To dare to think that the Cult of Dog has gone too far?

[MariLlwyd]

There is now not a single public space in my home town that is dog-free - and that includes cafes, restaurants and even the library. Local beaches, once a quiet escape, have turned into asylums for the fur baby/pupper brigade to inflict their poorly trained animals on others with children getting chased, people jumped on and tripped over and all to the sound of hysterical barking and frequent dog fights.
80 year old woman knocked over by uncontrollable dog? 'You got in his way'.
Ask politely that you take your dog away from our lunch table? 'Go fuck yourself'.
Sit on the most remote bench you can find? Peri-menopausal wild eyed harridan lets loose 3 dogs from her 4x4 to jump all over you and laughs that it's 'their spot' and turns unhinged when you push them away.
Yes, this is a rant and yes I hate most dog owners.
This weird cult that values darling dogs over human beings is actually pretty worrying.
I shall await the inevitable and hilarious 'incoming' from the emotionally stunted Doggo Nutters.

Where on earth do you live that dogs are given such freedom?

All the beaches I know of on the South Coast near where I live have dog free areas during the warmer months and in the small town I live in very few shops, and certainly not the library, allow dogs.

I have a dog, though I'm not a 'Doggo Nutter', nor do I refer to my dog as my 'fur baby'.

And whilst I agree that some dog owners aren't controlling their dogs properly your reference to a 'peri-menopausal wild eyed harridan' is pretty offensive and as pp said your rant does, indeed, sound pretty deranged

Maybe take a few deep breaths OP.

Yep I was in a very smart restaurant for lunch the other day and in walked a couple with two huge dogs, trying to wedge them under the table. They were spread across a neighbouring tables floor area. Glad I wasn't sitting there or I would have said something. I wouldn't be smiling and stroking.

I love dogs but not everywhere. Madness. Why can't they be left at home.

I agree. I’m absolutely sick of bad dog owners.

We were on holiday last week. My daughter (5) was walking along holding her football then accidentally dropped it. She doesn’t like dogs. The ball rolled down the hill, we ran to catch it but a dog was quicker and was snarling and growling as my daughter approached the ball.

Then yesterday my husband and (same) daughter were playing frisbee on a grassy area off to the side of a playground. There isn’t a gate that closes but it was in the playground. Dog runs over and destroys the frisbee. Daughter is upset because her favourite frisbee is broken and the dog’s owner gives my husband a load of abuse for letter our daughter play frisbee in the kids play area?!

This is just two examples of many. There’s shit everywhere (which I’ve just emailed our local MP about). We’ve had to change our route to school because my daughter can’t ride her scooter along the usual route because everyone seems to think it’s a dog toilet and there’s crap every few feet.

I’m aware the dog lovers will be along to say we’re unreasonable but it’s just out of hand in my area and I’m sick of it.

Completely agree with this post. Humans are the problem, dogs are merely the symptom. Society has become notably more selfish since Covid.

Absolutely agree with you. I live in the countryside and the amount of idiots that let their untrained dogs off the leads wreck havoc is astonishing. They have attacked our animals more times than I can count. I have had dogs going IN my house when the doors are open , you confront the owners and they say they had the dog under control 🤬 try again buddy you are just an irresponsible moron! You see more dogs then people at the beach some days, I witnessed 2 old ladies on the same day letting their dogs off the lead at the beach, the dogs immediately go on people's blankets, sniffing their food and slobbering everywhere, a lady was lying on her belly and a dog started licking her legs 🤢🤢, the owner of the dog didn't even apologise 😑, also true about the incessant barking even at shopping malls and restaurants.

I agree with you about the dogs (and I used to consider myself a dog lover).

BUT “Peri-menopausal wild eyed harridan” … WTAF!

Get over yourself with the misogyny and ageism. Totally out of order.

Because low lifes steal them.

I have a lovely park/woods near me which should be a joy to walk through - is it hell… you can’t move for dogs, all off lead, often growling, barking and fighting with other dogs whilst there owners stand around chatting to the point that you have to get off the paths and often walk in muddy grass just to get by. These dog owners honestly believe that the park is for their purpose only.

OP, so have you lobbied councillors about say the library, or any other public spaces that the council controls? Or a section of beach, which might deter some (though one of the legacies of Boris Johnson is people more likely to ignore it).

I like well behaved and trained dogs in most places, but agree many are not well looked after.

I would also change the law such that any injury or worse is treated as if inflicted by the human owner. Animals recognised in law as sentient beings, there is the law of joint enterprise.

It could be argued that the frequency of these threads is a good yardstick for how big a problem it’s becoming… but it’s definitely more appropriate to yawn emoji someone and add nothing useful or thought provoking to the discussion.

