AIBU to think dog owners should actually be responsible for their dogs in public spaces?

[Dilemma87]

I’ve had a couple of situations recently that have really annoyed me.

First one I was out running along the beach and a dog coming in the opposite direction suddenly ran straight at me and jumped up. I had to shout several times to find the owner, who was on the other side of a wall and couldn’t even see their dog.

Then today in an estuary car park, two dogs came flying towards me. I shouted to the owner that I’m scared of dogs and asked him to call them back. His response was to tell me to “go to therapy” because there are “plenty of dogs around.”

I don’t have an issue with dogs being in these places at all. Plenty of owners have them on leads or keep them close and under control.

But surely if your dog is going to run up to strangers, jump up, or not respond to recall, it should be on a lead?

AIBU to think that’s just basic responsibility as a dog owner

My dogs are friendly, but I don't let them run up to random people or jump up and put their paws on them because I understand that - shock horror - not everyone likes dogs. Please get your head out of your arse. Just because you like your dogs and know they're friendly does not mean everyone wants to be friends with them. Keep them under control and close to you.

I tend to find telling the owner "If your dog comes near me either it's getting kicked in the bollocks or you are" works.

No it is not. It is bashing inconsiderate dog OWNERS. There are a lot of dog owners who would not allow their dogs to do this.

If you don’t have recall, your dog needs to be leashed in public. No one cares if it’s friendly, your dog is not entitled to be liked and welcomed by all. We live in a coastal town and twice in a week my 4 year old has been brought to the ground by a ‘friendly’ dog. He was not courting the dog’s attention, just walking on the sea wall and playing in the sand. We were close enough to extricate him quickly, thank god.

I like dogs but it’s rife and unacceptable - I’m sick of it! My eldest now has a fear of dogs due to similar incidents.

I love dogs but it I still don’t want floofy-woofy’s muddy paws on my clean trousers or slobbery nose jammed into the crotch of my clean dress.

It’s just not my love language 🤷🏻‍♀️

I have to say I agree! I'm out 3x a day, every day, with my lot and I can't remember the last time a dog ran up to me.

Must be a fear thing, and the dogs can smell it, I guess?

Would make for an interesting study.

My dog is super friendly, I described him the other day as too friendly…he sees most people and dogs as potentially life long friends that he’s just met. That’s why in the sort of situation described here he’s on his lead.

There’s a dog park by us that we go to a lot and obviously dogs are off lead in there. The other week a couple of women without dogs decided to take a short cut through it (would have saved them about 30 seconds) and then complained about the dogs. Needless to say there was a lot of shoulder shrugging from the owners.

I am not a fan of dogs and have had three incidents with them through my life. One dog was either a stray or an escaped dog as it had jumped up at my neighbour the previous day. The other two dogs were escapees when the owners had opened the door and the dogs had bolted (2 different incidents). The stray dog was aggressive and followed us until my mum hit it with her rather large handbag. The first boltee dog was also barking at us and acting aggressively while the passive owner just stood calling it back feebly. That led to a visit to them from the local dog warden.

All of these happened in residential areas away from parks. Maybe it is bad luck but I think you are lucky to walk regularly and not have had an unwanted dog approach at least once. The irony is that it isn't parks or woodlands that are unsafe. It is residential areas.

Today for example when I asked him to recall his dogs and told me to go therapy

And this brief exchange was all it took to make you think that actually, you might be 'unreasonable to think dog owners should actually be responsible for their dogs in public spaces?'

Really?

YANBU!

I’m fucking sick of being told “It’s ok, they don’t bite” when a random dog runs over and sniffs/jumps up on me.
i don’t give a shit if they don’t bite, I don’t want your dog anywhere near me.

When we had a Labrador when I was younger she would occasionally run up to people in the park (usually with other dogs) but I always called her back and apologised. It was before there were extendable leads.

Of course you’re not being unreasonable.
Dog owners with dogs they can’t control are massive ignorant eejits.
If a dog jumps up on you it can be really dangerous if you’re fragile or recuperating or elderly or very young. So untrained dogs need to be on leads - there’s not one argument that can stand in opposition to that.

A dog is either under control or not - there’s are no exceptions. If you can’t control your dog you shouldn’t have one.

Then of course dog owners will start bleating when compulsory licencing is introduced because many of them are idiots................

I would suggest that if anyone wants a dog - or a driving licence they need to be properly trained and item 1 needs to be training on how you are expected to control your dogs behaviour and what will happen of you dont.

For drivers clear expectations of how they should behave and the consequences of not doing so

I often wonder how dog owners would react it another human ran up to them, ran round in circles, draped themselves over their shoulders and shouted "hello, hello, it's ok I'm friendly, I won't hurt you" in their ear.

Sadly that attitude persists. Started by the no win no fee culture of insurance claims.

Did you know that under the dogs act it doesn't matter if your dog is aggressive or not, if your dog approaches someone and they are fearful of it they can complain to the police and it will be taken seriously as you do not have your dog under control. Please teach your dog not to approach anyone or another dog. It sounds to me you are one of these owners that just thinks recall doesn't matter if the dog is friendly. Well it does and I say that as a dog owner!

I cannot actually believe that you are being serious. This must be rage bait.

I love dogs and have a dog, but it’s my respn to ensure the dog is under control.

The OP was jogging along a beach - which he/she is perfectly entitled to do, the dog owner(s) are at fault here. My dog loves people, but is under my control and I do not permit him to run up and jump
at people.

My daughter doesn’t like them because one jumped up at her when she was a toddler and knocked her over. Many of the friends who were there when it happens don’t like them for the same reason.

I own a boisterous and excitable young labrador and I agree. His recall isn't perfect, yet so I keep him on lead. I'd be mortified if he ran up to a stranger and jumped on them, or got into someone's picnic. I'm pretty sure he would as well, so guess what... He's on a lead! It's pretty simple.

Thought this was going to be yet another dog bashing thread, but what you say is really fair and reasoned.

You are just asking for dogs not to pester you, but happy for them to share the space as long as they don't jump on you/chase you. You don't mind them being off lead as long as they are under control.

You can't be fairer than that really, and as a dog owner I completely agree. It also annoys me when dogs come running at me and jumping up, covering me in mud or laddering my tights. I train my dogs from the minute I get them at 8 weeks old to not be a nuisance to people or other dogs. I train them to not approach dogs on lead. I get very annoyed when people allow their off lead dogs to approach mine when he is on a lead. He doesn't like boisterous dogs jumping on him. He never reacts, but you can see the discomfort on his face and in his body language, but sometimes other dogs nor their owners pick up on the body language.

What annoys me is the people who dislike dogs and therefore think they should all be kept away from anywhere they go or should be on a short lead at all times even if they are well trained and don't bother other people/animals. The attitude of some people, so full of hatred, bitterness and animosity astounds me. To spend your life carrying that much anger... Well... It's not healthy.

@didntlikeanyofthesuggestionsMany people (me included) do not want your “friendly” dog jumping all over them.

YANBU @Dilemma87- but you’ll get loads of dog apologists on this thread.

I'm not frightened of dogs (although I am allergic). My partner isn't frightened of dogs. But my eldest is. Solely due to an irresponsible dog owner allowing their big dog to jump up at the buggy when he was strapped in.

im not sure about you, but I can imagine how scary it is to not be able to escape when something considerably larger than you, with sharp pointy teeth jumps up on you.

its interesting you think the learned behaviour only comes from people frightened of things and not actual experiences with the animal in question.

its surely not difficult to see how a fear of dogs can develop.

Why an earth do you thing every one would want your dog to say hello to them
the only way I would say hello to a dog is with my foot keep it under control and away from people