Guest Anonymous Posted March 7, 2003 Posted March 7, 2003 I was walking through my new neighborhood today and everyone I met loved Ollie, my Pug, but when they saw my young Rottweiler, they seem to cringe almost. I was a little annoyed at it but I guess I'll get use to it. Have any of you guys had to deal with that kind of pressure before? :oops: Quote
Guest Anonymous Posted March 7, 2003 Posted March 7, 2003 You are so right K, I mean Ollie is a Pug but he has laid a few good play bites on me and made me bleed. He doesn't mean it but that doesn't mean he isn't capable of it. People have the stereotype image that Pugs are just lap dogs and aren't really good for much else but I have proof that that is just a load of hooey! Quote
Guest Anonymous Posted March 7, 2003 Posted March 7, 2003 Oh that happens a lot. I also get a lot of people who comment on what pretty dogs I have and start petting them and letting my dogs kiss them and then they ask the dreaded question "What breed of dog is he/she?" As soon as I answer they usually look like I have just told them their mother has died or something and if they have kids they usually grab them and start walking/running away. I have had people leave parks,cross roads,give me dirty looks,say I am a bad mother and that my dogs are going to eat my children, not come out of a store until I drive away(Even though my dog is inside a car and cannot get out ) and many many more things and keep in mimd these things happen with my well behaved dogs that heel and everything as well as the untrained (Soon to be trained) ones. Quote
courtnek Posted March 8, 2003 Posted March 8, 2003 I sympathize. I have two lab mixes, the male is an airhead and wouldnt hurt a fly, but the female is very protective. They all want to pet them, and she backs off and they say "OH..is she MEAN???" NO, she's not MEAN...she just doesnt want strangers petting her...." the funny thing is, the male is very INTUITIVE about strangers. Some people he will just slobber over, others, his dander gets up. She is reserved about everyone she doesnt know... kinda strange... Quote
bk_blue Posted March 8, 2003 Posted March 8, 2003 People cross the road to avoid going past Blitz and me, which is funny because he's not huge and he's not a bully breed dog. He doesn't look stereotypically dangerous and he is really very, very gentle-natured (when he's not being boisterous that is!!). Everyone loves Tomson, Grandad's dachshund, because he's so little and cute (which he IS!) but he is way more likely to bite/snap/growl than BK, who probably has nothing to prove ("I'm cool. I'm tough. I'm smart. I'm cute. And I could rip your throat out but I don't want to get dirty." :D ) Looks are very deceiving when it comes to hunds. :-? Quote
Prairie_Gurl Posted March 8, 2003 Posted March 8, 2003 I know the feeling. When I'm walking my Husky everyone goes inside their house, and calls their kids in... they think he's a wolf. But when I walk my Lab (which is the one you should actually be more scarred of) everyone runs to greet her. It's sooooo stupid. That happened a lot when I had my German Shepherd Dog too... he was a BIG dog, but the sweatest in the state!!! I usually use this to my advantage... when somebody bugs me and I have my husky I'll threaten to let him off leash (he would just run away... but they think that he'll attack them), and when I have my lab and somebody bugs me I'll threaten to call my "wolf" and sick him on them. It's actually pretty funny what people will do then. LOL. Quote
DogPaddle Posted March 9, 2003 Posted March 9, 2003 Strange - people are more eager to great Tyr - our now 70lb GSD/Malamute cross (who could look fairly wolfy too) - rather then Kavik a 35lb BC or Zaphod a 20lb Lab/BC cross pup. Maybe they can just sense that Tyr is a big teddy bear. Quote
courtnek Posted March 9, 2003 Posted March 9, 2003 It is stereotyping...Labs are known to be sweet, gentle, good with kids, etc. "wolves" are nasty and tried to eat Little Red Riding Hood....It's hard to get around that, but I get really ticked when people tell theri kids - "Oh look! those are Labs, they're friendly! go pet them if you like!" without even asking me first!! How the hell do they know THESE particular labs are friendly????? Well, you can kinda tell with Alex, but Freebee isnt, and she's the smaller one and everyone wants to pet her. The last time a mom did that I told her kids, right in front of her, that they should NEVER pet a strange dog unless the owner said it was OK first. And if it was alone, dont go near it. She got all mad and said "are you trying to make them afraid of dogs?" (I wanted to smack her upside the head right then and there...) and I said "Do YOU want them to come home scarred for life because the lab they wanted to pet bit them in the face? they need to ASK first!!" She got all huffy and agthered up her kids and stomped off....They just dont understand that breed specifics dont match every single particular dog....is it likely a lab would bite them? Probably not. However, it has happened and I dont want to take any chances....Someone in this room got bit by a lab/GR mix, VERY out of character but is still happened... It does happen. Quote
