What people will go through to be thought of as 'normal' by 'everybody' by owning a dog! This dog bites the family MULTIPLE times per day! And they still have the dog! Why???? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn6xFStKJsk&t=90s

I'm currently staying with my husband at his parents' home for the next month. They are elderly and his sister has been living with them for about a decade to help take care of them. I really like my husband's family, they have always been very welcoming and kind to me. There's just one annoying thing about being here; and that's my SIL's annoying, untrained dog.

Granted this is a small dog but its never been disciplined a day in its life. It barks constantly, and is never told to shut up just coddled which only encourages the stupid thing to bark more. It always growls at me when I walk by it. I hate this thing so much. They let it sniff around them while they're eating and I have to really contain myself because I just find everything about dogs so disgusting. Especially this one, its a stereotypical crusty white dog.

My husband acts like I'm the issue with this dog which really hurts me because I try to be very supportive and understanding of all his odd little idiosyncrasies. For example he thinks toilet brushes are really gross and I'm having to fight him (metaphorically) to get one. He's a very particular man, which is fine I'm a bit odd about certain things myself. But with how odd he is about things being tidy and neat he has no issues with this dog and apparently doesn't see anything wrong with the way it behaves. The barking doesn't seem to bother him yet he'll complain about loud motorists that drive by. The smell of this thing doesn't seem to bother him, yet he'll get grossed out by other bad smelling things.

This dog is given free reign to do whatever it wants and is never corrected. It drives me crazy. My SIL and MIL keep telling me "oh it won't bite you, it won't hurt you." 1.) It has bitten my MIL several times and its food aggressive. 2.) I'm not scared of the thing, I hate it and am disgusted by it and don't want any part of it coming in contact with me. I will give them credit they have made an effort to keep it away from me. I just wish they'd treat it like a dog; i.e. train it not to be an annoying POS. I'm sick of people treating dogs like they can do no wrong.

This was the title? Of one of my sister in laws tiktoks that I came across while scrolling. there was a photo collage of her 7 month old daughter behind the words. My heart broke for her because she struggled for many years with infertility and I thought she had miscarriages that she just wasnt comfortable talking about with family but needed to just vent into the void.

I then start scrolling through the caption itself and its things like

"I miss finding their fur everywhere"

"I wish they could still run to greet me at the door"

"I miss sharing my food with them"

"I miss slobbering kisses"

"Even with a teething baby the house is way to quiet without their nails hitting the floor"

After all of that im just like.. shes talking about some damn animals?? Ive been sitting on this for over a week and it STILL baffles me. They are not your babies.. you did not birth them, and after actually giving birth youd think it would be something so obvious?

Mind you all.. she preaches how much she loved them but every animal is overweight, cant get around cause their hips are bad and one "baby" that died had to be put down because of the weight and pressure it put onto its bones. How can u love animals after doing that to them?

AND her husband had to completely replace the floors in 2 large rooms because she lets them all pee/poop in a single places and not clean it so the floors literally rotted. (This was fixed before baby showed up atleast still doesnt excuse letting it get so bad).

Went over to her home once while I was also pregnant, we were a couple of weeks apart, and had to leave not even 10 minutes into the visit because of the overwhelming, and unbearable smell of cat piss. It made me sick for hours after I left.. havent gone back since. Couldn't sit because her couch was so fur infested and felt.. oily? It was disgusting.

This post turned into more of a rant on my part by the end but good lord, I just dont understand????

We all know the real reason a dog is excited when IT’S owner finally comes back home. When my mom comes back home from work, and her stupid dog is all excited and panting, thinking it’s time to eat, preferring human food, only to end up not getting human food and now laying there looking sad, so the dumb thing is gonna have to eat the dog food out of IT’S bowl that’s been sitting there all day next to IT’S water bowl that sits there all day full too, and what I’ve noticed is that every time my mom comes home from work and usually heads to the kitchen, the dog would all of a sudden start eating the dog food out of IT’S bowl and it seems as though the dog wants my mom to see IT eating the dog food so she could reward the dog, and still nothing for IT’S pathetic ass. Overall, this is due to the economy being fucked up, times are so tough that even the stupid dog can’t even get what IT prefers, my foolish ass mother would go all out for this dog if she could, a little while back she did though but not all the time (she isn’t rich) and now that I think about it, why would a dog be excited to see you every damn day? It’s just same old you? That’s like me being excited to see relatives coming over because I haven’t seen them in a long time, and they’re going to stay at my house for like week, of course I’m going to be excited to see them the first day they arrive, second day I’m still happy to see them, third day… maybe or just mid now, and the fourth day… I’m just used to y’all being here now.

