Dogs everywhere

Martav/Taurus I'm really sympathetic towards people who are allergic or frightened of dogs. My dog is well behaved and obedient and nearly all the dogs I encounter in my life are the same, probably because they are owned by people who are not first time owners.
Sadly I think during lockdown there were a lot of dogs that had been bred indiscriminately and sold to first time owners with little experience of dog behaviour who were unable to access puppy classes or socialise their dogs properly. I genuinely think it's a problem but I strongly object to having my dog being lumped with those dogs who have not been correctly trained.
Several of my friends have taken on rescue dogs with behavioural problems and with correct and consistent training they now have lovely family dogs. Place the blame where it belongs when you see dogs behaving badly ie with it's owner.

LinkyPinky

Good grief! The world is on the brink of war. The climate crisis is escalating beyond our wildest nightmares. We are at the mercy of several psychopathic world ‘leaders’ who are entirely lacking in moral compass, at least one of whom would likely press the nuclear button rather than lose his power. Existential distress is so huge that people are expending energy and effort taunting some of the most vulnerable in society. And you are worried about dogs!

Of ccourse we are. You are catastrophying about things over which we have no control. At times like this one way of coping is to channel our fears into things over which we do have control.

The world has been on the brink of war for the whole of my life. - that began in WW2. I was a university student when the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred, my father served in the army in the Far East during the Korean War. 80 plus years later Armegeddon has yet to strike. That holds no promises for the future

On the otherhand I have been attacked and injured by a dog on a lead in the hands of someone walking dogs they were not strong enough to control, and where I used to live, that remained a daily danger whenever I went for a walk. So, yes, I do worry about dogs.

On the

Having been attacked and injured by dogs there owner was too weaak to hold back

Forget the last two lines above, a remnant of the self-editing process.

It's true indeed imo M0nica - we do channel our fears into things we can control in times of crisis and this year is already proving very "interesting" indeed.

Cue for taking a look at the latest news all round - financial stuff, the ongoing Royal Soap Opera, etc and then going off to tie up the last of my personal "loose ends" - everything paid up to date, everything done up to date = own personal life under as tight a control as I can get (ie ready to head for the bunker - or back to bed - and watch as it all crashes around in Society and hope we've done enough to protect ourselves from what we see happening around us). But - yep....we do what we can to control our own little lives to within an inch of their life - as far as we can.

LinkyPinky

Good grief! The world is on the brink of war. The climate crisis is escalating beyond our wildest nightmares. We are at the mercy of several psychopathic world ‘leaders’ who are entirely lacking in moral compass, at least one of whom would likely press the nuclear button rather than lose his power. Existential distress is so huge that people are expending energy and effort taunting some of the most vulnerable in society. And you are worried about dogs!

Trying to compare oranges and apples never works.

Unfortunately, the well-behaved dog walking to heel on leash ( not dangerous extendable ones ) are now very rare

Not in and around my village where dogs are generally put on their leads (if off) when they see another dog walker in any of the fields which are popular dog walks or indeed in the neighbouring country park. So I can only go by my personal experience.

I feel very ,very sorry for those of you who have been threatened or hurt by an out of control dog but surely it is irrational to assume all dogs are therefore evil people haters. Your anger should be directed towards the irresponsible owner.

ROMILO

I feel very ,very sorry for those of you who have been threatened or hurt by an out of control dog but surely it is irrational to assume all dogs are therefore evil people haters. Your anger should be directed towards the irresponsible owner.

I don't think there is one poster here who has claimed that "all dogs are therefore evil people haters." What hyperbole. I also thi

Posted too soon. I also think that everyone is blaming irresponsible owners rather than the dogs for bad behaviour, whether or not they are dog lovers. The same for badly behaved children - it is generally the parents' fault. I think a lot the problem in both these scenarios is that as a society we are increasingly losing sight of the commandment to treat others as we would wish to be treated ourselves. This also applies to all of us on social media platforms such as this one. I think we are all old enough to agree to disagree without resorting to personal attacks when we debate subjects such as this.

I was at the vets' surgery this morning, (3 yearly rabies jab), and there was a red notice on the wall, Please keep your dog on a lead in the waiting room. What owner wouldn't, but I guess some fools don't think?
Actually all the dogs were sitting nicely and owners chatting no probs.

Music girl
Since you singled out my post I will reply.
Hyperbole - an exaggeration not to be taken literally.
Exactly what I intended, hopefully to make people stop and think before posting some of the extreme views in this thread.
I find the second part of your post puzzling. Is it what you intended to say?
Dog owners are not responsible for their dogs behaviour nor are parents responsible for their children's behaviour. This implies that you think bad behaviour is inherent and cannot be modified in any way by responsible owners and training or by good ,caring parents.

ROMILO

Music girl
Since you singled out my post I will reply.
Hyperbole - an exaggeration not to be taken literally.
Exactly what I intended, hopefully to make people stop and think before posting some of the extreme views in this thread.
I find the second part of your post puzzling. Is it what you intended to say?
Dog owners are not responsible for their dogs behaviour nor are parents responsible for their children's behaviour. This implies that you think bad behaviour is inherent and cannot be modified in any way by responsible owners and training or by good ,caring parents.

