Why are dog owners so disrespectful of others?

I'm sorry you feel that way la_chique, because I am a dog lover..But I also understand your meaning about owners who don't clean up after them or allow them to wander off..I have 2 puppies and every time we go on a walk, I am cautious around this one home where the dog runs loose and had come after a neighbor dog I was walking..This dog hasn't met my puppies yet and I wonder how it will go when they do... Though you comment you made abut the toddler is funny..So she didn't say or do anything? Lol....Well, if you were ever to meet my pups, you'd like them once I get them trained not to jump up on people..They are only 6 1/2 months and when they get excited, they can't help but get in your face, not to hurt you, but to lick you..

As someone who picks up after their dog, keeps it under control I don't appreciate your sweeping generalisation. It seems to me you have a dog phobia, the irrationality of which is making your life miserable. You are also quite happy to resort to violence against an animal because of your histronics. You are quite right that dogs react to fear because the human body language of fear is the same as aggression to a dog - YOU are threatening THEM. Perhaps you could go on some kind of therapy course so you don't cause more for yourself. I've posted here recently that a lot of the problems with dogs in our local park being in the dog-free area are because people with children take them into that area which is supposed to be the kiddy play area. SOME people are inconsiderate about their dogs. SOME people are inconsiderate about the children (most of the vandalism and anti-social behaviour in our local park is committed by children). The thing is SOME people are just inconsiderate, selfish and lazy WHATEVER they are supposed to be doing - you just notice the dog owners because of your phobia.

I have a dog. He is the sweetest dog in the world. Totally subservient and completely non-aggressive. When we walk him, we put him on a leash because that is the law in my country and in my state (United States). And, it is also the law to clean up any waste your dog may leave behind on the walk so, we carry little bags with us to pick up after him. My husband was walking our dog one day several years ago and a woman, down the street, was getting her groceries from her car. She left her door to her house open and her very vicious German Shepherd ran out and started attacking my dog and my hubby. That dog bit mine in the back of his neck and actually made him bleed. My dog, only because he had to defend himself and my hubby from the attack of the German Shepherd, tried to nip that dog back. The ridiculous woman came out and baby talked to her dog saying, "Oh now. Baby...are you ok? Did that dog hurt you?" She said this to her vicious dog about my sweet dog. My dog never takes an aggressive stance...EVER until he is pushed to protect himself or one of us. But, this woman thought that my dog, who was on a leash was at fault for her dog, who wasn't on a leash, attacking my dog. Her dog didn't have a scratch on him while my dog had a big, bloody tooth mark on the back of his neck, that took a month and a half to fully heal. And, there are people who just let their dogs roam freely in our neighborhood. My dog doesn't go in the front yard. We let him out in the backyard and he does his business back there. And, it is fenced in back there so he can't get out. Yet, there will be random piles of dog stuff in my front yard. And, there is a little white dog that wanders around in the mornings. I have nearly hit it a half a dozen times. One day, someone will hit that dog with their car, accidentally and the irresponsible pet owner won't have their dog anymore. I don't like irresponsible pet owners. They give the responsible ones, like me, a bad name. My dog is a huge Black Labrador and he really is the sweetest thing. He loves little kids and they all love him. We taught him not to bark and he knows the word "Ouch". We taught him that so that we could give him treats and he would just take the treat with his front teeth and lips. He doesn't even touch your fingers with his mouth at all when he is taking a treat because he knows that his mouth should never touch a human unless he is licking you. He also knows the word "Gentle", which is what we tell him before we give him a treat so he remembers to take it with his lips without touching your skin. If you say "Ouch" to him, he will back away and give you his best apologetic look. Even if you say it when he didn't even touch you with his mouth. So, when I say my dog is the sweetest, gentlest dog, I'm mean it. He knows how to behave because we made sure that he does when we were training him.

You don't mention the dog owners that take care of their dogs and what their dogs do. Most people take time to train their pets. The people that say their pets r trained that are not , r the same ones that do not take proper care of their pets and what they do..

Call the police! I own a dog and he is allowed off leash only on my own property where he cannot hurt anyone. If I walk him in the neighborhood, a leash is an absolute must. Even if I didn't think he would hurt others, many people have your fear of dogs and shouldn't have to worry about being attacked. Using a leash is better for the dog, too. It keeps it from running out in the road (except for the idiots who use a roll up leash and let the animal reel it out to its full length). Laws in the U.S. place the owner at full risk if a dog is let out of the yard and off leash and it hurts or threatens anyone. The owner can be sued and the animal put down. Owners who do not keep their dogs penned or on a leash are being totally irresponsible to the pet and their neighbors.

