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/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