OT: Dog breedism

[R D S]

We have a labrador puppy, roughly 4 months old, she's ####ing awful, honestly I haven't the time to detail all the misdemeanours.

We were in the park yesterday and she was straining at the lead barking at everyone, young, old and everything inbetween. She's surprisingly big and doesn't look much like a puppy any more and has a fair set of lungs on her. I was embarrassed/mortified but people kept stopping and asking what breed she was and calling her cute and making excuses for her shitty behaviour.

This was welcome but bugged me to a degree because our last 2 dogs were dobermans so i'm more used to people picking their kids up as we approach. My missus was walking one once and a woman said "you'd better stay on the right side of that". Folk are ####ing clueless, IME you couldn't wish for a better behaved dog and I wished we'd got another.

Pointless rant over....

[Andy Burns]

My neighbours used to have a dachshund, it was annoying because the left it alone and it barked and howled all the time, anyway it must have died and my life was better for about 18 months ... until a few weeks ago they bought a replacement.

They seem to expect it to understand complex english sentences, then when it doesn't obey they shout at it, then (unsurprisingly) it barks back.

At the moment they're very proud of it and take it everywhere with them, I expect it won't be long before they're bored of the new one, leave it alone for hours on end and it becomes annoying to me just like the last one ...

[Martin Brown]

You really need the help of a dog trainer and quickly. There is no reason at all why a labrador cannot be a well behaved intelligent dog. At about 4 months you can start training them as working gundogs.

Are you setting the dog a bad example?

Be worth finding out why it is behaving so badly before that bad behaviour becomes too entrenched.

[alan_m]

Just wait until the dog's teenage years. She will try and push you until you break :)

[Tim Streater]

You've nicely summed up why we don't and won't have dogs or allow them on the premises, and why I avoid parks, even footpaths in the country, and beaches. Too often, there's just noise at one end and rude or unpleasant behaviour of one sort or another at the other end. Or it's rolled in something. And the clueless owners claim that "Oh, he's just playing". Fuck that.

[R D S]

To be fair I am doing her some injustice. In the areas where she is good, she is very good but she is extremely wilful and sometimes goes into a zone thata's difficult to snap her out of. And there will be failings on our part, she's our third dog so we're by no means experts but have done well with the other two so have an idea what to do and what to expect. We will get there.

The barking is new, we've taken her out and deliberately had her meetinng people, she's been to work a few times. Sadly she's missed 2 sessions of puppy club because it was cancelled due to the heat, inexplicably for 2 weeks.

I'm just surprised that even when she's playing up people find her cute where a different breed of dog, despite behaving perfectly, 'should be muzzled'.

[R D S]

Yeah, I was reading into that the other day! The next few months will be interesting!

She climbed on the missus lap and pissed on her on Saturday night, surely she'll struggle to top that :)

[williamwright]

Yes they get very skilful at winding you up.

Bill

[R D S]

My neighbours son (he doesn't live there) will get dogs and get bored with them. Then he pulls a trick where he has them look after it while he goes on holiday and never takes it home.

They have dogs of their own so then we end up with the badly trained interloper kicking off and setting them all off everytime anyone walks past.

[Clive Arthur]

1+

[R D S]

Don't worry, this is temporary, we will win out and she will be fantastically behaved. Or i'll buy a house with a field. But yeah, I feel the same as you, other people's dogs* have often been the bane of my life. Like most things, folk won't put the effort in.

*And kids.

[Fredxx]

I agree, and together with taking bags to pick up excrement I am pleased I no longer have the responsibility of a dog.

I've noticed a lot of single women have dogs, I guess something to have power over? Also an excuse, I can't do x, y or z because of the dog.

[SteveW]

Our neighbours had a very noisy dog, that spent all day barking while they were both out at work - which our baby monitor picked up and amplified, so it was like it was in the room, but we couldn't turn the monitor off, as it was also an apnoea alarm and our son had nearly died from repeatedly stopping breathing (at one point having the whole children's unit closed to new admissions, as so many staff were tied up with dealing with him).

On top of that, they let the dog out to do its business at around a quarter one every morning. Of course it barked madly at being let out and woke everyone around ... every night.

Then they redecorated and the girlfriend would not allow the dog in the house - it was relegated to a kennel outside and barked incessantly day and night.

Thank God someone reported it as a noise nuisance and the council told them to put a stop to the noise. Unfortunately, they only managed that by fitting a collar that squirted lemon when the dog barked. It's treatment remained no better, but at least the neighbours no-longer felt homicidal.

This was the same man, but different girlfriend) who complained about the noise of our chiming clock and about our children talking (quietly) in their bedroom at night! It turns out that the new girlfriend is hypersensitive to noise, but also has a sleep pattern that means that she has to go to bed by 8pm!

[Andy Burns]

I'm determined not to let it get to the point it did with their last dog, which so far it hasn't ...

[Jamesy]

R D S [e-mail]> wrote

The more skilled dog owners can train a puppy out of that sort of behaviour. And there are dog trainers that can do that surprisingly quickly.

Most Labs don't behave like, its the luck of the draw tho any breed does have real propensities.

[John Rumm]

Probably so they have a faithful companion that won't leave the seat up on the loo, does not mansplain, and to send a deterrent message[1] to would be pervs out at night, that there is a danger they will get their nadgers bitten off if they get too fruity!

[1] depending on how intimidating the do looks!

[GB]

Where do you go for a walk?

[RJH]

I can understand dog phobia, but avoiding public space is going a bit far. FWIW I was bitten by a dog a while back, took a picture of the owner and the police 'said' they'd put out an alert/search - got the impression they were actually interested.

[Clive Arthur]

I'm not phobic; they're a bloody nuisance and make things unpleasant. Also, at the moment, and like many older people, SWMBO finds it painful to walk but has to. Sudden movement caused by dogs 'just being friendly' is not what she needs, especially were it to make her fall.

I've just never seen the point. OK, lonely old people perhaps, but why anyone else other than the sociopathic would want a noisy mobile crap dispenser whose existence is contingent on the industrial raising and slaughter of other animals is beyond me. Maybe it's trendy - I wouldn't know.

They are an invasive species - about 13 million of them in the UK - and unsuitable for towns at least. And they make the house smell. "But he's so pleased to see me when I come home!" Of course he f****ng is, he's been locked up for nine hours annoying the neighbours.

But I'm sure yours are lovely.

[RJH]

Oh OK, I can see that. Still find it annoying that you should be restricted by a few thoughtless dog owners. Most of the parks, and even wilder parts of the Peak District, require dogs on leads - most observe that IME.

It's the uncritical friend bit IMO. That's why dog ownership took off over Covid - people isloated and need of a friend. If dogs could talk ownership would go right down.

Again, that's not on. I'd find that upsetting for the dog. The owner would be very clear about my view - as would the RSPCA if they kept it up.

Don't have one, too much responsibility!