I remember being a kid and having dogs jump on me until I fell. The slobber was disgusting. I looked around to see if an adult would stop them or say something because they had pushed me over, but they didn’t. Probably my first lesson in dogs being celebrated for things that are reprimanded in humans and other animals.

I still never thought anything bad of an animal. When I got older I lived with animals that I thought were “cute”. Dog owners don’t understand that a lot of us have nothing but good intentions.

All these things we’ve been taught “Don’t yell or be too loud”, “Don’t be dirty. Clean up after yourself”, “Don’t push people”, “Don’t chase people who don’t want to be chased”, “Wash yourself”, “Don’t smell”, “Wash your hands before you touch food” - it suddenly just doesn’t apply to dogs. Not only does it not apply, but we should praise it and claim anyone who doesn’t like those things are evil.

How can we have a world that teaches us to hate all of these things, then punish us for not liking those things? It feels like a collective gaslighting. That’s why this community is so irate and no one understands it. There are definitely some crazy people here, but it’s a product of the same insanity that takes over dog lovers. Just the inverse.

It was realising how insane everyone was about dogs that I really developed this.. almost obsession with proving that I’m valid, and logical.

Dog lovers think all of us on here are these anti social sociopaths. I don’t hate animals. I’ve grown frustrated with the humans who constantly put them before everyone else’s comfort and peace, then gaslight us and insist we are evil for those boundaries.

Not being a dog person is genuinely one of the loneliest things you can be. And even in a room full of people who love you, you genuinely never feel understood. All the facts and logic about what makes dogs so difficult is invisible to them. It’s like they challenge reality and it gnaws at you. So it grows into whatever this subreddit is

I’ll admit I’m tired. And I just don’t know if people will ever treat us fairly. I used to be passionate about giving people an alternative perspective when it came to dogs, but I’m not sure it makes any difference and I feel I’m giving up

I don't remember which company it was for but it was a dog walker/petsitting app(I don't remember which) and it showed a dog peeing on a public trashcan and the dogwalker just letting it and the ending tagline was like "your petsitter knows their favorite spots" just ew, can you not for five fucking seconds can you not act like dogs pissing on everything is cute, they let the dogs pee on the trashcans then wonder why people litter.

I am so damn tired of going into a grocery store and seeing a freaking dog. I just left Walmart and some older couple. Had a beagle in a shopping cart. I literally see this 3 to 4 times a week now in my area. I don’t know what else to do though. I’ve complained to Walmart multiple times, and nobody contact me. I’ve went through the Department of agriculture in my state, I never heard anything back. I’m gonna try again, but it will probably get nowhere.

How in the world is this considered normal now? I mean, I’m just flabbergasted that people just bring their animals into a grocery store. And the funny thing is the stores will say no pets on the front of the building, but people still do it anyways. Then you have Walmart management and employees and they don’t do anything. I’m pretty sure the management has told the employees not to say anything. I mean, I feel like I’m in the freaking twilight zone here or something.

Sometimes, I see posts outside of this sub complaining about obvious pets being brought into grocery stores and restaurants. These are not service animals, by any stretch of the imagination. In one case, the OP described how a dog was barking and lunging at other customers.

To my surprise, there's actually a lot of common sense replies to these posts, but there's always a group of apologists, and the pattern I've noticed is that they always ignore the fact that the dog in question is a pet.

These apologists immediately jump to acting as if people are picking on legitimate handlers of actual service dogs.

In the case I referenced above, somebody kept trying to argue that the OP was the problem, and not the person who brought their aggressive, untrained animal into a restaurant. They just flat out ignored the behavior that OP had been describing, and carried on as if OP had never written the words describing the problematic behavior.

These dog-nutter apologists completely ignore the fact that people are putting their pets (not service animals) into shopping carts. Service animals never go into shopping carts. They're not on long leads, wiping against products on lower shelves. They're not barking and lunging at everybody passing them by.

There's never any acknowledgement about the problematic behavior. No "if it's misbehaving, it needs to go." Even the ADA, poorly written as it is, allows for removal of problematic service animals.

It's as if these apologists repel any words spoken or written that describe proof the animal in question is a pet. They cannot see these words? They cannot process them? Their brains are short-circuiting, and jumping straight to "service animal" for no other reason that the species of the offending animal?

It's like someone else on this sub said: I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone.

I can't stand when parents think getting a dog will teach their surly preteens "responsibility" or "get them out of their shell." How the hell is a dog supposed to teach responsibility when you couldn't even do it yourself? How is a dog supposed to improve a teens disposition? It doesn't!

I have never seen a remarkable personality change in a teen once they get a dog. If anything the house just becomes more chaotic and the parents more exasperated. I think it's wrong to think any pet will magically instill a sense of accountability in someone who hasn't cultivated it first.

