[Mike Boults]

Fished a venue yesterday which seemed to be popular with dog walkers, with most of them off the lead
Had a few different interactions,
Some sensible people grabbing the dog before it could come by me, and some just ignoring the dog letting it basically climb into my tackle and cool box.
But the one that stuck out with me is an old woman who kicked off at me when I tried to shoo her dog away, I had most my stuff off the floor or packed away at this point but two snoods were on the floor so didn’t want the dog to get hooked or swallow my bait, and given her attitude would have most likely pushed the blame towards me

Just wondering what everyone’s approach to them are?, with summer on the way it’s going to be a more common thing with where I fish

 

[shakey jake]

dog owners are normally totally unaware that some people dont want a dog jumping all over them. i say this as a dog owner that has no time for other peoples dogs

 

[Huss Hustler]

Hiya Mike,
Most of my fishing's around Blackpool which is heaving with folk during Summertime.
I usually fish at night time or pick a quieter more remote spot to try & avoid the crowds. Not always possible so on those occasions i hang my rucksack on my tripods lamp/ballast hook & i've a leg mounted tripod net for my bait & other bits & bobs so there's nothing on the beach for any dog to pick up & eat or pee on.
You also just have to hope peeps walking their dogs use a bit of commonsense as well.
I've 2 dogs myself so see it from both sides.
Rick😜

 

[Jackjock]

You want a dog to pi*s on your gear which as happened to me a few times , one owner laughed which did not amuse me.

 

[dabcatcher]

dog owners are normally totally unaware that some people dont want a dog jumping all over them. i say this as a dog owner that has no time for other peoples dogs

I know this one well.
I dont hate dogs. I just dont want to talk to other peoples dogs.

 

[russ_789]

Just give them a stroke and tell them to **** off.

Then deal with the dog.

 

[dabcatcher]

I try to tell them That letting a dog go up to a fishermans gear,[especially when hes away from it] Is bad. Theres usually bait and baited hooks on the floor or hanging about. The dog WILL eat these then have a hook in its throat.
Quite a few get stroppy. One said its ok my dog doesnt eat fish. Ive seen them eat everything.

 

[dabcatcher]

While digging on the beach i get loads coming up and barking at me. Some quite aggressively. I just stand and look at the owner. They say its only barking. I tell them that I DONT KNOW THAT.
One time had 3 dogs going at me so i stood with my fork pointed at them. Again the owner just looked and laughed saying they wont bite and are just barking. Again i said I DONT KNOW THAT. I asked what he was going to do as they continued. Smiling, he then said they might feel threatened. I told him that i felt threatened and if they get any closer i will use the fork. Thats when he got really abusive and threatening.
Dont get me started on dog walkers. They turn up with up to a dozen dogs.

 

[Norm B]

While digging on the beach i get loads coming up and barking at me. Some quite aggressively. I just stand and look at the owner. They say its only barking. I tell them that I DONT KNOW THAT.
One time had 3 dogs going at me so i stood with my fork pointed at them. Again the owner just looked and laughed saying they wont bite and are just barking. Again i said I DONT KNOW THAT. I asked what he was going to do as they continued. Smiling, he then said they might feel threatened. I told him that i felt threatened and if they get any closer i will use the fork. Thats when he got really abusive and threatening.
Dont get me started on dog walkers. They turn up with up to a dozen dogs.

I've had several "altercations" with dogs when beach fishing. First one was when a dog ran up and stole a pasty from my bag. I told it's owner and she said, you shouldn't leave your bag open. I replied that dogs were banned from the beach in summer so I didn't expect to have to shield my food from dogs. She then replied she'd bring me one when she came back, she never did. Next was when a teen ager was running his dogs along the beach and they made a bee line for my tackle box, one peed all over my smock and the other one peed on my reels and rod rest. He said that they must have thought they were trees. I told him that dogs weren't allowed on the beach during summer and his reply was, "I run my dogs here all year round and I've never been stopped yet." I contacted Portsmouth council and asked why they didn't enforce their dog ban and they said they didn't have enough staff. I said you have enough staff checking people have paid their car parking so why not check the beach for dogs at the same time? That's not their job was their reply. But the best one was when a dog wolfed down some cut up mackeral from my bag. I told the owner he'd better get his dog to a vet as there were hooks in the mackerel. He went ballistic, calling me names and said he'd sue me and report me to the police. I replied that it was him that should be reported as his dogs shouldn't be on the beach and I had no responsibility to keep my hooks away from "non existent dogs." He said he'd still report me and I said, do you know who I am and where I live? He said he'd find out as soon as he'd taken his dog to the vets. I'm sure he calmed down after the X-Ray showed no sign of hooks and he got the bill for the X-Ray.

