PEOPLE RANT! I'm fed up!

[Aner]

I hate when people scream and run away when they see my 5 pound dog approaching.  Mika, being a ratter breed, runs after anything that moves, and she LOVES running after things that scream.  So these people, afraid of my dog, are just begging her to chase after them.  And then they call her vicious and get mad at me.  GRRR

[zanie]

People are SO stupid!  This type of stuff just grates my nerves.  Dogs read body language and actions and turning and running is gonna get you bit in the butt at the worst and chased by my "big" white dog (okay out in the REAL world, he's considered a big dog but on here he's borderline mojo at 76 lbs! ) and possibly knocked down because he thinks you're playing.

When my 4 yr old goddaughter was just tiny and we didn't have a dog, I taught her that she has to ask before she can pet any dog.  Now her 2 yr old sister is doing the same.  I've also taught them that they can't run up to a dog, they have to approach slowly. It's never too early to teach them these things. 

If I can avoid them being bitten by teaching basic manners and common dog sense, I will do what is necessary.  I just wish all parents would do the same.

[Gypsy Jazmine]

I've gotten the "get that horrible visious beast away from my kids" routine when the said children were already petting Sam & Pippin happily & Pippin at least was about to roll over onto his back in absolute wiggly glee!...that is once the parents noticed the kids were even near the dogs & I'd already introduced the dogs & kids correctly...I mean where was the parent when the kids ran up on my dogs, I had to put up the hand & yell STOP & then put Sam & Pippin in a sit & tell the kids how to approach them correctly?...People can be idiots but the people you do meet that have a clue somehow makes up for the morons...Look at these two...Isn't it obvious they'd try to eat a kid first chance they get???

[Imani's Mom]

I agree with everybody here- stupid people should be spayed/neutered rather than adding to the overpopulation of idiots, and should be banned in any area where great dogs congregate.  I had an incident yesterday, ON MY OWN property, out in the country!  Two young girls were out riding bicycles, and my mastiffs were out in their playpen romping around like the giant puppies they are.  Well, these kids stopped by the fence and started "barking", squealing at and screaming at the dogs.  When I asked them to knock it off, they gave me all kinds of attitude.  I tried explaining that people like them doing what they were doing were the cause of those dogs who, when finally running loose, chase and bite bicycle riders because they have been tormented by people such as themselves in the past.  All I got out of them after that was a "shut up, bitch!" so I offered to let my dogs loose for them.  End of subject- they got out of here as fast as they could.

[navarre1316]

I had a similar incident with children and my GSD.  The kids would actually walk across my yard with bricks, sticks, rocks, and once even a metal pipe!! and start hitting the fence with them until my dog would come out from wherever he was sleeping and then they would proceed and throw them at him.  My uncle, who lived across the alley called the police one day and the police told him basically "oh well it's a public alley nothing we can do."  He then said "I guess when my neices dog gets tired of being poked and having things thrown at him and finally decides to jump the fence, which by the way if he really wanted to he could, and gets one of those misbehaving children then you'll have something to do"  A patrol car was at the end of the alley the next morning.

[Newf Lover]

Hmmm, I must be alone on this one here or I just haven't had any really bad experiences with strangers approaching Drake.  I love sharing him with people and I don't mind answering the same repetitive questions and chuckling at the old "Bear" and "Horse" jokes.  I take those annoyances as part of Big Dog ownership.  I get between Drake and any kids who appear to be running up to him, just to teach them a lesson of "ask then pet", but 99% of kids ask first.  I look at it this way, before I owned Drake, the dogs I grew up with didn't even get noticed most of the time.  So if someone sees my dog and is as fascinated with him as I am, I can take the awkward jokes and repetitive questions.  IT'S REALLY NO BIG DEAL!!!  I'm never too good to talk to a stranger about my dog if they're polite and friendly.  If they're snotty or rude or condescending, I'm on my way.  It's the Nor Cal way.  But that's just my opinion....

[Softhug]

I had a similar incident with children and my GSD.  The kids would actually walk across my yard with bricks, sticks, rocks, and once even a metal pipe!! and start hitting the fence with them until my dog would come out from wherever he was sleeping and then they would proceed and throw them at him.  My uncle, who lived across the alley called the police one day and the police told him basically "oh well it's a public alley nothing we can do."  He then said "I guess when my neices dog gets tired of being poked and having things thrown at him and finally decides to jump the fence, which by the way if he really wanted to he could, and gets one of those misbehaving children then you'll have something to do"  A patrol car was at the end of the alley the next morning.

Oh it pi55es me off that "nothing can be done" until someone's big, bad, viscious dog hurts some kid who has been tormenting the dog for God knows how long...it is ALWAYS the dogs fault. 

