Annoying Things People Do To/With Your Pet(s)

[localpigeon]

my cat is an emotional support animal "prescribed" by my psychologist for my anxiety disorder-- as in, i adopted this cat with the intent of him being my ESA. he lives in my dorm with me because.... duh. and its an accomodation the housing at my uni provides.

so what annoys me about this is how some people treat it. i understand curiosity and welcome questions, i also often entertain people who wish to come and hang out with my cat. i get a lot of questions about how im able to bring my "pet" in. i always explain that hes not my pet, but my ESA, and that its very different from service animals, but that he still exists to help with my disorder. they ask how you register an ESA, i say you dont: there is no official registration. all you need is a letter from your mental health professional.

half of the time, people say "oh, okay, cool" and leave it at that. however... the other half of the time, they instantly say something like "oh!!!! maybe i should try to get one!!!!"

now, if they actually have a disorder that would be bettered by having an ESA, thats fine, but the other day, someone else who lives on my floor excitedly told me that her roommate that used to have depression got in contact with her old psychologist and is going to pretend it "came back" to get an ESA letter. i felt pretty disrespected.

the only thing that annoys me more than that is when i see clearly fake service dogs... and by that i dont mean their owner appears able, i mean that their dog has a vest clearly marked "service dog" but the dog doesnt behave like a service dog. my significant other and i saw a "service" dog the other day that kept pulling at his leash and trying to walk away from its owner while in a restaurant, rather than sitting patiently under or beside her chair like service dogs are trained to. she also kept yanking on the leash and yelling at the dog. it was pretty bad.

basically.... if you take advantage of these services and accomodations for disabled folk (whether the disorder or disability is physical, emotional, mental, etc), i have no respect for you.

[pizzas and scream]

complain that the dog has terrible recall/attention and keep calling her "sussy/susi/sucy or something that sounds like "sushi"" when her name is Lucy. I don't care if my grandpa is 84. he baby sits her and i walk her at 10:30 am. don't remind me my stepdad did not perfect her recall when you don't use the right name

[Winstalgia]

Honestly, I can frustrated with people so much. I'm usually very chill and friendly and don't like to fight but my annoyance shows, for sure. I have two gerbils and a cat, and we have people over often. Now, my gerbils are in my room and guests aren't allowed to go upstairs to the rooms and such. However, we'll occasionally be giving someone a tour or perhaps my sister's friend will come over. I'll say, I don't mind her friends, they're all pretty cool and chill. However, there are a couple I wouldn't want handling my pets. Plus, gerbils aren't like just 'pick me up and I'll be okay'. Especially mine. They're brothers and pretty chill when in my pocket or on my shoulder, but they don't really enjoy being held, I'll pet them if I'm not taking them out of their tank.

This one person came over and I showed them my gerbils, let them pet them. I shut the cage and then I glance over and their hand is in it, 'playing' with my gerbs. I didn't really mind but I'd like it if people would ask permission. If I wanted you to touch my gerbils, I would've left the top open, obviously.

Another time I let my friend hold my gerbil. I've known her for a good couple years, so we were pretty chill. I showed her how to hold them, with one of them. Now, this is partially my fault because I gave her the more active one; Geronimo. He'd rather sit in your pocket, not be held. I bend down to get a treat for him and I heard her saw 'ow' so I turn around and she's basically squeezing him. Not tight, just in a way that his back feet are dangling, and they don't like that. I explain to her how she should be holding him and then she said that he bit her! Geronimo does 'nip' occasionally, but he's never bit anyone, so obviously it was the way my friend was holding him. I've never had them bite me and I've had them well over a year. No mater how many times I tell people, they don't listen! Only two friends I completely trust with my gerbs because they've watched them while on vacation before and such.

Also- My parents intentionally let my younger brother terrorize the cat. He's outdoor/Indoor and the neighborhood cat I guess as well, so I let him outside to escape. But the other day he was being chased around with a plastic bag. I warned my Mom he was gonna get clawed. She said it was fine. But when he does get clawed you pin it on me? If you're going to let the baby chase around the cat, and I specifically warn you what would eventually happen, don't tell me I could've prevented it. Plus, the cat was here first Mom. (Jk, I love my family)


Sorry for the long post, and probably salty attitude, XD

[GhiraWar]

Roughly handle or toss or bug my cat. Not even a year old.

