Is it rude not to acknowledge dog?

[buma]

My SIL has a dog. Nice natured but quite big and powerful (not a dangerous breed).

As soon as you go over, he will bound at you and try and jump at you. He's knocked the kids over before and I think could probably knock me over too.

I'm not a dog person, never had one, don't understand the bond etc. I've also got no interest in being jumped on, so I just ignore the dog and don't acknowledge it at all. Might give it a stroke if it sits next to me later on.

MIL has started to make comments when we meet up and I don't give the dog any fuss.

Do you think it's rude of me not to acknowledge? It's basically their baby as they have no kids so perhaps I am being rude? Im worried if I start to give him lots of attention, he will get excited when he sees me and launch himself at me.

Turn your back on the dog They will stop jumping up at you This is how they can be trained to calm down

This, I mean, really, OP if MIL says anything again can you just repeat it back to her slowly, "being rude.....to the DOG....???" 🤔😂

And then just keep on ignoring the dog.

Do you always acquiesce to other people's demands? Maybe if you stopped doing that you'd feel more confident and your life would be more authentically you....

But a dog jumping is bad behaviour and should be ignored? Doesn't matter if he's small, I have a pug and wouldn't let him jump up at people. If they were cruel to the dog then I absolutely would be cross but generally ignoring them, wouldn't bother me. The OP says she gives the dog a quick stroke when it's calm, that's enough really.

No, I have five large dogs and one medium sized dog. All respect the knee 😉

If the dog came up to greet me politely then I would engage enthusiasticly. If a child greeted me politely then I would engage enthusiasticly.

If the dog was jumping and barking I would ignore it. If the child was pushing and yelling I would ignore it.

In both cases I would hope that the owner/parent would at least try to get the dog/child to behave appropriately and would appreciate that I was not rewarding bad behaviour.

I don't think you are unreasonable and I love dogs ! I do think they could train the dog better, it takes a bit of effort but they shouldn't be letting it jump up at people. My Father used to encourage mine to jump up, even though I was training him not to, until the day the dog slipped and headbutted him in the nuts, my sympathy was with the dog

No, I wouldn't acknowledge a dog. Just like I wouldn't acknowledge a hamster or a goldfish. It's an animal. I don't dislike them, I just have zero interest. I don't even know what "acknowledging" a dog looks like.

I would tend to greet the dog before the person, which is more rude!

I'd probably be so busy acknowledging the dog that I'd overlook the humans 😃

Some people just look for drama. Give your sil a wide berth

Is this a joke?

I wouldn't be making any concessions for a bloody dog that jumped up at me. If its owner can't be arsed to train it properly, they can keep the wretched beast away from me.

You put your knee up to assert dominance over them, don't actually knee them in the face but it does work.

Remember though, you are in the Dog's home. They have more right to be there than you and their owner probably loves them more than you.

YANBU
Cannot stand dogs that jump up on me/others, I'd ignore too.
Like fuck would I want to give it a stroke if doing that.

You are not being unreasonable, I love my little dog and she's a member of my family but I would totally get that not everyone is a dog or animal person in general and wouldn't be bothered at all if they paid no attention to her!

Yeah, good point - I don't coo over the goldfish or the hamster, why would I a dog

The fact that ‘dogs are social creatures and love interaction’ is putting the animal’s needs above the visitor. Lots of people do not want your dog jumping on them.

Is it just me that says, "Hello, how are you?" to every dog, cat, horse, rabbit, Guinea pig, hamster etc that they meet! 😬

@TheRiddle

train your dog better so it doesn’t jump up. People don’t want that when they have nice clothes on etc .

@BabyBobs

just you.

@Wills890

dogs don’t have more rights than humans EVER

The “creature” that’s demands attention and gets it is the dominant creature. ie the dog jumping at you and getting up in your grill is demanding energy and when the human responds with claps etc they’re doing what the dog wants.

In a pack, subordinates and puppies get all excited and jumpy when greeting the alpha/dominant dogs who remain disinterested and bored looking. The attention interaction stops when the dominant dog decides it does. If this D(og)IL jumps up, demands attention and gets it then buggers off when it wants to leaving the humans patting the air then the dog is completely in charge and is allowing humans to share its space and look after it!

Nobody needs to like dogs, you can be scared of dogs if you want to, you do not need to interact with any dog, ever. I would absolutely encourage people to teach their kids to be wary of dogs as there are so many badly trained dogs about these days that always have a breathless owner running after them (if you’re lucky) panting “It’s ok….hes freindly…he won’t bite…oh he just likes to nip…it’s like a kiss, isn’t Fido?” 🙄Teach them to recognise a calm, happy dog and how to avoid pissing jumpy ones that lick their faces and scratch them/knock them over.

OP, I recommend researching dog body language so you know when that dog is about to get dangerous. Did I read correctly that your husband who doesn’t own the dog, has to hold the lead because its owners aren’t strong enough to hold it. That added to the fact it can get its paws on your shoulders suggests it’s a big dog, potentially young, that is going to get worse. If you have to be near it (and I would refuse. I’ve had that family argument 😀), familiarise yourself with dog signals so you the danger signs. Don’t let your children play with it and always keep them in sight.

Of course you can pet it if you want to but if you do, completely ignore it when you arrive (fold your arms and turn away with knee to the chin if you want), wait for it to walk off and do something else then call it over to you. You then finish the exchange (if it walked off before I was ready to I’d call it back again etc but I’m petty 😬).

PS I bloody LOVE dogs and have had them all my life 🐶🐶🐶

All my friends and family have dogs and /or are dog lovers. I think it's rude to ignore a dog, I had a newish friend that came to my house the first time (and last) and she rolled her eyes and sort of swatted her hand in their direction whilst making faces like she was disgusted.

Thing is she knew we have dogs, they weren't jumping up or being noisy. That was the last time I saw or spoke to her because she pissed me off so much. So damned rude.

@LuckySantangelo35 in the dogs own home, they absolutely DO have more rights. Your ass can sit on the floor as far as I'm concerned 🤣