S0ME PPL DONt HAVE A CLUE.

[Dobiegurl]

You took the words right out of my mouth. This is exactly how me and hubby think. We like to be left alone when we walk, and the amount of people that want to come and pat them, especially Max because he is a big boy. They are friendly don't get me wrong, but you just never know do ya? I'd rather not put either of my furbabies in that position. It's the unknown that holds the most dangers sometimes. We have many friends with dogs and family of course that my pets see all the time. Max is a drooling happy waggy tailed, ball in the mouth dog when people come to visit. So is Sugar.

But outside on leash its a different game. All their thoughts are different, all smells, and all feelings. Every person should be able to walk their dog in peace. My dogs don't like strange dogs either, and you don't know what ailments they have got.

If people ask me can they pat them, I say sorry no they are working/training right now. They usually are happy with that rather than me just saying NO.

you're right some people have no clue. And to the original poster, you should be able to walk your dogs in peace too. Not all dogs like to meet people/other dogs in the street and be all happy friendly. It just doesn't happen like that. This guy sounds like an idiot

Not all dogs like interacting with strange people or animals. As long as I am following the laws regarding my dog and not bothering anyone I should be left alone. These people push it to let me pet my dog but if my dog bit (god forbid) them they would be the first ones ready to sue.

 

[Carolyn]

dobiegurl you are absolutely correct. You and Chico would be the ones in trouble. It's unfair, but you are responsible enough to be aware of the laws.

good on ya

 

[mrose_s]

What kind of dog is Buster? Good for you for keeping him under control, btw..

he is a cattle dog mix. we think probably fox terrier or something. my auntie bred cattle dogs for years so mum has met a lot of them and she said she has never met a dog as aggressive as buster is. then again, her most vocous dog was a fox terrier that loved her but not anyone else.

lol, the other night my friends turned up randomly at about 10pm. they had glow stick all over them and buster just would not calm down. atleast i know he will look after us. and he doesnt really like guys all that much. whenever my guy friends are over he follows them around and wont relax untill he has spelt them.
the other night i had a heap of friends over and gary tried to through his girlfriend into the pool. she was yelling at him and stuff and buster almost bit gary. I was actually pretty proud of him in a way. he didnt bite him and he listened to me as soon as i called him over but he was looking after my Rikki.

 

[Violet21]

Why's your dog agressive??

thats too bad

 

[oriondw]

Why's your dog agressive??

thats too bad

Why's your dog is a pushover??

thats too bad...

 

[mrose_s]

Why's your dog agressive??

thats too bad

we dont know. we founf him as a stray in a carpark at about 8 weeks. he gets along with our dogs fine and tolerates dogs that wander in when sophie is on heat. But he just changes into this hardarse dog as soon as he is on a leash. at home he scatters when mac jumps at him and outiside he just keeps walking when she bites him or anything. I dont get him soemtimes. he wont even play outside the yard but inside he wont stop. the outside buster and the inside buster are completley different dogs

 

[IliamnasQuest]

I absolutely agree that people shouldn't just rush up to pet your dog. It's rude and unacceptable.

But the unfortunate thing is that people DO this, and especially kids. On many occasions kids have run up to one of mine in an attempt to pet or hug. So this is something I work on with my dogs. They get their fur tugged on and their ears and noses and paws messed with. They're used to things moving towards them quickly and loud noises happening near them. I socialize them extensively especially when young.

I feel it's my responsibility as a dog owner to not take a dog into public unless it's safe. This means that I've done what I can to make my dog acceptable to those possibilities. If I had a dog that I thought would bite someone else, then it would not go into public places (or would be muzzled if it did).

Like I said, I agree that people shouldn't approach or pet our dogs without asking first. But since people don't always ask, I think we have to be proactive as dog owners and make sure we don't allow a situation to happen. Training, socialization, awareness of your dog's temperament and weaknesses and a willingness to make sure your dog is never in a situation they can't handle will help make all dogs (and dog owners) look good.

Melanie and the gang in Alaska

 

[mrose_s]

yeah. point taken. Buster is good with people. I dont think he would tolerate someone running up and grabbing him but he isnt one of the :adorably cute" dogs. a ACD mix doesnt seem to apeal to kids. and most kids seem pretty watched out for around here. I dont think I would ever be able to muzzle my Buz. he would hate me forever. I was playfully putting the horse halters over the dogs heads one day to practise tying it and buster couldnt stand having something on his face. he ran in circles and growled and jumped.
I felt really bad, i couldnt do that to him

 

[casablanca1]

What gets me is how people can be so careless. I've owned dogs who were unreliable with people or who didn't play well with other dogs, and we managed to take walks and go to the park and otherwise enjoy life outside the house without constantly getting into trouble. It just takes a little vigilance. Too many people seem to think that walking their dog means the rest of the world has to be on the alert for their pet's 'issues' with whatever -oh, she hates men with baseball caps, he doesn't get along with small dogs, he's shy with children. We're the ones who are supposed to be keeping an eye out for anything that might hurt our dog, and for anything that might inspire our our dog to misbehave.