[Mistfox]

I used to have a gigantic dog, probably bigger than me now. (I'm around 5'3).His name was Colton. He was surprisingly really small for a puppy who was almost considered an ''adult''. He was a birthday gift when I turned 13. He was the sweetest, most energetic thing I've ever seen. However, my parents were blaming me for him growing so quickly. They thought he was just gaining a lot of weight, and at that time, I did as well. They accused me of ''feeding him too much'', even though I only fed him a small portion of kibble twice a day. I even got grounded for their pointless accusations. We've even gone to the vet, and she said if anything, he's underweight. So guess what happened then? I got grounded for that, too. And eventually when when he got taller than the dinner table, they made me go to bed early and during that time, they gave him away to our neighbors who were moving. Me and Colton did everything together, and they saw how happy that made me. And when I found out about it, I knew I couldn't argue with my parents because they'd get super mad. I knew I would never see him again, and I was right. But just a few months ago, I stumbled across their Facebook page, and as far as I know from all their pictures, he has a good life. Their kids love him twice as much as I did. He has certainly gotten bigger, and he is extremely active outdoors and has graduated from obedience training. He was a mixed breed for sure, but I never really knew of what. My guess would be a great Dane mixed with some kind of mastiff? (Or at least that's why my research has told me so far) But it's just really annoying to see someone so happy with something, and have someone else totally ruin it for them. It's just plain sad!

Wow, that’s so mean! If my parents gave away my dog in the middle of the night I would leave. They should’ve done more research.

[pizzas and scream]

tell grandpa don't give dog people food. aunt tells me to stop telling him. he is 85, and he will most likly not give dog people food. "she likes it" "she is hungry" of course. dogs are set to hungry almost always. he gives her what he can't finish. i think is medication makes eating not fun and kills the appitite.
but after being told 5 times by both me and my stepdad (she is more his dog) it's getting a bit annoying

[Mistfox]

I used to have a lovely gerbil called Blaze. I loved him more than anything but when people came to visit they would always try to pick him up and squeeze him, Blaze was super shy and was frightened a lot by them. Eventually though I had to give him away when we moved. I was about 7 or 8 and was devastated but atleast it was my friend who got him and I have her number, sadly Blaze passed away last year but my friend’s new gerbil had a few babies and my dad has decided that maybe we can get another gerbil or maybe two this time, any advice on how many to get? I’m allowed up to 3 but I want them to be happy so please help! It’s been a while and I was too young to do much of the care but dad says that this time I have to so please pm me with tips if you have time.

[whimbie]

Alright, so, a bit of background before I rant.

I own a black American Shorthair named Luna. She's a little over two years-old, but often acts like she's 6 months. She's probably one of the nicest, friendliest cats you'll ever meet, and has never met a person she hasn't instantly cuddled up to. She has always been very affectionate, especially with me, and loves to drape herself on my shoulders, not seeming to mind the fact she's now bigger than them (I'm fairly small). Of course, she does love to play and will tend to playfully bite and scratch (which doesn't usually hurt), but that's to be expected, as she still acts like a kitten. She never really bites or scratches out of malice, and has only done so if someone swipes at or kicks at her first (which has actually happened on multiple occasions, as we used to live in an urban area and she loves to be outside).

Anyways, onto the point of this rant.
My family is a very social one (not me though, I'm an introvert with social anxiety), so we often have many friends and family members over. And, of course, being the social butterfly that she is, my cat will immediately come and greet them when they step through the door. She loves to be pet, and will take each and every opportunity to receive that love. Most visitors would graciously reciprocate, and coo and pet her, much to her delight.

This next thing usually only happens to repeat visitors whom Luna is comfortable with. When these people visit they will, like usual, come over and pet her. And, on very rare occasions, she will roll over and show them her belly (which is, if you didn't know, a sign that they completely and utterly trust you with their life, as they are very sensitive of their stomachs). So, on instinct, as most of these people are dog owners, they will immediately start rubbing her belly as if they would a dog. Like most cats, she goes into her rare 'attack and kill' mode, and will claw and latch onto their hand, sometimes biting. She does give warning signs before hand, like a flick of the tail, squirming, widened eyes, or a death glare at the hand touching her.

As expected, they will start freaking out and shake her off, and when she eventually releases them, they immediately smack her! Sometimes hard enough for her to cry out. Like, excuse me?? You have no right to do that to someone else's animal! I'm sorry she bit and/or scratched you, but she was clearly uncomfortable with what you were doing. It doesn't give you permission to discipline her the way you see fit. You should never hit an animal anyways, not even for punishment. Afterwards they even tell me I need to get her declawed (something my parents have been asking me to do for years), which I immediately refuse, as they have no right to tell me how to deal with my animal. Declawing is something that I'm usually against, especially any outdoor cats.

Also, we live in a rural area with about ten or more stray and/or barn cats. She needs her claws in order to defend herself. Case in point to something that happened less than a month ago when she was attacked by another cat:


Anyways, sorry for the long post. I don't know many dedicated pet owners to rant to. I though I might as well complain on here, lol.

[cornspurrd.]

omg its a dog that kinda looks like a pitbull
* yanks small dogs and children away*

[abandondacc]

*tries to mimic my beagles howling*

*makes beagle howl louder when I’m trying to make her stop*

*other dog joins in on the howling and I’m stuck listening to two dogs howling nonstop and an annoying human pretending to howl too*

My puppy is not leash-trained, so she pulls on the leash and tries to run. Even though I tell her not to, my sister lets her run anyways, which just teaches the dog that's she's in control.

That is why I don’t let my siblings walk the dogs