others once in a while.

EgSk · 04/10/2021 20:28

I can’t believe the owners told you off . They should have been profusely apologising to you!

Stoppochoco · 04/10/2021 20:33

You clearly aren't a runner who has trained for a race.
If your time is so important, then get yourself off to a proper racetrack where you won't be disturbed by other people, animals that you are sharing space with.
Jeezuz a bit of tolerance wouldn't go amiss.

Stoppochoco · 04/10/2021 20:36

@EgSk

I can’t believe the owners told you off . They should have been profusely apologising to you!
Why ? It's a shared community space, not a training track for athletes.
mbosnz · 04/10/2021 20:38

My point is that people cannot rely on others to 'be nice'. Your dog is important to you (I assume) and you cannot assume that other people give a rat's arse about your dog, or dogs in particular. So don't put them at risk. If you really care about them, as opposed to your cosy gossip session while your pet lambs do whatever the hell they want while you remain oblivious, assuming that others will #benice/kind/decent.

Stoppochoco · 04/10/2021 20:46

@mbosnz

My point is that people cannot rely on others to 'be nice'. Your dog is important to you (I assume) and you cannot assume that other people give a rat's arse about your dog, or dogs in particular. So don't put them at risk. If you really care about them, as opposed to your cosy gossip session while your pet lambs do whatever the hell they want while you remain oblivious, assuming that others will #benice/kind/decent.
I find most people are kind, nice and decent in the real world. It would appear to be mostly mumsnetters that are not and are quite happy to endanger and innocent animal(s), to teach someone a lesson. Bizarre.
mbosnz · 04/10/2021 20:50

Well, if you want to risk your pooch on a person not being an evil Mumsnetter, who doesn't subscribe to #bekind, I guess that's your lookout. Also, with dognapper's at an all time high, that's another risk you're electing to take on behalf of said pooch.

Your dog, your choice.

Addicted2LoveIsland · 04/10/2021 21:04

Wow. I cannot believe a poster has implied they would let dogs run into the road with them and they wouldn't care if they got hit. We have reached an all time low people. That's so disappointing.

BrendaBubbles · 04/10/2021 21:09

I cannot believe a poster has implied they would let dogs run into the road with them

I imagine OP wouldn’t dash across live traffic Frogger style to be fair. Anyway, it’s not them “letting” the dogs do it, but their absent owners. Keep your dogs on a lead if you can’t control them.

OverByYer · 04/10/2021 21:10

YANBU, I have my own dog. Her recall isn’t the best so she’s on a lead around runners, cyclists etc;
I was running once in a park, with headphones on. A black lab ran up behind me, jumped on my back and knocked me to the floor. The owner didn’t even apologise, I was fuming.
If I had been in your position I would have considered running back a bit to let the owners catch up but I wouldn’t have been happy about it