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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Making a scene would be a good way to make the situation worse so why would you want to do that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

You are required to maintain control of your dog despite it's "individuality". You deal with it. Dogs are not equal to humans and do not have rights.

[Anonymous]

My son is terrified of dogs after he was knocked down by a dog as a toddler a few years ago. We are working with him to get over the fear, but there are certain hiking trails and parks we have to completely avoid because a*hole, entitled dog owners are always there with unleashed dogs in violation of posted signs requiring leashes. One particular awful owner gave a little giggle and half- hearted sorry after her unleashed dog chased my screaming son down the trail. We have also encountered the dog owners that go out of their way to come up to us to ask if we want to pet their dog.

I will say I have had multi neighbors over the years who were conscientious dog owners who never exhibited this narcissistic behavior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

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.

There is middle ground here. I am a dog owner. I absolutely hate off-leash dogs, and I never intentionally bring my dog to someone without them expressly inviting it. But also if you're walking on a city sidewalk, my dog might turn around to sniff you and might even boop you with his snout because there just isn't a lot of room to pass and my dog isn't perfect. The interaction won't be long because I keep his leash very short when we pass someone, but I can't guarantee perfect.

Shorten your leash or don't have a dog if you cannot walk them without it touching other people or invading their space

I grab dog’s leash so he’s right up against me. The sidewalk is like 6 feet wide or less. Two people plus a dog means we’re all coming in close proximity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

You don't get to decide what is harm for other people. Keep your dog to yourself. The poster above did a great job describing the problem - it's the owners like you. The problematic dog owners are attention whores or narcissists.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Making a scene would be a good way to make the situation worse so why would you want to do that?

I have every intention of making it very uncomfortable for the selfish dog owner. If something happens to me and I fall, I am not going to sue the store, I will sue the dog owner. It isn't about money, the issue is about who is responsible for the injury.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

DP

NO, common courtesy and the law both dictate that you should be in control of your dog BECAUSE they act in unique ways and are subject to imperfect outside forces. If the only way to assure your dog is under your control is to leave it securely at home, then it needs to stay home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Making a scene would be a good way to make the situation worse so why would you want to do that?

DP. Perhaps making the situation worse is the only way to deter this behavior. Making a huge deal, threatening to sue, yelling at them. Make it really unpleasant for them to deal with the negative fallout of being a bad dog owner. Perhaps the problem is that the rest of us have been too accommodating of bad dog owner behavior, out of fear we will be labeled a dog hater, and we need to reverse that dynamic.

It's wild to me how often dog owners will minimize or even defend really negative situations with dogs. Once I was walking in our neighborhood (spouse, kid who was maybe 6 at the time, me). None of us dislike dogs but DC is fearful of unknown dogs, especially if they are big. A woman's huge dog slipped his leash somehow and came bounding over to us, directly towards DC, who panicked at a dog about the same height bearing down on her (dog looked friendly but a 6 year old who is a bit skittish around new dogs doesn't know the difference, especially when the dog's teeth are eye level). Kid runs into the street to get away from dog. Spouse and I lunge into street to grab kid, I pick kid up (6 years old so not a size that is easy to lift but adrenaline) while spouse managed to get a car to stop. Everyone is breathing hard, freaked out. All three of us came close to being hit by a car. Dog is still bounding around so I can't put the kid down, who is crying.

Now you might think, wow that dog owner must have felt terrible! She must have apologized profusely, immediately leashed her dog, and moved away so everyone could recover. Nope. She didn't even leash the dog and just let it keep jumping and barking and when my spouse turned to her and said "yikes, you might need to invest in a better leash -- that was scary" she snapped back at us "It's not MY problem your kid couldn't handle a dog."

Hmmm. I wonder why there are so many people who hate dogs these days. What could it be? Let's keep thinking on it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

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.

There is middle ground here. I am a dog owner. I absolutely hate off-leash dogs, and I never intentionally bring my dog to someone without them expressly inviting it. But also if you're walking on a city sidewalk, my dog might turn around to sniff you and might even boop you with his snout because there just isn't a lot of room to pass and my dog isn't perfect. The interaction won't be long because I keep his leash very short when we pass someone, but I can't guarantee perfect.

Shorten your leash or don't have a dog if you cannot walk them without it touching other people or invading their space

I grab dog’s leash so he’s right up against me. The sidewalk is like 6 feet wide or less. Two people plus a dog means we’re all coming in close proximity.

Most of us don't freak out over the situation you are describing. We know you are doing your best. It's the other owners who are more extreme that are the problem. Op and others have more serious issues due to trauma and with hope, this post will inform some dog owners who didn't realize.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

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.

There is middle ground here. I am a dog owner. I absolutely hate off-leash dogs, and I never intentionally bring my dog to someone without them expressly inviting it. But also if you're walking on a city sidewalk, my dog might turn around to sniff you and might even boop you with his snout because there just isn't a lot of room to pass and my dog isn't perfect. The interaction won't be long because I keep his leash very short when we pass someone, but I can't guarantee perfect.