I love dogs and volunteer in a dog friendly establishment but I totally agree with you OP. My (popular, busy) neighbourhood is overwhelmingly ‘dog friendly’ which is touted as a positive thing but the reality is dog shit everywhere, inattentive owners trying to clothesline passers by on the pavements with long leads, dogs snapping at each other everywhere and frankly questionable hygiene standards in many of the cafes and food establishments that allow them in. It’s tiresome. I love seeing dogs in the parks where they look happy. Most that come into our store look stressed

Agree with this. I can’t stand Entitled Dog Owners and the last place a dog belongs is in the Homeware section of John Lewis, where I have seen one but this descriptor was out of order

Because they cost £2k! That’s like leaving your keys in the car to be stolen!

Took my dogs up the hills near us, dogs had to be on leads. Sign saying that there were nesting birds in the grasses and the wild ponies were around. Every other dogs were on leads. Wouldn't take them into town too many people around. They prefer to stay at home.

I'll apologise for the menopausal harridan comment as I'm one myself. 😊
BUT this is one subject that really boils my p1ss.

No I completely get it and I say this as a dog owner. I love my dog 😊
Yesterday I was in a graveyard in my hometown and I witnessed a dog walker u loading dogs from her van, then walk them amongst the graves. Totally ignoring the signs everywhere that forbids dogs

Same in the area further out which is a nature reserve, it’s so beautiful and peaceful but ruined by the bags of dog poo swinging in the trees, dogs running around off lead. Again, signs everywhere saying to keep your dog on a lead and other signs where dogs are not allowed are ignored.

I work in a pretty popular cafe and they recently allowed dogs into some of the cafes. My manager decided against allowing them into ours and the abuse we have received for not allowing dog into the building is insane 😂
I don’t think it’s a dog issue, it’s an entitlement issue from people.

Same, this peri menopausal woman was completely in agreement until 'peri menopausal harridan' comment.

I’m afraid I’m one of those people who takes their handbag chihuahua everywhere. He’s great and makes me and lots of other people very happy and I much prefer his company to anyone else’s. He’s quiet and often people don’t even notice him. And he brings so much joy to people. I actually have the opposite problem, that people, especially small kids, are always running up and wanting to touch and pester him in cafes and public spaces if he’s visible to them. Luckily he’s an absolute wonder with people and tolerates all the patting and ear pulling like a champ. I once had a woman literally shove her face up to his and try to snog him (complete stranger) and I had to tell her to back off because I could see his warning signs that he was not comfortable (and would you be if a stranger did that to you?!).

I’m sure I’ll have plenty of people disagree and think I’m the enemy here but I could be sitting next to you in a cafe right now with my snoozing pocket chihuahua and you probably haven’t even noticed him!

Regular requests at work for dogs to come in. Fortunately landlord isn’t haven’t it (assistance dogs excepted).

Dog mess on the streets, in the parks, even on country walks (more there than anywhere as I assume no one picks it up).

One of the nicest things about going on holiday overseas now is having fewer dogs around.

Came into the office today. 3 out of 5 people in reception had a dog with them. Wtf is going on?

I agree. The funniest is when you see dogs in prams who look desperate to get out and walk.

Only if you support puppy farms though.... adopt don't shop and all that (I wont be doing either!)

I didn't mind dogs at all until they morphed into fur babies, and now they are molly-coddled, undisciplined and absolutely bloody everywhere.

Keep them at home if you're going shopping/cafe then.... simple.

Some of us are trying. I'm training a retriever at the moment and being really careful about it. We check if the coast is clear before going off lead. I've trained him to sit down when there are children going by, walking near and I stop him on the street to let frailer / younger / people without dogs go by! Basically unless someone indicates they want to say hi to my dog I'm teaching him to ignore them. He puppy plays (which looks like fighting but isn't) when it's safe for him to. I take him out at times of day when it's quieter because he's big. But he's a retriever. He's easy to train. So many of the problem dogs are actually smaller ones who are badly trained and allowed seemingly everywhere. I don't want a dog near me in a cafe either. It's true that some dog owners are incredibly entitled and can't seem to understand that while you know your dog is friendly it doesn't matter because someone else is scared and asking you to take it away...genuinely puzzling why this is hard to understand for some dog owners but there we are. I'd be mortified if my dog disturbed or jumped on someone...and I think possibly you're right about the 'fur baby' thing...knowing that he'd be big I didn't want him to associate affection with jumping up so I don't allow him to do it even with me...I think I'm in a minority with this though. It's sad. Your post comes across as angry and a bit sexist though and kind of tarring everyone with the same brush. We're not all the same and we're not out to get you.

Well that in itself is madness. The rescues are full of abandoned ones.