[French Ring]

I only get dirty looking from people when Elisa is doing her bitework.

[Love's_Sophie]

I guess I don't mind the warm weather and the people and dogs it brings out; I like meeting other dog owners, and their canines...sometimes you meet an oaf, but I have met more really awesome people this way. I just ignore the rest! Haha

Most of the time I find that my well trained dog gets more smiles than frowns, because she is not trying to pull toward everysingle person or their dog as we walk by...We get the occasional groucho marx that probably doesn't like any dog, but that's okay with me...it's not like I have to stand there and talk to them...

As far as loose dogs in the parks; I haven't had real problems with many of them; they have all been friendly outgoing beings...the aggressive ones have fortunately been ON lead...although I am sure I will encounter more and more off lead dogs as the summer goes on. It IS just spring after all. I don't worry so much about most off lead dogs though; however if it is aggressive, I will not hesitate to defend myself and my own dog should the occasion arise.

I just don't worry about other people, to be honest; its not worth NOT having fun with my dogs, just because I am worried about what other people are thinking, saying, or doing...I just enjoy my dog!!

[Alpha]

ROFL @ RBark!

I can see it now... You jogging with your dogs.. some punk kid doing something foolish... Chasing him down! TOO FUNNY!

I have the exact opposite problem with Roxy

I just got in from a nightly stroll through town and five people approached us, didn't say a word and headed hand out for Roxy!

I guess people see how well behaved she is, walking on a leash that's wrapped around my shoulders and figure she's friendly

Hades is another story, the basket muzzle doesn't help, so I don't bother taking him around town anymore.

I have a good mean-mug though, so my bf tells me, so usually a glare in anyone's direction that's looking at me funny puts all thoughts of saying or doing anything to rest! Ha ha! And if that doesn't work, I do have a can of bear mace! ROFL!

[shewolf4]

I can deal with the passers by and the looks but its the idiots that try to wind the dogs up by barking.

Might want to ask them if they like a doggy bone Luckily I dont have that trouble- great out here with the occasional dog come running out into the street to try to chase us, so I carry a guiderwhip- my dogs listen and dont worry, my horses are right by my side and the obnoxious pups get s snip and RUN back home- problem solved. Had one complain about it and had to let them know that there is a leash- law and please feel free to call the police- I'm sure they would be happy to come out. Had several other neighbors tell me they got guiderwhips now too for the same dog we live out in the country, but since I walk young horses along FM roads to get them used to traffic and walking along it, I have to take care that everything is as safe as possible and there is no law that says I cant carry a guiderwhip. As for the people- try to work with your dog and be as friendly as possible- we all know that one bad dogowner can ruin it for a bunch of us and if all these people start to judge responsible owners by the teenager and whoever else lets their dogs running around, I am not surprised that they are not friendly, so might want to be extra friendly and make friends all across the board

[Love's_Sophie]

Oh, and yet another reason I evade Dog Parks...Lol!!

shewolf...I carry a crop when I walk horses too; and I train my riding horses to face dogs...as soon as my horses do that 'rollback' those dog are usually hightailing it back where they came from!!! The dogs are probably thinking "OMG that thing was supposed to RUN!! Yikes, nevermind...I'm outta here!!!" Hahaha

[B-Line]

Dom,

Putting our heated debate from last week to the side, I want to explain something to you, no offense intended.

I see certain types of dogs, I leave the park, period.

Last week, two young Pitbull mixes, each brought to the park by different owners, ganged up and attacked and SEVERLY injured, a young puppy.

The Pitbull got it's mouth around the puppies neck and it took the Pitbull owner +5 minutes to get his dog off the puppy. Blood was everywhere.

So while, not every Pit, Mastiff, etc. is going to attack and almost kill a young puppie. The quote on quote, "dangerous dog breeds" that people sneer at, the feelings should be understood by the owners of these breeds.

It's not that other breeds don't get into dog fights, it's more about the potential damage the dangerous breeds may cause, in comparison.

And no matter how many GOOD, RESPONSIBLE, owners I have met, that have great, kind, smart, obedient, "dangerous breeds".. The majority of "dangerous breed" owners I have met are dumber than a lamp-post and their dogs are not trained, not obedient and are a potential hazard.

That is why, IMHO, anyone who wants a dangerous breed, should be able to have one, right after they pass a course and get certified in some basic dog handling skills.