I can’t believe you think this is OK. It is not. Control your dog.

My dog is on a short leash pressed right up against me. He’s a calm 13-year-old dog who has been professionally trained. But if you’re passing close on the sidewalk and he turns his head, his nose might graze your hip. It’s not because he’s not in control. It’s because we’re all in very close proximity. It’s like getting on the subway and someone bumping into you when they turn around. It’s just a thing that occasionally happens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

You’re telling me on a city street, you’ve never once had a dog passing closely sniff you or brush up against your leg accidentally?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Making a scene would be a good way to make the situation worse so why would you want to do that?

DP. Perhaps making the situation worse is the only way to deter this behavior. Making a huge deal, threatening to sue, yelling at them. Make it really unpleasant for them to deal with the negative fallout of being a bad dog owner. Perhaps the problem is that the rest of us have been too accommodating of bad dog owner behavior, out of fear we will be labeled a dog hater, and we need to reverse that dynamic.

It's wild to me how often dog owners will minimize or even defend really negative situations with dogs. Once I was walking in our neighborhood (spouse, kid who was maybe 6 at the time, me). None of us dislike dogs but DC is fearful of unknown dogs, especially if they are big. A woman's huge dog slipped his leash somehow and came bounding over to us, directly towards DC, who panicked at a dog about the same height bearing down on her (dog looked friendly but a 6 year old who is a bit skittish around new dogs doesn't know the difference, especially when the dog's teeth are eye level). Kid runs into the street to get away from dog. Spouse and I lunge into street to grab kid, I pick kid up (6 years old so not a size that is easy to lift but adrenaline) while spouse managed to get a car to stop. Everyone is breathing hard, freaked out. All three of us came close to being hit by a car. Dog is still bounding around so I can't put the kid down, who is crying.

Now you might think, wow that dog owner must have felt terrible! She must have apologized profusely, immediately leashed her dog, and moved away so everyone could recover. Nope. She didn't even leash the dog and just let it keep jumping and barking and when my spouse turned to her and said "yikes, you might need to invest in a better leash -- that was scary" she snapped back at us "It's not MY problem your kid couldn't handle a dog."

Hmmm. I wonder why there are so many people who hate dogs these days. What could it be? Let's keep thinking on it.

I had a neighbor with a large out of control Irish Setter. We had twins and the first time we went outside with them in our front yard when they were learning to walk, the neighbor saw us and unleashed her dog to let it run over to play with our children. This dog had previously damaged an expensive suit of my from jumping all over me. Both my spouse and I hated the dog and had kneed it hard in the chest when it did this. Their dog made a bee line for us and they did nothing. We had to grab both children as the dog jumped on us, injuring us and the kids. The kids and I had nasty scratches from the dog's nails. My spouse kicked the dog as hard as he could in the chest and the idiot neighbors finally came over and retrieved their out of control dog and were pissed at us. That was the only thing that stopped them. In general they were very selfish and were terrible neighbors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

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.

There is middle ground here. I am a dog owner. I absolutely hate off-leash dogs, and I never intentionally bring my dog to someone without them expressly inviting it. But also if you're walking on a city sidewalk, my dog might turn around to sniff you and might even boop you with his snout because there just isn't a lot of room to pass and my dog isn't perfect. The interaction won't be long because I keep his leash very short when we pass someone, but I can't guarantee perfect.

I can’t believe you think this is OK. It is not. Control your dog.

My dog is on a short leash pressed right up against me. He’s a calm 13-year-old dog who has been professionally trained. But if you’re passing close on the sidewalk and he turns his head, his nose might graze your hip. It’s not because he’s not in control. It’s because we’re all in very close proximity. It’s like getting on the subway and someone bumping into you when they turn around. It’s just a thing that occasionally happens.

If you've had a dog for 13 years and he's never jumped or lunged towards someone on the sidewalk, and no one has ever gotten upset about the proximity of your dog, you are fine. Don't worry about it.

If in 13 years, once or twice someone has been annoyed about your dog but the touching was just incidental, shake it off. Maybe they were very sensitive to dogs, or just having a bad day. Don't worry about it.

If you often encounter people who are afraid of your dog, upset about his behavior, or upset at your inability to control him, then ask yourself if you are not actually in as good control of your dog as you think, or if you are ignoring negative behaviors from your dog that need to be addressed. If you are frequently getting comments or people upset about your dog, then something you are doing is a problem and you need to figure it out and take care of it.

If you are just hyper sensitive to people criticizing dogs because you have a dog, and thus getting defensive on a thread that is not really about you or your dog or any behavior you engage in, consider therapy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

See how that stands up in court if your dog injures someone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

See how that stands up in court if your dog injures someone.

DP
Injured by a sniff?! LMAO!