AIBU to think the UK is more tolerant of dogs than children

[playgroundwarrior]

This morning an entitled dog owner shouted at me for pointing out that she wasn't allowed her (offlead) dog in our local playground. The dog was nosing around in our pushchair and hurtling around. The owner said she had seen the notices to say 'no dogs allowed except assistance dogs' but that hers was a puppy and that I needed to get a life! She genuinely thought her dog was as important as our children (she didn't have her own child and was with a friend)

This made me think about all the threads I've seen here about noisy toddlers in cafes and small children blocking the stairs. Last night I read someone moaning about the sounds of Peppa Pig on the bus.

I appreciate that the above examples of toddler behaviour are objectively annoying (mine frequently annoys me) but I'm beginning to think there's greater tolerance of dogs in this country than toddlers.

I've seen so many toddlers knocked over by offlead dogs and our 3 year old neighbour was pinned down by one last year, which was sort of just accepted as something that happens.

Since the pandemic, everyone seems to have a dog and the culture feels much more dog orientated than child oriented. I'd love a nice cafe or pub with a sign welcoming kids and a nice play area for them but have never seen one in my area, yet there are many signs welcoming dogs with treats and bowls.

Fully appreciate there are inconsiderate parents of toddlers and great dog owners who have perfect recall etc! I quite like most dogs but am
starting to feel the UK has its priorities very muddled.

AIBU?

We’ve always had the Victorian coldness and cruelty but now we’ve added the trendy child-free element too. People convincing themselves they don’t want kids then desperately filling the void with dogs.

Kids are not just part of society, they are the future of society. The wannabe misanthropes say they don’t care but let’s see how they like being old and sitting in their own filth because nobody exists to help.

As for the idea that the bond with dogs is as important as humans… dogs die every ~10 years. My fur baby is gone, but no worries, I’ll just go and buy a new one. Lovely 🙄

FFS, what a horrible and odd way to view dog owners. I wonder what any dog owning friends of yours would say if you made your views clear on what you think of them.

Not to mention what a horrible way to refer to people (or just women, I'd bet) who simply don't want children. "Trendy"? Wtf?

Yeah. The dog fanatics believe this should be the way. Their gross 'fur babies' come before anyone especially children.

There is definitely some form of mental illness running through the veins of some dog owners. Frightening.

I place all life equally, believing that all life is equal isnt ununhinged. And caring about your pets more than humans you haven't met isn't unhinged.

Anthropocentrism on the other hand, or the belief that humans are superior to animals, is considered to be one of the causes of environmental destruction and potentially a key indicator of psychopathy so a little unhinged...

I wonder if your children know you had them simply to clean up your "filth" when they are old

How very ambitious you are for their future

I do hope you have an alternative plan in case cleaning up your filth isnt appealing to them

I much prefer my dogs to other people's bratty kids lol.

Having seen the various posts from anti-dog fanatics on MN, I would suggest that people like yourself are the ones with a mental illness.

BTW, my dog helps my mental health. I am due to go to a group with a Pet as Therapy dog in attendance in a couple of days. She helps us all.

At the risk of sounding like a grumpy old woman, the issue is the entitled adults as has been mentioned.

So many people seem to live in their own small world, where only their needs matter. Recent examples: terrible driving, beeping when you stop to let folks cross a zebra, kids with iPads and no headphones on a packed train, dogs not on leads in public parks, people pushing when you’re in a crowd, people inflicting music on you on the beach, overnight parking in camper vans where it clearly says not allowed, dumping rubbish, ‘wild camping’ where beauty spots are trashed….

I could go on. Yes dog owners can be a pain but so can parents. The older I get the more I despair of how selfish some people can be.

I find my any dog more lovable than a stranger's toddler 🤷‍♀️ I would choose a dog-friendly café over a toddler-friendly café any day (I also have a kid).

