For goodness sake dog owners AIBU

[Stumpedasatree]

Why are dogs that are likely to jump up on strangers not kept on leads? I have lost count of the amount of muddy paws that have jumped on me on a walk resulting in clean clothes needing a wash, sometimes coat and trousers. Some owners don't even apologise for it. I am a dog owner, fortunately mine has never jumped up, but i find this so annoying of dog owners, it's not cute.

This absolutely drives me nuts. I like to go for a walk in the woods in the morning and detest being jumped all over. I should have to choose my clothes incase a dog jumps on me - control your dog and remember dog walkers don't own the woods. Don't even get me started on dog shit - especially those who leave it on the verges because no one walks there......people do! Kids, geocachers, photographers.......

But back to the case in hand. Please, stop your dogs jumping. We don't all love your dog as much as you do.

@fairylightsandwaxmelts

But not everyone has gone on a dog walk they have just gone for a walk....

I know that and nowhere did I say it was acceptable but I do think as a dog owner you need to be realistic and accept that not all dogs are well trained.

As a dog owner you will smell of other dogs and probably of treats so you're more likely to attract jumping opportunists too.

But it is not just dog owners who go walking.

I agree most dogs tbh are not trained however they can be prevented from their behaviour affecting other people its just the owners can not be bothered!

Dog owners who allow their dogs to interfere with other people are at fault.

There is no excuse for dogs hassling people who are minding their own business.

I speak as a dog owner who wants to walk my dogs and not be hassled by other peoples dogs. The "its ok he is friendly dog" is a dog that is causing huge impact on other people, dogs and innocent peoples lives.

There is no excuse for it just lazy inconsiderate owners.

Not all of them and they don't necessarily jump on other people. Some dogs have their favourite people.

I must admit, I'm amazed people can go for a walk in the woods and not come back filthy. I've been to a country park today, not too muddy as it's cinder paths but I've still come back with mud splashes all up my trousers

Another who has lost count of the times I’ve been jumped at while jogging. Not in remote isolated areas, but busy parks. And the amount of times my OH has been chased by dogs while commuting on his bicycle is nuts. And more than once when he’s had to stop cycling so the owner can catch up and retrieve their dog, the owners have had a go at him for shouting at their dog!

I don't disagree @PollyRoulllson but I do think it's unrealistic to expect all dogs to be perfect around you when you're a dog owner yourself and likely smell of dogs and treats.

I walk in the woods, on the common. No I don't wear white jeans and I am not precious in the least about my clothes, but I do wear clean walking clothes and it is a pain in the ass to have to wash a coat that I wear several times a day because it is covered in muddy paw prints. Today I was wearing a short coat, and running leggings, both of which are now filthy.

@Thunderpunt, by lost count, thankfully it is not several times a walk that it happens, but pretty much once 90% of walks. I do walk in a dog frequented area. But what really winds me up is the complete lack of acknowledgement or apology from 75% of owners.

I never mind, but I don't really care about clothes. IME owners do apologise.

I don't let my dogs jump up on anyone else.

It’s not even so much the mud for me as…. Gah, I don’t know how to put it. But it feels like it’s about consent. Do I want to touch your dog? No. Do I want to be touched by your dog? No. The owners have just decided that my personal space doesn’t matter and I don’t get a choice.

I have agoraphobia, I attempted to go out for the first time in a very long time, thanks to a shitty dog owner my attempt to try to get back out into society failed miserably. Stupid woman had their rabid dog off it’s lead, friends dog also off lead, I was cornered for some time by her aggressive pit bull cross. The owner could not control it, she kept saying it won’t hurt you while the fucker was going for me, every time I went to walk away it would go for me, she couldn’t get it on a lead, this went on for some time, terrifying, she had to chase it around the park to get it back on the lead, kept coming back to have a go at me & blocking me from leaving, shouldn’t have been off its fucking lead in the first place. Some dog owners have brains of mush, heads up their arses with no concept of the threat their precious ‘fur babies’ pose to the general public.

@fairylightsandwaxmelts

I don't disagree *@PollyRoulllson* but I do think it's unrealistic to expect all dogs to be perfect around you when you're a dog owner yourself and likely smell of dogs and treats.

I absolutely do not expect the dogs to be perfect that is why there are leads - to be able to control your uncontrollable imperfect dogs.....

