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.

You are supposed to work this out before you get a dog. Where you will walk it, how you will train it and socialise it, how long you need to be able to leave it at home. Your dog does not become other people’s problem.

I do agree with what you have said about the prevalence of dogs everywhere. But I think a lot of dog owners agree about this too - the sensible ones who absolutely adore their pets, but are capable of leaving them at home rather than trail them out to shop at Next or have coffee in the middle of a busy shopping centre.

When I mentioned on a previous thread that there wasn’t a single coffee shop in my small town that didn’t allow dogs, I was sarcastically asked where this slice of heaven was. As if I was making it up. I don’t mind dogs in general and there are a few in my extended family that I really love, but unfortunately I’m allergic to them. My eyes swell up like golf balls, bulging with fluid. Also blocked nose, sneezing, itchy throat, occasional hives. My eldest is exactly the same. DP gets breathing difficulties due to his asthma. We sound like the world’s most afflicted family😆 But it really is crap now, not being able to confidently walk into cafes without wondering if we’ll have to make a quick exit.

There are also a lot more poorly trained dogs around now, whose owners don’t have a clue. SIL’s dogs have never been properly trained. They are unpredictable in public and SIL does that laughing ‘oops, they’re just a bit nosey’ thing if anyone is uncomfortable with their behaviour. She took them to a dog friendly cafe once and was told to sit outside with them because they wouldn’t stop barking. When they went to the outside area, one of the dogs knocked the table over, complete with coffee and sandwich😬

As a dog owner I agree that far too many people have dogs these days that don't know how to control them, however I live in an extremely dog friendly v- and popular tourist - village and not once have I witnessed dog owners telling someone to go fuck themselves or telling a person they got in the way if a dog knocks them over?!?! Where the hell do you live?!

You're right - it's kind of funny watching the haters lose their marbles but actually I feel sorry for those that hate dogs so much.

I mean I never had a dog till I was in my forties and I can't believe I wasted the first 40 years of my life chasing careers, money, 'stuff'

The unconditional love of an animal and the bond between him/her and their human is just quite frankly amazing.

Actually, I think teaching children how to recognise dog behaviour is hugely important. Yes, dog owners should always be in control etc, but teaching children how to behave around animals is also important.

I used to tie my dog to a tree well off the path that led to school. I did that as I had to take DS into school and dog couldn't come with me, and I didn't want her close to the path as I knew she could get frightened when I wasn't with her.

Never ceased to amaze me how many parents didn't seem to think it as a problem that their children were approaching a dog that was alone, tied up, and very obviously placed in a spot OFF the main path....

Not quite as bad where I am but just this morning went into a cafe, sat down and the owners (large) dog came bounding up. Lovely, friendly dog. But it's only after the dog has a good sniff were we asked if we 'were okay with dogs'. I had a 3 year old with me. The dog spent our entire breakfast next to us, sniffing and watching our food. Now it was a very well behaved dog and wasn't begging... But surely this isn't okay?

Also spent a 60 minute train journey yesterday listening to a dog whimper constantly the entire way home!!

And oh how I love it when visiting family members (both sides) bring their multiple dogs and don't even pretend to wipe them when they come in from the rain/snow. Or when the fuckers dig up or stand all over my flower beds.

We went out for lunch last weekend to a pop up food truck at a micro brewery
it was dog friendly , being mainly outside , which was fine . A guy drives up, gets dog out of car on a flexi lead, walks over to restaurant area where dog cocks leg against a pergola post and does a massive wee all over the concrete , and he tells waitress sorry, but it had been a long drive .
ffs, walk the dog before taking it into a restaurant area, he truely gave not a flying fig , and that’s the issue. Not the dogs fault .

Was just eating my lunch outside in an urban environment with many others doing the same at a polite distance from each other. A couple with a dog came and sat down 2m away and released their dog to...shit in the grass verge, presumably?

Cue dog coming straight over to put its nose on my food. It didn't do any harm but I'm just tired of it. Also trying to be outside with my child without being jumped on.

A start would be to go in cafes which advertize as dog friendly and tell the manager that you look forward to visiting when the "no dogs allowed" signs are put up.

