I’ve never been a fan of dogs. They make me nervous. I like animals, but dogs are just too needy, destructive, and abrasive. Working dogs are fine, but pets/companion dogs really bother me.
They are given so much free reign in homes, it makes me nervous. I shouldn’t have to be hyper-vigilant to guard my food and possessions because “the dog might get it!”
They’re often very loud, they demand your attention constantly, and they’re always in your space.
The worst part is that people nowadays bring their dogs into stores and restaurants, because apparently a lot of dogs have separation anxiety now.
Owners will let their dogs walk right up to me while I’m actively backing away, and assuring me that “they’re friendly!” But I do not want to be approached by a strange dog!! I do not know how they will react so I do not want them near me!!
I get that people love their dogs, but there is far too much poor behavior from dogs and their owners that I just can’t excuse it.
It dampens my enjoyment of a place when I am forced to guard my possessions, listen to loud barking and/or constant whimpering, be interrupted by the owner who always have to yell at their dogs mid-conversation to keep them from doing something their not supposed to, etc.
Dogs are just… exhausting.
And I’m very very tired of having to accept them into my spaces & having to deal with them in public settings. I don’t believe I’m a bad person for thinking this way. I’m just tired of dogs.
That is all.
Edit: Some of y’all are really offended & have taken that fact that I don’t like dogs very personal. Why can I not dislike dogs?
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You don’t have to like dogs.
You do have to make that clear to some people. Put together a response, have it ready. “Please call your dog. I don’t like dogs and don’t want it near me.” And call restaurants before you go and ask if they allow dogs. And ask your friends to put their dog in another room while you visit.
I guarantee you some folks will assume you are afraid of dogs, and will try to use their dog to cure your “fear.” You will have to be firm that you are not afraid of them, you don’t like them.
Your post made me smile. Great example of the difference of allowing down votes or not. Can you imaging the down votes this would have gotten on that other service.
Frankly I agree. Dogs are needy. I guess a lot of people like that. Not me. For me that is highly subtractive not additive.
There’s not a single downvote here on kbin, tho you are right, some people downvote instead of having a discussion.
I like dogs in general, grew up with a bunch. My spouse’s family always had cats though. After a few years of living with cats vs dogs, cats take the win easy for me for general ease of living.
No needing walks, liter box is easy to scoop, they spend most of the day sleeping and will come by to play or get pet for a few minutes, then move on lol.
Two things though:
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Some of this is culturally American. In other countries, dogs are not given the same free reign of the house as here.
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I’m probs gunna get a lot of flack for this… A majority of people have horribly trained dogs. In my experience, most folks consider their dog a “good” dog if it has a good mood, that’s all. Doesn’t matter that it doesn’t listen to commands, doesn’t matter that it jumps all over people slobbering and barking. Doesn’t matter that it is always butting into meals and begging.
Can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a dog jump all over me, licking my face and getting stinking drool all over my clothes only for the owner to say, “oh sorry haha, he/she just loves people!”
If your dog won’t stop barking the moment you tell it to, it’s a badly trained dog. If your dog jumps up on people when they enter your home, your dog is badly trained. If your dog constantly comes over to the table while people are eating and whines, badly trained.
And it pisses me off that when this behavior happens, the owners either don’t care, or get angry at the dog and do something asinine like lock it in another room alone.
I like dogs! I still want one when my spouse and I have property. I don’t care if your dog gets to lay on the couches and roam the house freely, that’s fine, but it has to act civilized like any other member of the family. Yes it’s possible BTW, any professionally trained service dogs will behave like this and more.
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That’s valid. But children will grow up and become adults.
Dogs will always be & act like dogs.
But you were a child once!
Same. I like/tolerate well-trained dogs, but those are basically nonexistent these days.
Where I live, dog culture is really strong. People here violate leash laws all the time. When you gently but firmly raise a knee to keep a big jumping dog off your chest, the owner acts like you just did a heinous crime. If you complain about not wanting to be jumped on/knocked over by a giant dog that weighs more than you do, you’ll be told to seek therapy for your phobia.
