To be totally fed up with dogs?

[dogtroubl]

When we moved in, neighbours had an old dog that used to wander into our garden and leave poo everywhere. Couldn’t use garden with young kids due to mess and large dog.

Complained (politely), after quite a bit of unpleasantness fence finally fixed, dog died and they got 2 new dogs that were loud but contained.

Neighbours moved, new neighbours also have 2 dogs and fence is in a bad state of repair again due to the constant barking, snarling and scratching that happens every time we go outside. I always make sure I’m out there with the kids in case it breaks because they don’t sound friendly at all.

Their neighbours also have 2 dogs so the 2 sets are always setting each other off barking.

Family members also have dogs. One very old who soils everywhere and one very large, young dog who is very playful and jumps up and licks and dribbles all over you.

My daughter is terrified (the dog is easily as tall as her) and the family member always says dog will be shut away when we go over, but dog is always let or gets out soon after. I can tell my daughter’s fear of this dog irritates the family member but she’s genuinely scared after an incident when she was a toddler, plus this dog is like a horse to her and could do serious damage even with just a nip.

We’ve been to a few kids’ playgrounds over the holidays, dogs off lead and running all over the place at each one. Chasing kids in a “playful” way that scares them.

Dog poo all over footpaths and verges everywhere. Kids tread in it, I tread in it, buggy goes in it because I don’t see it until it’s too late.

I know it’s bad owners not the dogs’ fault etc but AIBU to just be totally fed up with dogs?

@TeaKlaxon

Nope we are saying the dog CAN access the space off lead AWAY from the playgrounds and the paths. Why you wouldn’t just stick a lead on whilst you are on the path is the height of entitlement. It has nothing to do with your definition of being miserable.

You’re referring to people who have dogs but choose to exercise them away from very public places I.e more responsible and less entitled dog owners than yourself.

@TimeForPeace

I have a dog, she's off lead when I think it's safe. I've never left a poo anywhere, I put her back on lead if I see people or dogs. She's simply fantastic, so much fun and has zero impact on anyone else.

Loads of people on here seem to be massively impacted by rabid, barking dogs who jump into pushchairs or shit in their dinner.

Lol 😂

No can't say they've ever shitted in my dinner 😆

Well I’m generally anxious around men. They are loud, boisterous, demanding and don’t respect personal space. Plus they stink. So ladies, could you please put your husbands on a lead, like I do my dog? And obviously don’t leave them unattended like terrible man-owners do.

Oh what, sorry? That’s my problem and I have to suck it up? Yeah, you’re probably right…

In answer to the "I never see dog shit" brigade: I live in Devon and do a lot of walking in countryside, moorland, woods etc. It varies, of course, but there are numerous otherwise beautiful places that have been ruined by the proliferation of dog shit. Some we actually don't go to because it's so bad.

There's also an assumption among some dog owners - including on MN - that as long as it isn't on a pathway it's fine to leave it. This means that verges and grassy areas adjacent to pathways - where children tend to explore, as well as people who are looking at wild flowers, fungi etc. It's utterly disgusting to stop for a quick sit-down on a tree stump and find a festering turd right by your feet. It's soul-destroying to have to cut short a trip and take your child home because they're covered in stinking, toxic shit. The poo-bags hanging from trees or just slung in undergrowth are appalling. "Stick-and flick" is atrocious, antisocial behaviour and dog owners know it.

If dog shit wasn't such a blight on our public spaces, I might have a bit more emotional room for being accommodating towards the rest of the nuisance behaviour dogs and dog owners represent, but as it is - no. You can all get in the fucking sea.

YANBU to be fed up with that kind of behaviour in your own back garden, but there are things you can do, like put up a second fence of your own, if you’re truly worried the dogs will break the current one. With regards to out and about, I’m a dog owner myself, and always pick up my dog’s poo. Dog owners who don’t pick up or let their dogs off the lead with little or no control give us all a bad name unfortunately.

@cowskeepingmeupatnight

Except humans and animals are….. not the same?

What a ridiculous counter argument.

