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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:
EgSk · 04/10/2021 21:12

@Stoppochoco

If my dog ran off, regardless of where I was, I would feel pretty bad if someone had to go out of their way to return my dog .

Maybe I’m just overly polite 🤷‍♀️

mbosnz · 04/10/2021 21:13

[quote EgSk]@Stoppochoco

If my dog ran off, regardless of where I was, I would feel pretty bad if someone had to go out of their way to return my dog .

Maybe I’m just overly polite 🤷‍♀️[/quote]
You sound very decent Grin.

Anotherlovelybitofsquirrel · 04/10/2021 21:16

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.

Agreed. It's sickening.

FirewomanSam · 04/10/2021 21:21

God this is another one of those black and white MN dog threads about who is ‘technically’ right. These always make me think AIBU needs an ‘ESH’ option (Everybody Sucks Here) like on Reddit.

Yes you were ‘technically’ in the right and perfectly entitled to keep running because it’s not your responsibility to help them get their dogs under control, and their dogs should be on the lead if they’re around runners and can’t be trusted not to chase them.

However, by sticking to your guns and refusing to stop for a second you just made everyone’s lives (including your own!) much more difficult and ended up in a confrontation that just didn’t need to happen. You could have stopped for a moment, jogged on the spot, felt a bit pissed off about it and then gone about your day which is what I’m willing to bet 90% of people would have done in that situation, no matter what a bunch of MNers say.

So yeah, ESH.

Stoppochoco · 04/10/2021 21:47

[quote EgSk]@Stoppochoco

If my dog ran off, regardless of where I was, I would feel pretty bad if someone had to go out of their way to return my dog .

Maybe I’m just overly polite 🤷‍♀️[/quote]
Or they could have stopped at the time for a few seconds to allow the owner to get the dog, so no return would be necessary.

Stoppochoco · 04/10/2021 21:51

@mbosnz

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.

Well it would appear to be a handy way to identify mumnetters, outside of sociopaths, I have never met anyone in real life that feels entitled to endanger a life, because its causing a minor inconvenience to them.
Summer23 · 04/10/2021 21:54

@FirewomanSam agree entirely!

mbosnz · 04/10/2021 22:00

Exactly! So hard to identify. Not the majority. But still. . .

So, why take the risk? With your dear little dog, or your dear wee child?

But it's your choice.

EgSk · 04/10/2021 22:03

@Stoppochoco

I am the type of person who would have stopped as well, as annoying as it would have been. I still think the dog owners should have apologised.

Stoppochoco · 04/10/2021 22:17

[quote EgSk]@Stoppochoco

I am the type of person who would have stopped as well, as annoying as it would have been. I still think the dog owners should have apologised.[/quote]
Well I imagine they would have done if the runner had stopped at the time, instead of acting like an arse and taking the dogs and owners on a chase up hill and down dale in order to retrieve them.

ellyeth · 05/10/2021 00:12

I'm not so judgmental about them letting the dogs off lead but really it is their problem if their dogs don't have good recall and I don't think they should have had a go at you for it. If it had been me, however, I would have stopped. Sometimes it's nice to be nice.

Mydogdoesntlisten · 05/10/2021 00:31

My dog is ALWAYS on a lead when out (although despite my user name he is actually really good). Owners like that really make me angry. If their dogs got injured, and I really hope that doesn't happen, it would be their fault alone. You were completely in the right OP. ( And btw, I always pick up after him too!)

mycatisannoying · 05/10/2021 00:37

You sound like a misery guts. Hope the run was worth it.

