Or are dog owners getting worse? The useless ones used to be a small minority, now they're everywhere

[Greensleeves]

I go for a long walk most days, so I see a lot of dogs and their owners. I'm noticing more and more feral dogs and ineffectual or wilfully ignorant owners. Three of my walks this week have been spoiled by them! The first was a large over friendly terrier type dog who bounded up, jumped up and got muddy paws all over my coat. Owner laughed and said "oh, she likes you!". Second was a little yappy thing that barked and wove around my ankles for about 20 yards, making me struggle not to step on it. Owner only called it when I shouted to her and gave me a filthy look. The third was the worst - some sort of bull breed, very large, not aggressive but ran up to us sniffing our hands and getting in our way, I was visibly nervous and froze to the spot. Owner called out "don't worry, he's friendly", I called back "I'm not, could you call him off please" to which he replied "I've tried, he ignores me...actually if you could grab his collar for me?"

FFS! And that's aside from the epic levels of fucking dog shit all over the parks, streets and local beauty spots. I'm not an animal hater at all, but it's really starting to get me down

I honestly don't know who does this stuff. I have a dog and these are not my values of dog ownership at all.
I always pick up poo 100% and bin it
I never ever let him run up to other dogs or people uninvited
I only let him run around and play with other dogs in appropriate places when I know the owners and have permission and I call him back straight away if there is any issue
I have him on a short leash by my side when passing anyone so it is clear to them he is under control and no threat even if I know he would be fine
I never take him to shops or to a town centre. I might take him to a dog friendly pub or cafe as a stop on a long walk but not otherwise

The thing is he is a big dog from a guardian breed. I know he can look intimidating and it would be a real risk if he jumped up on someone so I work hard on his training and I am always actively managing him when I am walking him. I do not go on my phone at all. It's only a relaxing experience to walk him if we go to somewhere remote and unpopular so I often get up mega early or walk him in the rain so it can be just us.

I think it's small dogs that people think they can get away with stuff like jumping up, running off, barking at people and get away with taking them places that basically aren't suitable. My MIL has a yappy dachshund that she takes everywhere. I was horribly embarrassed when she made us take the dogs to a bloody pizza restaurant. Fortunately my dog did just lie under the table quietly but I was on edge anyway. Hers sat on her knee at the table whining, yapping and begging for food the whole time which certainly ruined my meal and I assume most of the other diners.

I agree with dog licenses and wardens, didn't they used to exist ? What happened ?
People should also be prosecuted for assault/manslaughter if their dog attacks someone, that would encourage more responsible behavior imo.

As it stands I live in a city, and I don't think I would be able to move to a more rural area if I wanted to because I just couldn't handle the dogs.

It's not just dog ownership, it's the amount of litter, bags on seats, watching/listening to things without headphones, and so much more. More and more I find people don't give thought to, or care, about the impact they are having on others. Everyone is becoming increasingly individualistic, and it's a snowball affect. The worse it gets the less people feel inclined to make an effort to act in a community minded way, and the circle goes on and on.

I agree entirely with this.

Licences were scrapped decades ago- probably as too expensive to chase ups non payers.
Dogs are meant to be legally microchipped, but a lot of them {especially Back yard bred dogs} aren't.

There are dog wardens, but not nearly enough, and they are spread very thinly over a large area.

However, a Dog Warden collected a dog I had to let loose after an XL Bully {completely out of it's owner's control }targeted my dog and my friend's dog - The only way they stood a chance was by being let off their leads.
Warden agreed it was only course of action in those circumstances.

I reported my friend's dog as missing immediately - luckily a lovely street sweeper saw her running scared, and caught her - and called the Warden as well.

Warden was lovely, and did say there was a lot more irresponsible ownership in recent years-and people wanting rid of XL types once they had grown too large and dominant to manage easily.

If an owner of a yapping small dog can't control it, it's an annoyance, rather than a danger to others.

There are good dog owners and bad dog owners. Never blame the dog. We now have an increase of narcissist dog owners, who actually enjoy annoying others and then enjoy talking down to people even more. These people see the dogs as an extension of themselves (like some parents do) and appear somehow to feel better for their perceived superiority. I've just passed a group of elderly women on the nature reserve where I live. I clearly tried to get out their way as even though the dogs were on leads they could not or would not control them. The dogs were muddy and I had a meeting at the Heritage Centre on the reserve. These people were obviously deliberately trying to be difficult as it was obvious I was waiting for them to pass. I had to explain that I didn't want to get muddy. The one lady spoke to me like I was an unreasonable deranged trouble maker. Keeping a dog and most dogs and owners, no problem. It's the ego extension brigade. We have 2 large dogs and 2 small ones where I lodge. They mostly are cooped up all day and really don't get the space and attention they need. When children visit they lock dogs in outhouse! This speaks volumes. Dogs should be trained to behave round people, especially children. Another problem is some dog owners don't have the ability to empathise and won't accept that not everyone sees dog love, friendliness and no harm like they do. Dangerous dogs should not be destroyed. The owners should.

I agree with you . I blame lockdown / wfh when loads of people could get dogs that previously wouldn’t have and most haven’t bothered to do much training because the dogs were bought on a whim and they hadn’t looked into the work involved . Re dog mess I find it’s always worse in the winter , dark nights so people can get away without being seen / less people about and the other time it’s bad here is in the summer holidays when people have their teens taking the dog out .

