Completely outrageous dog owner behaviour

[Onepeople]

Went for a walk this evening. We live by the sea and my walking route was along the sea front, popular with dog walkers. I am often bothered by dogs off their leads coming up and sniffing me, running round my ankles etc. I find it bloody annoying and inconsiderate really but, whatever.

Tonight though. Dog comes running up to me, leaps up and covers my trousers with his muddy paws. This annoys me and I tell the owner to control her animal. She gives the typical 'He's only saying hello!' response, which always makes me wonder whether I should go up to dog owners and slobber all over them as it's 'only saying hello' apparently. Anyway, the dog carries on jumping up at my so I kick out at it to make it go away.

Obviously in an ideal world I wouldnt have needed to do this. And I kicked out at it, rather than actually kicking it. I knew I wouldn't actually make contact.

Owner comes running up to me, suddenly showing a burst of speed she wasn't capable of when the dog was misbehaving. She screams 'Dont you dare kick my fucking dog!' then shoves me with two hands right in my chest. I almost lost my balance, but just about stayed upright before her friend dragged her away. I honestly thought she was going to punch me.

Not sure why I am writing this other than the fact that I am still a bit shocked and shaky.

I know that not all dog owners are like this, and that this woman seems to be particularly twatty. But God sometimes I hate them all. Bloody dogs and their bloody inconsiderate owners. Control your animals!

I was attacked by a dog once and had to have stitches in my face - I still have the scars. I am terrified by dogs jumping up at me like this - I can't tell you how much I wish dog owners would realise that it is just totally unacceptable for dogs to do this. It makes me panic and burst into tears because I was so traumatised by the attack. I completely understand why you kicked out and I think the owner's behaviour is appalling. Do not let your dog off the lead if you think he will be 'friendly' like this. Other people do not necessarily experience this in the same way.

I kicked a dog once. I was on my bike. It ran alongside me but on the other side of a fence. It then found a gap, ran up to me, bit me through my cycle tights. It showed no sign of stopping (if the owner had been there, I imagine they would have suggested I stop as doggy thinks I'm playing a game) and I was scared. So I kicked it away.
A few days later I stopped by the house (in my car) and told them what happened. They told me the dog was often doing this sort of thing and they'd have to put it down. Selfish, lazy arseholes.

I had similar as a teenager (story upthread). Often menaced on a nearby footpath by snarling dogs, several times immobilised by said dogs as they clamped their teeth around my leg and growled every time I tried to move. Twice had blood drawn by these dogs. Owners trailing along behind just mocked me when they caught up. Horrible people.

There was also a dog near us when I was a child which used to run out of its house/garden and chase cars, running near their wheels, and even getting in front sometimes. It made driving off very scary for my family, and my sister and I were terrified that the dog would be killed. Driving slowly didn't help - and the owners did nothing to stop it or restrain it, or in fact, train it.

I would love to know how all the " I am often bothered by dogs off their leads coming up and sniffing me, running round my ankles" people attract the dogs so effectively as I'd love to be able to do that so I can give them a tickle.

You should come to my local park! I can assure you, these incidents are not figments of imagination.

• a regular 'cat's cradle' of overlapping dog leads - those extendable ones - which have to be negotiated. It happens when dog owners stand in groups chatting to other dog owners, oblivious to where their dogs are and what a tangle they're making with their leads (when surely, they should be on a tight lead and at the owner's heel??) I've nearly tripped and I've seen others trip.
• Loose dogs when in fact the rule is 'all dogs on leads'. Only about a quarter of owners obey this rule. I've twice seen unruly dogs run up to joggers and bother them, in once case causing a man to trip and fall, injuring his knees. The dog owner in that case just said 'Oh, he loves runners!'
• I like to feed the waterfowl and observe them, and there are special areas for this. But often they're scared off by loose dogs running ahead of their owners and frightening the birds (even when they have young - dog owners don't seem to see the problem) and even getting into the water to chase them.

Just a few instances of things I see every day/every week locally. I try to be nice and don't complain unless I see danger to people or birds, but the inconsiderate behaviour of dog owners often spoils my walks.

I would love to know how all the " I am often bothered by dogs off their leads coming up and sniffing me, running round my ankles" people attract the dogs so effectively as I'd love to be able to do that so I can give them a tickle.

I run around the local roads and fields. Dogs w/o recall think I am playing. I am not. I am treasuring my 50 mins down time and don't want to stop and wait for owner to amble around the corner.

Most dog owners are lovely in my area. We all share the space with courtesy. I am happy to stop and step aside if a dog owner is struggling with a pup, or big dog or lots of dog, or another dog. Mostly they step aside for me, or we clearly go to either side of a wider path and we go about our day. It's easier for someone walking to step aside to let a runner through.

We really need a laughing emoji

If a dog growled or bit me and didn’t move when I said no or go away to it, then trust me that creature is getting kicked. I don’t care if the owner minds. Control your dog.