Bad dog owners have ruined dogs for me. Training is considered taboo, something close to animal abuse. Which boggles the mind, because the psychology of dogs is such that they need training and maintenance discipline to be well-adjusted. IMO, not training your dog is animal abuse. But here we are, with untrained dogs running around bowling people over and sticking their tongues in strangers’ mouths.
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As a dog owner, that’s absolutely fair. It’s not your responsibility to deal with other people’s dogs.
We do bring our dog places, but they have to be 1) explicitly dog friendly (and still not just randomly in stores, and definitely not restaurants? breweries with outdoor spaces though, sure) and 2) we do things like go for big hikes or doggie play dates beforehand, so our dog is happy to just sit underneath our table or right beside us and people watch. If he ever starts getting disruptive (barking/crying, won’t stay still) then we pack it up and go - that means he’s not having a good time (and we’re not either if he’s not just chilling) and there’s no reason others should have to deal with that too. Fortunately this is rare for us, but this is how the dog owner social contract should go I think.
And absolutely he can’t just approach people and is never off leash outside of his specific home spaces (our home, specific family homes). Are people just bringing their dogs to your home and setting them loose or something? Like that’s wild and outrageously rude, our dog never goes to someone else’s private space without 110% knowledge that they’re good with it, and even then he gets tons of stuff to ensure a successful visit (again, lots of activity beforehand + things like his gates, crate, toys, etc. to keep him occupied and safely away from things that could just potentially be issues).
If you’re someone who just really doesn’t like dogs, the only time and place our dog should ever occupy your attention at all is if you’re physically in our house. Which like, he’s very social and friendly, but still very much a dog, and while we’d do everything we could to make you comfortable, we’d probably just not meet you in our house most of the time.
Thank you.
It’s very tiring being told that I shouldn’t dislike dogs. Apparently it’s a big taboo and folks take it very personally.
Appreciate your respect towards people who have a differing opinion on dogs.
Yeah, I think this attitude that you can’t dislike dogs is actively harmful, both as an unnecessary social stigma and to dogs themselves. Like, this cultural idea that you should just have and enjoy having dogs contributes to bad dog ownership, because people end up owning dogs that they don’t properly care for because they think it’s what they’re supposed to do, or that it’ll all be sunshine and roses.
Dogs are needy pets (especially puppies, lord help me)! They need physical, mental, and social stimulation to be happy, if in varying amounts by breed/individual, and not to mention training. You gotta be prepared to (and ideally enjoy) provide these things.
I’m about as far away on the dog opinion spectrum from you as it gets - I love em big, goofy, and slobbery, and if I was independently wealthy I’d be some weirdo that lived in a mansion with an entire pack. That said, it is okay not to like dogs.
Might I point out the reason why people might react so offended by it? You have your opinions. And that is fine. Nobody can tell you your opinions are invalid. But if you look back to your message, your opinions are stated as hard facts:
They’re often very loud
they demand your attention constantly
they’re always in your space
Dogs are just exhausting.
I understand what you mean with this. But it kind of reads similar to someone saying something like “All Americans are dumb”. And then when everyone gets offended by it they be like “It’s just my opinion, why is everyone angry at me?”. And of course people get angry, You get all the responses from people who have an American friend, and THAT person isn’t dumb! So of course your facts are invalid!
Anyway. Not a dig at you in any way. Thought I’d just let you know how it reads.
Well said. We do the same with our dog. Never off leash in public spaces and also did a lot of on leash crowd training so she stays calm when being randomly approached by people. We run her before going to a pub and have her under a table at a welcoming outdoor terrace. We will leave if any problem, which I think only happened once.
We also have a different problem. Our dog is beautiful so gets approached and petted without us being asked and before we have time to sit her down and get her in a calm state. So we worked on that too, but I wished people just asked before approaching us. Especially sending their kids running towards my dog. She’s never reacted badly, and we’re in good control, but why send your kid towards an animal you don’t know, especially when she has the hunting skills to hurt your kid (small prey) in a flash if she decided to?
Basically no one should impose their dog to someone who doesn’t like them.
I am sorry OP feels many owners don’t respect their boundaries.Similarly, no one should impose themselves on a dog and owner either.
Live and let live.
Had this experience as well, for sure. Other dog owners tend to be the worst for us honestly, approaching us immediately for our dogs to meet without even trying to ask.