 

[smart201]

Love dogs, but find most (not all) owners shouldn't be allowed to own a dog if they cannot look after it properly....if its not trained, its not looked after properly in my honest opinion...
Lovely to see a well trained dog coming to heel immediately - I just very rarely see it though.
Sad thing is, the well trained dogs have the responsible owners too, so all the poorly trained dogs also have owners that are either oblivious to the risks or don't give a to**...
I also see lots of owners too old to control and pick up after their dogs too.....
Not a dog owner lover at all....
Mart.

 

[Norm B]

Love dogs, but find most (not all) owners shouldn't be allowed to own a dog if they cannot look after it properly....if its not trained, its not looked after properly in my honest opinion...
Lovely to see a well trained dog coming to heel immediately - I just very rarely see it though.
Sad thing is, the well trained dogs have the responsible owners too, so all the poorly trained dogs also have owners that are either oblivious to the risks or don't give a to**...
I also see lots of owners too old to control and pick up after their dogs too.....
Not a dog owner lover at all....
Mart.

Ditto.

 

[Pralla]

I like dogs, don't mind them coming over to say hello when I'm on the beach. I do keep my kit wrapped up, I don't leave bait lying around and food is zipped up in a bag. The only problem I've ever had was when one cocked his leg on my bag, I told the owner to take it down to the water and wash it off - waterproof bag but didn't want it stinking of dogs pee. The owner apologised and washed the bag off. To sum up, I'm not anti dog - I like them and they tend to like me (waggley tails gives that away) so no problem at all.

 

[Radio Rental]

Back in the 70s i was fishing in a place called Church Norton near Selsey Bill on me jack putting my gear away after a painless session a dog come up and woofed (pun intended) a sandwich i left on my seat so i shouted and threw a few small stones at the dog, the owner shouted not to throw stones at his dog so i started to throw stones at him instead.He didn’t seem to go much on that and retreated up the shingle bank and then started throwing stones at me so there we were two grown men throwing larger and larger stones at each other, this went on for about ten minutes when one of my larger stones cracked him square on the knee cap which caused him to let out a scream and sent him packing.The upshot of this story is that i got to my car and stripped off my fishing gear and started driving down the narrow lane back towards Selsey, approaching me from the other direction was a grey Honda 4x4 that flashed to let me through, it was this geezer with four others coming back to the beach but i was history, anyway if you're reading this fella....sorry about that...Alan

 

[steeli]

Dog go away
He's okay he won't touch you
I don't give a ****, I don't like dogs and don't want it near me.
Dog owner *looks confused and offended *

Fortunately it's been not too bad when I've been fishing, but I genuinely hate dogs. (working dogs are fine). I have no time for people who think their dog is in anyway important or charming to me.

 

[SiDfish]

I always feel uneasy with people who don't like dogs

 

[steeli]

I always feel uneasy with people who don't like dogs

Not half as uneasy as I feel around dogs. Especially dogs with irresponsible owners

 

[Tamarisk64]

I also don't like dogs, but their owners don't seem able to understand that point of view. They should keep them away unless someone shows that they would like to interact with it.

 

[g.ordon]

i was on holiday one year in jersey and fishing st caths breakwater, sun was blasting down, anyway a guy drove along in a 4x4 and started fishing along from me, he had the tail gate of his 4x4 down and all his gear on it, bait, tackle etc. plus his dog which was maybe getting on a bit and was just lying on the tail gate out of the sun. half an hour later there's a yelp from his dog, guy ran over and the dog had a hook with trace stuck in it's mouth, he tried but nothing he could do so packed the gear up and straight to the vets I guess.

 

[Kickmuck]

PB doggy?

 

[Mr Fish]

Generally I don’t fish marks that feature dog walkers, or I go after dark when they’re not about!

However I did fish a south coast spot last month and soon realised it was dog walker central.
Thinking ahead, I made sure all bait was sealed up in the cool bag or in my box when not baiting up, no rigs were left on the ground and spare rigs or baited traces were put up high enough to keep them away from dogs.
I’m not a HUGE dog fan, but as a result, the many inquisitive (and all friendly) dogs who came over to see me during the day did not eat any bait or swallow any hooks.

As I say, I’m not a massive dog lover but my point is, I knew they were on the beach and knew they’d come over at some point, so took steps from the start to ensure there was no hassles for either of us.

When we’re on the beach with other beach users we have to accept that we need to work around each other. And that a lot of other beach users won’t really understand what anglers are doing or the possible pitfalls/hazards.

The same really with surfers/windsurfers etc. I know they can be annoying and oblivious of anglers, but if you stand in the middle of a popular beach fishing on a warm sunny Saturday, you’ve got to expect them to be there.
So either accept they’ll be there and work around them as best you can, or (my preference), go there when they’re not around ie after dark, lol.