To dog owners (again): I don't want your dog to touch me.

[Anonymous]

I walk my kids to school each day, which apparently is the time everyone in my neighborhood walks their dogs. Many dogs strain at their leash to approach my kids. I don’t know why. My kids don’t fear dogs, but they don’t like them, either. Walking home after dropoff seems easier—dogs don’t seem to approach me alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look, everyone in my neighborhood has a young dog. I have PTSD, was triggered by a recent abuse event, and I do not want to be approached right now. A large dog broke my cheek in 2019. My XH tried to kill me a couple of times. Sometimes, I just want to get a coffee. I am allowed to be a human, too.

Thank you for walking your dogs. Know that some adults don't want your dogs to come up to them. I give clear physical and hand signals that it is not okay. Make sure to understand that some people cannot handle this. It is might right to walk in the neighborhood, too.

There are so many ahole dog people now. In Loudoun the dog activists are trying to normalize dogs being in all the stores. They are particularly active in Home Goods stores. If you show any discomfort, they will actually follow you and try to start something they can film. Recently one of the dog owners let her dog's leash wrap partially around my leg. If I fall it's going to be a serious issue for them that I won't let go. Something similar happened at the Goodwill too. It seems like they are trying to provoke something with people who don't like the dogs being there.

What is wrong with you if you think your dog has to be in a store? Weirdos!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly this is something YOU have to get over. You are clearly not well mentally and while I feel sorry for your history, you do live in a society where people have pets and children, etc and there will be interactions with them. Most mentally healthy people find these interactions pleasant and fulfilling even, but clearly you do not. That is not typical and the world should not be required to adjust to your extreme hypersensitivity. Try meds, therapy or consider in patient treatment. I wish you well

Step off ahole. Keep your dogs away from strangers. They shouldn't be touching other people. The grown ups know this and have no problem managing this. Those of you who make your animals the center of your universe need to be reminded how sick that is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly this is something YOU have to get over. You are clearly not well mentally and while I feel sorry for your history, you do live in a society where people have pets and children, etc and there will be interactions with them. Most mentally healthy people find these interactions pleasant and fulfilling even, but clearly you do not. That is not typical and the world should not be required to adjust to your extreme hypersensitivity. Try meds, therapy or consider in patient treatment. I wish you well

I managed to own a dog for 15 years, living in an apartment in urban areas, without him touching a single person on our walk who didn't specifically ask to pet him. Most people do not find a strange dog they don't know touching them without a clear affirmative consent "pleasant and fulfilling". They find it invasive. The fact that you think that's "extreme hypersensitivity" is bizarre.

It's selfish, self centered, narcissistic behavior. Their "fur baby" is more important that any other human.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a dog that I’m absolutely obsessed with. He rarely touches anyone and I’m not clear on situations where there is so much accidental touching. I’m a dog nut, but still not nutty enough to think people want him touching them without an invitation.

Do you live in an urban, walkable neighborhood?

DP but I have lived in urban and suburban areas and a dog has never touched me unwarranted in 15 years or so. I walk at least an hour each day

This seems literally impossible to believe. If you're walking your dog in downtown Old Town, where I've lived for many years, you're going to brush up against a dog from time to time.

You are full of sh*t. Ask me how I know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here and I just don’t really like being touched by dogs. A puppy came up to me during a walk after escaping from home. When I’m at stores, there are often dogs in line. I’m not afraid, I’d just rather not get sniffed or pawed.

This! I actually love dogs but can't have one right now because my one child is allergic. But dogs smell like dogs, and if a dog comes up to me and licks my leg or jumps up on me, I smell like dog, and have dog hair on me. And no, you can't smell it yourself, because you're used to dog smell, but if a dog licks your hands, your hands smell really bad. And if a dog jumps up on you, they often leave dog hair, and yeah, I can see it, even if you can't because you're used to it. Also, it means I can't pick up my toddler until I change my clothes (yes, he is THAT allergic- contact with dog saliva makes him break out in hives.). So please, just don't. Your dog is cute, but I don't want it licking me or jumping on me. And I definitely don't want it licking my kid's face when he's in his stroller because that means we have to go home immediately to rinse him off and give him some zyrtec to make his hives go down. It's a PITA even if it's not life threatening. Don't ruin our day.

+1 to all of this. New poster and many times I’ve had the experience of being out for a walk or run (often somewhere uncrowded like a trail in the woods) and someone’s unleashed dog runs up to me and puts its nose on me, licks me, or ever shakes off water on me after swimming and the owner just giggles and says “he’s friendly!” as if that makes it ok. Then I can smell their nasty dog smell on me for the rest of my walk/run. It’s not ok to let your pet touch other people without their consent.

Where I am the problem isn't unleashed dogs, its the idiot owners who have long leashes or retractable leashes and the dog might as well be off leash. That's what happened to me at the Home Goods. The owner didn't care that the leash was becoming entangled with my legs. I plan to make a scene in the future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly this is something YOU have to get over. You are clearly not well mentally and while I feel sorry for your history, you do live in a society where people have pets and children, etc and there will be interactions with them. Most mentally healthy people find these interactions pleasant and fulfilling even, but clearly you do not. That is not typical and the world should not be required to adjust to your extreme hypersensitivity. Try meds, therapy or consider in patient treatment. I wish you well

Dogs are NOT children.

Keep your animals out of human areas if you can't exercise basic pet courtesy.

She's so delusional she's convinced herself that mentally healthy people enjoy interacting with her pets and children and find it PLEASANT and FULFILLING. That statement tells us everything about that pp. Freaking nut.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly this is something YOU have to get over. You are clearly not well mentally and while I feel sorry for your history, you do live in a society where people have pets and children, etc and there will be interactions with them. Most mentally healthy people find these interactions pleasant and fulfilling even, but clearly you do not. That is not typical and the world should not be required to adjust to your extreme hypersensitivity. Try meds, therapy or consider in patient treatment. I wish you well

Dogs are NOT children.