B

Also, I have seen a vast increase in the popularity of "dangerous breeds" in the past decade. Especially in dog parks and in cities. And it's quite obvious, the serious breed lovers who know how to handle them is diminishing and more and more non responsible owners are getting them.

[rosemaryninja]

On the contrary. I live in Singapore, where it is ALWAYS 'summer'. It's 89 degrees F on the average; the early 90s on a hot day. YEAR-ROUND. Not impossible.

[poodleholic]

I hear that Rbark,the 4am-8am sounds good,around here 7pm-11pm is full of pricks!!

ROFL!!!


Here in FL, the weather is always nice, and winter brings the snowbirds <groan> so it's summer when there are fewer people out and about. I opted to work the overnight shift (midnight to 8am) when I discovered it not only gave me more time to myself, I could avoid the crowds when stopping, driving, going to the beach, etc.! Most people are at work during the day, so the dogs and I pretty much have the parks and beaches to ourselves.

On the way over to my daughter's Sunday, I was going to stop at Target to pick up something, but one look at the crowds and thought, NO WAY!

[Dieselsmama]

Originally Posted by B-Line

Dom,

Putting our heated debate from last week to the side, I want to explain something to you, no offense intended.

I see certain types of dogs, I leave the park, period.

Last week, two young Pitbull mixes, each brought to the park by different owners, ganged up and attacked and SEVERLY injured, a young puppy.

Oh lordy, here we go again, do you mean to say, please let's rehash things? Why did this have to turn into a breed thing? I have Labs and would be encountering the same issues were I in a big city. I'll bet my dogs would be much less friendly if there were morons barking at them while we walked. 'Course I would less friendly as well
*Wondering if it's illeagal to taze someone for being a moron*

[Mr Pooch]

Originally Posted by Love's_Sophie

I just don't worry about other people, to be honest; its not worth NOT having fun with my dogs, just because I am worried about what other people are thinking, saying, or doing...I just enjoy my dog!!

I dont worry about the people L.S they just annoy me i guess.
I enjoy my dogs alot.

Originally Posted by shewolf4

I am not surprised that they are not friendly, so might want to be extra friendly and make friends all across the board

Shewolf i try my best to be as friendly as possible,smiling(to reassure people) and when i do get the odd occasion someone stops and talks its really nice.

I suppose i might look quite intimidating myself,im a big guy im not pretty and because most of the time im getting looks that could kill i suppose my frown is permanant.lol

I will try to look happier if i think it'll help.

I did have one nice incident yesterday i forgot,i showered the dogs in the garden with a hose and then took Asln for a walk to dry off,a lady had a daughter about 2 years old who was shuffling along following me saying "doggy",normally these kids are scooped up.

When i turned around the mother asked if her daughter could pet Aslan(his tail was wagging like crazy) i said of course,poor little girl was given a big sloopy Aslan kissed and loved it.
That was nice.

Originally Posted by B-Line

Dom,

Putting our heated debate from last week to the side, I want to explain something to you, no offense intended.

I see certain types of dogs, I leave the park, period.

Last week, two young Pitbull mixes, each brought to the park by different owners, ganged up and attacked and SEVERLY injured, a young puppy.

The Pitbull got it's mouth around the puppies neck and it took the Pitbull owner +5 minutes to get his dog off the puppy. Blood was everywhere.

So while, not every Pit, Mastiff, etc. is going to attack and almost kill a young puppie. The quote on quote, "dangerous dog breeds" that people sneer at, the feelings should be understood by the owners of these breeds.

See thats the thing B-line,i dont doubt for a second that some people are aprehensive about me and the dogs,the sad thing is they love people and ive trained them extremly well.

I gave up along time ago too letting them run offleash,it caused too many problems for me and other people.

Now the only dogs they socialize with are dogs they were raised with as pups.

When i go to the dog park i go into the "private section" where its a wait in line service for a sectioned off area.

The UK being in the 80degrees at the moment meant i had to wait yesterday with loose dogs everywhere.

B-line the biggest problem i encounter are irresponsible bullyowners too.
Ive had countless encounters with idiots who have out of control bullys(mainly teenagers),suppose its good my dogs are capable of defending themselves when they are attacked!

Back to the OP,it does upset me that maybe im judged as one of these irresponsible bully owners,my dogs are always leashed unless enclosed and anyone can pet them if they wish to.