[quote Tulipblacksmith]@TeaKlaxon

He can be on the path, on a lead. I don’t own the park no which is why I take my dog elsewhere. It’s BECAUSE i KNOW I don’t own the park that I choose to do this.

You and your dog however ….[/quote]
He doesn't need to be on a lead on the footpath within the park.

Believe it or not, responsible dog owners know their dogs' temperament and know when there are risks and when there aren't. If there is anything around that might put either my dog at risk, or make him a risk to others, he will be on a lead.

But if not, then he will be off lead.

And in five years, he has never bothered anyone. So why on earth would I put him on a lead where there are no risks?

I bloody love my dog. He has bee such a source of joy and companionship to me and my family since he arrived 10 years ago. But he is well trained and I too get annoyed about dog poo left by other dog owners. Dog poo in abandoned plastic bags is even more annoying. Just why???

The thing is you can take them anywhere - your local park or green space, you can drive them to some country location or the woods, or the beach, you can religiously pick up every poo no matter how far off the beaten track it is or how much worse for the environment a plastic bag is than a bit of fertiliser in that particular place, but wherever you go you'll find people who don't want them there. Bearing in mind, my dog is great at minding her own business, much better than most people! So at some point, people are just going to have to get used to the fact they live in a world where people have dogs they like who need their walkies.

I am a new dog owner. I am investing loads of time in his training so that he doesn't bark his head off in the garden or jump up at anyone, including me.

It's absolutely incumbent on the dog owner to invest time training their pet. It's also beyond the pale not to clean up after them; there is simply no excuse for not doing that.

Posters that experience owners with untrained dogs have my sympathy.

wherever you go you'll find people who don't want them there

I’ve never had anyone coming up to me telling me they don’t want my on-lead, poo all picked up, non-barking dog there. What have people said to you that leads you to think people don’t want your well controlled dog there?

@fairylightsandwaxmelts

So a new carpet, washer, dryer, £200 per month bills, to keep the dog alive this has been ongoing since the beginning of 2021.
Estimated total to press £10 grand.
The dog should be put down.
It's utter, utter madness.

We grew up with dogs but back then we weighed up the costs and did what we had to do when the time was right. Not drag the misery on for yrs on end with modern medicine.
idiotic in the extreme.

It's just that some miserable sods think they shouldn't be able to access that space

Other people have a right to be able to enjoy these spaces without a dog charging about & once fido is running about, he or she can go anywhere, ignoring any call......
"oh look another dog on a lead with a family having a picnic! i'll charge over and run over their food, maybe help myself to some - darn, i need a shit, i'll have one whilst i'm there too and that annoying kid? i'll bark at him, that'll teach im"

I completely get some folk don't like dogs and i respect that by keep my dog on a lead around people.

There's always people whinging! "So many dogs here" blah blah blah.

@100problems

I am a new dog owner. I am investing loads of time in his training so that he doesn't bark his head off in the garden or jump up at anyone, including me.

It's absolutely incumbent on the dog owner to invest time training their pet. It's also beyond the pale not to clean up after them; there is simply no excuse for not doing that.

Posters that experience owners with untrained dogs have my sympathy.

Agree with all of that.

But posters who imagine that the large majority of dogs are slobbering unsociable beasts and most owners feckless entitled morons, rather than responsible owners of pretty well behaved dogs like your own, simply inhabit a different world where their hatred of dogs clouds reality.

You see it on here, where a small, well behaved dog who has never in five years bothered anyone, or run up to anyone, or jumped on anyone, walking off lead in a park where he is allowed to do so is still considered a problem. There's no reasoning with someone like that.

There's always people whinging!

TBF these are usually dog owners unable to understand not everyone loves their dog like they do.....

@Alexandra2001

It's just that some miserable sods think they shouldn't be able to access that space

Other people have a right to be able to enjoy these spaces without a dog charging about & once fido is running about, he or she can go anywhere, ignoring any call......
"oh look another dog on a lead with a family having a picnic! i'll charge over and run over their food, maybe help myself to some - darn, i need a shit, i'll have one whilst i'm there too and that annoying kid? i'll bark at him, that'll teach im"

I completely get some folk don't like dogs and i respect that by keep my dog on a lead around people.