However it works both ways, I had that same response when I called the authorities about loose dogs running in our neighborhood.  There are at least a dozen that run loose in my neighborhood, pitties, a rottie, a red hunting dog and various mojos to name a few.  I don't like the fact that potentially unvaccinated dogs are in my yard, plus my "daughters" will take my toddler out to swim in his pool and just what if one of said dogs decides he is having a bad day?  So I called the sheriff's dept. as we are out of the city limits and they said they can't do anything unless there is a problem.  As I see it, I was calling to protect the pooches as much as my family.  People drive fast around our neighborhood and I certainly don't want to see road puddy-puppy.  But I guess all you can do is take care of your own...ugh!

[Gypsy Jazmine]

Hmmm, I must be alone on this one here or I just haven't had any really bad experiences with strangers approaching Drake.  I love sharing him with people and I don't mind answering the same repetitive questions and chuckling at the old "Bear" and "Horse" jokes.  I take those annoyances as part of Big Dog ownership.  I get between Drake and any kids who appear to be running up to him, just to teach them a lesson of "ask then pet", but 99% of kids ask first.  I look at it this way, before I owned Drake, the dogs I grew up with didn't even get noticed most of the time.  So if someone sees my dog and is as fascinated with him as I am, I can take the awkward jokes and repetitive questions.  IT'S REALLY NO BIG DEAL!!!  I'm never too good to talk to a stranger about my dog if they're polite and friendly.  If they're snotty or rude or condescending, I'm on my way.  It's the Nor Cal way.  But that's just my opinion....

Are you kidding? People who ask me about Sam & Pippin probably wish they hadn't!...lol...I LOVE talking about not just my dogs but the breed as a whole!...I also am not annoyed by the "horse, eats alot, poops a ton, etc. comments....I am though annoyed by ignorance & rudness whether is be directed at my dogs, children, family, friends...It's just that when ignorance comes into play around my dogs with them being dogs it could have a bad outcome...Dogs know their basic instincts when they feel threatened...f ight or flee...Can you imagine what it takes them to stay calm with people running at them, screaming at them, & even kids trying to run up & hug them or worst yet thrwo things at them as we've had some members here experience?...The grace that they are able to show while "under fire" amazes me!

[ZooCrew]

Well, I might as well join in here.

You can read my entire vent on my new thread posted.  I'll just say that some parents really need to have handle on their kids.

Gunther is afraid of tween children.  He is for the most part fine if he is on leash and we are walking.  I think he feels safe and I can protect him that way if needed.  But today we had an incident at the dog park where a kid ran past him and teased him over and over again on purpose while the mother just yelled at the kid but for the most part did nothing.  Let me tell you, this could have turned very ugly as Gunther had just about had enough of this kid before I put him in a down stay.

Overall, we haven't had any problems with kids.  This was our first instance.  Gunther only gets nervous if there are large crowds of them together, which is rare.  We took him to a parade yesterday and he did wonderfully.  Just about everyone asked before petting him, and he only got nervous when a group of 5 boys came up (with no parents, mind you) and tried to hide behind me.

[Tspanos]

I havn't had any problems with the asking to approach Kali, however I have found Kali tends to be leary of certain strangers, so I ask for anyone approaching us to stop a few feet short while Kali is in a sit. Then allow her to close the remaining distance and initiate contact herself, this approach has worked great for us.
On a venting note, i was at the clinic (Our vet is Kali's Aunty) last week and as I came out of the pharmacy into the waiting room a lady wih a young lab puppy and two young children, picked up her puppy and made a comment that the big black dog was going to attack her puppy.
First Kali didn't even notice the puppy otherwise she would have wanted to go visit, second if your really concerned shouldn't you make sure your kids are safe before you worry about the puppy. Well I couldn't ignore her, I stopped dead and called her on her ignorance and preceeded to lecture her on her ignorance. About the time I finished a client who had met Kali early chimed in with the fact, Kali like nearly all other large dogs was an aloof gently giant. I took that as my que to exit.

[cricket36580]

I usually get nice people who are genuinely interested in the pups.  Lately, though, must have been stupid days!  I took Baloo out and had 3 toddlers CLIMBING on him and he's loving it...lady walks up and very fearfully asks "is he viscious?".  I just couldn't resist...I looked at the kids and said "Yep".  Or I took the dane train to the mall and some man argued that Mozart was deaf because of his eye color and someone else told me that danes don't come in these colors.  Oh, ok genius.  But then all 3 were laying down, a kid on each one of them and AGAIN I get asked, are they going to bite??  Gosh, I don't know...Probabl y!  What idiots!  Forunately though this is the minority here.