Loose children are definitely a close second, though. I already don’t really like interacting with kids; I do try to give them some latitude and won’t be mean about it or anything, but still.
I think you should direct these emotions more towards the owners than the dogs themselves.
Hard disagree. A lot of this behavior is justified to me as “they’re just being a dog!”
Dogs bark. Dogs chew. Dogs have a prey drive. Dogs smell. Dogs just want to be with you. This how dogs are.
It’s both. I don’t like dog behavior, so I just don’t like dogs! I have big qualms with a lot of the owners of dogs, sure, but I’ve never met a dog I actively liked.
I just don’t like dogs.
Sounds more like you are tired of poorly trained dogs and their incompetent owners. Unfortunatly there are many of the latter.
I’m kinda there with you. My cousin has two chocolate labs and every time I’m at their house I hear their name combined with the word “stop it!” Or “get down” or some other variant every 5 minutes or so. I’m sorry, dogs are just inferior cats. Cats are pet perfection.
Same here. My family & in-laws have dogs that are somewhat trained, but they still cause trouble. Growing up, we only had dogs and I thought cats were bad pets. Now as an adult, I realize dogs always need so much effort & attention, and cats make much better pets.
“Pet perfection” lol. as long as you don’t mind cat hair over everything, having furniture shredded, listening to them yak up a furball on the carpet at 4am, using the litterbox then walking over food prep surfaces, then I guess sure.
Sounds like you’re painting all dogs with a brush dipped in your experiences. I can completely understand that. I also don’t like those situations. They stress me out and make for an uncomfortable visit. I’ve had my backpack destroyed by a Frenchie, slobber on my clothes from a great Dane, conversations interrupted by a Yorkie, and staffie that just made me nervous.
At the same time, I grew up with a Shiba Inu, and I now have my own Shiba. He’s quiet, never begs, requires very little of me, and lays down quietly when guests are over. He loves people and is incredibly protective. It took quite a bit of training and patience, but I’m extremely proud of the good boy he’s turned into.
Yes, I love my dog and I’m not expecting you to, but I am asking you to be open minded to different experiences. There are good and bad owners while there are also compatible dog breeds. If aomwone has a border collie in an apartment, it will destroy everything. Same could be said for a Pomeranian that’s understimulated.
I respect your opinion and hope that you can one day see the good side of dogs and the companionship they bring into people’s lives. While it may not be something in your story, for others it may be a necessary part of their day.
I see the good side for others. If you like dogs and the positives you feel they bring to your life, enjoy your dog!
But for me, I just don’t like dogs.
Why is it so taboo to not like dogs? I don’t hate them, I just don’t like them.
It’s similar to why I get looks for disliking cats. People love their pets and confuse disliking a type of animal for disliking their pet in particular.
What makes you think they dont understand why people like dogs? Why are dog owners so unable to fathom that other people might just not like dogs?
I’m able to not only understand, but empathize with the OP. I don’t like cats and I’d never own one. I completely understand where they’re coming from. I was simply challenging their preconceived notion that all dogs (or cats) fit in one box.
Taking regular walks around my neighborhood has really soured me on dogs. Every other house has dogs barking at me from the back yard or front windows. Almost every dog that’s being walked will lunge and bark at me. There are only a handful of well-behaved dogs that I enjoy seeing on my walks. Frankly, it seems like 95% of dog owners aren’t doing the work to properly socialize their pets.
Hell, I can’t even grill out in my backyard without getting barked at from three different directions.
Oh hell yes. I call it creeping “dog culture”. Hard to find a brewpub that isn’t overrun by them. Nobody in my town obeys leash laws. Grocery stores are the grossest.
Used to work at a large tech company (think FAANG). It was advertised as a very dog-friendly place, so people would bring in their dogs, even if they weren’t behaved well. There was an “incident” involving one of my coworkers. (That is a nice way of saying another employee’s poorly trained dog bit them.)
Just another reason WFH was so much better.
I like dogs. I just keep a healthy distance. I’ve been bitten by too many “good boys” to really care for raising my own.
Reminds me of this clip from Pink Panther:
Lol, thanks. Honestly got a good laugh out of that. My first dog bite happened in a similar way :p
