Let's talk about Dogs.

[Aruntraveller]

Read this article. Sums up a lot of my feelings about the canine pets, or more correctly their owners, of this world.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/jul/18/richard-godwin-dognostic-not-a-dog-person?

[Roses]

Dogs have their uses, we have had a number over the years, but when the last one went to dog heaven in 2002 I decided that enough was enough as it was my job to deal with them. They should never be mistreated but neither should they be treated like humans as some people do. I am disgusted but the idiots who dress them up or even dye their fur!

[Harrowby Hall]

 They should never be mistreated but neither should they be treated like humans as some people do.

Indeed. Dogs are pack animals  and one consequence of this is that they can fit into a family situation quite well. But we should always remember that status within the the pack is of prime importance to the dog.  Giving way to its demands or accepting its idiosyncracies is signalling to the dog that it has high pack status  ..  and feeding it first, before the rest of the family is throwing in the status towel.

I do prefer cats.

[Outrider]

Indeed. Dogs are pack animals  and one consequence of this is that they can fit into a family situation quite well. But we should always remember that status within the the pack is of prime importance to the dog.  Giving way to its demands or accepting its idiosyncracies is signalling to the dog that it has high pack status  ..  and feeding it first, before the rest of the family is throwing in the status towel.

I do prefer cats.

My wife has a dog. I don't. One of my former bosses brought his dog to the office, and thankfully I was in a position that I could update the risk assessment to put 'work from home' as a control for the stress hazard - he didn't like it, but it wasn't his call.

I'd quite happily never see another one again; they smell, they dribble, they shed, they're just generally unsanitary and unhygienic. Cats are the same, but less trainable.

O.

[jeremyp]

I'm pretty much in the same camp as the author.

I can't imagine why anybody would think it a good idea to allow dogs in the workplace - except maybe in a "dog creche".

[ad_orientem]

"I’ve no doubt you always pick up its poo, too – please tell me you always pick up its poo? – and it’s frankly amazing that you’re prepared to do that. To sign up to 12-plus years of handling another creature’s excrement, carrying it around in a little plastic bag until you find the appropriate bin? I mean, it’s revolting, but it speaks of a unique inter-species bond. I respect that. Do you mind if we don’t shake hands?"

My thoughts exactly. LOL! You couldn't put enough plastic bags around my hand or pay me enough money to pick up easily the most foul poo in the entire animal kingdom.

[Anchorman]

     I'm one of those suffering from a fear of dogs - all dogs.
I was bitten as a four year old, and despite efforts to overcome the phobia, I still can't touch or be close to them.
This can be a problem when you're trying to run a blind club - as I do - with two guide dog owners as members.
I've been to guide dog centres to try to accustom myself to these incredible animals, but the three day course which was supposed to do the trick lasted half an hour in my case.
I can't walk in a public park if dogs are off the leash - I simply freeze.
Couple that with my feet seeming to be magnets for the crap which litters every pavement, and a friend who had toxicarisis,caused by contact with the eggs of worms in dog faeces, leaving her totally blind and with brain damage, and Fido ain't my best friend.

[Nearly Sane]

"I’ve no doubt you always pick up its poo, too – please tell me you always pick up its poo? – and it’s frankly amazing that you’re prepared to do that. To sign up to 12-plus years of handling another creature’s excrement, carrying it around in a little plastic bag until you find the appropriate bin? I mean, it’s revolting, but it speaks of a unique inter-species bond. I respect that. Do you mind if we don’t shake hands?"

My thoughts exactly. LOL! You couldn't put enough plastic bags around my hand or pay me enough money to pick up easily the most foul poo in the entire animal kingdom.

Can you tell us where you gained your obviously wide ranging and in depth experience of different animal poi?

[ad_orientem]

Can you tell us where you gained your obviously wide ranging and in depth experience of different animal poi?

I just couldn't think of any other animal poo more disgusting. But I'm not an expert. LOL!

[Aruntraveller]

I am also not a dog lover. Are more precisely (as I intimated earlier) not a lover of dog owners, who seem to think that everyone thinks that their Fido is the most adorable creature ever.

On one memorable occasion in Derbyshire when we'd gone out walking for the day, a dog came bounding up to us and started jumping up at us, covering our relatively clean clothes with muddy paw marks. The owner appeared a little later from around a corner in the lane and seemed offended that we weren't to pleased that she had no control over her dog. My partner (not one for holding back)  when realising no apology was going to be forthcoming expressed the opinion that it's a shame we don't carry guns in the UK as that would have solved the dog problem. The owner looked really shocked and said he was a horrible man. Partner replied "we're even then. You're a horrible woman with a horrible dog".

