Why do people take their dogs with them everywhere?

[JoshandJamie]

I'll admit it - I'm not a fan of pets of any description. Dogs give me an itchy nose and I hate the smell of a house that has dogs living in it. I also hate the hair that gets left everywhere.

But what drives me nuts is when people take their dogs with them everywhere - particularly to my house. When I grew up we had dogs. But dogs were dogs. You took them for walks and obviously if you were going away for a weekend or whatever you took them with you or possibly put them in boarding for a while if it was a long holiday. This was in South Africa

But here in the UK it seems that if you have a dog you cannot leave it alone - even for a few hours. It must be with you - like a child. But it's not a child. It's a dog. And personally when someone brings their dog over to my house uninvited I want to turn them around and send them home.

The worst thing is that most of our friends now have at least one dog so if we have a get together it becomes a gathering of the dogs. How do I politely tell them that they are welcome but their dogs aren't?

Apologies to all the animal lovers out there who probably want to lynch me but this is a real issue for me.

I like other people's dogs in their houses. If anyone brought a dog to my house I don't think I'd let them in

My ex BIL and SIL used to bring their dog to my old house and they used to let the damn thing drink the leftovers of their tea/coffee out of our mugs!! Ex tosser wouldn't let me say anything so I just used the mugs for the two of them

dd used to be terrified of dogs. it has taken years of only allowing REALLY well trained dogs near her(wouldn't even take her to my dads due to his dog and dog hairs)
I would not let a dog in my house as dd crawls and don't want dog hairs on the floor(dd has cp)
but I have no problem with dogs in general. if they are on a lead.
Dh has had to accidents due to dogs not on a lead.
no 1 ran in front of his bike he braked and came of the bike.
no 2 dog ran in front of bike dh ran it over.(owner wasn't pleased)
we have owned dogs and I grew up with them but since dd I can really understand why people get so upset about them.
But remember it isn't the dogs fault it is ALWAYS the owners.

I have just realised that I don't know a single person with a dog (excluding my parents, friends of parents who I rarely see and a couple of friends of friends whose dogs I have never met). I think this is because most of the people I know either have children of 2 or under or are at work all day.

A bit off topic, but is there some stage in life where everybody suddenly decides to get a dog?

Think that's one stage of life I'm going to have to swerve, MP.

Thankfully, the owner of this building doesn't allow dogs. It's bad enough w/all the barking people.

in slight defence of dogs here, generally the problem isn't the dog, it's the owner. Dogs are generally badly behaved because people seem to have developed this need to humanise their animals. I so often find it unbelieveable that people allow their dogs to:

eat off their plates.
eat food that isn't dogfood.
sleep on their beds and the furniture.
and when people dress them up in little doggy coats. they're dogs fgs.

And yet I am a dog lover.

I have two dogs. one guide dog and one retired guide dog. They are impeckibly behaved and I know that I could take them to other peoples' houses but tbh unless I was walking there on my own I wouldn't dream of taking even my guide dog to someone else's house if I hadn't spoken to them first. And if I was walking there on my own then the dog would stay on a lead for the duration of the visit and there's no way I'd let it roam and do the things that I've heard of in this post.

I have strict rules in my house - my dogs are not allowed:

to go into the kitchen unless they are passing through into the utility room to be fed or go out.
not allowed upstairs under any circumstances.
are never fed any scraps, titbits, treats other than the dog biscuits they get when out on walks.
They have a fenced off concrete run in the garden where they can wee and pooh and it's much easier for me to clean and I know that there's no danger of ds treading in anything, they're not allowed into the garden to play unless they've been put in the run first.
When we eat I don't want them anywhere near, and I will not tolerate a dog sitting begging for food.

I love my dogs to bits but they're dogs and should be treated as such. when my dog retired my sister asked if we could "now give her sausages now she's retired", no~! they're still bad for her even though she's not a working dog any more!!!

I feel bad for starting this thread because I know there are lots of people out there who have well behaved dogs and they're treated like dogs, not little demi-gods (or demi-dogs even).

Our friends have had kids and have now all decided that it would be perfect to have a dog too so that the children can have a pet. Which I think is great and in some way I feel like I'm depriving my kids of a pet - but it ain't gonna happen.

The friend who takes here dog everywhere has tried to have a child for years, including failed IVF, and the dog is her surrogate child. I feel for her - i do. But it's weird.

sorry for hijack but could all you doggy people give me some advice on my thread re puppy training as I plan to tackle dp tonight xxx

Re: leaving your dog in the garden while you're out... There's no way in hell I'd do that - and it's nothing to do with antisocial barking or the such like.

Dog-napping is supposed to be the fastest growing crime in the country. Where I live, there are quite a few signs up about missing dogs, stolen from gardens. Staffordshire bull terriers, for instance, stolen to order for dog-fighting (is the theory). One bloke's dog was nicked from the garden while he was on the phone indoors. We have quite good fencing and lockable gates, but I still wouldn't leave my dog outside while I wasn't around.

I love my dog but agree that other people don't and I would never take her to someone's house without asking them first/her being invited. She is reasonably well behaved and would be in trouble if she did anything she shouldn't in my home let alone anyone elses. I dislike people letting there dogs of leads all over the place if they cannot get them back when they call them hence the reason mine is never off the lead except in the garden.

I leave her at home while I am at work and I have had many people tell me this is cruel but she is an ex-racing greyhound and was used to being let out in a pen twice a day for 10 minutes so having the run of the house all day is a much better alternative, especially considering the horrible things that happen to them when they can no longer run fast enough. Because of this in the evenings and weekends I like to take her but only if I can, and I would NEVER leave her in a car .
I am also one of these people who leave the radio/tv on for her during the day

Where I walk her there are loads of people who do not clear up after their dogs which I think is terrible, the amount of times dss had stepped in some!

I think it's good for children to come into contact with horrible smelly hairy slobbery dogs as long as it's on their own terms. dss was terrified of my dog when he first met her, luckily she's pretty calm (except when she hears/sees her lead) and he slowly got used to her and now they're best of friends.

I agree that most of the time it's the owners fault and there are some good ones out there!

Noddy afraid I cannot give puppy training advice as all dogs I've had have been rescued so adults and already trained

I think the likelyhood of dog-napping is quite small. Now, in winter and with the fur fashion in full swing... even a wandering fluffy cat is at risk.

Shimmy - just wanted to let you know I agree with all your posts.

And as for the lady who couldn't have children and now has a dog to love instead: that's not weird: she's taking a positive step rather than just sinking into despair. I'm PG now, but it was a long, complicated journey, and getting a dog made it bearable.

Lots of smug, angry Mums on here - not nice.