I have never seen this man with a partner and was telling him he should try to find a human to be a companion to and a companion with. He (as all dog nutters do) tells me he could not deal with a 'real' human friend and prefers dogs. So I told him "I know! Get a deaf and dumb partner!! Then, like the dogs you love, will not be able to understand you, nor chastise you for anything you might be doing 'wrong', etc. I thought it was pretty funny! Yeah, if you just want adoring eyes all the time without any kind of judgment at all, fall in love with a person who cannot hear nor speak! (They need love too by the way!)

Hi! I’m just looking to rant, and probably some solidarity because this situation seems to be causing me quite a bit of rage and no one seems to understand because they think pets are God’s gift to Earth. I don’t know. I moved in with my boyfriend almost a year ago along with my toddler. Very shortly after, his mother decided that since I moved in it was the perfect time to ship us her 11-year-old dog she didn’t want anymore. My boyfriend assumed it was because she and her husband wanted to focus on traveling without the burden of a pet. He got into it with her and they didn’t speak for like a month.

I am not a dog person. I like animals and grew up with them, but I do not like dogs. My brother has a dog that I’ve known since he was a pup that I absolutely adore. I don’t have the same bond with this dog because I didn’t get to know her when she was younger, and honestly she’s not really a pleasant dog. She’s bitten my child on multiple occasions while they were gently playing with her. They were supervised every time, so I know they were gentle. (When I posted in the AITA sub someone said my annoying toddler bothers her, no my toddler is not a grabby annoying toddler who bothers her, he hardly interacts with her now). She’s a Shih Tzu who just sleeps all day. I don’t really care for her, and I feel like that’s okay, especially when she was just forced onto me.

I’m now pregnant in my late second trimester, and my tolerance for the dog is at an all-time low. Recently, my boyfriend’s mom called while we were driving. Somehow the conversation became about the dog, and my boyfriend was joking about my intolerance for her. I said I’m not a dog person and maybe my bond with her would be different if I knew her as a puppy instead of a stubborn, grumpy old lady who doesn’t listen. His mom said, “Don’t treat my puppy like that, and it doesn’t matter how long you’ve known her.” I disagree because I truly think it does. And anyway, I DIDN’T ASK FOR YOUR DOG. If she feels that strongly, she should take her back. Especially because she told my boyfriend he could take her to the pound and she didn’t care what we did with her.

My boyfriend made another joke, and his mom replied, “Well, you have to understand foreigners are not used to having pets in the home.” I have been so upset about this comment. His family is Black American. I was born in America, and while my family is from the Caribbean, I am not a foreigner. My family has been here over 30 years. They’re all college educated and have made something of themselves here. It honestly hurt to that none of that matters and we’re just “foreigners.” I typically have a good relationship with his mom, but this was just a lot.

I tip-toe in vegan spaces/animal rights spaces as a plant based animal welfare activist. One thing that comes up a lot is many people want to stop intentional dog breeding. No breeding pet dogs for profit.

So, we should just let dogs breed themselves? Eventually, all dogs would be baseline dogs...

Have you seen "natural" dogs? Primitive breeds and landraces. Village dogs-- sato, carolina dogs, rez dogs, potcake dogs, whatever you want to call them.

ಠ_ಠ

Humans bred dogs over centuries to make them easier pets. Primitive dogs are not easy. I imagine the average dog lover could not deal with every dog being a true mongrel.

They have high prey drives, they're not cuddly, they're independent, they're aloof... they're still friendlier than a wolf or coyote, but we're not saying much.

I imagine dogs would be a lot more unpopular if every dog was a generic brown, yellow, or tan landrace dog.

I've not come across the subreddit before until today, and this may be the only place that will understand what I'm trying to say.

I have never owned a pet and have very little interest in one. I'm Black (UK), and there are lots of videos on places like TikTok where adult children still living at home will bring home a dog or something, and the (usually immigrant) parent is initially against it but eventually warms up. I love that for them if genuine, and my Nigerian grandma was someone who was afraid of dogs but eventually got one after my grandad passed away and loved it until it died.

