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?
You must log in or register to comment.
Go to Turkey, there are almost no fkn dogs on the streets. We visited it with friends and after two or three days realized that it’s coolness and calmness is because of only few dogs around. However, there are tonnes of cats there, but they don’t bark.
I was quite disappointed coming back from holidays to my neighbourhood, where everybody, especially after Covid19, have stupid, barking dogs.Also, dogs would be less stressful if their owners had any idea on how to teach and train a dog. I’m all for a mandatory dog ownership license, so that you have to proove that you have knowledge and skills for training your dog. .
Most people don’t seem to know this oddly, but in lots of parts of the world people don’t really care for dogs. Wild dogs are more common outside of the first world and they can be extremely dangerous. People will often get injured by one and be afraid of dogs for the rest of their lives. I had a roommate from the middle east while I was in college and he said he did not care for dogs at all.
It is also pretty common these days for people to straight up not follow the law in regards to their dogs. Having dogs off leash in a nature area seems to be very common nowadays. My own dog gets very nervous while near an off leash dog and I basically had to stop taking him with me on hikes since they are so common. Makes me very angry.
I agree. I am always frustrated to see entitled dog owners who walk right by a sign that clearly states dogs must be on leash. I absolutely love dogs but I still feel this way. Not only because they can make other people nervous who are just trying to enjoy the space and may have very real dog related traumas in their past but often in natural areas they can be very disruptive to the wildlife. I also love birds and I don’t like to think of all the shorebirds that are harassed or displaced by owners that don’t take care to ensure that they are handling their furry friends responsibly.
Perhaps I’m reading into it, but it sounds like the majority of your exposure is with someone(s) who is a poor dog owner and lets their dogs do whatever they like. Which is isn’t to invalidate your discomfort, but I wonder if you wouldn’t have a better time of things if 70%(or w/e) of your exposure to dogs wasn’t dealing with extreme misbehavior, and therefore it wouldn’t be at the forefront of your mind.
Most owners are poor dog owners. The experience is the same all around Europe. Funnily enough, the 70% good behavior is probably real already, it’s just that 30% bad is insanely huge percentage when a dog is capable to maul you and your kids.
I’m the last one to disagree with you about that. I have a large dog and go to great strides to make sure she behaves, and we’re actively working on issues she has, as she’s still very young. But other people who are or have been dog owners routinely try to introduce bad habits to her or guilt me for not allowing them – no, I’m not going to teach the 75 pound dog to beg for food at the table.
The reason I posted what I did was because the OP gave very specific situations (i.e. going over to someone’s house and having to watch their things/food, having to stop what they’re saying) that implied to me that perhaps someone in their life is a poor dog owners, and that’s 100% just cause to have less to do with them. If they’re not comfortable because their dog is ill-behaved, then they have every right to not be in that situation. My grandmother had a poorly behaved dachshund that she thought was terribly cute, but bit me and multiple relatives, multiple times. I stopped seeing her as much because her dog was a nightmare.
I feel the same way about children.
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:
-
Some of this is culturally American. In other countries, dogs are not given the same free reign of the house as here.
-
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.
-
deleted by creator
Are you a bit of an introvert? I ask because I am and prefer cats myself because they’re just there without begging for my attention. I understand everyone has different needs and wants though.
because they’re just there without begging for my attention
You clearly haven’t met my mom’s cat, lmao
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.
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.
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.
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.
I always say: I like dogs, but I never want to live with one again.
@SharkEatingBreakfast finally someone who shares my thought. Dogs are awful to keep indoors. I can hear them barking through the walls. I literally only like one dog but that’s because he’s timid and quiet (he only barks at incomming cars). He was probably abused in the past (my cousin found him alone near the road).
I like dogs that get to know me over years, and small dogs. Unfortunately I get few opportunities to do so authentically (many of them I got to know as a child are deceased today), as I don’t like to be approached by random dogs because I believe they are thinking I have food.
I didn’t like the fact that my old apartment allowed dogs (I would leave the elevator whenever one showed up, seclusion and dogs don’t go well together). But I always smiled whenever I got a, relatively frequent, reply-all email from management about disciplining people whose dogs used the grass (or elevator, one time) as a toilet.
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.
