Do you guys do this, too? You’re in your car, walking down the street, waiting for the bus, whatever, and… oh! look! a dog! Your head swivels, and you smile as they walk past (or, if they’re close enough, shout, “May I please pet your dog?!”).
It’s habit.
Completely ingrained.
And so, the other day, we were driving along, and I spot up ahead… a dog! A big dog! A big huge fluffy white dog! (Yes, I’m a child.) As we get closer, John spots something and says to me, “Ugh. Don’t look.”
So what do I do? I look. (As I said: a child.)
This poor dog. The lady was jerking the crud out of him with what I’m sure she thought were “leash corrections” with his big ole choke chain. Of course, it wasn’t clear to him (or me) what she was correcting because she jerked hard every two or three steps.
Thankfully, the dog was huge and probably didn’t experience that much physical discomfort. Though confusion and frustration? Probably.
Anyway, it got me thinking how many pet peeves I have. No, not pet peeves. Pet owner peeves. So, here goes (and please, please, pretty please share yours in the comments!!! if we can’t laugh together…)
- Not. picking. up. It’s inexcusable.
- Leash jerks (see above)
- Really long, convoluted, overly-anthropomorphic explanations of behavior that make no sense and put too much responsibility on the poor dog (“Oh, no! Mr. Snugglepuff IS house trained. He only pees in the house because he’s so upset with me for painting the living room such a bright color. It clashes with his bed, you know, and my baby loves nothing more than to match!”)
- Off leash in on-leash areas
- Corollary: “Don’t worry!! She’s friendly!” shouted from a couple blocks away.
- Flexi-Leads (I know this is a controversial one, but I hate ’em. I hate that dogs in vet lobbies on Flexis just run right up to my guys. I hate that, from a block away, I can’t tell if the dog is actually on a lead or not. I hate trying to cross past one and the lead zipping across your legs. Hate. Them.)
- Running up and grabbing/petting my dogs without asking first
- Anyone trying to “Dog Whisper” their dog. Do. not. alpha. roll.
- Using a collar as a steering wheel
- Judging other people’s decisions about their pets and their pet’s care (minus, you know, the stuff listed above)
There you have it: My top 10 pet owner peeves! What are yours? What would you add to this list?
End note: Totally unrelated (unless costumes are one of your pet peeves… to each her own…) I forgot to share their Halloween pic ON Halloween. Oops. So, my little shark and minnows!!
Amanda
Not picking up…..I feel so guilty. Sometimes in the park across the street from the house Daisy goes a second time and I only brought one bag. I have to run home and grab a new bag (literally ACROSS THE STREET) but I can feel all the other people in the park giving me the stink eye! I agree with all of these pet peeves. Especially flexi leads. Flexi leads are the WORST.
Maggie
Oh, my goodness! That’s happened to me, too!! I ran all the way home and back to get the second poop, feeling like such an asshole the whole time. I’m sorta relieved to know I’m not the only one…
Debra
All of the above, plus:
1. Red nose, blue nose is not a breed and it is not a sub type of a breed.
2. A “dog trainer” whose dog was wearing a prong collar condescendingly told me she/he didn’t know how to buckle a harness because she/he never used them.
3. The question, “does he bite” or “will he bite me?”
4. When I ask guests to NOT do something such as engage my dogs in play immediately and they do because “it’s ok.”
5. People who (try to) give my dogs treats without asking permission.
Leah
Oooh!! #5! There are folks in my neighborhood that walk around with treats in their pockets, and just hand them out to other people’s dogs. First of all – my dog can’t (shouldn’t) eat just anything, second – my dog usually gets sick after eating certain treats, and third – my dog ALWAYS remembers who has the treats and he will follow these people around, disobeying my orders.
I asked one person in particular to stop giving my dog treats, and their response to me was “But that makes me feel bad, look he wants one” (insert eyes bugging out emoji!)
Maggie
YES!! All of those!! #4 makes me nuts with Cooper because we’ve tried so hard to put a stop to his jumping-on-people habit, and no matter how many times I say “please don’t pet him when he jumps on you,” people STILL DO IT! UGH!
@Leah, that is really hard, especially with a pup with allergies. Then it’s not just an annoyance. It’s a health and safety issue! So sorry!!
konadog
This one is simple, my dog goes to work with me. Supply the people with treats that are OK. If you’re on a walk, give the person the treat before they can feed their own.
Leah
Oooh!! #5! There are folks in my neighborhood that walk around with treats in their pockets, and just hand them out to other people’s dogs. First of all – my dog can’t (shouldn’t) eat just anything, second – my dog usually gets sick after eating certain treats, and third – my dog ALWAYS remembers who has the treats and he will follow these people around, disobeying my orders.
I asked one person in particular to stop giving my dog treats, and their response to me was “But that makes me feel bad, look he wants one” (insert eyes bugging out emoji!)
Leah
Mmm, yes, all of these! We live in a very dog-friendly neighborhood, and my back yard faces a public walkway that’s off the busy road, where a lot of folks come to walk their dogs, so I see a lot of misbehaving dog owners. My biggest one is the not picking up after their dogs (especially since the area they let their dogs do their business is almost an extension of our backyard…). We call out to people and ask them if we can bring them a bag! lol. And then there’s this one lady that lets her small fluffy dogs off leash and they run far away from her and are not under voice control. She can never get them to come back. So then we have to listen to her screaming and hollering after them. But it’s also dangerous for many reasons, and one of which is the people that come to walk their dogs here that have reactive, on-leash dogs (dogs that have attacked other dogs in the past), and that poor owner needs to figure out what to do with his reactive dogs as these little fluffers come barreling towards him and his dogs… makes no sense to me.
