We are at the beach, building sandcastles under the sun, minding our own business. EVERY single fucking dog in HRM is curious as to what we are doing, and why, and how. They push their nasty wet black nose at us, while we squirm around politely and pretend to smile while screaming Fuck off! Fuck Off! inside. Then they trample our lovely sandcastles with their stupid paws. Their owners are delighted, smile and laugh. One or two especially bright ones tells “don’t be afraid- they love kids”. That is NOT the point. Train your fucking dogs to respect other people’s personal spaces. And sandcastles.
— Sand Castle Builder
This article appears in May 28 – Jun 3, 2009.
i just called the wah-bulance…..they won’t even come pick you up. i can only imagine how wound up you get over a real issue
Dog owners should learn that not everyone is a dog lover.
I’m with Buzz
I’m with BDR and 1FA1. Dog owners are the worst when it comes to the sense of entitlement. “I love my dog and you should too”. Fuck that. I do love dogs (all animals in general really) but when your dog comes running up full tilt, I have no idea what to expect. It could be coming to lick my face or to bite it just as easily. I understand the need to let dogs run and play, but dog owners need to understand that not everyone loves dogs and some people have a deeply rooted fear of them. If you’re in a public setting, especially one with lots of kids around, use some sense and keep your dog on a leash.
When you’re on a public beach … personal space is few and far between. I’m with Voice of Treason on this one.
Most beaches do have leash bylaws don’t they ?
i love dogs i would welcome them to my castle, one of the best things about sand castles are destroying them
@Jane D’oh- we would like to destroy them ourselves, without outside help from dogs, thank you very much.
As for sense of entitlement- don’t get me started on that. Unfortunate analogy, but I certainly don’t let my kids get away with what dog-owners let their dogs get away with. So many dog-owners look personally hurt and act as if you’re a hard-hearted, cold, unfeeling monster if you’re not ecstatic about being slobbered over.
There IS a leash by-law, except everyone ignores it, becasue we all LOVE DOGS so much, right?
You should have said something to the owner(s), OP. Chew them out about using a leash and the effort you put into building a castle with family.
I enjoy dogs as much as the next animal-lover, but not when they’re destroying things or destroying my trash.
Dogs will be dogs. Get yourself some planks and make your own sandbox then you’ll only have the neighbour cats to worry about.
Dogs will be dogs, but owners should at least be responsible.
If the owner’s aren’t being responsible, take the discipline into your own hands. I’m not implying to beat the dog here either. Just firmly say NO to the dog, if it doesn’t listen grab it by the collar and hold it off until the owner’s come. If the owner’s have issue’s with it then simply state that your kid’s have worked very hard at building their castles and or, one of them is scared of dog’s and politely remind them of the dog’s on a leash by-law.
I agree with FA 100%.
@fallingangel, nicegoingfat: Look, if I had been the type the to firmly remonstrate, grab dogs by their collars (as likely an event as the dog telling me I have beautiful eyes)- quote by-laws at passer-bys, then obviously 1-I would not have been posting on bitch, 2- the dogs would have sensed all this and wouldn’t have messed with me and the kids in the first place. In real non-virtual life, I am the kind nice squirmy mommy who feels obliged to make small talk with the dog-owners and smile at the cuteness with which they are trampling our castles.
I must say the amount of suppressed dog-hate finding outlet here is rather heartening- I thought ALL Canadians were mad about dogs. Apparently not.
thenewcomer.wordpress.com
What the heck are you rambling about?
Your little blog piece made me giggle, `thenewcomer`. Tee-hee!!
DAMNIT NGF!! (You snuck in before me.)
Their blog hurt my eyes from trying to cut through a jungle of text.
What? weren’t you the one bitching about the dog’s?
A)I didn’t say to torture the dog..dog’s are creatures of masters. They by instinct need a master, or they will become your master, which leads to some serious issues.
B) I feel your pain with the “having to be nice” comment, but you are a parent, your child’s look up to you for protection. I realize building a sand castle isn’t a life or death situation, but if this is troubling them, you being the adult guardian should be speaking up for them in a respectful tone at that. It’s ok to be nice, but don’t lead your children down the road of being walked all over for fear of hurting someones feelings. If they are uncomfortable with a situation, they should be able to speak up, or come to you to speak up for them.
FA: Unfortunately most people, like the OP here, are completely lacking in the ability to speak up for themselves and/or avoid the possibility of confrontation at all costs. They would rather get walked all over, not say anything and then bitch about it later. If you look at the vast majority of the bitches on here (the non bus/Coast/break-up/driving related bitches anyway), 90% of them could have been solved or prevented simply by speaking up and saying something. But most people would rather just let it slide and complain about it later. It gives them a chance to make themselves look better and have people feel sorry for them at the same time.
Yes, I agree never wrong…and a lot of the times, I am probably one of those people to a degree…I get walked over, knowing that I’m getting walked over and if it’s a situation where the person doing the walking is just simply ignorant (in the sense that it is suppose to mean) and have innocent intentions, I have a harder time speaking up. However if I know the person is just being an A-hole, I have no problem speaking my mind.
My main point as a parent is that a child that feel’s hesitant in speaking up for themselves, or saying when they are uncomfortable with something will be more likely to “get in a car with a stranger”, or have sex to young. There are a lot of potentially horrid situation’s for children out there and they need to know that as lame as it sounds, it’s ok to say no.
It’s like with my daughter. I make sure she say’s please and thank you and will always respect others but, if someone is touching her, or picking her up and she doens’t like it: I don’t care how offended said person get’s, she has every right to say NO, and if that person doesn’t listen, to push them away. A child is going to learn by what their parent’s do, if the parent is being too nice in situation’s they are uncomfortable with, the child will be the same way and IMO, won’t be armed for potentially dangerous situations they may encounter.
But meh, that’s just me:)
I used to be one of those oh-so-polite individuals until I got sick of feeling like people were taking a dump on me all the time. Saying nothing is like asking for more shit. Life is considerably better once I started opening my mouth. That said, however, it does not give me or anyone else the right to be an asshole – state what you want, be polite, and generally things work out. Reserve the douche-y attitude if the perp cops attitude or for bragging to your friends on the bus.
http://www.damnfunnypictures.com/funny-kid…
thenewcomer -> I said that I (as in me, myself) would welcome the dogs to destroy my castle
This is about dog’s destroying sandcastles, and I find it ridiculous. Just to represent the other side of the argument, there has been talk of holding the collar of the dog and attempting to discipline the dog yadda yadda yadda and I think there is room for general concern about the behaviour of dogs in public. However, I think that if strangers reserve the right to put their hands on my dog, then I reserve the right to put my hands on the strangers and discipline them. It’s just as fair I would say, not that I believe either should be done. I would say though that the reason most dog owners let their dogs do things like that is rooted in the fact that overall, so it seems to me anyhow, that society believes that all dogs are public property and that it is okay just to come up and pet any dog. When you go through that every five minutes that you are out walking your dog, it becomes easier to believe that boundaries do not exist between strangers and your dog.
LOL everyone should train their dogs to respect the personal space of humans so that they wont knock over sandcastles… that’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard in a while.
thenewcomer’s blog sucks ass.
If I had sat and taken the time to build a sand castle and someone came over and destroyed it, I would kick them in the ass, If thier dog came over I would do the same, not to the dog, to the owner…right in the ass!! It’s a bit of work to build a nice sand castle…