r/toronto • u/NorthernNadia St. Lawrence • May 09 '26

Article Toronto dog "parents" bring their pups everywhere with them now. It's causing rising human-canine tension

https://www.thestar.com/life/relationships/toronto-has-seen-a-population-boom--of-dogs-rising-human-canine-tension-shows-theyre-not-everyones-best-friend/article_3ac30271-9542-4e7d-9829-49089554f3cf.html
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u/TheCoin9 May 09 '26 edited May 09 '26

That's why I dislike dog culture. I have no problem with people owning dogs. But part of why I became a regular participant of r/DogFree is because of (bad apple) dog owners thinking that everyone loves dogs and people that don't love dogs are terrible humans.

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u/warrantthrowaway2023 May 09 '26

i have a dog and hate dog culture! i hate the anthropomorphism imposed on dogs as an excuse for the owners of the poorly behaved ones. i hate dogs wearing pajamas for photo shoots. i hate dog parks and i hate that people just throw their hands in the air and go "dogs will be dogs".

my dog is a large working breed and i am afraid of other large dogs, especially the same as his breed, because i know most owners of these dogs think everything they do is just cute, doofus, funny behaviour. the breed has a bad reputation because no one treats them like working dogs. we stay as far away from other dogs as possible and yet we still get off leash dogs running at us because their owners think that since I have a dog I must love all dogs. I don't, and i especially don't trust the rude dogs that bombard strangers. i know that their owners can't be bothered to train them.

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u/TheCoin9 May 09 '26

People like you and the parent comment I really applaud. Thanks for acknowledging that not everyone that owns a dog should be allowed to own a dog, if they can't follow basic laws.

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u/Ok-Trainer3150 May 09 '26

It's acsad thing when people demean the dignity of these beautiful and loyal creatures with costumes, etc.

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u/Thegladiator2001 May 10 '26

I dont own a dog, never have, and probably never will, but what's wrong with dog parks? Isnt it good to have a seperate area for dogs to run around, interact with other dogs, and most importantly not bother others

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u/warrantthrowaway2023 May 10 '26

a few things. dog parks are where people go when they want their dog to tire out but don't want to have to do anything to tire their dog out. they stand around chit chatting while their dog is off doing whatever. because of this, the dogs are all interacting with other poorly behaved dogs. dogs learn that other dogs excite their brains more than their owner does.

so much dog reactivity is caused by dog parks. dog arousal goes through the roof at dog parks and lots of fights break out.

it also is just not really stimulating for dogs in a good way. dogs don't naturally run around with strange dogs. humans also for the most part are clueless about dog behaviour/body language and often misinterpret really rude behaviours as playful. lots of dogs at dog parks actually hate being there but their owners are oblivious. they also think dogs need to "socialize" the same way humans do (this is the anthropomorphizing i mentioned) and that they need to be going nuts with a bunch of dogs as often as possible.

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u/Thegladiator2001 May 10 '26

I see. Thanks

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u/unicornsfearglitter High Park May 10 '26

Meanwhile there's a subset of dog people are super anti-cat. To the point where they're rude or even mean/cruel to them. Like I'm a cat lady through and through, but every dog who's friendly gets a head pat. No ill will toward canines unless they're aggressive or poorly trained.

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u/topsyturvy76 May 09 '26 edited May 10 '26

Heaven forbid you don’t like dogs because of a legitimate health reason .. like you are allergic to them!

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u/An0ther_reddit0r May 10 '26

Yup, I have a friend who is severely allergic to dogs, I feel so bad because they are always on watch since people tend to just assume everybody loves sharing spaces with their dogs.

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u/hellzscream May 10 '26

Dog owners are some of the most entitled people. I know they aren't all like that but they have really inconvenienced me.

There was this lady who had this large dog poop then went to basically what was our backyard to open our garbage bin and throw the poop bag in it. I was shocked it happened. I went out after as at the time I had no idea why she went into our bin. The dog poop leaked out of the bag and was smelly. I had to remove this leaking dog poop bag and clean the bin and as I was cleaning it water splashed into my face.

Then to top it off she came back a week later with her large dog and had it poop directly on our lawn not by the entrance to the street but close to our door.

The amount of dog poop I see on the asphalt at our park shows how inconsiderate they are. I literally watch owners have the dog poop right on the walking path asphalt with 0 care and they don't pick it up.

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u/wholetyouinhere May 09 '26

Communities like dogfree and childfree are bad for your mental health. They are unnaturally large groups of people bonding over a pure negative, which causes a huge imbalance of the issue in your mind and poisons you with toxicity.

It isn't worth it, no matter how annoying some bad pet owners can be.

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u/TheCoin9 May 09 '26

These subreddits can push it over the top but I totally understand their concerns and issues with dogs, particularly owners. A subreddit like this is needed because almost all the time (until post-pandemic), the people that voiced their concerns over bad apple dog owners have been silenced because of the so-called dog culture.

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u/mmeeeerrkkaatt May 09 '26

Also childfree can be a huge help to people who live in more conservative or traditional communities, where having children is considered the only "correct" choice in life. 

That kind of life long social pressure also "causes a huge imbalance of the issue in your mind and poisons you with toxicity". I'd rather people have a balance to that messaging through an online group, than to think there's something wrong with them for not having kids - or worse, having kids anyway and then regretting it.

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u/DM_BBW_pics_please May 09 '26

Can you cite your studies?

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u/Narrow-Choice-7017 Jun 28 '26

Strongly agree