My DM was bitten by a Scottie as a child, didn’t put her off dogs but she remembers this.

Oh, I hate seeing this in the park with the ducks. Especially this time of year :(

My friend NDN has 2 mini pins. Both are very barky especially when in their house. When she or her DD walk them though (not the older one as she’s 14) they always use an extendable or shorter lead if they know he will react to people or other dogs. Therefore the dog can be taken on the bus to the dog friendly cafe/pub in the high street. Very well behaved dog but he was a rescue and they took time to retrain him.

My DM has had both an Afghan hound and Labrador (separately) when we were kids. Despite the Afghan being hard to train he never jumped up on people. Labrador the same. Because they were both trained.

That isn't always possible and why should she alter her route for the dog?
Of course she shouldn't have lashed out (although as she says she didn't actually make contact with the dog). But the person at fault here was the owner who didn't even attempt to control her dog which jumped up at OP and then assisted the OP.
OP you could report her to the police for assault.

OP was responding to a comment which put the dog on a par with humans calling it an important member of the family.
But also what was she supposed to do. The dog jumped up at her , she tried to walk away and it followed her and jumped up again. The owner was doing nothing. Should she just stand there she was defending herself

Common assault. Report her to the police.
All those still harping on how kicking dogs is cruel, please read and understand the part where the OP says, 'I kicked out at it, rather than actually kicking it. I knew I wouldn't actually make contact.'

Fuck no am I putting my hands anywhere in reach of an unknown, but already clearly ill-trained and ill-mannered, dog’s mouth! My friend thought she’d be clever like this and lost the top 1/3rd of her ring finger. I had a severe fear of dogs after an attack as a child, and I’ve become a lot better about dogs but IF a large one came up and did to me what happened to OP, I’d be screaming for the owner to curb their dog at the top of my vocal volume range. There is only one person responsible for the dog being either kicked out at or kicked: its owner, for not controlling it.

Op, I've been a dog owner for 35 years and I don't like dogs jumping up at me either. I've trained all of my dogs not to do it as it's very anti-social and could easily knock a child or an elderly person over. By the sound of things, this dog has never been trained to not jump up. The way to handle a situation like this is to remove the reward and make it a negative experience. Making a miss-kick is not a good idea as that may provoke the dog into becoming aggressive towards you.

What I would do is say in a tonally harsh voice, and with a facial expression to match:
"Oi. GET. OFF." And really stress each of those words. Depending on the severity of your tone, you may have to do this more than once. Then turn your back on the dog - don't walk towards it - and walk away. This may mean you're having to walk in the opposite direction you intended to go in for a short distance but it's important because you're removing the very thing the dog wanted, which was your attention. In addition, this dog has learnt that jumping up at you has negative consequences.

In an ideal world, it really shouldn't be necessary for you to do any of this.

I have a large friendly dog. My dog doesn’t jump up, ever. I trained him not to. If he sees someone he thinks might play with him he approaches them and sits politely at a slight distance, as I taught him, then wanders off if they don’t engage, or I recall him. I have other people’s muddy dogs jumping up all over me most days, usually yappy little designer cross breeds. There’s something about those dogs that mean their owners don’t feel the need to train them. Irritates the hell out of me. Just because I have a dog with me doesn’t mean that I want someone else’s dog to cover me in mud.

Yes, it was horrible and the memory comes back to me 40+ years later. But when a large dog has your leg in its teeth and every slight movement you make causes it to snarl and grip you even tighter, trust me, you just stand there rigid!

The two owners were twin sisters in their 50s and they were very nasty people. They had 'matching dogs' too, and I'm not sure if both dogs were as bad, or if it was the same one each time. My friends and I used to play along that footpath in the woods, and I think on 5 occasions we had a problem. Those were different times - kids just got on with it more, and parents were more blase. Also, I was in awe of adults and would tend to think they were right and I (as a 13 year old) was wrong or silly. Of course that wasn't the case.

I told my Mum and her theory was that they knew their dogs (or one of them) was a danger and couldn't walk them in a busier place so used this very quiet woodland path. And they subscribed to the 'best form of defence is attack' philosophy - ie, victim blaming as we'd call it now.

I think many people of a certain generation (70s child) can look back and feel indignant at the way some adults behaved in those days. They'd never get away with mocking a terrified child now.

I'm sick to death of entitled dog owners. We've stopped walking in our local forest because of unruly dogs, uncontrolled and off the lead. Disgusting and dangerous, particularly so when we had our little grandson toddling about. The countryside or beach or wherever should be for everyone to enjoy not just these idiots and their untrained dogs. Forestry England try to raise awareness about having your dog on a lead, but it falls on deaf ears. These dimwits think it's clever for some reason - 'oh he's just being friendly'. 'Err, I don't know your dog, control him please'. It's so infuriating.

🤣yes please let's start wiping our filthy shoes on shit dog owners legs