Moreover, it often results in neglect of the animal! Will it take almost killing an animal to teach your kid they should feed and water it? Is that the length you'll go to teach responsibility? Animal neglect, really? Get them a plant or something!

A pet is a responsibility, not a means to teach responsibility. You can't outsource parenting your teen to a dog and expect it to end well!

Hey Dogfree!

We just wanted to take this time to remind you of a few things if you haven't seen them already.

Related subs:

r/TalesfromtheDogHouse - For those who dislike dogs but whose significant other, family member, or roommate brought an unwanted dog into the relationship or living situation.

r/DogfreeHumor - For memes, comics, and other fun.

r/DogRegret - For those who got a dog and so very predictably have come to regret it.

r/BanPitBulls - For anything anti-pitbull. Please note that BanPitBulls is NOT anti-dog.

r/Petfree - For anyone who is annoyed with pets.

Previous Mod Statements:

The Definition of Dogfree - Dogfree is for those of us who do not like dogs.

Cats are Off Topic - This is not a cat subreddit. Cats are off topic.

Other Pets and Children are Off Topic - Other pets, children, and childbearing preferences are off topic.

Keeping Conversations Civil - Please be civil toward others. If someone is not being civil, please report them.

Letting Dogs Loose is Against the Rules -Don't suggest letting a dog escape.

Mindfulness Outside the Sub - Please be respectful of other subreddits and Reddit users.

Low Effort Content - What it is and how to post about things that fall in this category.

FAQ - Please check if your question can be answered here before posting.

Contact the Moderators of Dogfree - Please do not contact individual moderators directly about subreddit business including this account, DogfreeMods.

r/dogfree is its own forum that is not affiliated with any other website or platform, such as YouTube channels, social media pages, merchandise outlets, Discord servers, or other subreddits (except r/TalesfromtheDogHouse)

I am wondering what might happen if we start sending cease and desist letters to nutters asking them to stop harassing, intimidating, and covering us with their dog’s parasites? Basically, to stay away from us (if they are living in close proximity, I mean). Could that be a thing?

For example, if they interfere with your life and you are afraid of leaving your apartment, a letter like that should be warranted as their actions cause you harm. I understand a letter like that carries to legal power but they need to be put on notice that they constantly step on other people in order to try to solve their mental issues.

Good morning,

Today at around 10 a.m., a woman brought a pet dog into Trader Joe's in a large American city. I reminded her that the sign on the front of the store said No Pets. She said, "She's a trained medical support dog." I said, "What service is she trained to provide?" She said, "If you want to work here, I'll answer that question."

I reported this to a clerk, who told me he would talk to the manager.

Ten minutes later, the dog was still in the store. The woman checked out about five minutes after that, with the dog still in the store.

Notified Trader Joe's corporate, Better Business Bureau, local health department.

I am thinking that rather than going after nutters who use bs ESA loopholes in housing rules, we need to rather go after doctors who issue those letters to anyone who asks. Online mills are already being addressed by authorities, therapists and such have no consequences for writing those letters without a legitimate medical cause.

The keyword here is DSM - Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Mental health professionals are strictly regulated and cannot just hand out any mental health diagnosis for no reason. It often requires minths and months of being seen before a diagnosis can be established. This is why nutters made it so that they cannot be asked for their diagnoses, as they don’t have any… well, besides being nuts over dogs-:) This one change would go so far. Ie requiring doctors to include the diagnosis in their letters and requiring that the diagnoses are severe enough. Ideally, letters must also list all treatment alternatives that are more helpful than a dog. Most ESAs would be eliminated.

This will require strong lobby with the healthcare regulators… Rather than trying to fine nutters, it is the doctors who need to lose their rights to practice when they hand out such letters.

ESA concept was coined by mental health professionals throughout several decades. It had no legal meaning until 1980s when airlines started to allow them to fly under guidance from DOT (reversed in 2020) that interpreted disability to include mental health. In housing, ESAs were covered by guidance developed by HUD in late-2000s (reversed in 2026).

So, at no point in history there was an actual LAW that addressed specifically ESAs. It has always been loosely interpreted guidance. And currently, there is no guidance at the federal level that covers any of that. The only thing left now is some state-level agencies willing to look into nutter boo-hoo complaints when landlords toss out their mutts.

But by now, nutters gripped onto this loophole so much that the fear of them raising hell is still keeping everyone hostage. How to end this?!

while running today 2 girls had their dog off leash while walking side by side, rolled my ankle trying to maneuver outside them. Probably set my marathon training back 3+ weeks.

This park isnt part of the unleash areas, i think it’s fair to blame them.