Marble Posted March 9, 2003 Posted March 9, 2003 well this is interesting, i was going to post a question for you all about something very similar. i am taking dresden to the beach this weekend and we will be in more than a few crowded areas with a lot of people and also on the beach. do you all have any advice for me regarding this ? it's our first time to actually go somewhere new together for several days. i know she is really good with people but i'm going alone and personally i don't want everbody babytalking to her and all that crap. quite frankly, i don't know how people will react, you have almost alll seen pictures of her, anyone can see that she's very odd looking, she has that doberman air about her and the acd spots and she's almost as big as your average lab. so anyway, if you all have any advice i'd really appreciate anything you can tell me. courtnek- i love what you said to that woman, there are so many inbred bad dogs within breeds that people really do need to be cautious. Quote
Crested Posted March 9, 2003 Posted March 9, 2003 Hmm... When I am out with Ben and a Rott, German Shepard, Doberman, Pit, Am/Eng Staff or another big dog comes toward us I try to avoid them. The reason for that is because Ben is afraid of other dogs (Thanks to my ex. neighbourgs agressive ex. German Shepard who scared the crap out of him :mad:). I really don't want him to go in a situation where he has to AGAIN be scared to death! So that's why I try to avoid them. Some people again are just plain scared of dogs (My uncle is even scared of Ben even if the "worst" thing Ben ever has done is that he licked his hand a few times.). Then there is the fact that thoose dogs have a bad reputation... When they see a cute little dog, like a Pug, offcourse they will love them (if they aren't afraid of little dogs too like my uncle)! If you then look at a big dog that has bad reputation... that's a whole diffirent story. You can't know what has happend to thoose people that avoid your Rott. Mabye it's a situation like Ben's and mine, or like my uncle's. Don't judge them for going to the other side of the road when you are walking with your Rott. I'm sure they don't mean to be mean. Atleast I don't and I can only speak of myself. It is not their fault that some dog owners take a "big bad dog" just to boost their ego. Then the little puppy grows to a really big bad dog, because this "responsible" owner didn't care of raising the dog as it should have been raised. How will a person walking towards you and your dog know how good or bad you raised your dog by just looking at you two walking? I hope this gave you guys some idea of how people might think. I don't think it's a big deal, but I'm sure it's not any fun for you. But there isn't much anyone can do about the dogs reputation... If people have got one thought in their mind and are absolutely, positivly, 100 per cent sure that they are right, then there is no way to change their mind. One person's mind mabye, but we're talking about millions of people. You know... Some people see as the Powder Puff (coated) version of the Chinese Crested as a totally diffirent breed. That isn't true, but that's what some people think. And just because of that, I know that some well known breeders even KILL their newly born Powder Puff puppies just because they are Powder Puffs. If 30 years of preeching that they are the same dog, but just with a diffirent ammount of coat and that one has the hairless geen and one doesn't doesn't change some peoples minds then... how do you expect people to change their mind of breeds with several decades of bad reputation? Just something to think at... /Crest PS: Hope this didn't soud too hostile. That wasn't what I ment.. :) Quote
courtnek Posted March 10, 2003 Posted March 10, 2003 To be safe, I would go with my motto - keep the dog on a leash until he and you are sure of the surroundings. Dont let anyone pet him without your permission. Watch the dog for reaction to every person, if he seems uncomfortable, then keep them away. Dogs instincts are SO much stronger than ours!! He could react to someone who seems harmless, but THEY KNOW!!! I almost let a guy posing as an animal control agent in the house, until both dogs reacted. They SNARLED... they KNOW.... I firmly beleive you can rely on them to let you know what they feel. you just have to pay attention... Quote
Guest Anonymous Posted March 10, 2003 Posted March 10, 2003 See with me, I WISH everyone would be like that with my dog! :o (well, I guess since I'm making wishes, I'd rather just wish my dog wasn't aggressive! :wink: ) Since Hazel looks like a shaggy little mutt, and she's SO good with me, and is so smart, everyone wants to come up to her and pet her! If I take her to a park (which is almost always nearly empty) I always find a quite place for her and me to work, (you know, the whole "work in a different place that has little distractions" for her training) and people will come up (once even got a CROWD of small kids!) and want to pet her, or watch her do tricks, I have to litterly SCREAM out "She's aggressive!" or "SHE WILL BITE!" :x :cry: :roll: Quote
