Get your dog on a lead

Don't blame the dogs. It is NEVER the dogs fault...and that is what you appear to be indicating here. It is always the owners. Yes, some owners are friggin idiots but they are the minority. Responsible dog owners frown on the idiots that give dog owners a bad name just as much as anyone.

Lighten up! people are so much more annoying than innocent dogs but they still talk to you when not asked.

I agree that not everyone is a dog lover however there are alot of sensible dog owners out there. I dont particularly care for cats, as they defecate anwhere....do you pick it up? Do you even know where it does it ?? Maybe we should ban all animals wild and domestic, after all what right do they have to walk this earth as if it were their own !! I think we should be consentrating on the human race, as they seem to cause more problems on a saturday night than any animal does. You should get out more. REMEMBER DOG LOVERS..... Dogs are not our whole lives, but they make our lives whole.

Typical cat person. The park is not there simply for your enjoyment alone. While you might rather have an animal that relieves itself in a box in your house, even a cats natural instinct would be to go outside. You are not the only person in the world and while it may be true that some dog owners can be rude, you are a shining example of a rude cat owner.

look, I knwo its yucky that peoples dog pee everywhere, and some peoples dog are horrible but unless thers a sign sayin no dogs, thn they have sjut as much right to be there as you do and were all just gunna have to live with it.

whereas iI agree that irresponsible dog owners letting their animals run loose is a pain, I also think it should be pointed out about other problems in parks, I have watched parents pull their kids pants down and let them mess and wee in the bushes or on the lawn, I've seen piles of litter everywhere, broken glass, cans, crisp packets. I've had grubby kids run up to me, call me names, kick me and put their muddy hands on me and the parents think its cute.
we should all be able to share out space and be thoughtful, not just dog owners, but parents, I have been sorely tempted to scream at mothers who run over my feet while I sit with their prams. or kick a football in my direction on areas not assigned to ball play. there is more then one side to what goes on in parks, its not just dog owners that are to blame for unpleasantness.

I agree I have two dogs and my husband was walking them near our house when the man who lives round the corner had his off a lead. It ran at my dogs and my biggest a japanese akita tried to defend its self by pawing at it and it ran away. The owner is now telling my fellow dog walkers that my dog attacked his but if it had been on a lead as it should be it wouldn't have been anywhere near my dog. My dog did not bite it, it was protecting my cavalier king charles spaniel that is scared of other dogs and panicked these people should be fined or sent to court. Your dogs spend all day at home and in the garden not restricted so its not in any way cruel or unfair to put them on a lead for a ten -thirty minute walk, his dog did not run back when he shouted it so he had to go looking for it. If this was a man running at you down the street you would not know if he was friendly or going to attack you so its the same for the dog all they see is this dog bounding up and so they try to protect their owner and fellow dog.

I'm so glad I'm not the only one!!

I have a dog who is well trained and socialized with other dogs and people. I always pick up anything he leaves. I feel I am a responsible dog owner. But others in my neighbourhood allow their dogs to do their business in front of my door or around my house. We have children who like to play outside and I feel like a sucker having to pick up after other people's dogs just to keep my kids clean and yard looking nice.

I take my dog to a field to walk three times a day and there is always a woman there in the afternoon who lets her giant dog run amuck. I have a smallish dog who, although socialized, doesn't like this dog because it barks, runs down, and nips at him. The owner doesn't care and actually laughs when I ask her to call off her dog. I have now changed my route on my walk after work because I can't put up with it anymore. Its only a matter of time before that dog hurts a small child or another dog (if not my own). There is a bylaw about dogs remaining on leads and being picked up after in my town, its just not enforced. I can't even begin to imagine how to get something done about it.

Boy Bridey what is your problem. I take it you have no feeling for any one. Oh wait a minute your one of those kill everything else because it might harm the birds.
Your just one big pile of neuroses.
As pointed out Dogs are important to humans for many different reasons least of all giving unconditioal love. Its so sad to come across some one like you who has lived their life with so little love as you seem to have done. Any one who says and feels the way you do must have had one sorry and miserabe childhood.

I am glad to see someone has raised this - great posting! I really sympathise with your plight but please don't lump responsible dog owners in with the morons. I have fallen foul of such thoughtless and irresponsible dog ownership on countless occasions in my local park. I have two small dogs, one of whom only has one eye, so she tends to be nervous when out and about.
As such, when an out of control dog bounds towards her, growling and barking awya, she will snap at it. No matter how 'docile' said mutt is, if it is bitten it will bite back...and there you have a fight. The other day it was two loopy chocolate Labs running riot - they ran at us and I had to lift my wee Jack Russell up as she was terrified. The pair of them jumped around us, sniffing, barking etc - meantime I had to contend with holding on to the JRT and trying to keep my other dog under control on his lead. The 'owner' soon lurched over the hill, shouting at them to come back to him (to no avail - surprise, surprise) and when I challenged him he became aggressive himself. So now I know where the dogs get it from! It is a social problem and local authorities should be doing a lot more to bring these people to heel - never mind their crazy canines.

Hi Spuddy, great posting. I agree absolutely with what you say. There is nothing worse than a poor dog who hasn't been socialised - or who has been socialised, but never allowed off the lead because, according to the owners, "he's vicious" or "he'll bite your dog". The number of people who have said that to me, and when my dog has introduced himself in the correct manner, their dog has then rolled over on his back or displayed some other piece of perfectly acceptable normal canine behaviour, numbers the 10's if not 100's. The best way to teach your dog manners is to let him play with another well balanced, well mannered dog and then LEAVE THEM ALONE - don't interfere, flapping around with leads and whistles and goodness knows what else, just leave them alone and the older dog will soon correct the younger one and teach it some manners.

As a responsible dogowner, I do agree with some points raised here.
But I really do not appreciate being tarred with the same brush as those irresponsible dogowners who, having made a conscious decision to omit a caring training programme and prevented their dogs from socialising with other dogs and people, then allow these dogs to run free, defecating everywhere, demonstrating aggression at any other dog (or child, or adult)
As with much of our legislation today, councils only seems to want to quick-fix these problems rather than tackling the problem at source. If it is a problem as large as they intimate, then resources should be made available and regulations introduced. In this case, instead of introducing 'blanket' measures that prohibit all dogs, how about the re-introduction of the dog licence - if you really want a dog, then £25, £50, whatever, is nothing for lifetime companionship. Illegal puppy breeding cartels need to be smashed. The status-symbol of some dog breeds has to be dismantled. Potential owners need to be more rigourously vetted. That's just for starters. Hey, we're all supposedly happy (ie. complacent) enough to live in such a nanny society, what are a few more rules to abide by?

I think those who channel all their bile into complaining about dogs per se (rather than irresponsible owners) have a skewed view of society.They would be better directing that anger towards anti-social human behaviour, for example, as let's face it, there is a much higher proportion of this in our cities.

Sure, have a whinge, but then consider the problem appropriately - don't just add to it.