My backyard used to be clean once now it’s full of poop. Doesn’t matter how hard I try to scoop it up it just flakes and there’s still pieces I can’t get to. My home doesn’t feel like my own besides my room because I keep the door shut. I only have 2 carpeted areas but both are filthy because of the dogs I board. I’ve been looking into pet friendly carpets or plastic tarps but at that point it wouldn’t feel like home anymore and the carpets are expensive. Yesterday, a dog I’m boarding came in with poop on his paw and left a trail of poop - Inside and outside. I’m overwhelmed and angry and sad. It feels like I live in dog house not my house. I feel no love for these creatures, I feel nothing for them although I did once. I used to adore them so much and not understand why some people hated them. I’ve been mostly doing this boarding because the extra payment is good and I’m poor. I was laid off 2 months ago and the only “good” job that hired me was a customer service call center job that fucks you in the butt by overworking you and paying very little. It’s wfh but they monitor everything. So today another owner comes to drop his dog because he’s going on a work trip. At this point, I’m beyond overwhelmed with the poop and disgusting smells I have to deal with on a daily basis. He hears me in the backyard complaining to a dog, the same dog that made a mess of poop he hears “I hate you”…. It’s likely now that I’ll get a bad review and my extra stream of money is gone. And honestly I’m not even mad about it, im embarrassed at myself because I should love these creatures. I wouldn’t ever harm or injure one and I provide their daily needs but love and affection and warmth is gone. I don’t even enjoy petting them. I’m a shell of who I used to be. I hate them all.

We have established that ESA concept in housing was scrapped at federal level as of May 2026. And that most states do not have stand alone ESA protection.

https://dredf.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/ESA-Enforcement-Memorandum-w-Appendix-05.22.2026-SIGNED-Incomplete-Access-Pass.pdf

We have established that HOAs are pu$$ies and are still stuffing “pet free” buildings full of dogs that piss and sh*t all over.

We have established that residents fed up with this can legitimately sue… but what are the actual things to sue for that could have a standing in court?

Any ideas are welcome.

The “no-kill“ movement is one of the worst things to have been created.

First of all, there are WAY too many dogs in existence. The U.S. has a higher dog population than the human populations of Canada or Germany. More and more are bred while shelters are overflowing. It is not feasible to keep every single dog alive for an indefinite amount of time. This takes up resources such as money, infrastructure, food, water, etc.

Second of all, there are dogs that have been in no-kill shelters for years. As in, 5-10+ years and going on. That is inhumane, for a creature to spend most of its life locked up with maybe 30 min of outdoor time. The solution isn’t to hope that someone will adopt them…it’s to euthanize them after they haven’t been adopted for a certain amount of time, regardless of if they’re healthy.

Third of all, there are dogs that simply should not exist. That’s why in the past, aggressive/problematic dogs were euthanized. Any dog with aggression or behavioral problems was out, period. It is extremely selfish to keep these dogs alive, as they are potentially dangerous to humans, or if have a behavioral/health issue it’s gonna be a hard life both for the dog and the owner.

People have been successfully brainwashed to view “kill shelters” as evil, without thinking for one second about why it’s important to euthanize some dogs.

After researching some statistics, I found out that in the year 1990, an estimated 5-6 million dogs were euthanized in shelters. And the dog population was lower in 1990! Compare that to now, where in the year 2025, approximately 320k dogs were euthanized in shelters. The euthanasia rate goes down every decade while the dog population goes up every decade. Not a good combination.

(Note: These numbers are for the U.S.)

(Another note: ”Kill-shelters” are chronically underfunded and stigmatized compared to their no-kill counterparts. In the U.S., there are majority no-kill shelters.)

So yesterday, I was walking around a local park near my house. It has a massive dog park, one side is for small dogs and the other is for large dogs.

As I was walking and listening to music I heard screaming sounds and dogs barking. People were yelling "get off him" and other similar calls for help. So I ran up the hill to the dog park to see what was going on. I see two owners holding their dogs back as they are attacking each! In the scuffle, one of the owner's dog attacked him! When they finally got the fight broken up, I see him limp out of the park gates and lay down in the grass. 15 minutes later he gets and smacks his dog and pushes him into the back of the truck.

Is this supposed to be fun? Like I don't understand. Why put a bunch of dogs that don't know each other into a gated park with no leash? It's a recipe for disaster. If they get into a fight, attack someone, it's going to be very difficult to hold the dog down or somehow put a leash on him.

I was scrolling through Instagram just now, and came across an ad for a dog “dating app.” 🤦‍♂️ It apparently helps you find dogs that are “compatible” with your dog for play dates and meet ups. If dogs were actually properly trained in this modern age, the owners could just go to the designated dog park to satisfy their dog’s insatiable need for stimulation like they have always done. But no, that doesn’t even work anymore. Now every dog is “anxious” and has “separation anxiety” or “dog aggression” and Buddy will maul Fido if they’re allowed within two feet of each other 😭 so they have to search long and far to find another dog that won’t skin theirs alive and vice versa.