Marble Posted March 12, 2003 Posted March 12, 2003 hey- thanks for the advice, i bought 200 baggies for poop scooping (i almost forgot to get them) and i'll remember what you all said about the new people thing. she won't be off her leash at all i don't think, unless she's at the beach and it's empty and she's behaving exceptionally well. i do have a long leash though so that should help. Quote
imported_Debbie Posted March 12, 2003 Posted March 12, 2003 Some people may be afraid because of situations they may have encountered in the past with a specific breed. I really think experiences with a breed have a great effect. I had an Akita/Rott mix F and everyone was afraid of her , she just looked like she meant business, but she was very sweet. Now I have 2 Jack Russell Terriers and a LAB/Rott mix and if I were people I'd be more afraid of the Terriers :lol: I myself had a couple of bad experiences with a couple breeds but I don't hold it against the breed. I had a loose Mastiff try and fight my Akita mix when we were walking and just this past summer I had a HUGE Rottweiler (loose) come charging out at me walking my Jacks. Now that is scary when YOUR dogs are only 20lb put together . So you can see how it might color someones opinion on a certain breed. I don't blame the breed or the dog , I blame the irresponsible owner!! Debbie Quote
whodoesthat Posted March 12, 2003 Posted March 12, 2003 I used to have a doberman - absolute sweetheart - that would get all kinds of weird reactions out of people. I found it amusing when they would just go around me. But, you'd be surprised how many people would walk up to her, start petting her, and THEN ask me, "Does it bite?" :roll: And then they don't see the humor when i reply, "Do you think you'd still have hands if she did?" The worst reaction I ever had was when a friend and i had her at some kind of carnival (on a short leash, and she was heeling perfectly beside me) and a man and his young daughter passed us going the other direction. He yanked his daughter to the other side of him and started SCREAMING at me, "You better get that dog away before he bites my baby's face off! I will choke him - I'll choke him to death!" At the time I was too horrifed to say anything back to him, and i'm still kind of bewildered now. :o I can't wait to see what kind of morons I will enounter when my rotts are full grown. Wait.. yes, I can. Quote
Luka-pop Posted March 13, 2003 Posted March 13, 2003 People, especially those with kids or inexperience with dogs, are even afraid of Luka! He's a lab/pointer mix! He'll be wagging his tail, but the hair on his back will be sticking up cuz he's a scardy cat! Quote
courtnek Posted March 13, 2003 Posted March 13, 2003 [Do you think you'd still have hands if she did OMG!! I wished I had used this line a number of times, I just never thought of it!!! :evilbat: Quote
behle Posted March 13, 2003 Posted March 13, 2003 Rotties always seem to get that initial reaction.. :roll: But they soon show their true nature. My sister was fearful of rotties for over 20 years because a bad experience in her twenties with a "mean" rottie whose owners had him chained inside their house! But she said just last week, "Max has really changed my mind about rotties. He is a big affectionate well-behaved guy!" Hooray! Another convert. For those folks who are afraid of certain breeds - I think it is just as well they steer clear of our dogs. Our guys and girls don't need to be insulted! Whodoesthat, I too love the line about "still having hands left"! :wink: Quote
whodoesthat Posted March 13, 2003 Posted March 13, 2003 A favorite of my father's when people ask if our dogs bite: "By golly, she might. She's got a whole mouth full of teeth!" Quote
courtnek Posted March 13, 2003 Posted March 13, 2003 :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: OMG that's priceless - that's as good as the 'hands' one... Quote
Rosebud Posted March 13, 2003 Posted March 13, 2003 I get alot of people asking me if my dog is a pit or rottie. I respond with a very polite "No, she's a Rhodesian Ridgeback", which is quickly followed by "A what!?" or "What's that?", to which I respond "African Lion Hound!". This is were it usually gets humorous for me. :lol: :lol: They will slowly back away from my dog while making some kind of comment like :o "Oh!, they hunt lions" or "Are they mean and does she bite?" I usually just politely reply with :wink: "Yea they hunt lions, No there not mean, she only bites if I tell her to!" :angel: :angel: Quote
Marble Posted March 13, 2003 Posted March 13, 2003 Wow, this is great, you all are giving me lots of good ideas :) I have my first partway scary looking dog ( I love the fact that her teeth are so huge and white) after having three labs and I have been considering ahead of time how to respond to people........This is too funny. Any other good lines ??? :) Rosebud- I really need to see some pictures of your dog :) I've always thought Rhodesians were georgeous and the few people I've known who have had them have loved them. Quote
DogPaddle Posted March 14, 2003 Posted March 14, 2003 Rosebud - Are RRs a very unique temperment of dog? The obedience class before us is made up of 4 Shetland Sheepdogs and 5 RRs! I don't get it, this can't be coincidence, Is there something going on here I don't get. Quote
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