What you said was inflammatory and you cannot put out a fire by throwing petrol on it.

MartavTaurus

I was at the vets' surgery this morning, (3 yearly rabies jab), and there was a red notice on the wall, Please keep your dog on a lead in the waiting room. What owner wouldn't, but I guess some fools don't think?
Actually all the dogs were sitting nicely and owners chatting no probs.

My last dog would have been hiding under my chair!
He knew what might be coming.

@Romiley, l think you already know exactly what I mean, which is that it is because of the lack of control by some dog owners and some parents that the dogs and children are badly behaved.

Sorry, Romilo - autocorrect.

This is probably going to upset some people, but I think part of the problem is a change in attitude of many dog owners. When I was a child the owner used to be the master or mistress of the dog, but now they refer to themselves as mum or dad. This change goes along with the dogs not being trained properly but being constantly indulged.

Agree - impossible to go anywhere without dogs around. The dog owners with the stretchy leads that take up the width of the pavement, the ones that think you will welcome their dog jumping up at you and the ones who traipse them round clothes shops allowing the dogs to weave in and out of the garments! As for being inside eating establishments.....

Yes, ridiculous to hear owners calling dogs their baby and themselves dog mum and dog dad, but that doesn't affect me. What does, is the amount of dog poo everywhere. You never hear a dog owner admitting it is their pets mess! Too often there are people putting notices up that their dog is missing - hours later it returns. Where do they think their dog went to the toilet? As for the ones who pretend not to notice their dog messing the pavements or grass because they are looking at their mobile phone.........

Dogs should be on leads in all public places, short leads. Dog licenses should be introduced to pay for the dog bins and clean up costs. Dog owners should understand that many other people do not want their dog near them - too often when you step away they say loudly "Tut, it's not going to bite you, tut".
I'd not let my child jump on them or wipe their feet on their coat - why do some think we all want dog slabber or muck on us?

And yes - fear of dogs is real. I was bitten by an Alsatian in a park as a 5 year old - that was terrifying and painful.

My issue is with an owner who is happy to bring to my gate and let it donuts business at my gate and not clean up. I just get laughed st
I did suggest perhaps they get a dog toilet for there garden but they didn’t like the mess or smell
I have to suffer and clean up!

As a dog owner who always clear up after my dog I'm pleased to see owners fined heavily for letting their dogs foul public places.

What has caused the huge increase in dog ownership? What has contributed to the growing numbers of reactive dogs?
Is it a reflection of what seems like a decrease in respect for social norms, a desire to indulge ourselves at the expense of others ?
I’m meandering really, maybe I need to look at myself, as someone whose current pair are my 11th and 12th dogs, not counting family dogs I grew up with. I like living with dogs, I’ve loved long walks in our countryside with my dogs.

Reactivity is now number one reason people seek out trainers. I have my first reactive dog, the result of a series of on lead incidents when off lead dogs caused distress to mine. He’s doing brilliantly but it’s not been a quick fix.

Im as unhappy as others here about people walking off lead dogs with no manners or recall. I’d ban extendable leads, they’re dangerous, especially when in the hand of someone with three, yappy dogs on a main road, or a woodland walk with small children, bikes, buggies.

Too many dogs left home alone, walked in an unstable, off lead pack of eight dogs by a commercial dog walker

I’ll stop

Owners who don't pick up their dogs' poo are disgusting. We live on a river and there's open space for dogs to play, but that doesn't mean you just leave their business on the ground. There's bins on the way out of the gates too. You don't have to take your bags home even.
A few dogs here, including one of ours, have been ill recently with gastric problems. I paid £300 for medicines and blood tests last month because I thought it was something sinister he was so sick. The only thing the vet could think of was eating other dogs' faeces, which being a retriever he does.
Just clear up your own dogs' shit, fgs!
It's worse too in the tourist months, when people are on holiday, they don't seem to care.

Iam64 I think covid and lockdown together with more people wfh has contributed to the increased popularity of dog ownership. However, some will be first time owners who were unable to get the help in training and properly socialising their dog during lockdown, others I fear, do see them as a bit of a fashion item. My present dog got attacked as a puppy, which made him a bit reactive and it took a lot of work and re-socialisation to get him to accept that not all dogs were going to kill him. He's still a little bit nervous of big dogs off lead but as an adult dog he reads their body language so much better than he did as a pup. I am gob smocked by the number of dogs I see on leads because they have no recall, not just little lap dog types but bigger working type dogs which I know are very trainable. It makes me so sad and don't get me started on big dogs that are kept cooped up in flats all day! FGS why don't people buy dogs that are suitable for their life style? Sadly they give responsible dog owners a bad name!

I agree foxie48 so many people buy whichever breed is on trend at the moment or one which boosts their ego. No thought given to the needs of the dog. Irresponsible breeding is also a problem.

Yes to the posts from foxie and sodapop

About time - very brave and needed.
To pick up this thread. My local garden centre today has banned all dogs from their nurseries too due to incidents which aren’t explained. I for one am pleased although an animal lover.