The way people are with your dogs

[Whisper]

Do you ever have a problem with the way people are with your dog? Millie is very sensitive and uptight and she can bark sometimes and can be very skittish. When she barks my cousin insists on scolding her and scares her with his deep voice. (He's like a 6'7" body builder and scares her when he booms) and he slaps her playfully but hard and it makes her uncomfortably and she shies away and he wonders why and complains about her personality. It's HER house before and quite frankly I get pissed at him when he comes over and just has crap to say about my dogs. Lucy is apparently too small and jumpy. My mom's boyfriend says the same things when he comes over. Gah! Does anyone else ever have any problems with people and your dogs?

 

[SummerRiot]

lol my mom is ALWAYS telling people that "Riot is vicious" sometimes.

PFFTT paaalleeaassee.. hes only gets growly if someone is PUSHING something on him to do, or if he gets a bad vibe about a person..

shes always telling people that "he'll bite" - which he wont anymore. We have worked through that and hes passed that stage.

It just puts people into fear mode when they meet him which he senses and gets worried about.

Makes me furious.

 

[Lizmo]

I HATE it!!!

But really she is MY dog...and I will do ANYTHING about some thing that I do not like

If some one is getting up in her face or not treating her right....well you better BELIEVE that they are going to hear from me

I really an not going to stand around while some one is doing some thing I do not like to me Lizzie...even if it is my friend

And my parents have really started to understand that she is MY dog and I am going to protect her from anything that I do not like around her

I am going to stand up for my Lizzie.....

sorry if that came out a little wrong....but I just hate seeing dogs being miss treated!

 

[fastpitchchic]

I've asked people to leave my house because they refuse to leave my dogs alone. My in laws once said that my home wasn't good enough for my dogs and they should go live with them (the inlaws). That's when I stood up walked to the door and kindly asked them to leave. Your right after all it's MY house, and MY dogs live there. If you don't like it you don't have to come visit.

I just about ripped my mom's exbf's head off one day when I caught him taking a swing at Niko. All because Niko was drinking too much water and too loudly.

 

[Lizmo]

I've asked people to leave my house because they refuse to leave my dogs alone. My in laws once said that my home wasn't good enough for my dogs and they should go live with them (the inlaws). That's when I stood up walked to the door and kindly asked them to leave. Your right after all it's MY house, and MY dogs live there. If you don't like it you don't have to come visit.

I just about ripped my mom's exbf's head off one day when I caught him taking a swing at Niko. All because Niko was drinking too much water and too loudly.

Okay I am not the only one like that

 

[fastpitchchic]

Okay I am not the only one like that

Definately not. My dogs are my kids and most of my friends know that. Most love my dogs and I've even found them passed out on the couch with 1 or 2 of the dogs crammed on the couch with them...lol...there are a few however that don't like all the dog hair, slobber, kisses, soggy toys in their laps...so they don't usually come over.

My feeling is if you don't like dogs and everything that comes with them, you certainly don't need to be at my house.

 

[Lizmo]

Definately not. My dogs are my kids and most of my friends know that. Most love my dogs and I've even found them passed out on the couch with 1 or 2 of the dogs crammed on the couch with them...lol...there are a few however that don't like all the dog hair, slobber, kisses, soggy toys in their laps...so they don't usually come over.

My feeling is if you don't like dogs and everything that comes with them, you certainly don't need to be at my house.

Well Lizzie is like my baby...she my first dog....I love her so much....And I am not going to stand for some one miss treating my dog.....and b/c all the work I have done with her....she is very sensitive to what people do to her! I do not want to go back on all the progress I we have made...and I mean that is a LOT!

 

[Lizmo]

Oh Virginia....please do not take what I have said the wrong way

Really...you are doing a great job....

 

[sam]

Oh heck yes. My father in law is HORRIBLE with my dogs. He thinks he is 'Mr dog guy' and he's sooo stupid about animals. He wants my dogs to wrestle with him and starts shoving them and flipping them over on their backs. He fails to notice that they look scared and horrified. Rosie finally started sort of fighting back after basically trying to get away from him and being unsuccessful and he thought she was playing but she was actually trying to defend herself They think I'm crazy over protective as it is so I was trying to hold my tongue and finally said "you're scaring her and she's going to bite you if you don't stop" Which part of they aren't labs who want to mouth and wrestle does he not understand? I actually think even dogs who loooove to wrestle and play rough with people might be uncomfortable with him. Ugh inlaws

 

[RD]

I hate it when people squeal at my dogs. Actually, beyond hate. I think people who come up behind a dog and squeal at it belong in a special level of hell, reserved for child molesters and people who talk in the theater.

Dakota is very well mannered, UNTIL he hears that squealy voice. Then all hell breaks loose. He goes to the end of his leash, stands on his hind legs and wiggles like an idiot. I hate it. And of course the people ALWAYS pet him for that before I can stop him, so he just gets reinforced for it.

I also hate it (yes, lots of hate, but I feel very strongly about this) when people call my dog without even acknowledging me. No "can I pet him?" or "is he friendly?", just "oh hi puppy, come here!". >_< It's infuriating and I immediately call Dakota back and walk away. I hate seeming so unfriendly but I don't want him thinking that every person in the world is going to want to pet him. After an incident like that, he starts eyeing random people, hoping they'll notice him and pay him some attention.

One last pet peeve . . . I can't stand it when people force themselves on Ripley. It ALWAYS goes like this:
Me: He's a little uneasy with new people, why don't you let him sniff your hand?
Them: Oh, dogs just love me. *shoves face in Ripley's face and gets snarled at*
Me: Mm, not this one.