I walked on pretending to be unaware of anything going on.

[Nearly Sane]

I just couldn't think of any other animal poo more disgusting. But I'm not an expert. LOL!

Human poo

[ad_orientem]

Human poo

Oh it's right up there but dog poo is ranker.

[Harrowby Hall]

Once upon a time, dog faeces (I prefer to use the grown up word) left on the pavement turned grey became powdery and disintegrated. Nowadays, it's stuck there ... and remains ... and remains. I'm told that it's because dog food now contains preservatives.      Isn't progress wonderful  .

Of course, any dog owner who cares now gathers up the excrement in a plastic bag ... and hangs it from a tree.

[Roses]

In our neck of the woods people can be fined for not picking up their dog excrement.

[Sebastian Toe]

Seems I am in a minority here, being a dog lover.
We have 5. 

I feel kind of sorry for anyone who does not "get" dogs, but their loss not mine's!

Re poop cleaning, not any worse than changing baby nappies, better even because
 you dont have to wipe their arses afterwards! 


I wouldnt have them at work though, too distracting for both sides of the fence!

[jeremyp]

Re poop cleaning, not any worse than changing baby nappies, better even because
 you dont have to wipe their arses afterwards! 

Yes, but after a while the baby learns to poo only on demand and to wipe its own arse. With five dogs, you have a combined total of more than 60 years of poo picking.

[Sebastian Toe]

Yes, but after a while the baby learns to poo only on demand and to wipe its own arse. With five dogs, you have a combined total of more than 60 years of poo picking.

I'm already 37 years into that!

You get used to it, really.

The main thing I have learned is that if one of them has a dodgy tum...steer clear of walks on hard surfaces!
 

[ekim]

Of course, any dog owner who cares now gathers up the excrement in a plastic bag ... and hangs it from a tree.

Not all though.  Some of them leave the full bag in a conspicuous place on their outward journey pretending that they are going to pick it up on their return from the walk.  3 weeks later it's still there.

[Enki]

Seems I am in a minority here, being a dog lover.
We have 5. 

I feel kind of sorry for anyone who does not "get" dogs, but their loss not mine's!

Re poop cleaning, not any worse than changing baby nappies, better even because
 you dont have to wipe their arses afterwards! 


I wouldnt have them at work though, too distracting for both sides of the fence!

A minority perhaps,  but not alone,  Seb. We have had dogs for over 45 years(one dog at a time) and we always pick up our dog's poo. Indeed, we actually were responsible for getting the local council to paint 'Pick it up' signs on the pavements near where we live because we were outraged by the messy and unhealthy careless attitudes of some dog owners. Oh, as owners who care, we gather it in plastic bags and dispose of it correctly at home, not hang it from trees as has been suggested.

[Anchorman]

A farmer friend of mine has shot two dogs in the past twelve months because he couldn't catch them in the field where his pregnant ewes were.
Apparently both animals were owned by townies who chose to drive fifteen miles from home to avoid crowds in lockdown and thought letting their animals have a nice romp in the country was a good plan.
Only two ewes had to be put down, and three more had aborted.

[Sebastian Toe]

A farmer friend of mine has shot two dogs in the past twelve months because he couldn't catch them in the field where his pregnant ewes were.
Apparently both animals were owned by townies who chose to drive fifteen miles from home to avoid crowds in lockdown and thought letting their animals have a nice romp in the country was a good plan.
Only two ewes had to be put down, and three more had aborted.

Arseholes.

[Walt Zingmatilder]

Read this article. Sums up a lot of my feelings about the canine pets, or more correctly their owners, of this world.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/jul/18/richard-godwin-dognostic-not-a-dog-person?

I don't think one can be Dogmatic on these things but people who dislike them are Dog dodging.

[Roses]

I am not fond of small yappy dogs they are a ghastly pain in the neck, like the one owned by our next door neighbours. I was brought up with German Shepherds, they are proper dogs.

[Steve H]

Not a dog person, but Labradors are ok - intelligent (for dogs, which is not saying much), docile, good with children, and the top breed for guide dogs.

[Roses]

We had a Labrador in the 90s, it wasn't to our taste so we found a good home for it.