Bombaloorina · 05/10/2021 01:54

@mycatisannoying

You sound like a misery guts. Hope the run was worth it.
I’m sure the run was easily worth it. Why wouldn’t it have been?
purplesequins · 05/10/2021 06:34

to all those saying op should have stopped

a: most dogs that run with you turn around after a few seconds, especially if you ignore the dogs and become boring

b: if I have to stop and walk (for example to let people pass) then ime excited dogs start to jump up at me, scratching my (bare) legs.
same for a sudden change in direction. seems to wake herding instinct in some dogs.

c: having to stop for more than a few seconds and/or having to talk more than 2 syllables disrupts the rhythm of the run. I might not get 'in the flow' again.

d: most dogs are ok with runners after good training but the owners need to put some time in. many, most owners do that. but a significant minority doesn't or underestimate pack mentality if dogs play together.

e: that significant minority mean I encounter inadequately trained sigs off lead regularly. it's not a rare occurence. it's very annoying.

I hope the dog owners got a big enough fright and start training their dogs properly and keep them on the lead in the future.

@OdettySpaghetti did stop eventually because she's not a monster and didn't want the dogs hurt.

Joystir59 · 05/10/2021 07:00

Going for a jog on a public path shared by walkers, dogs and dog owners doesn't entitle the jogger to run uninterrupted forever no matter what is happening around them. Runners (serious sporting competitors) practice on purpose built tracks. Joggers (people getting fit by jogging in public spaces) need to understand that their need to jog uninterruptedly cannot be guaranteed, and does not trump the needs of everyone else sharing the space. You were jogging OP, not running an official effing marathon ffs. You should have done the kind thing and stopped for s few minutes. Or eff off to a running track.

Reallyimeanreally2022 · 05/10/2021 07:20

@Joystir59

Going for a jog on a public path shared by walkers, dogs and dog owners doesn't entitle the jogger to run uninterrupted forever no matter what is happening around them. Runners (serious sporting competitors) practice on purpose built tracks. Joggers (people getting fit by jogging in public spaces) need to understand that their need to jog uninterruptedly cannot be guaranteed, and does not trump the needs of everyone else sharing the space. You were jogging OP, not running an official effing marathon ffs. You should have done the kind thing and stopped for s few minutes. Or eff off to a running track.
I don’t expect not to be interrupted

But I don’t regard being chased by dogs that you don’t know that could potentially bite you (as I have been) and as a fairly regular occurrence an interruption

Bloody annoying, frustrating and potentially very painful - so fu@k em and their owners!!

wolfstarling · 05/10/2021 07:23
Hmm
Macncheeseballs · 05/10/2021 07:39

If said runner did indeed run into the road, surely that would be because it's safe to do so, therefore the running dogs would also be ok

sunglassesonthetable · 05/10/2021 07:49

Except those dogs sound unpredictable. Who knows how they would react on a road. Way too risky.

Reallyimeanreally2022 · 05/10/2021 08:00

@sunglassesonthetable

Except those dogs sound unpredictable. Who knows how they would react on a road. Way too risky.
Yes Way too risky to be off a lead
TheOrigRights · 05/10/2021 08:03

@Joystir59

Going for a jog on a public path shared by walkers, dogs and dog owners doesn't entitle the jogger to run uninterrupted forever no matter what is happening around them. Runners (serious sporting competitors) practice on purpose built tracks. Joggers (people getting fit by jogging in public spaces) need to understand that their need to jog uninterruptedly cannot be guaranteed, and does not trump the needs of everyone else sharing the space. You were jogging OP, not running an official effing marathon ffs. You should have done the kind thing and stopped for s few minutes. Or eff off to a running track.
I can only presume you're not a runner? You think long distance elite runners go round and round a track for hours?
Macncheeseballs · 05/10/2021 08:05

And then once the unpredictable dogs had run into the road, then surely the traffic can just stop

mellongoose · 05/10/2021 08:07

You should have stopped. It's a pain in the bum to have your run messed up (am also a runner) but not the end of the world.

Yes the owner should know better but you deal with the situation you find yourself in at the time and do the right thing.

I agree your final statement sounded horribly aggressive.

tintin13 · 05/10/2021 08:11

@Addicted2LoveIsland

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.
Right? It's just sad..