By the same token, I don't really fault the person who approaches my dog, especially kids but also adults. I think most people who want to pet a dog are motivated from a very good, very basic instinct. I don't think it's really fair to expect people not to be drawn to our pets, even though we wish they used more common sense about reaching out to touch them. I think that when we take our pets out, we have a limited expectation of privacy. It's like taking a baby out, people are going to notice and respond. I've had people scowl furiously just because I *smile* at them and their dog as they walk past, and that's just ridiculous.

 

[Renee750il]

Why's your dog agressive??

thats too bad

The OC is not an aggressive breed . . . it's a defensive breed. There's a difference.

I get a bit snippy when someone rushes up and pets me from behind too

 

[tempura tantrum]

It drives me nuts when people just run up to my dogs and start patting them on their heads. I'm truly amazed at the number of people who know "not to walk behind a horse," (even when most of them will never spend more than a day in their lives with one), as compared to the number of people who know how to approach and pet a dog correctly. How is it that everyone knows not to pull a cat's tail, yet they think nothing of running up to a strange dog, leaning over it, and patting it on the head?

IMO these are things that parents need to teach their children very young- it only takes one incident with someone's unfriendly dog to create the need for stitches and a lifetime of fear.

While my dogs do well with children and rambunctious people, I still don't let kids (or adults!!) get away with approaching my dogs incorrectly. My dogs may deal with it just fine, but someone else's WON'T, and so I use my dogs as a teaching tool. The few times I've had kids sprinting towards and screaming at my dogs, I neatly stepped in front of them, pointed a finger, and yelled "NO!" exactly as if I was training a dog. I can tell you it was a lesson those kids (and their irresponsible parents) never forgot. Most people aren't used to strangers yelling at them- and they shape up real quick. I'm with RC on this one, it is absolutely BIZARRE that someone thinks it's normal to run up to a stranger and begin hugging them...even if that stranger is a dog.

When the kids settled down, I gave them a lesson in correctly approaching and petting a dog. And while the parents were a little unnerved, I think they were also a little embarrassed when I explained to them why it's such a bad idea to allow kids to do that.

People need to get away from the mentality that dogs are "little people in furry coats." That saying does such a disservice to canines everywhere. Dogs are NOT humans, and do NOT operate under or understand our social mores, and too many people think they do. People expect dogs to put up with far more crap than any cat, or even any HUMAN would take! It absolutely boggles my mind.

 

[gaddylovesdogs]

Why's your dog agressive??

thats too bad

Dogs can be aggressive for many reasons. My dog is dog-aggressive because she has been attacked before. She wasn't born this way. And just because a dog is aggressive, that doesn't automatically make it a "BAD DOG!"

I feel it's my responsibility as a dog owner to not take a dog into public unless it's safe.

If my dog were aggressive towards HUMANS, no way would she be out in public. I would not even own a human aggressive dog. But there are differences between dog aggresssion and human aggression. My dogs LOVE people. My border collie mix and terrier mix are a bit wary of strangers at first (my terrier mix especially - it takes a while for her to warm up to people, and there are certain people she doesn't like), but I don't view that as a bad thing. They would NEVER bite somebody unless they had a reason to. I know my terrier mix is especially wary of adult strangers, and if they do something she doesn't like, she'll get annoyed, but if I see that they're doing something that a dog (or a human) would view as innapropriate, I get her out of there. She loves kids and gets along great with them. She has allowed a little boy to run up to her and start scratching her, and a little girl to basically hang off her neck. Of course I told the kids that they were hurting her and to be nice and pet her gently. She loves my niece and nephew (it helps that they're raised with animals). They visited us last year, and at certain times my terrier mix got a little annoyed at my niece (she had reasons to - she's not used to having a baby in her house). I removed her and made sure she never had a chance to get annoyed again.

 

[PixieSticksandTricks]

Why's your dog is a pushover??

thats too bad...

Why is an aggressive dog so great? I know my dog would attack anyone coming after me. BUT she is not aggressive for no reason.

Why is it a dogs only worth something to you if its aggressive?


Yup too bad my dog doesent lunge at everyone an everything.

