Woman taking her phone for a walk this morning

[SmellyToilet]

Just got back from walking the dog. At one point a woman emerged with her face buried in her phone … she also had a little dog on a retractable lead wandering around behind her. I was walking behind this woman for 20 minutes and I swear to god she never once looked up from her phone in all this time. She didn’t interact with nor even look at her dog once. The dog was more interested in us than her and as it was on a retractable lead it kept walking back towards us … this woman had literally no idea that her dog was bothering a fellow dog Walker (with a reactive dog). The dog had a shit, she didn’t notice. I honestly believe that if I’d gone to the dog, unclipped it’s lead and stole it she wouldn’t have even noticed until she got home.

What’s the point??!! AIBU to have been hoping she accidentally stood in a huge pile of horse shit so she actually started to pay attention to her surroundings?

DID YOU TELL HER ABOUT THE POO??????

she was on mumsnet,
AIBU specifically!

but yanbu
some most dog owners are irritating!

Is anyone else disappointed that this isn’t a thread about a woman with an iPhone on a lead 😂😂😂😂

I really wish you had pointed out the poo to her. I know it's not your responsibility but it would have been a nice thing to do for the sake of other people using the pavement.

Plottting to cause an enormous barney. And it’s worked! Some weirdo turns up whose probably been waiting months to do a ‘be kind’ take down; dog obsessives, gagging to bicker about ‘reactive dogs’, nothing to do with the matter in hand, but who cares. Well done, anonymous, walking woman! This will go to 40 pages of offence taking, ranting, well you said at 11.39 that… Then it’ll be pulled: Monday joy!

No they wouldn't have walked the dog at all until the phone call/post had been. Then judgy mcjudgrpants could judge them for not walking the dog at the right time/right amount of time.

this woman had literally no idea that her dog was bothering a fellow dog Walker (with a reactive dog).

What did she say when you told her and asked her to pick up the shit?

No they wouldn't have walked the dog at all until the phone call/post had been. Then judgy mcjudgrpants could judge them for not walking the dog at the right time/right amount of time.

Ain't that the truth 🤣

Nonsense. Dogs absolutely need interaction with their humans.

See this everyday also the joggers who have no idea where their dog is or where the dog is pooing !

Very frustrating!

You haven't seen mine on his walk. He goes for sniffs, and would rather I wasn't there.

I dislike retractable leads for this reason (people not having control of their dog but 'they're on a lead so it's okay'. (also I have sighthounds - a dog running at their speed reaching the end of the lead can kill them, and one of my dogs had a bad accident running into a long nearly invisible lead (it was specifically an off lead dog area). She could have been playing 'Pokémon Go' on her phone, I do when I'm out and about. However my dogs are always on a short lead at heel and I always pick up after them. I also interact with them lol!

You have no idea what is going on in her life.

I dont know how ppl get away with using the phone while walking the dog. If I take a call while I'm walking my dog he stops and outright refuses to move until I hang up. Lol.

Care not one iota about people being on their phones, none of my business.

Care very much about people not taking notice of dogs on extended leads having had to disentangle myself and my, luckily, very docile, very large newfie cross rottie from one. Wouldn’t have been pretty if he had fallen on small yapping dog. Miss him terribly.

Get incandescent with rage and have been known to chase people who don’t pick up their dogs mess.

My dogs the same but we interact a lot at home. On walks I’m an unwelcome distraction at best but generally a Pita spoilsport.

Dogs do need interaction but poo aside there have been a couple of times this could have been me...on phone calls I'd rather not be on. It would have destroyed me to have someone pull me up on it, especially as I always devote so much attention to the dog.

You can almost hear the ghost of the conversation that went years before..."But we promise to look after it and walk it. You won't need to do anything Mum. Pleeeeaaasseee".

I really don't understand your attitude here. For a start, why on earth were you walking behind her for that long? Surely if someone on a walk is annoying you, you just stop for a minute to let them get ahead or speed up and get past them or take a quick detour? Bloody hell, the passive aggressive need to remain in a spot that is difficult and irritating for you makes no sense.

Also, why not just say something, especially about the poo? I DO pay attention to my dog, but it's a constant worry that I might miss her poo'ing if she's disappeared from sight for a minute. None of us are perfect.

And quite frankly, it might well be that this is the only time the woman got a chance to be on her phone. I sometimes call a friend while walking the dog as it's literally the only time I have 30 minutes to chat.

Agreed. Sometimes walking with the child happy in the buggy is the only break I get as I have been playing with her non stop all morning. Same with a dog owner, she could just need a mental break, stressed from work and needing to switch off, in the middle of an important conversation etc. people shouldn’t be so judgy

You could’ve walked a bit faster and got ahead of her, walked a different way, held back a couple of minutes, or just told her her dog was being a bother. I don’t think YABU necessarily but really, you didn’t need to follow them closely for 20 minutes did you?

Who would know? Don't think I've ever heard anyone comment on when a dog is walked unless it's 4am and the dog is barking its head off or its 30 degrees outside and pavements are too hot to stand on.

I think you're reaching here. If the dog of that inattentive owner had bitten a child this would be a very different thread but the principle of the owner not paying attention or taking responsibility would be the same. Would you "be kind" if the owners excuse was that they were waiting for an urgent phone call? I wouldn't.

Fuck the ‘be kind’ nonsense.
Funny how it’s always said to women to shut them up and prevent anyone listening to their legitimate complaints. 😡

Completely agree.

I hope you pointed out she needed to clean up after a dog. If you wanted to do it 'nicely', you can ask loudly if she needs a bag for her dog's mess.

The fact that you’re not answering about whether you notified her of the dog shit speaks volumes.