The rest of us endure your dog, Mr Smith, when it jumps onto our clean clothes, and when we sit on bus seats, because we must and because dog owners are so pervasive and assume we also love their little creatures. Dog owners enforce their standards on the rest of us. • I am always delighted when out walking or cycling when respectful dog owners make their well-trained dogs sit at the side of the path to allow others to pass. There seem to be three stock phrases which are used by dog owners when a dog jumps up or races around in circles at my feet. A reduction from 20% to 5% is a reduction of 15 percentage points but also a percentage reduction of 75%.

Source: The Herald January 13, 2026 14:30 UTC