Keep your animals out of human areas if you can't exercise basic pet courtesy.

Dogs have the right to walk outside.

Dogs have no rights. Humans have the right to exist without your pets harassing them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe you should wear a special shirt that says that so the dogs can read it and stay away.

It would say “ruff ruff ruff 🐶 “

Seriously, animals have no idea what PTSD is…..they simply do not understand that some humans may not want to be approached or touched even.

So if a dog does approach you - try to understand that it is just going on what is organic to them.

Grow up and be an adult. Keep your dog leashed and away from people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am always astounded at how many dog haters post here.

That being said, as a dog owner, I do everything I can to avoid other people when out walking. I love dogs but don’t care for random dogs coming up to me, especially when I’m out walking my dog.

It's not hating dogs. It's not wanting random dogs to run up and jump on them while the owner texts or laughs "sorry, he just loves people"

My grandmother was badly injured by a dog that was "friendly" and jumped on her. It was a big dog and completely knocked her over and broke her hip. She was walking her own dog at the time. She was never herself after that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the responses. I am in Montgomery County. I think the weather has been nice, and folks are walking around with extended leashes in pleasant conversation. This while not realizing their pets are coming close to strangers. I stay away, I will cross the street, and I will give clear signals. Still, if a human touched me, it is 2nd degree assault. Unwanted touching is not acceptable.

I am the ex-wife of an AF veteran who is now in a powerful gov position. I had to deal with his BS. I do not want to deal with your dog. I want to get a coffee and get to work.

Thanks to the dog owners who realize not all humans want to be approached by dogs.

Yeah, so your issues are clearly larger than a doodle, brushing by your leg

Narcissism is far worse than what op is dealing with. Get therapy yourself for your extreme entitlement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am always astounded at how many dog haters post here.

That being said, as a dog owner, I do everything I can to avoid other people when out walking. I love dogs but don’t care for random dogs coming up to me, especially when I’m out walking my dog.

It's not hating dogs. It's not wanting random dogs to run up and jump on them while the owner texts or laughs "sorry, he just loves people"

Exactly. I hate the entitled owners. I love dogs but am fed up with them being in places where they don't belong. If you feel like you can't go to Home Goods or the grocery store without your dog you need therapy. Most of us see you and think you are an immature attention whore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm also in MoCo and everyone in my neighborhood seems to have a dog. I was mauled by a dog as a kid and while I will heart your dog photos, I will never be comfortable around them in person. I'm also surprised at how many people seem to think it's adorable for their dogs to jump on strangers or roam my front yard while they're out for a walk. The dog people are almost always distracted by their phones fwiw.

DP
That is a YOU thing. You need to adapt to the real world not expect perfection from outside forces. Dogs are individuals and so they will act in unique ways. Deal with it or stay home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am always astounded at how many dog haters post here.

That being said, as a dog owner, I do everything I can to avoid other people when out walking. I love dogs but don’t care for random dogs coming up to me, especially when I’m out walking my dog.

The current state of dog ownership is creating more dog haters (technically it's creating dog-owner haters, I don't blame the dogs, but dog lovers tend to project the hatred onto their dog to avoid taking responsibility for their own failures).

I used to be neutral to positive about dogs. I don't want to own a dog myself because I know how much work they are (we had dogs growing up) but it never occurred to me to have any issues with dogs until recently. I had friends and family with dogs and often enjoyed interacting with them, when I saw a dog in public I usually wouldn't think anything at all unless the dog was especially cute, in which case I'd note it's cuteness and maybe ask the owner if I could meet their cute dog.

I have come to have an overall negative attitude about dog ownership and when I learn a new neighbor has a dog, I'm actively disappointed. There are so many terrible dog owners out there, including lots of people who are bad dog owners but totally oblivious to this fact, that I have to assume any new dog owner I meet will be terrible and if I encounter them often I will have to actively manage their dog. I regularly see dogs at the grocery store, in coffee shops, and outside my kids' school. The school one drives me the most crazy. There are 4 or 5 parents at the school who clearly bring their dogs to the school (where there are numerous "no dogs permitted on school property signs") to show them off for the kids and encourage kids to pet and interact with them. Many of these are large dogs and they'll just plant themselves in the middle of walking paths to encourage kid to pet their dogs. The best is when these dogs encounter each other and do what dogs do when they meet friends, and jump around and bark and get excited. Like 10 feet from the school door while a bunch of kids, many of whom are smaller than the dogs in question, try to navigate past them to get into the school. I absolutely loathe these people. I have no issue with their dogs, and some of them really are great dogs who I would be happy to meet under other circumstances. But their entitlement of the owners and confidence that ALL the kids at the school are eager to interact with their dogs every day is so exhausting. A bunch of us have complained numerous times about this to school admin -- they'll issue a reminder that dogs are not permitted on campus and even stress that not all kids feel comfortable in close quarters with dogs and these kids need to be able to arrive at school without running a dog gauntlet every day. It will get better for a couple months and then the dog people are back, like we all forgot? I absolutely hate them.

Again, used to have no issue whatsoever, this is how bad dog owners are today. Y'all are JERKS. Police yourselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I walk my kids to school each day, which apparently is the time everyone in my neighborhood walks their dogs. Many dogs strain at their leash to approach my kids. I don’t know why. My kids don’t fear dogs, but they don’t like them, either. Walking home after dropoff seems easier—dogs don’t seem to approach me alone.

Because dogs are social animals and they want to greet people. No harm.