Another dog one....

[Dingdongdog]

Walking back from school run today and a German shepherd jumped up at me, I thought it was going to bite me but owner managed to pull him back but not before he slobbered all over me in what seemed a fairly hostile way. I was getting something from my pocket and wondered if he thought I had a treat. Owner said nothing.

If it had been 10 minutes before it might have been my daughter's face and she is bloody terrified of dogs as it is ( due to being continuously approached by them in the village that we live)

As I walked away I went to put my hand down and realized I was covered in dog slobber and as I came to I thought "Nah, that's not on".

I therefore walked back up the road to find the owner and said, politely but firmly "I'm really sorry but I just realized I'm covered in your dogs slobber, I just wonder if maybe he should be muzzled if he's that strong- if it had been 10 minutes earlier it could have been my daughter and could be much worse."

The guy looked fairly timid so left it at that, just thought I needed to do something- if the guy had disciplined the dog at the time and shown concern I would have felt reassured and wouldn't have stalled him up the high street.

I have a touch of the guilts/ I'm not particularly fond of confrontation and I'm also interested to see what others may have said/ done and if my idea of the muzzle is totally ludicrous in this situation.

Anyway was in your opinion, was I being unreasonable?

A human spitting at another actively chooses to do so. It is disgusting and is rightly classed as assault.

A dog slobbering... there is not even a human equivalent. People slobber (babies especially). It is all easily wiped off your clothing. It is not bleach or acid.

But you appear on all dog threads and spread your vitriolic hate for all things canine.
I think you do actually need a dog in your life.. maybe to lower your BP.

Don't worry it would have been sent to the naughty corner and had it's favourite toys removed when they got home .

Fangs?? Vampire dogs now?

I don’t much like dogs, but you either don’t know what a fang is or don’t know what a dog is.

Like these ones

That is horrifying and repulsive. At least make it sensitive content! Seriously.

So vicious. I am triggered.

Seriously, that is lovely sleepy teefs grin.

Why????? it's only you that is sensitive.

More horrifying is the poor shark having to jump for you.

The dog was not under control. The owner is at fault.

now these are teeth

Photo of dog asleep = sensitive content?! WTAF?!

I'm starting to feel like the UK should shift towards a general pattern of dogs being required to be on leads in most public places (other than actual fenced dog parks). This is pretty much the case in the country where I live. Your dog stays on the lead until you get to a designated dog park area.

Yes, it's a shame in a way, but the problem is that "your dog can be off the lead if they have good recall" doesn't seem to be working; people think their dogs have good recall when they don't, or just don't care and let them off the lead anyway, and having off-lead walking permitted means we have no way of apprehending the owners in question until these incidents happen.

It would be a shame for all the owners who do train their dogs properly and whose dogs understandably enjoy having plenty of opportunity to run off lead, but as they say "This is why we can't have nice things." A minority of owners are ultimately going to ruin things for everyone, because the number of jumpy, poorly trained dogs has increased so much in the last three years, and it's going to cause complaints and even accidents which are eventually going to fuel a backlash.

I don't live in the UK but do visit most years; I'd like to be able to cycle when I'm there, but am put off by all the off-lead dogs, which could potentially cause a dangerous accident if one of these bloody animals were to decide to chase the bike.

U ok hun? @Boomboom22

Get a grip

The entitlement of some dog owners is astounding. Dog should be on a tight lead if the owner can’t control it

Seriously?? It's a dog. A dog. They've been around like forever. What is it with Mumsnet and this sudden anti dog stance. It's a bloomin dog ffs! 🙄🙄🙄 honestly get a grip on yourself.

Are these okay Boomboom22

@Boomboom22

the gift that keeps giving...

dog slobber 'extreme & dangerous'

😂😂😂😂

I just gave the example of dogs causing accidents for cyclists. A cycling page I'm on for my hometown regularly has members reporting these. People are entitled to not want dogs jumping at them.

The reason why the number of anti-dog posts has increased so much in the past couple of years is because COVID led to a big increase in dog ownership, with new owners very often being those who don't train the dogs well.

A lot of backyard breeders decided to make a buck (and idiotic breeding of dogs for looks rather than temperament also seems to have increased the number of untrainable dogs out there, and has been aggravated by social media and influencers with designer dogs).

A combination of increased dog theft (due to increased demand for dogs) and general safetyism has made owners far more reluctant to leave dogs in the car or tied up outside a shop etc., and a lot of people won't leave dogs at home because they didn't train them to be OK with being left alone during lockdown. Shops/restaurants/cafe etc. now face losing business unless they let dogs in, so increasingly we are all having to step over dogs in cafes and put up with them in places where food etc. is served.

Inevitably, dog shit seems to have increased as well.

It's a lot of things, but I think there is a lot of frustration over this issue and it's leading to a bit of a backlash, as we are seeing on here.

I myself am really hoping that we are seeing Peak Dog and that a lot of these animals will not be replaced when they die.

I understand the issue with off lead dogs running into cyclists and agree it is an issue which could be dangerous however the other side of the argument is entitled cyclists who when on a multi use path that I walk my dog on "on lead " I may add, and children use bikes and families walk on.
These entitles cyclist ride at stupid speeds ringing their little bell expecting everyone to just move out of their way. I have seen little children knocked over and last year one bike rider was killed when the owner of an "on lead" dog could not get out the way quickly enough, the dogs lead caught on the bike and the rider hit his head as he fell , no helmet I might add, and passed away from the injuries later that day . So yes dogs should be on leads but cyclists need to stop their entitled behavior as well.

Every Friday night we get these threads.

If man ran up to a woman and slobbered on her, he rightfully would be put on some kind of register. It’s an invasion of personal space, a physical assault and generally unacceptable conduct.

If a dog does it somehow it’s considered fine. I don’t think it is, the dog is the responsibility of the owner, and that situation should be handled as if the owner did the slobbering / jumping up / assaulting. The dog’s behaviour should be considered an extension of the owners behaviour.

Disgusting behaviour, I've had dogs the last 15 yrs and they've never jumped on/accosted anyone in the street. You should keep your dogs to yourself imo, it's your choice to own them and they need to be exercised but it shouldn't impact other people going about their business around you. I think alot of dog owners are quite lonely people and use their dogs as a way to communicate with others, if you speak against dogs they come out in spades mocking you for not wanting contact with their animal.

🍿

Thanks for all the responses and seems I am not being unreasonable as per the poll 😄 I am reassured that this behaviour in a dog isn't necessarily aggression, although very speculative based on the fact I didn't see his body language per se.

I think these 2 posters sum it up nicely though;
@brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr @mapleriver

I like dogs, but would prefer to not be pounced on by one.

Zzz