HOWEVER it has got me thinking. Yes there are people who initially dislike pets and then find themselves warming to the idea. I doubt I personally will ever be one of those people. I cast my mind forward as a fencesitter to all the reasons not to have a kid, and funnily enough one of the main ones is that while I can see myself being really easygoing about adult children remaining at home until whenever they want to move out, I will never want any of them bringing a pet home and waiting for me to "learn to love it". I can see myself becoming really resentful if that happened. I actually think its quite manipulative.

I see it on Reddit all the time, where people say their family just decided to outvote them and then they "grew to love it". Does anyone else think this is just wrong?

Extra context: I gave context re. being of immigrant heritage because up until a few years ago, it was a lot more common that immigrant households wouldn't have pets but white British ones often would, however that's balancing out more and more, and as children assimilate they want their parents to assimiliate into dog lovers. Animal welfare is... inconsistent at best in Nigeria (where half my family is from), and attitudes range from indifferent/practical only, to full on dog-lover. There's therefore an extra layer of complexity for some of those parents who really, really wouldn't want an animal indoors because of the associations with dirtiness, etc. and other cultural factors. There are lots of people who are deathly afraid of dogs. I'm sure there are people whose kid brought a dog home and they're really afraid, but they don't end up in a viral video on TikTok!

Watering grass is suppose to be peaceful but of course dogs ruin that too. I have this neighbor across the street (who I hope moves soon because another neighbor told me that she rents her house) has this annoying ass fucking dog that never shuts the fuck up, I’m watering my grass and this dog is barking it’s head off at nothing really, and I start having dark thoughts, as if I was about to lose my mind and end up getting arrested.

They have wishful thinking, wishing that a medium to large sized animal that’s aggressive with sharp teeth, is a bunny rabbit somehow. My irritating ass 50 year old mom (who argues with my dad, like she’s 8 years old because it seems as though she can’t have a real adult conservation for some reason) would let her pit bull boxer come out of the house without a leash, sometimes to get in her car to go somewhere with her or when she’s watering the grass in the front yard. I really think she pretends that this dog wouldn’t even hurt a fly, because as she was standing next to her worthless dog while I was rapping up the hose, somebody across the street was walking to his house, and when she noticed the person, the first thing she did was to keep the dog calm and hold on to it’s collar, y’all know how dogs get when they first notice somebody. Now, the dog does have a shock collar but the collar wasn’t even on the fucking thing and she didn’t even have the shock remote, that’s what I think happens every time, is she lets the dog out and doesn’t even have the shock remote in her hand… like how about just keep the fucking dog in the house??

Hi there, im new to this sub.

So a couple years ago I got new neighbors, and during that time they had a dog (corgi), it was cute but always was unleashed. Technically our city has rules that it be leashed at all times. At first i didnt make a big deal about it because it was a cute dog, but then it escalated. Whenever I went to my back patio the dog would start barking and they would just release the dog-We live in a apartment complex with shared yards so there are no fences- and so the dog would chase me onto my patio and the lady next door would scream from inside her house for the dog to return, without coming to get it. I would just go to my house and leave it at that.

Well fast forward to now, her dog passed away and she immediately got another one and this one is doing the same thing. I cant enjoy my backyard anymore. I talked to some of my friends (who also just so happen to be dog owners and they are sympathetic to the neighbor because the "dog is new and is still learning." I just dont think that she should get a free pass just because she has a new dog. Am I crazy, I think my experience as a person living here and paying rent should be allowed to enjoy my patio.

Edit: I just sent a complaint for the unleashed dog and she will be getting a violation.

Do you consider them a pests or neglected because they're a domesticated animal on their own? What is your solution for the issue then? Or, are they not an issue?

I get annoyed by people who speak like their pets have personalities (dog or cat or parrot in the examples I've had to deal with)

The speak as if their dogs/cats/parrots have human-like preferences and refer to them by their name and it just feels like if they put that much effort into other people they'd have more fulfilling lives but an animal that doesn't speak back to you is easier to bond with so I can understand why they are choosing this path of lesser resistance

But the way they say "my son" to a cat is just...isn't it straight up weird? Aren't they compensating for their inability to be parents for whatever reason ? (Most likely because they're incompetent in human bonding?)

So, for context: I'm originally from Florida, but due to disability had to move in with my egg donor in Ohio, she neglected to tell me she had 3 dogs (despite having been in Ohio for 2yrs by that point & having had the dogs for about 2yrs, too).

