Introverted dog owners

[MsFrancis]

Are you out there?

I live in a small but busy city with various parks, greens etc. There are lot of dogs and dog owners here.

We are now at a point where getting a dog has become a real possibility. DH grew up with dogs, I had a cat so not quite sure yet what it will be like having a family dog.

I work from home 3 days a week so the dog will never be left alone.

Now my big question, will people want to chat to me / us all the time when walking our dog? I can do chit chat but don't want to have to speak to strangers and semi strangers constantly when walking our dog.

What are other people's experiences? Do you have to e very sociable to survive the dog walk?

I'm an introverted dog owner, people do stop to chat and I find that the same people walk at the same time daily. If I'm not feeling like talking the dog is a great excuse to carry on after a quick hello, how are you.
I've been walking him early over the last month or so though, we go out in the woods with a torch at around 6.30 and very rarely see another person. Going out early started as a necessity a couple of times and now it's a daily thing.

Monkey thanks!

I agree it's much much easier than toddler group etc. You can talk about your dog. People who love dogs are happy to talk about them. If you can't think of anything to say start with their dog has lovely eyes, a sweet face, glossy fur. How old is it? Did they have it from a puppy?

You also have the great excuse to walk away. "We are going this way!" Some dogs need more or less exercise so it's not odd to just suddenly need to walk a different way!

You may surprise yourself and find you can happily stand around and talk about dogs. I meet plenty of people walking and have endless conversations about dog stuff but know nothing whatsoever about the rest of their lives :) I am a Dog Bore
With a new puppy you do also need other dog walkers to a certain extent as you need your pup to meet as many friendly dogs as possibly early on.
As others have said it is very easy to get away - need to get home, need to go to a certain way, need to go find somewhere to play ball etc
I also think most people will pick up on it if you are trying to walk alone and there is no shame in saying " actually I like to walk on my own" and I certainly wouldn't take offence at this.

Wolfie if you lived near me I would totally be stalking you to meet you hound....

I’ve just got a puppy, my first one ever, and the whole people wanting to chat about your puppy thing just didn’t occur to me before hand. This week has been a bit of a learning curve.

I’m an introvert but having the puppy and dogs in general to talk about is fine, although I can imagine if I’m in a hurry to get somewhere with her it might become frustrating. She’s an incredibly tiny, fluffy Pomeranian so I don’t think interest in her is going to decrease much even when she’s grown up.

To be honest, most of the conversations come down to what breed / age / sex / whatever your dog is as you watch them play with each other. I walk a terrier cross who's not excessively cute, but dogs like Pomeranians will get attention all their lives, even when they're 14, grumpy and toothless (from experience!)

Get something like a staffie that is really soft but often assumed to be vicious and you'll minimise the chit chat

When we had a puppy, I used to wear big visible headphones (they don't have to be on)

Now he's older its much easier.

Yet another reason not to get a puppy. There are loads of older dogs in rescue and people are much more likely to leave you alone!

That had never occurred to me - I'm so sorry, I'm one of those people who will just talk to other dog walkers and assume they'll want to talk to me. I'm SO sorry - I will be more considerate in future!

I know the names of loads of the dogs we see on our walks but I don't know any of the owner's names!

I don’t mind dog chat.

Cannot be doing with the idiots like the one last night who spent 15 minutes telling me why i must put a pink collar on my dog so people won’t think she’s a boy and upset her (the dog). And all about her dog didn’t like his green collar and is much happier in a blue one.

reallyanotherone - did you tell her that dogs are semi colourblind

I had someone try to start a conversation about whether or not the dog had consented to wearing a light up collar at night. "I don't care if he consents he's a dog and it keeps him safe" was roughly the reply I gave.

Can't give a toss if someone refers to him as a her either... he's a neutered dog, and I don't think he has a well developed sense of his own gender identity!

I’m not great at chit chat and it hadn’t really occurred to me how much people would want to know about my dogs. It gets better as the pups get older but as they are rare breeds people love to play guess the breed.
Randomly I seem to get a lot of dog envy from young hipster men who take one look at my pooch and realise what they are missing from the olive lives .
I’m so bad a chit chat that I generally just say something like “yes they are very lovely, thanks” before stumbling off, completely forgetting to politely ask about their dogs

I’m an introvert and don’t mind dog chit chat, and I have a very small, cute looking dog that attracts a lot of attention. Most people will just talk/ask about your dog, it rarely goes beyond that unless you want it to.

I'm on the autistic spectrum and find conversations very stressful.
However, the exception is other dog walkers as you have the dogs to talk about, albeit very briefly if you wish (unless the dogs are playing together which is great fun to watch, you don't really need to make much conversation then).
Most dog walkers go out at the same time each day, so there are likely to be times when you will virtually meet no-one less you go to a very popular area.
Also, we all know each other as (dog's name)'s mum/dad - this seems to a doggy thing!

At the dog owner concerned about other dogs’ potential gender dysphoria!

I agree with Chippaway, if you get a puppy then you need to socialise it, and take it to training classes. You need to give it the opportunity to play with other dogs, which will inevitably mean standing around for a few minutes with another dog owner. Ordinarily I am an introvert and don't chat to random people when I am not with my dog. However on walks and at training I don't mind at all. The subject rarely strays far from dogs and it's quite nice when you go up to the field and recognise a friendly face and see a familiar dog that gets on well with yours.

My agoraphobic elderly neighbour got a rescue JRT and, although she'd lived in the same place all her life, it was the first time she had had conversations with neighbours/passers by ever and her whole life changed (she was much happier) - have to say she didn't walk it much but they were both out on the drive/by the gate loads of times a day. Sadly, the dog passed away about 18 months ago and I've only seen her outside her home once since then - she's retreated back in (and doesn't want callers) so a doggy social life can be a help to some.