 

[PixieSticksandTricks]

"cummon...just let them meet"
"what a lovley dog"
"Oh, he's a good boy *Buster lunges and snaps* OH not a very happy dog"

MAN OH MAN i cant stand this guy.
he has 2 BC mixes right? he walks them the same path I walk Buster and a couple of times we have had to pass on a narrow track. I see him coming, take Buster off to the side and sit him down and hold his collar. I can't see a lot to do but prepare to hold him close. And this guy walks past going "oh...not very happy is he?" because Bell, his dog is so bloody friendly and buster is lunging and snarling!

Yesterday me and mum and grace were walking Buster and Mac. We pick up Mac and carry her past and pull buster in close to heal. He stops and wants his off-leash bitch to talk to him, his philosophy? "let them meet, it'll work out" you can see it in every step he takes that he thinks he is dog trainer extroadinair! eventhough we are holding a dog up close and he is snarling. This guy let his dog get so close Buster almost bit her! what a bloody d***head.

I just cant believe some people can be so naive. I just laugh at him i suppose. his dog is really well behaved and i congragulate him but not every dog is liek thats]

People are dumb atleast you have control over your dog though. Which is a very good thing.

 

[gaddylovesdogs]

Why is an aggressive dog so great? I know my dog would attack anyone coming after me. BUT she is not aggressive for no reason.

Why is it a dogs only worth something to you if its aggressive?


Yup too bad my dog doesent lunge at everyone an everything.

I completely agree with this. However, I don't think it's wrong for a dog to be protective of it's family. I don't like dogs that want to attack everybody, but I do like dogs who would attack if necessary.

 

[PixieSticksandTricks]

I completely agree with this. However, I don't think it's wrong for a dog to be protective of it's family. I don't like dogs that want to attack everybody, but I do like dogs who would attack if necessary.

Well thats exactly my point. Pixie is a guard dog she is on constant alert and making sure everything is okay. If someone was threatening me and I didn't feel I had control of the situation or if that person got physical Pixie I know would attack. But she always looks to me when we meet new people to see if I approve or not. If I do she lets it go and goes in for some love unless her judgement tells her other wise then im the careful one.

 

[IliamnasQuest]

I get a bit snippy when someone rushes up and pets me from behind too

*ROTFL* .. too true!!

The few times I've had kids sprinting towards and screaming at my dogs, I neatly stepped in front of them, pointed a finger, and yelled "NO!" exactly as if I was training a dog. I can tell you it was a lesson those kids (and their irresponsible parents) never forgot. Most people aren't used to strangers yelling at them- and they shape up real quick.

We think alike on this. I have no problems stopping someone coming towards my dog and I have one of those "teacher" voices that used to control classrooms of 30 young kids .. *L* .. I feel that it's my responsbility as a dog owner to try to educate the public on the proper way to approach a dog. While mine are pretty darn safe, so many dogs are not and kids (and adults) need to have some knowledge of the right way to approach. It starts with ASKING first! I'm surprised that more parents don't teach that basic concept to their children. They should always ask before they invade the space of an animal or another person, for that matter.

Melanie and the gang in Alaska

 

[oriondw]

Why is an aggressive dog so great? I know my dog would attack anyone coming after me. BUT she is not aggressive for no reason.

Why is it a dogs only worth something to you if its aggressive?


Yup too bad my dog doesent lunge at everyone an everything.

Because Violets views on aggression left alot to be desired...


From all her posts I got to think that she really doesnt know what she is talking about when it comes to dog aggression.

 

[oriondw]

*ROTFL* .. too true!!




We think alike on this. I have no problems stopping someone coming towards my dog and I have one of those "teacher" voices that used to control classrooms of 30 young kids .. *L* .. I feel that it's my responsbility as a dog owner to try to educate the public on the proper way to approach a dog. While mine are pretty darn safe, so many dogs are not and kids (and adults) need to have some knowledge of the right way to approach. It starts with ASKING first! I'm surprised that more parents don't teach that basic concept to their children. They should always ask before they invade the space of an animal or another person, for that matter.

Melanie and the gang in Alaska

Honestly thats because most people are used to be commanded. Believe it or not from birth people are taught to obey someone with authority.

When you talk to people, especially kids in commanding voice, 99% tend to comply without a word. Its funny psychology really Knowing this helps alot in all kinds of situations.

 

[JennSLK]

At the last show, a 5 year old kid came up and stuck his fingers in the side of Takai's crate. Chris, the owner, tore the kid a new a**. Takai loves kids and would never do anything, but the next doberman he does that too, he could be pulling back a stump insted of fingers. The mom was SO mad a chris for talking to her kid and giving him heck.