I cannot say that I exactly agree with you. Maybe, it is just inconveniently the dog owners you have met are not exactly the "right slice of pie". I don't own a dog myself, but as far as I know, most of the dog owners I know are pretty nice and respecting to the community. I haven't seen any dog droppings around in quite a long time now. I haven't seen many aggressive dogs lately either. If they are though, I think that it is just part of their natural instinct, and possibly the owner may be scared to stop it. Also, sometimes the owners may want to let the dogs more free for the dogs' sake. I don't really know, but this is just my opinion.

Yes, I find them to be the same here. And we even have stray dogs out on the streets and animal lovers don't allow anyone to get them off the streets either!! Dog rights and blah blah! It's scary. My older son was one chased by a stray dog soon after his cast had come off his broken leg. He couldn't move fast enough and he was so scared....till my husband came and kicked the dog. But my son's been scared of dogs since...and I'm petrified too. I don't mind the pets if they are on a leash and not close to me. But some dog owners consider them as part of the family and they are okay with their pets licking me....even when I am not!! We have 3 dog owners in the apartment...they would walk and exercise the dogs without a leash (and big dogs at that!). They refused to move outside the building (we have a private road outside the apartment complex which they could use) even when little children came out to play. We had to make way for them. After numerous complaints, they now take their dogs outside. But even there, they do not use a leash and I'm one of those people who walks everywhere...besides the stray dogs I now fear these dogs too. And one of the families play with their dog within the premises but they do it early in the morning before the children get out.

Poor you - it is not fun when you don't like dogs. They do seem to act like a magnet to you. Like when you don't smoke and people's smoke always seems to blow in your face regardless the direction of the breeze! My black labrador would be so surprised to find you didn't like her. She just wouldn't understand that any human could not like her.

I have a problem with cats. While dogs may not always be on a leash, and the dog owners may not pick up the dog's poop, at least there is a rule or a law in place. And then there are the people who follow the rules, and do pick up the dog's poop. Yet the cats can roam anywhere they want. They can poop anywhere they want. No one has to pick it up. My parent's neighbor's cat poops right in front of their front door every morning. Right outside the door in the flower bed. The smell is horrendous. And it is every single day. Yet no one is required to do anything about it. And the cats get in the trash and make a mess. Yet no one has to clean it up. Many dog owners who live in my apartment complex are diligent in picking up their dog's poop. And of course I really don't like it when people in my apartment complex don't pick up after their dogs. But at least there are rules in place that still a lot of people follow. Nothing for cats. One day my cousin went to her car, and someone's cat was on her car. She went to kind of shoo it away, and it jumped on her throat. It left a nice set of claw marks on her neck. She hadn't even gotten to the cat and it jumped her.

Dog owners can often be rude or irresponsible precisely because of their protection. The dog, depending on the breed, can be incredibly vicious to anyone who the dog perceives as a threat to his owner's person. Therefore, one has to be incredibly careful when dealing with dog owners because sometimes the dog may attack a person and then the person will have to hope there are witnesses who can either restrain the dog or help the person getting attacked by a vicious dog. Now if the dog is not vicious, then the dog owner may simply be rude and refuse to walk the dog in a place where the dog cannot be a nuisance. With problems like that, one may just have to deal with the dog owner. But what can truly be annoying is when dog owners take their dogs into stores that quite frankly shouldn't have the germs that dogs bring into them. But in the United States, there seems to be a big preference for having dogs in certain stores, particularly in the more high-end neighborhoods. If a dog attacks an innocent bystander, that person has the right to file a complaint and sue the dog owner. If a dog damages store products, depending on the price of the products, the owner may need to pay for those damages. It all depends on the situation.

I have a dog which is the most gentless type of dog but I always keep her on a lease as well but as picking up mess I always doing that to,She knows not to go after anybody like that,All dogs aren't the same it's the owners fault and how they treat there dog some people are so ruff with the dog it's not the dogs fault I would reported them so it be in public notice,

I'm not sure about the laws protecting non dog owners but it happens that we are not all like that. My family has two dogs. They have an gigantic fenced in yard to run in so there is no need for us to run them around in circles about the neighborhood pooping in the road or other peoples yards. I do know what you're talking about though because I see other dog owners all the time that have no business owning any kind of animal whatsoever. I see about 10 dogs each day running loose like their homeless but they have well groomed fur and collar with shiny tags so you know someone takes care of them somewhere. I understand that there are people that do not believe in shutting an animal up. I guess the owners of those dogs are those kind of people. Well in my book when it comes to animal freedom and the safety of my fellow human I'm going with the safety of my fellow human especially when those fellow humans are my children. I don't know what the laws are but they need to be better enforced.

Hi la chique: I think you have a good reason to feel angry because of this woman's behaviour. I think that pet's owners should be responsible. It's not the animal's fault but their owner's that don't care of the animals requirements which is stupid and also intolerant. I hope she'll be fined because she's affecting other people. Here in my town there are clear laws about pets but being honest, I've seen some people that really don't care about this. So I think there must be more control from the authorities on this subject because it really concerns us. Thanks for asking us this question. Have a nice day. ALVARO