But that's BAD dog ownership, if a dog is doing that. If a dog is unpredictable or doesn't have 100% recall then it's right to have them on a lead at all times. But I know for a fact my dog ISN'T going to approach other people, isn't going to bark at anyone, and will come every time I call her. So why would I put her on a lead and spoil her fun (she literally just wants to run around me in circles, that's her vibe) when that isn't necessary, and doesn't impact anyone else?

I agree. Dog shit is disgusting as a hazard. One of our local rugby teams actually posted on the village facebook page as someone had let their dog do a massive shit on the rugby field and a child has been rugby tackled into it during training, ending up with dog shit on his face.

Dogs are NOT environmentally friendly, both in terms of the food they eat - (the existence of most dogs is utterly unnecessary and feeding them is an environmental burden), plus the concentration of their urine and faeces in wild places distorts the growth of local flora, with some natural species unable to thrive.

And dogs off leads are often intimidating and terrifying to small children, with the dogs often having poor recall training or, most often, owners who are not even interested in recalling them.

I love dogs but I get very pee'd off with the selfishness of their owners. My old neighbour used to let their dog jump the fence and crap all over our garden as well, and they were in no rush to sort it out either.

Now my current neighbours dog is always waking me up early in the morning with its barking.. they don't bother training it, just shout SHUT UP at it all the time, which is also annoying.

The children are unlikely to bite you badly or shit on your lawn.

This reminds me of the first year of lockdown, when the forest next to me was INUNDATED with the public all through the summer - hundreds of picnic-ers every few yards (I don't blame them BUT ....). These were nearly all people we had not seen before and they haven't been back since lockdown eased. What also happened was they left most of their rubbish and (illegal) barbecues and quite a bit of human poo, usually discovered when one either stepped in it by accident or the dog was irresistibly drawn to it and rolled in it (I can confirm it is definitely worse than fox poo). Luckily, there is hardly any of that now except on a few high days and holidays. I don't think it was children - it looked like adult poo to me. What is wrong with people?

Also, I wish people would stop their children running straight up to my dog or walking within a couple of inches of her face on a narrow path (very scary for a dog that has been abused by children) and sometimes trying to touch the dog without asking if it is OK to do so. (NOT in the case of my dog and she is always on a lead if children are in view).

All the criticism of people who compare children to dogs with regard to good behaviour and bad behaviour is not silly- both children and dogs need to be taught to behave in a safe and considerate manner for everyone's benefit.

Agree OP, hate the fecking things. Should be mandatory training for dogs and owners. And to anyone comparing children/humans to dogs, you might want to use a dictionary or just common sense really to learn that they are not the same or equal in any way, FFS.

I must live in a unique area judging by this thread because dog poo on the streets / parks is rare, dogs don't seem to run up to me and jump on me, and I don't see mayhem inducing loose dogs hurtling themselves at toddlers. I say this as someone with a dog who goes to loads of dog busy parks and countryside walks...

@TeaKlaxon

Of course your dog will be off the lead in public spaces/paths etc. Wouldn’t expect anything less from a dog owner of your calibre. 😁

@Greensleeves - totally agree - I was in Devon last week and the level of dog shit and poorly trained dogs off the lead was off the scale compared to where I live in the southeast. I agree it is a real blight.

I have never been harassed by anyone's dog. I did once gain a collie whilst running with headphones on and had to take it back to its owner but it never jumped up.

I have had many a child come straight up to my little dog whilst he's on his lead and without asking start petting him. He doesn't like children but luckily isn't a biter.

We haven't had any increase in the amount of dog poo on the pavements round here but I agree that it is disgusting. I'm not sure why some people get dogs

I can't help but think in general people have become more selfish but then maybe I have become less tolerant. We have a newish neighbour whose child is always in their garden if the weather is nice just screaming repeatedly. Selfish arseholes.

And to the poster who says about dogs smelling I am fully aware that my dog smells but I just don't care.