Grrrr.

 

[GSDlover_4ever]

In my household there are rules that I and my mother enforce. Caza is my biggest concern simply because if someone tries to "correct" him, he will react. Thats why my dogs are put up when someone comes over, or they are on a leash with me. I tell everyone the rules before they enter my household and I expect them to comply to those rules. And I make it very clear that if you do try to correct and treat my dogs like your own their is a high risk of getting hurt. They can tell my dogs "no" (only verbal commands), but do NOT touch them if I or my mother is not present (which is something that would probably never happen). People are "know it alls" and that one instance they decide the dog need to "learn its lesson" is when my college fund goes down the drain, something I am not willing to sacrifice.

 

[muggsies16]

Well, I have Muggsie trained to ignore people! It makes life so much easier. Yes he barks when someone comes by. But once they come in he goes where ever he wishes.

As far as any one miss treating my dog, I may be old, but there's nothing a base ball bat won't fix!:lol-sign: Be assured I have used one before! It sounds nasty, but when you are as old as I am, and some one tries to hurt my little guy, I get angry:yikes:

 

[bubbatd]

My problem is the other way !! Whenever my neighbor came over , she would bring Chip some doggy cookies . Fine , he knew to sit and accept treats . Ollie is a different story !! When I first got him , she came over and he was all over her !! Now Deedra= treats=bad manners !! Now any new visitor means greeting them with body slams !! Gotta get that boy to obedience !

 

[shadowfacedanes]

Hannah is protective, especially at night, and it just amazes me how many people will just walk right up to her and stick their hands in her face, without asking. She's not a small dog...even if she were, I would think most people would NOT want to get bitten and would give the dog a little time to accept them.

It just angers me. She went through a very shy phase, and we have worked very hard on it with her and she has started to accept strangers well, but not if they forcefully walk up in her space and start waving their hands around, gestering wildly, or speaking too loud..which most people seem to want to do.

 

[IliamnasQuest]

I don't have any problems with people reacting wrong to my dogs. As their owner and leader of the "pack", I simply set up the situations to fit my agenda and not everyone else's. But I'm probably lucky in that I can do that.

I also have made sure that every one of my dogs - chows and shepherds - are fully socialized and will accept handling by anyone. There are too many times in a dog's life when they do need to be handled by others (vets, groomers, judges, pet sitters) and I want my dogs to have the tools to handle those situations. I think it's really poor ownership to not teach your dog how to be accepting of others. And if something (doG forbid) happened to me, I would want them to be able to transfer their love and dedication to someone else. It would be selfish of me not to want that.

And we've all seen dogs who were not taught these things when they were younger. Anyone who does any rescue has probably dealt with ill-mannered, unsociable dogs that were not only difficult to handle but a danger at times too. Turning those types of dogs around is not easy. It's much easier to never let them get that way, but that takes responsible ownership.

So I guess by making sure my dogs are well-trained and socialized, and making sure that I control the situations my dogs are in, it ends up that I don't have any problems. I like it that way!

Melanie and the gang in Alaska

 

[Rubylove]

We do have rules for people with our dogs, but they're not really `rules' as such, more guidelines to help the dogs behave. This of course doesn't really apply any more, because they're not puppies who are still learning basic obedience. They don't do the annoying jump-up-in-your-face thing anymore, and their behaviour is fantastic.

But when they were still learning we had to instruct people to ignore them, or this or that. Mostly, though, we just don't put them in situations where there could be mutual discomfort. And, for the most part, we are really, really lucky that nearly all our friends and family are experienced dog and cat lovers as well, so it's not really an issue.

Max has one friend who riles Ruby up when he sees her - but it's not annoying because he does it to play, and she LOVES it. She just loves it. If anyone did anything to distress my animals I would kneecap them. And they wouldn't even know. One minute they'd be walking, next minute they'd have no kneecaps. Simple.

 

[makenzie71]

I don't generally care as long as others are respectful of the dog's temperment. After spending an hour the other night laughing my ass off because if I push down on buddy's head his back feet cee-saw off the ground, I can't complain about other people's nonsense unless extreme in some fashion.

 

[Rubylove]

After spending an hour the other night laughing my ass off because if I push down on buddy's head his back feet cee-saw off the ground, I can't complain about other people's nonsense unless extreme in some fashion.

Lol...poor Buddy. Max does that to Ruby when she is asleep. He slightly pushes up under her elbow, and it makes her whole leg straighten and her paw point - like she's pointing her toes. It's pretty funny, I have to say, and she never wakes up so it can't bother her, but I always tell him off because it's, well, it must be annoying for her! But Max grew up the youngest child with sisters only - he has harassing members of the family down to a fine art!

 

[Angel Chicken]

I have kicked a dude out of my house for saying he was going to kick my dog.

My dog is in her own house, and if they don't like the fact that she's there, they don't have to be there! I don't give a **** who you are!

 

[girlbuffalo1]

I HATE it when people automatically think that since Wrigley is a small dog he is a baby and needs to be babied all the time.

We take him to the dog park to have socialization with bigger dogs as he has phobias about them. We watch him carefully from a couple feet away but if he gets 'scared' by a dog trying to sniff his tush and runs to hide by our feet we simply ignore him and walk away. We do not intervene unless it looks like he potentially could get hurt (which is pretty much never). He will sometimes try running and hiding by other people and he gets the--"oooh poor baby you scardy of those big doggies?" They love on him and sometimes even pick him up when he is in this state therefore reinforcing it!