Muddy paws dog jumped on me on walk, WWYD?

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I was walking across a park yesterday and two spaniels bounded towards me about 50 yards away from their owner. I could tell they were going to try and jump up at me so I avoided eye contact with them and told my dd to do the same.

Unfortunately one still did jump up at me multiple times and left mud on my clean trousers.

I shouted at the owner to please keep her dogs under control as one had got mud on my trousers. Not in an aggressive or rude tone though.

In my opinion if you don't have sufficient control over your dog to stop them doing this they need to be kept on a lead in public. The owner didn't seem very bothered and I think there is zero chance of her preventing this happening another time to someone else or possibly even to me again. I feel pretty annoyed about it.

I think there are some owners who either don't think it's a problem when their dogs jump up at strangers or who just don't care.

What would you do if this happened to you?

"In my opinion if you don't have sufficient control over your dog to stop them doing this they need to be kept on a lead in public."

Yeeeees. I have this problem all the time with dogs running up to my dog who is always on the lead. These are always the people who want to give me advice about my rescue. No. Your dog has no recall. You have no advice for me.

That said I couldn't care less about getting paw prints one tbh and if I was on my own without my reactive dog or kids I would probably make a fuss of the dog whilst making some catty comments in my squeaky dog voice.

I love dogs and have my own.

But I would be a bit annoyed if a dog jumped up at me in public, as that’s not a well behaved dog and therefore shouldn’t be off the lead - but I’d let it go and get on with my day and not give it another though.

What I would be really annoyed about is if the owners were apologetic or rude in anyway - then I’d be giving them a piece of my mind absolutely.

Same as if their kid sneezed in their hand and came up and wiped it on me.
It would be the parents/owners reaction that would determine how annoyed I’d be about it.

Not all cockerpoo's are out of control and jump at people. My cockerpoo isn't interested in people when she's on a walk, has perfect recall and always stays within meters of myself when walking off lead. As a cross of two working dogs they are very intelligent and easy to train. Don't tide all poo's with the same brush!!

This would piss me off! a couple of weeks ago my toddler was knocked over by a very bouncy spaniel. Owner was apologetic but by that point, my toddler was hysterical and covered in mud. If your dog doesn't come back to you when you call them, they should not be off lead in a busy park. The problem isn't the dog, it's the owner.

Killing a dog is horrendous but not homicide

‘ultimately not be much fun at parties’

This is one of the most immature ‘insults’ I see on MN and I cringe when I see it. It’s what people come out with when they are asked to be considerate of others and cannot handle it. I am embarrassed for you.

Tedious.

todays I hate dogs thread.

Have your child jump up on them, preferably with sticky hands and muddy football boots.

Goodness. If I go to the park for a walk along the paths or to go to the cafe, I should assume I am going to get muddy and it’s ok for a mutt to leap on me? People really are selfish!

Meh, mud doesn't bother me - if it was huge lumps of it I might be a bit pissed off but either its an accident and the owners are sorry, so me berating them won't change anything, or they're inconsiderate arseholes who see no need to change, so me berating them won't change anything.

I have yet to see the thing that seems to be helpful to you. The posters who agree with you just seem to be winding you into an ever more aggressive stance in equal measure to those who disagree with you. So my recommendation for some therapy still stands.

@unici5 ahh yes of course!
The owner didn't apologise to me and it was my fault because I gave off aggressive vibes that she could read at 50 feet away.
My bad.

Well of course she should have apologised, but if the vibes were anything like the ones coming off this thread it's no mystery to me that she didn't approach and do so.

I love how a general request to keep your dog under control is now 'hate'.

‘Maybe some therapy would help?‘

It is really poor behaviour when people on social media use ‘get therapy’ as an insult. You need to stop this. And please don’t pretend you meant it as genuine kind advice.

😴 Jeez it is all pretty obvious isn't?

Any owner should ideally keep dogs under control and it is a pain in the arse when they don't.
If one jumps on you tell the owner you are not happy about it, but accept it is unlikely to influence feckless owners future behaviour.
Clean up the best you can and get on with your day 🤷‍♀️

All the shit entitled dog owners crying about another ‘why doesn’t everyone love my doggy?’ thread. I really dislike how dogs have taken over our spaces and wish dogs didn’t exist, but do you know who despises you maybe as much as I do? The good dog owners. There are a handful on this thread; I am grateful to them for their consideration and respect.

Some of you are the reason many people dislike dogs. And it’s not fair that decent dog-owners are being tarred by the same brush.

Some of you are the reason many people dislike dogs. And it’s not fair that decent dog-owners are being tarred by the same brush.

Yes to both.

@FacingTheChallenge

It's neither an insult nor genuine kind advice, but pretty much a response in kind to the OP's tone.

I agree, dogs should be under control. There are inconsiderate owners who don't do what they should. I'm not bothered much by it myself when it's happened, and, if I'm in nice clothes or on my way to an interview, I'd just turn it into a funny story. I get that it's annoying having a muddy animal leave paw prints on your clothes when you're minding your own business.

But the OP is also either purposely using the thread to wind people up on both sides, or seems to have very little sense of proportion or is in perpetual victim mode (see driveway blocking). It's an unusual degree of anger for something that would be much more healthily shrugged off (see threats to expend time and energy publicly shaming owners).

Exactly the same happened to me on school run in a park.
A same dogs as well. We walked with my then 7yrs daughter in the mornin, both clean clothes and these two dogs just run and jumped on both of us.
We we’re both covered in mud instantly. The owner- a women on her phone,just ignored us and walked away.
I was so pissed off.

Everyone gets irritated by relatively small things sometimes. What’s more annoying is people pretending they don’t and they are oh so super-chilled.

Anyway in your example you said, ‘The owners have always apologised profusely.’. This didn’t happen to the OP so why are you comparing?

I have worked in mental health for over twenty years and randomly asking strangers who you are clearly disagreeing with, if they need therapy is disingenuous and damn out of order.

How to make dogs even more unpopular? Have zero control over them and let them do as they please in public. I'd be tempted to follow the owner and crack a couple of eggs on their windscreen or something. Morons. Hate useless dog owners.. Its alllllways someone else's fault.

I own 9 dogs and manage to stop them jumping all over people and manage to pick their crap up too. Someone give me a medal 🙄

Apparently this is your fault. You should have expected it if you did the school run through a park. Why should the woman apologise? You should have laughed it off, ‘fussed’ the dog and just popped home to use the washing machine. 🙄🙄🙄

I will give you a medal. Thanks for not adding to the shit dog owners club.

Wouldn’t bither me, but I’m not uptight.🤷🏽‍♀️

It’s over, you’ll live, move on.

I’d be upset and it would make me worry every time I went that route. Most children and many adults are scared at an unknown dog bounding towards them. Though at the time I would probably just tut and tell the owner to use a lease.

Inside i’d be furious that my personal space had been invaded, clothes muddied and scratched (all of which happened the last time a larger dog jumped up at me). It’s simple, people should be able to enjoy a walk without being invaded by someone’s pet. If your pet hasn’t good recall, then they should be on a lead.

You're forgetting that she should have thanked the dog owner too for the privilege of the lovely doggie interaction she wasn't expecting that day.