'You're right - it's kind of funny watching the haters lose their marbles but actually I feel sorry for those that hate dogs so much.'

I actually like dogs. It's the rude, arrogant, entitled behaviour of many dog owners I have an issue with.

Just said this before I read your comment! I'm out walking twice a day every day with the dogs, regularly go to dog friendly pubs and cafes and take them to the beach and not once have I witnessed anything like the OP has quoted!!!

Plenty of places in our town that are dog-free. The nearest beach to us is also dog-free.

I agree re dog owners letting dogs loose without having control in green spaces etc (and I say this as a dog owner).

But given your use of “Peri-menopausal wild eyed harridan” honestly you can get to fuck, I hope the next time you go out a dog slobbers all over your clothes.

@IWishIHadntDoneThat I'm sorry that sounds really tough and I’m glad you have found comfort in your dogs. It was a generalisation and obviously won’t apply to everyone. 🙂

I think the conclusion to this thread is that adult humans are just a bit shit.

I mean it's them who don't teach their children to behave and it's them who don't train their dogs.

So while we can all argue among ourselves the problem seems to be 'us' - the grownup's. Some of us are doing it right and being responsible with our children/dogs. Many of us are not. The end.

The argument should not be dogs v children as both are guided/taught by grown ups.

The argument should be shit adult humans v responsible adult humans.

I love this. ❤️

Animals really are amazing and I also feel sorry for those that don’t/cant feel that way for whatever reason. Each to their own, but I’m glad I’m one of the ones that feel a bond with animals. They bring so much love and joy to my life.

thank you. I appreciate you coming back to say that.

Yes, definitely. I was thinking this just last night when I was bothered by badly controlled dogs that were off leads on two separate occasions on my evening walk.

One came bounding over and jumped up with the owner completely unaware. I always feel uneasy when I see a big dog running towards me, because you're never totally sure how they're going to be. If I had a pound every time I heard some variation of 'ohhh they won't hurt you', I'd be very wealthy.

But instead I'd just prefer people to keep their dogs on sodding leads.

Jesus Christ where the hell do some of you people live?! Dogs fighting and growling and owners just stood around chatting?!

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

As an aside, you do know this is a person problem rather than a dog problem don't you?

Well said. It’s always humans that are the problem.

Completely agree, I have five dogs and work with dogs , would never not have a dog. It’s the entitled human behaviour that’s the issue .

It's always weird that people interpret "I don't like dogs" as "I hate them", take it so personally, and react so strongly, even suggesting it is some sort of indicator of your personal character, in the way they don't with any other animal.

Nobody thinks you are a horrible person if you're not a fan of hamsters or goldfish or rabbits. I've never heard anyone say "You can't trust someone who doesn't like giraffes."
Some creatures people actually would think you were weirder if you did like them!

Why is it just dogs (and to a much lesser extent cats) that people react this way to?

Yeah I like dogs too.

I went camping at the weekend and the field was full of dogs off leads. Absolutely zero problems all weekend.

One morning, four dogs whose owner wasn't yet up came over to say hello. They were clearly very well trained. Didn't jump up and brought over a stick to be thrown.

We had a nice 10 mins playing whilst my partner cooked sausages, which the dogs showed absolutely no interest in.

Dogs are generally fine.

Some owners aren't.

The issue isn’t that dogs can go everywhere it’s that people take them to places when they’re badly trained, not used to the situation etc. Our dog is young (less than a year) and we’ve spent a lot of time training him, if we’re in the park/in the canal/on a field and we someone coming or another dog it’s back on the lead initially (or permanently). He’s been to some cafes and pubs but only if it’s truly dog friendly and only in a situation he can deal with.
Also fur baby…I hate that term, he’s a part of our family but is at the bottom of the hierarchy.

I agree, it is very important to teach children how to behave around dogs and the signs and behaviours to watch out for.

However, I think this should be at least an equal responsibility between dog owners and the public, although ideally more of a responsibility on the dog owner’s side, to manage this. Instead, we’ve gone completely the other way whereby now dog owners completely abdicate all responsibility for their dog’s behaviours and put the onus on everybody else to deal with it. They just don’t give a shit.

Wiltshire!