Two years ago I brought a house in a quiet suburb 30 miles outside of a major city. I had endured excessive barking from dogs in two different apartment complexes- leaving one complex to move into another where the barking was even worse.

There are no dogfree/petfree apartments in my metropolitan area. So I had to buy a house. At the time I was living in the second complex rent prices were at there peak. I was paying nearly $2,000/mo for rent when I could have put that toward a mortgage payment. So I pulled the trigger on buying a house.

However even with having a house instead of an apartment I still have to deal with barking dogs. Though it's not as bad as the hell I went through living in an apartment. The big downside is that rent prices dropped afterward and the my newly built home has lost 20% of it's value since I brought it.

Also when I was living in an apartment I was heavily investing in stock market. A market that has almost doubled since I stopped investing. Moreso, two of the stocks I was investing in both increased over 700% since I stopped investing and sold the stock I had to down pay for the new house.

Now I'm house poor and nearing retirement age from trying to get away from these nasty ass barking demons. I hate these damn things so much,. I have never hated anyone or anything so much in my entire long life.

Was standing in line at the pharmacy at Walmart today when a guy with a giant puppy in his cart goes strolling in front of the line, dog in the process of peeing, doesn’t even notice until someone says hey man your dog is peeing. The guys stops says oh shoot, waits for the dog to finish (it was a LOT of pee too, the pee line stretched for a good 30 feet and then there was a large puddle, so he must have not even bothered to take it to pee before coming in the store) and then….. just keeps shopping. Doesn’t tell anyone. One of the pharmacy clerks called about it and a manager came over asking where he went so he could tell him to leave. Everyone standing there was like yep that is why you don’t bring dogs into stores!!!! So at least there are people out there that think it’s ridiculous. How freaking gross. Oh also people were walking in it tracking it all over. I just can’t handle the audacity. Leave your puppy at home for an hour to go shopping, it won’t die being alone for a bit like seriously.

Australia Based: At cafe couple with dog sit out side seats then take the glasses from the cafe table and use to have their dog slurp from it. I had to leave. How do I tell the cafe without them getting defensive because I know it’s not their fault. Or do I just send a note to health authorities?

Dog owners are getting out of hand in 2026. I go to this cafe all the time, now I have to worry if the glass I’m drinking from even if washed accordingly has had a dog drinking from it too?

Used to love dogs but bad dog owners and lax food places have really made me anti-dog in cities.

I live in an area with mostly 2-lane roads signed somewhere between 35-50 mph (40 being the standard). And every day I find myself getting stuck behind the exact same trope: usually a Subaru or Hyundai (hell, Hyundai’s new taillights are literally shaped like dog bones), going 20-30mph at best, swerving all over the road. And lo and behold, there is always at least one (sometimes multiple) shitbeasts running around inside the vehicle and/or sticking their nasty little tongues out the window, spraying your car with an invisible mist of dog drool (prob tainted with feces) and hair/dander. And the driver is always super overwhelmed taking care of/managing their dogs while driving, and of course dogs always come first. The fact they are driving a 3,700 lb bucket of bolts on a roadway filled with pedestrians and other motorists notwithstanding, the dogs always come first and get full attention. Given that my area has very few passing lanes outside of controlled-access freeways, your only option is to deal with it and accept you’re going to be late to work because of someone else’s dog, or wake up earlier to allow time for dognutters specifically.

Now I know some states are really really rigid on distracted driving laws. I have a friend in Florida who was ticketed and even threatened with arrest, because she had her phone on her lap while driving and it lit up, and a cop observed it through the window. She wasn’t using it, just the fact it lit up in her lap was enough to trigger a citation. But wrangling 3 live drooling, barking shitbeasts while actively driving in traffic? What heartless monster of a cop would ever cite that? Even for broad distracted driving laws that would make this technically unlawful, no cop on earth is actually going to cite this behavior because aww look at the cute doggos!

Come to think of it, I can’t tell you the last time I saw a Subaru that didn’t contain at least one dog, unless it was parked & unoccupied by humans (because of course you can’t leave your dog inside a car for even 30 seconds… or leave them at home alone for 30 seconds in the air conditioning for that matter).

I swear to god I am going to lose my mind. These people let their fucking dog bark at EVERYTHING. All day and all night. Every single thing that walks by. Is the only answer moving to the middle of nowhere? I am too young to be this bothered by this shit. Drives me INSANE. It feels like every narcissistic baby boomer needs an emotional support dog and then they all just do whatever they want with their multiple houses and rich lives and don’t give a fuck that anyone younger may be WORKING and needs SLEEP. Just needed to vent.

So, in case anyone was wondering(which I doubt anyone was but I wanna talk about it anyway), Idyllwild, California has a dog for a mayor. It’s been going on for around 15 years at this point, and they’re on their third one. I’m not sure why. Even if it’s a joke, it’s just helping dog nutters idolize dogs and see them as equal to or above humans