There seems to have been a major rise in very small dogs - often what I call the ‘fashion accessory’ type. Some breeds seem to have become ‘fashionable’ and are maybe bought for that reason.
(I’ve always been a great dog lover, and I know the poor little things can’t help it, but I do find French bulldogs very ugly.)

The very large, potentially vicious breeds are another matter altogether.

Yes, owners who don't pick up when walking on pavements - I'm sure that's got worse.

I'm a dog owner.

I agree with all this. I don’t like walking in the park any more for these reasons, which I used to love. I think the issue is bigger than just dog owners. I think society in general is becoming far more selfish and entitled on the whole. Whether that’s dog owners, or parents who won’t take crying children outside when they’re screaming in a restaurant or giving them a tablet at full volume on a train, or people parking their massive cars half on the pavement. It seems like a huge proportion of the population no longer have any consideration for other people, and just do what they want and make excuses to try and justify their poor behaviour.

Agree with just about everything you say - but can we stop using cockapoos as the prime example of badly behaved dogs - my cockapoo is very well trained they are very intelligent dogs and can and do learn well.

I don't think it's got worse - you probably just notice it more because there's a lot more public conversation about dogs following the XL Bully issues.

I’m old enough to remember free roaming dogs like some previous posters. They were mostly no trouble to each other or people. The ones that were , were removed by dog wardens. Visited Peru this year, where dogs still seem to be allowed to roam. They were obviously owned, they all looked healthy and well fed and some were obviously pedigrees. They all kept themselves to their selves and I didn’t see any dog fights - they all seemed polite to each other. I thought at the time how stressful and unnatural many dogs lives are in the U.K, and perhaps that’s why so many now seem neurotic. Especially the little fluffy types, whose owners seem to treat them like animated stuffed toys or “ fur babies’ . The other place I’ve been where dogs are unfailingly polite is Canada - which also suggests the manners of the population rubs off on the dogs !

Yes I think there are more bad dog owners around now. It seems to have coincided with when people started treating their dogs as children and insisting on taking them everywhere with them. I am not keen on dogs in shops or restaurants either I just don't understand why anyone would want to take a dog into a shop or restaurant it cant be much fun for the dog either.
I have also had a coat ruined by a dog who jumped up on me while I was simply walking through a park.

You're obviously an exception then, as it's almost always poorly controlled poodle mixes or labradors that cause issues around here, especially in summer when the tourists descend.

It's got considerably worse since all the lockdown dogs have matured.

Really good point. I think most dogs, left to roam a bit, get exercise and socialise with other dogs, must be happier and mentally healthier than a dog that's cosseted but kept apart, carried, pushed in a pram etc.

I don't know if cockapoos are less well trained than other dogs or if there's just more of them, so statistically you're more likely to see a badly behaved cockapoo.

Did you really just "not all cockapoos" me on a post I made six months ago?

NACPALT 😂

Oh gosh sorry I did…. Guilty on both counts!

Some don't seem to be getting better, but let's not blame the dogs. I recently was lodging in a house with 4 dogs. Two large dogs, a husky and a leonberger were cooped up in the kitchen all day. One of the owners enjoyed watching them fight... very disturbing. The RSPCA seemed to have shirked a lot of responsibility regarding dog welfare and gave passed the buck either onto the police or owners... some of which don't have a clue or are using dogs to make them feel safe, superior or both.
I try to do a circular walk most days. Some dog walkers are responsible, others I can only describe as complete sociopaths. What I've noticed recently is with the retractable leads, some owners deliberately let the leads out when you pass them by, often, it seems, so they can talk down to you or more crazily, they want their dog to jump on you. Some owners will seemingly pretend not to notice you and accidentally on purpose let the leads out. One of the ways to look at it is to be glad of not being somewhat unhinged as these owners obviously are, but then that doesn't stop it being a nuisance. You can't reason with these kind of people as their sense of entitlement is warped. The insults some dish out beggars belief. There is a farm on this path I use. The farmer is the most affable polite person you could wish to meet, with all manner of dogs and cats on the farm. He has a chicken coop. He has had numerous dogs entering the coop and killing chickens. He told me that one dog owner called him a sad and angry man, after their dog had killed 2. Another dog owner threatened to petrol bomb the farm if he didn't stop complaining.
Laws definitely need to be enforced.
I now carry dog deterrents, but only use them when necessary. The filthy looks you get from some dog owners are priceless. A bit hypocritical when they obviously think it's OK for their dog to jump on you... failing to accept if a person jumps on you that would be assault. They need to accept that not everyone is going to love their dogs as much as them... but with sociopathic mentalities, this isn't likely to change.

Zombie thread

Yeah they are so entitled. I almost tripped over one recently whilst out jogging, the owner two steps ahead of it! If I’d have accidentally kicked it though no doubt dumb woman would have had something to say

This.
can somebody stop this trend?
I’m so sick of dogs spoiling things every time we go outside the house.

The responsible ones are vastly outnumbered by the lazy, entitled dirt bag ones who spoil things for everyone.
It has got to the point where I just hate the sight of dogs.

This. 100%.