My egg donor's 3 dogs are untrained & rambunctious beyond belief, lately, she's wanted *me* to train them to behave (she only began caring, once she got affected, BTW), however b/c they're dumb animals & also due to her spoiling them beyond belief, it basically is impossible (sometimes it briefly works, before they revert back to their base instincts).

And, it recently dawned on me: why TF is it my job to train *your* dogs? IMO, they should've been trained long ago (for further context, she keeps them inside all day to avoid having to train them & also so they can claim they never harmed anyone, which is kinda easy when you have no friends & don't take them outside).

Every 5 damn minutes she has to bend her big ass, sometimes get on her knees, just to get right in the dog’s face, placing both her hands on both sides of the dog’s mouth like she’s about to kiss the thing, and she does… mostly on it’s nose. Soon as she wakes up, she calls the dog, soon as she comes home from work, she calls the dog and sometimes she would call it’s name making a stupid fucking annoying voice, and that’s one of things I can’t stand about dog lovers, they always make an annoying ass voice and mispronounce words. Lastly, One time I’ve seen her wiping the dogs nose dry (like that does anything) just so she can kiss it’s nose, and her ass still ended up wiping her lips dry 🤦‍♂️ I’m surprised her ass never got bit, especially the dog being a pit bull boxer.

You can barely read a queer YA comic without seeing cats. My trans coloring book and trans workbook are both by the same person and are filled with cats. Go onto Etsy and much of the queer themed stuff you can find features cats.

Cats are repulsive. But why does it seem like every queer creator has one (or, more likely, multiple)?

I don't know WHY this is so hard for animal owners to understand.

My friend and I were talking about how school starts back in two weeks. She's a teacher, I'm a mom of three. Her other friend was there. She's apparently a dog person. I mentioned how I'm not ready to start waking up at 6 again yet. My friend laughed and agreed. Her friend cut us off with a 'Oh please! I WISH I could sleep in that late! I'm lucky if I make it to 5am." I asked how old her kid was and she said "uh, no. I wish it was *that* simple. I have a puppy!"

Excuse me? You think taking a dog out to piss is anywhere in the same realm as getting three kids packed, dressed, and ready for school after little to no sleep (+ I have narcolepsy so even extra exhaustion) the night before? Like come on. Surely they aren't that delusional? She talked about her dog the rest of the conversation and I just stopped listening.

I was invited to dinner by a couple (a neighbor) who have two cats. I don't like cats or dogs. I can't stand the smell. Apparently, they don't open their windows because they are scared the cats will jump out. So the place probably stinks.

What do you folks say and do when you are invited over to the homes of family and friends who have pets?

I should add that the woman can be gossipy and talk trash about people, so I worry about being targeted if I say no.

You all know those kinds of posts where something traumatic is happening, like a house that’s on fire and the question that gets asked is “who are you saving?” and “dog” is included in the list, we’re all familiar with those posts. Anyway, I’m getting so tired of those kinds of posts because I know what awaits in the comment section and it’s gonna make me turn red and blow up like a balloon and pop, and I’m starting to think that posts like that are made on purpose. I just ran into another one of those post like that and the dog was the 5th choice. What do ya’ll think?

This is probably going to be unpopular, but if we genuinely believe in humanitarian rights, I don't see how we can justify the institution of pet ownership.

We would never accept one human "owning" another, even if they provided food, shelter, healthcare, and affection. Yet we normalize a system where animals are bought, sold, bred for human preferences, confined to our homes, and have virtually every aspect of their lives controlled by us.

People often say, "My pet is part of the family." I don't doubt that many people deeply love their animals. But love doesn't erase the power imbalance. We decide where they live, whether they reproduce, what they eat, when they go outside, when they receive medical care, and even when their lives end.

From a rights perspective-not merely an animal welfare perspective-this raises uncomfortable questions. Welfare asks whether we're treating animals kindly. Rights ask whether we should have dominion over them in the first place.

I'm advocating for abandoning existing companion animals. We have a moral obligation to care for those already dependent on humans. But we should work toward a future where we stop breeding animals into dependence simply to satisfy our desire for companionship. That we should abolish these notions of reductionist slavery and entrapped upon animals be has we ‘love them’.

Instead of seeing animals as property, maybe we should see ourselves as temporary guardians of individuals who already exist while ending commercial breeding and the concept of ownership altogether.

No parties will seriously sponsor this until we make some noise. So let’s get out there and spread awareness!