I have a baby and it’s so easy to take him to cafes as his only in a pram.
I don’t no how I will go when his a toddler but maybe I shall buy a dog, and take me dog to the cafe and leave me toddler at home!
but I have been to cafes where dogs are allowed and the dog has jumped up on the table and licked the table, so I think there needs to be common courtesy when you take either your dog or toddlers out in public places. It works both ways. I love dogs and my baby! Is that ok?

Only on mumsnet do I hear about rabid dogs pinning toddlers to the ground because in real life I've never seen it happen.
If it's an open park (which i suspect it was as the owner had no children with her) then it's a free for all. You can't say no dogs unless it's an enclosed park:
Personally I think people are becoming more dog friendly because children are overrated. I would rather go to a restaurant full of dogs then a restaurant full of annoying children.

YANBU.
Most of this thread proves your point. You'd think many pp's were never children themselves, instead were born a puppy. Crazy over dogs. I like dogs actually but dog owners going on about their fur babies or whatever they call them, annoy me. I dont want your dog in my house, its arse on my chair, it being next to me when Im eating. Save that for your house that smells of dog even tho you think it doesn't, dont ask me if you can bring your dog to mine. I prefer children to dogs. Likely a human thing.

@Twentywisteria

When I was pregnant I had pelvic girdle pain. This causes instability of the hips. The pain was like being being hit with a baseball bat, hard, and I couldn’t really stand up on a bus properly and would become unsteady and have to steady myself by holding something. Bus journeys were scary. That is why pregnant women should be offered a seat.

Er, the kids did nothing wrong.
They are allowed to run around, be noisy and get excited in A BLOODY PARK.

I'm happy you kept your dog on a lead, but it's weird that you seem to want congratulations for letting humans take priority over the dog on a path.

They all irritate me lately 😅 mainly because they're all rabid 😂 dogs aren't trained and kids these days are wild. A kid or dog could knock me over going crazy and the owner/parent will make excuses and perpetuate poor behaviour. (Not all obviously)

I don’t think it’s either/or, I work in a shop and we’ve had people bring in dogs and laughed that they’re barking and also had their babies scream or their children run riot and I don’t mean chatting as you say, I mean chasing, properly screeching (not sn) etc. with dogs or kids I do roll my eyes at people saying about people keeping them ‘under control’- it’s not that easy, but don’t bother others with them (oh and I have a dog and 4 children by the way)

What do you think about people who have children and dogs? They must make your head explode.

@Housebuyingfamily I'd choose any dog or dog owner over entitled people like you who think that having a child is the most someone can do in life. What a sad pathetic little life you have.

It's entitlement which is the issue, be that conveyed through behaviour with dogs/children, or by some other means. The amount of times, in various situations, that I see people who think signs/rules apply to everybody else (but not them) is quite shocking.

We’ve always had the Victorian coldness and cruelty but now we’ve added the trendy child-free element too. People convincing themselves they don’t want kids then desperately filling the void with dogs.

You do realise there are people out there who genuinely have no desire to have children? I knew from being a young child I didn't want to be a mother, there was no convincing involved! I'm self aware enough to know I would make a terrible mother. It doesn't mean that childfree women are raging child haters. Plenty of us enjoy spending time with our family and friend's children!

Well that's not unfair.

The problem is that so many people DO let their dogs inconvenience others, so when you see one, you don't know if it is going to come galloping towards you and jump up at you. If they were always kept under close control, it wouldn't be an issue.

My best friend has never ever wanted kids. She actually hates kids and thinks the only reason anyone would have kids is because they feel society is telling them to do it . She thinks no one can actually WANT kids 😅She loves her freedom and just can't fathom giving that up or spending money on kids instead of cool adventures

If you can't work out the relative differences between the importance of dogs vs children then you need some psychiatric assistance. Pets are pets. Children need to be raised, cared for cherished and guided. They are also not repositories for our affection whatever we do.

I was on a train on Friday where 2 children tried to see who could should the loudest. Their mother kept telling them "good shouting guys!".

There was a little dog on the other side of me who sat under his owners feet and had a sleep.

I definitely preferred the dogs company.