Maggie
Oh, goodness. THAT is a stressful situation. As the long-time person of reactive Lucas, I can totally sympathize with that poor guy…
The poop thing just makes me crazy, but it sounds like you hit on the perfect solution! HAH! How could anyone say no to a bag offer… they know they’re busted!
amanda
As someone with a leashed dog reactive dog (only with tiny dogs) that will attempt to eat the other dog, this one INFURIATES me. Solidarity.
Adam
Yup, I say hello to lots of dogs.
Cat is the shark? Dogs should be shark. 🙂
Maggie
HA! We dressed them for their personalities! 😉
Lindsay
I’m not bothered by much (I use a prong), but one thing … driving with any pet in your lap. Horrible. Putting so many others in danger.
I also wish people could appreciate my dog Remy just by seeing him. No need to talk in an excited voice, no need to keep standing out of reach staring at him when he’s clearly unable to settle himself. Just ignoring him would be helpful!
Callie, Shadow, and Ducky's Mom
I soooo agree with you, Lindsay, on both points! I hate it when I see a dog in the driver’s lap(especially) – so dangerous for everyone, but especially the pup! And I sometimes have the same problem with Ducky. (Shadow loves people and will tolerate just about anything.)
Maggie
I’m pretty sure I read that some states are making it illegal to have a pet on your lap. It would count as distracted driving. I’m ALL for that!! Thank you so much for adding that one to the list. It’s such an important safety issue for everyone on the road!
Deborah
I do dog rescue and I always have a roll of Poop bags in my pocket and always pick up after any dog I walk. Not picking up after your dog is not only disrespectful but can be responsible for passing disease. As you can tell that is my number one pet peeve. I adopted a blind Silky Terrier (actually I “foster failed”) and because he is a cute little fluffy dog, people just rush up to pet him without asking, even though he wears a vest & leash that both say BLIND DOG. It really freaks him out…. another of my pet peeves .
Maggie
UGH! Both of those are so annoying! I was out of town last week, and I ended up chatting with a Marine who was waiting for the same connection with his service dog. He said that people always rush up and pat his service dog, despite the vest that says “Please Do Not Pet Me” on it! So frustrating. I’m sorry that freaks your poor pup. 🙁
Forest Poodles
Seeing a dog that is clearly not really a guide or therapy dog, but the owner bought a vest and made/bought a label for it. The other day I saw a ‘guide’ dog wearing a prong collar. Sigh.
Having dogs off leash on public trails. I know you said this one already, but I’m saying it again for emphasis!
Maggie
OH GOOD ONE! Fake service/guide dogs is such a tragedy. I can’t believe how widespread it is, too. Thank you so much for bringing that one up. So important.
Jan K
Great list and I agree with every single one! Living in a rural area, we see a lot of people that just let their dogs run loose in the neighborhood. Do they have any idea of all the bad things that could happen out there? Plus I do not appreciate them showing up in our yard and riling up my crew.
When we moved to our new house, two dogs showed up in our yard not long after. My sister and I spent an hour driving around trying to find their home. We finally did, but the next week they showed up again, and I realized it was not a one time fluke like I thought it was.
Maggie
Oh, my goodness. That would stress me out so much! And you’re so spot on… so many bad things can happen. It’s way too much of a risk, in my opinion, especially in a rural area! Sheesh. Thanks for sharing, but I’m sorry you have that to deal with!
Leigh
I totally agree in all of those above. Not picking up just is so gross and annoyingly disappointing too.
Maggie
Totally! And it’s not like it’s hard to do!!
KIMBERLY GAUTHIER
OMG this should be a blog hop. Everything you listed is a pet peeve of mind and I’m sad to say that one day I shouted “you’re going to destroy your dog’s trachea” the last time I saw someone doing this. I try to remind myself that there was a time that I didn’t know jack about raising dogs and made many mistakes. I still make mistakes. But it’s hard, so hard to keep quiet when I see people doing something so damaging to dogs.
Maggie
You’re SO right. Nobody’s perfect, and I believe we’re all trying our best… you don’t know what you don’t know.
A blog hop could be fun! A pet blogger vent about what happens IRL! 🙂
Rebekah
Definitely retractable leashes.
Maggie
Amen.
Casi
I am so happy that I ran across this blog! I HATE flexi leads, in my experience they are dangerous for everyone! Ever since I brought Cooper home I have had so many people (kids and even adults) that bark at him? We adopted him as a very anxious puppy and it drives me insane!
Seth B
#3 and #5 on your list makes me laugh so much! Where I live in Alaska there is a coastal trail that is extremely popular amongst dog owners for walking, running, etc., both on and off leash. I have trained my GSD, Scarlett, that there is an appropriate 5 foot diameter around me that she can explore..a quick snap of my fingers will bring her back to a heel if she gets too far in front of me. I trained her to heel and lay down when she sees a dog on the trail, and 90% of the time the off-leash dog comes barreling up to her and jumps all over and genuinely is just very rude..Scar is working line DDR shepherd so she has great drive and just looks at me like “omg dad this is annoying”…then the owner will typically come huffing and puffing up and offer some feeble excuse about how their dog is typically much better behaved and they can’t believe they charged like that. It’s always the same story.
Obnoxious and dangerous, owners don’t realize that poor manners in dogs is how fights start.
Thanks for sharing! Looking forward to more content in the future! Cheers!