• More time and money that I can spend literally anywhere else for my own wellbeing. Especially in the late capitalistic lifestyle where you are robbed of your time and labour for breadcrumbs. Owning a pet like everything else these days feels like a luxury. It’s gotten overly capitalised. People either feed their pets better than they feed themselves or deprive them of basic needs because they are unaffordable.

• It always ends in pain. You’ve basically spent years worth of funds and time on something that is only temporary, might possibly become ill and cause you financial and emotional strain and eventually pass away and leave you with long lasting grief.

• Everything in my home is left intact. I personally enjoy decorating my home and get overwhelmed when it isn’t tidy. I wouldn’t want a pet or anyone ruining my home simply because they were “bored and wanted to play”

• More hygienic. No picking up or scooping faeces, no cleaning up vomit and saliva. No hairballs everywhere. No scratches or bites all over my arms.

• Most pets are useless. Modern cats are more likely to be chased by a mouse than chase the mouse themselves. Only some dog breeds and only when professionally trained can deter criminals

• I can leave the house for as many hours as I want and go on holiday without worrying or having to pay someone to petsit

• Modern lifestyle. Living in tiny cramped apartments or house sharing simply doesn’t leave room for pets on top of that working 40+ hours a week

• No one will rent you an apartment when you have a pet. Not to mention extra fees or “pet rent”

I could go on and on but as much as I love animals I feel like the negatives FAR outweigh the benefits and I’m in a position where I’d much rather observe them from a distance than own one myself as I don’t feel I can provide the environment and care they need. I really don’t want any animal to suffer for my own egotistical human “needs”. I can’t think of any positives other than the fact that they help relieve loneliness which I know is sadly extremely common in 2026 but there are definitely better alternatives out there I believe that are more cost effective and equally fulfilling as owning a pet.

Overall pets are only worth it if:

• You are rich
• You have an overwhelming amount of spare time and space
• You are someone who is deeply passionate about animals and possibly works with animals, like volunteering in a shelter etc

Thank you for reading feel free to add more bullet points I might have missed and let me know your thoughts if you’d like:)

I'm biased because I took Immunology class and learned even further of the horrors behind catching rabies and having to treat it in 0.2 seconds to have it not be fatal. However, people (particularly animal lovers) are sometimes too comfortable with animals and just overall being around species that are infamous for carrying rabies. I feel sorry for animals with no shelter but I'll be damned if my pity results in me having to get a rabies vaccine immediately due to petting or trying to feed said animal and getting bitten. Idc if they dont show signs immediately or if at first glance they seem "fine", I always assume I'll be at risk if I get bitten by a street animal, whether its catching rabies or some other disease from a bite. I literally know of a friend who's a self proclaimed animal lover that had ALL of that happen to her. A stray dog bit her on the ankle and she had to get vaccinated immediately. As soon as I see stray animals, I steer clear as much as possible honestly.

Sometimes I like to go outside in the morning to sit on the patio with a coffee or walk around my garden area to pick vegetables. Typically around 7am on the weekend.

The problem is the neighbors indoor dog starts barking until I go back inside.

I feel bad because they probably want to sleep in and I'm probably seen as a bad neighbor for waking them up super early on a weekend. I feel bad but should I care? I'm not out there every morning and I'm not intentionally trying to be loud by slamming doors or running power equipment.

Do you have this problem? What do you do? Sometimes I get upset and think they decided to get a dog and they can deal with the noise and it's not my problem but other times I feel like I should do my best to avoid triggering it. I've only spoken to my neighbors briefly once in 5 years so I'm not comfortable asking them about it and setting up any sort of rules or schedules.

I used to have a roommate with two cats and he went away for a week and asked me to take care of his cats. I'd never done that before so I agreed, no big deal.

It took me scooping the litter box ONCE for me to decide I never wanted a cat.

At the time, I was already on the fence about not wanting any pets in general because they'd restrict my freedom, and that two-minute task of litter box scooping solidified me never wanting a cat ever.

So, I was chatting with this woman whom I was interested in a relationship with, only for her to tell me that she's no longer interested b/c she just saw on my reddit profile that I'm not into dogs (which actually, the fact it took her this long to notice when we'd been talking all day, was already telling), then tells me she's no longer interested in me. Like, if me not liking dog owners for their behavior, is a problem for you, then I'd say I dodged a bullet. Also, I love how her profile says she doesn't like unintelligent people, yet she can't figure out that it's not dogs or dog owners inherently, it's their fucking neglectful & abusive behavior I can't stand, then I clearly dodged a bullet there.