As many of you know, I am a full time PE teacher and I am out for summer vacation. So, everyday I take my dogs on a walk at a different location. Today, we went to Sea Port Village and walked for over an hour doing the stairs and of course doing some tricks in the grass.
I have one dog that can be reactive toward other dogs if they get in his face or if they run up to him off leash. So, I tend to go places that have leash laws and where we will only cross paths with a few dogs. Well, it never fails that where ever we are, there is someone that thinks it is okay to just let their dog run around off leash. Sometime they have those flexi-leashes and it looks like they are off leash because the dog can run a mile away from the owner. My dog thinks they are off leash. These dog owners do not seem to realize that other dogs might not be friendly. Anyway, this is a huge pet peeve of mine.
This morning we encountered a woman that was just letting her dog run off leash and it was headed in my direction. So, I just yelled, "MY DOGS ARE NOT FRIENDLY" and I think the woman almost had a heart attack. She was frantically trying to get her little dog back and it was not responding. Oh wonderful, I thought! I just stayed where I was so that I could make sure my dog was fine and if I needed to I would have just picked him up (All 42 pounds of him) as he actually likes it when I do this when other dogs approach. I think he feels safe and protected. Finally, the dog went to its owner and she put him on his leash. WHEW, yet another close call. Bandit could have eaten that dog for breakfast. :)
So, my personal solution to this problem is that no matter what I am going to yell my dogs are not friendly. Just because their dog might be friendly, Bandit is not and it would be an issue. Also, my other dog (Isabelle) is friendly, but I still tell owners she is not so that they will keep their dogs away! I pick who my dogs play with and make sure that those dogs are friendly. I do not know these people that are walking down the street and I need to protect my dogs.
Okay, so that is my pet peeve and had to get it off my chest. Thanks for listening!
Yep, that's my pet peeve as well. People yell out, "he's okay" and I just get time to say, "well mine aren't" as they go for the other dog, dragging me off my feet and causing havoc. Grrrr - some people are just stupid.
ReplyDeletecheers,
Ruby
I had one guy say, "your dog does not look mean" and I just said, "he's not mean, he just does not like loose dogs coming up and getting into his business". I am happy to know that I am not alone and that others feel the same way. I have a few more pet peeves and will be sharing them soon. You are right some people are just stupid and do not seem to use common sense. Have a great day, Ruby!
ReplyDeleteTake care!
Pam
I can *so* relate to this! My bc is friendly (so much so that I'm always vigilant to keep him AWAY from other dogs who might not appreciate his closeness until I learn otherwise from handlers), but my husband's bc totally hates dogs in his face and I struggle so with rewarding him for good, relaxed, happy behavior around dogs so he doesn't have to aggress and growl or act tough... but I hate it when ignorant handlers let their dogs run right up to him and make him feel uncomfortable and possibly rehearse some form of aggressing. I don't ever want him to have to feel that way. And yes, I do the same thing and YELL that "My dog is not friendly" and I pointedly place my body between my dog and theirs and they ALWAYS say "But my dog was just saying hello!" like my husband's dog is Cujo or something! Arrrrrggggh... Makes ME want to aggress!
ReplyDeleteHi Bandit & Isabelle,
ReplyDeleteThank you for coming over to visit me on my blog and for signing my Guestbook with your lovely photo! :-) I'm sorry it's taken me so long to return your visit.
I just wanted to say that this is a "pet peeve" of my human's too...it happens to us A LOT and although I am a very sociable, friendly-dog who is usually fine with other strange dogs, other dogs often get very defensive with me (coz I'm big, I think) - not helped by their owners going "It's alright, baby, I won't let that big nasty dog hurt you..." as they are barking and snarling at me...well, I'm usually very good but if a dog tries to attack me, then I will not take that lying down and I will defend myself. This has happened a few times when a small dog has gone for me and when I put them in their place, their owners start shouting like I'm a monster. The worst was 3yrs ago when a Manchester Terrier went for my throat and when I pinned him down with my paws, his owners reported me to Animal Contorl as an aggressive dog to be muzzled or put down!! My humans were so angry because it was them who allowed their dogs to rush up to me and jump on me - and how could they expect me not to react to provocation like that? But they said "big dogs should not defend themselves against small dogs because of the size difference" - they got so nasty that my humans had to call in their lawyers.
Anyway, so now my humans are very careful and we avoid any strange dog unless it looks very confident and sociable and it has an owner that seems in control and relaxed - Hsin-Yi has got very good at reading body language! - whenever we see an owner with a little dog that is being treated like a surrogate baby or a toy, we steer well clear! Because even if the other dog is the one that is aggresive, I am always the one that gets blamed coz I'm bigger...Sometimes my humans say they wish I could just be more "submissive" when other dogs have a go at me...but that's not fair! Why should I? I'm minding my own business and not provoking them...so why shouldn't I defend myself when they attack me? (sigh)
Well, sorry for this long comment but just wanted to let you know what we REALLY know where you're coming from and TOTALLY sympathise! My humans get so mad at irresponsible dog owners who let their dogs just run up to other dogs...even if theirs is "friendly", they should respect the other dog's feelings and also, if things go bad, their "friendly" dog could have a traumatic experience which could turn into fear aggression later...so it's stupid all around!
Slobbers,
Honey the Great Dane
ps. Bandit - if I'm on the lead, I'm more like you - I don't like dogs rushing up to my face if I'm restrained and I will sometimes growl at them. My humans think strange dogs should never be allowed to greet on lead - always off, so we can decide on comfortable personal space and do normal canine greetings, which are not always possible when you're tied up and mixed up with leashes and humans pulling them tight and their worries passing down the leashes to us!
It's nice to know that I'm not the only one with a leash-agressive dog! Zooey's a social queen when she's playing with dogs off-leash, but if she's on a leash she doesn't want anyone bothering her. We've run into quite a few problems with neighbor dogs who (despite the leash/containment laws) are let out to roam UNSUPERVISED and try to "join" our walks, despite Zooey's "get the heck away from me" signals. It scares me to death because I know I couldn't stop a dog fight on my own!
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