The reason you give for dogs jumping up is that we all smell of dogs and have treats in our pockets is not valid as dogs will jump up on anyone as evidenced by this thread

Also, I used to be a dog owner and bloody love dogs.

@Boblemon I agree re consent it is a huge invasion of privacy and personal space.

@crispsarny I am really sorry that this happened to you.

Totally agree with @PollyRoulllson

I walk my 2 labs in an area full of other walkers, some with, some without their own dogs.
There is no more food driven creature than my boy. However this morning I was accosted by 2 other dogs, bouncing all over me, and the owners comment was ‘ well it’s because you have treats’. Too right I do, but so did other owner. Were my dogs bothering her? No. Because they are trained not to.
For gods sake control your dogs!

OP. I still find it staggering that 9 out of 10 walks (assuming I've interpreted that correctly) you get jumped up at. I would say in my walking experience (twice a day) 99 out of 100 walks I don't get jumped up at. Maybe you have a more dog friendly face than me. I agree that it's not on, and should it occur the owner should apologise immediately. However I think you are exaggerating the amount of times it happens.

I am a dog owner and have 8 dogs and some fosters.

I work with dogs and train people how to train their dogs and deal with behavioural issues in dogs.

I am a campaigner for dogs rights however I am also passionate that dogs behaviour should not impact on other people.

There's a well used area for dog walking near us - that is right by the hospital so often has people cutting through for work/having lunch on a nice day.

It also has a lot of bouncy bad mannered dogs.

I've seen quite a few jumping up on nice clothes incidents - one involving a consultant and a pork pie.

From the other side of this one - I cannot count the times I have got my very excitable, wants to be friends with the entire world and thinks everyone he meets is amazing, adolescent working cocker spaniel, to muster all of his self control and sit nicely by my side as a pedestrian passes, with me working hard to keep his focus on me and remind him the passer-by is none of his business...and then the person goes, "oh what a cute puppy, can I say hello?" and leans down and sticks their hand straight in his face without waiting for a yes/no, and then is surprised when he loses his fragile grip on his over-excitement and joyously puts muddy pawprints up their leg. To their annoyance, and mine.

TBH My friends and I all tend to wear dog walking clothes anyway. Old trousers and coats muddy shoes . Even without a dog jumping up ,surely the ground is muddy anyway!

@Ceara

From the other side of this one - I cannot count the times I have got my very excitable, wants to be friends with the entire world and thinks everyone he meets is amazing, adolescent working cocker spaniel, to muster all of his self control and sit nicely by my side as a pedestrian passes, with me working hard to keep his focus on me and remind him the passer-by is none of his business...and then the person goes, "oh what a cute puppy, can I say hello?" and leans down and sticks their hand straight in his face without waiting for a yes/no, and then is surprised when he loses his fragile grip on his over-excitement and joyously puts muddy pawprints up their leg. To their annoyance, and mine.

but you are not training you are distracting and way too close to your dogs triggers

It is not up to dog walkers to decide which areas are "doggy" and what people should wear when going out for a walk!
Agree with this. Why on earth should people with dogs be able to stake out 'their' areas?
I like dogs and don't massively mind being jumped up at in practice (I am generally wearing scruffy clothes). But in principle I think owners should keep dogs on the lead unless they're very confident about their behaviour.

I absolutely do not expect the dogs to be perfect that is why there are leads - to be able to control your uncontrollable imperfect dogs.....

Again, I don't disagree.

But this is the real world not a world where all dog owners are perfect with perfectly under control dogs.

I absolutely do not expect the dogs to be perfect that is why there are leads - to be able to control your uncontrollable imperfect dogs.....

Again, I know :) but if you are dog owner with treats then you will be more tempting!

If you're walking in a woods or somewhere that's muddy anyway, then I don't understand why you're getting upset. Why would you wear expensive/fancy clothes on a walk?

In the same way I wouldn’t let my toddler jump in a big muddy puddle while people walked past and think “well they’ve come for a muddy walk, why would they care if they get splashed”.
And even if I don’t care about my clothes getting muddy, I still don’t want a dog jumping up at me.

Drives me bloody mad!!!!
This has happened a lot to me. Lots of dogs in the area. I have a child, if she jumped up someone covered in mud I'd be mortified and very apologetic. But I obviously wouldn't let it happen to start with. If your dogs a jumper, keep it on a lead!!!

I find this a bit odd only because I am a dog owner and in my experience dogs have only jumped up at me if I have stopped to stroke them