Originally Posted by rosemaryninja

On the contrary. I live in Singapore, where it is ALWAYS 'summer'. It's 89 degrees F on the average; the early 90s on a hot day. YEAR-ROUND. Not impossible.

Its in the 80's here too,must be my breeds then?

Originally Posted by Dieselsmama

Oh lordy, here we go again, do you mean to say, please let's rehash things? Why did this have to turn into a breed thing? I have Labs and would be encountering the same issues were I in a big city. I'll bet my dogs would be much less friendly if there were morons barking at them while we walked. 'Course I would less friendly as well
*Wondering if it's illeagal to taze someone for being a moron*

Thanks Kate,i wish tazers were legal here.lol

[K8IE]

That is really sad that there are so many non-dog people out there that will pass judgement without having a clue. I have the biggest (well maybe not THE biggest) , goofiest, most lovable dog and every once in a while I will see someone clutch their child like I would allow my dog to eat it while we pass by. It blows my mind because I know that he wouldn't hurt them, but would lick a kid silly. It kills me because I suppose I am just oblivious to the fear of dogs, as I love them so much and never pre-judge any of them.

[shewolf4]

While I agree with irresponsible teenagers and their dogs, you find the odd nutt sometimes in the teenagers too, its just hard to find them. None of us have a "well trained & friendly" sign hanging on the front of us, so people tend to judge across the board until they get to know us. I have confronted teenagers before with dogs off the leash and unruly dogs- in general I ask for their parents and let them know that they ARE responsible for anything the teenager does or their dog and that I WILL call the AC or police if a dog gets aggressive- that gets attention pretty fast and hile the dog gets put back in the backyard and I feel sorry for it, at least no one is injured. But- I have also had a fair share of teenagers come and wanting help to get control over their dog, that dont want a aggressive dog, so I give the benefit of doubt and a fair chance to learn. Only had twice teenagers come and ask me to help train the dog to become aggressive- not only turned them down, but also told them that if I EVER hear of the dog biting anyone, I will step forward and testify that they wanted the dog aggressive and do everything I could to get them into jail. Woke them up pretty fast. My guys here are way friendly and I like taking them out and making new friends- they seem to enjoy that as well, it takes a little training for any newcomer to learn how to behave and not be intimitading and a smile sure helps towards people, so dont let "some" people stop you from enjoying the summer

[FriendsOfZoe]

Dom, it's definitely not a breed thing...just a people thing. People don't run from Zoe or bark at her, but they want to meet her or awww at her and stuff..and when you're trying to work very very hard on getting your puppy to focus on you and ignore passersby, it's just as annoying.

For me, it's not about dog lovers v. non-dog lovers, it's simply about space---I like in the winter, there is no one out and I can even walk main streets without having to worry about passing people and trying to keep Zoe from reacting (as in, trying to go meet them and get a belly rub).

I can go to the park and let her run after her ball without having a lot of other dogs there and mostly without having unfamiliar dogs there so that I have to be super on guard for fear that something will happen. There are no fights at the dog parks in winter--the only dogs there are the ones that go every day no matter the weather, and they know each other and are friends just looking to run around. The fighting happens when the weather gets nice and people decide it will be fun to bring their wild, unsocialized dogs to the park.

[shewolf4]

FriendsOfZoe- I agree with you to a extend. While it is nice to walk without the distraction, I also welcome the distraction even though it IS more work, but I like the challenge to have my dogs focus on me no matter what. So I dont get annoyed much with it, I try to take every chance to go and expose my dogs to more- horses as well- it will make them the better for it. I have a about 5 year old foster here right now that I was told was fearful, picking fights, not handling new situations well, no socialization - overall not a good picture for adopting out. She has been here now 2 weeks, we started slow- she is well balanced, gets along well with kids, dogs,cats and horses- even leaves my chickens alone after introduction and does great on the leash, but doesnt see sense in "heel", so as long as she doesnt stretch the leash , I let it be. Her chances of adoption in any given shelter with a record like that would've been minimal- she looks kinda homely too and BTW - she HATED the name they gave her, so we changed it and she is happy to come to her new name. I try to indroduce her and expose her to anything new I can think of and she is doing great. When the time comes to have her new permanent family, the people get a training session with her as well, so there will be a smooth transition, but overall I believe that she will do very well because I exposed her to allot of things and didnt follow the report much that was given on her. Dont get me wrong- I put the reports into serious consideration, but I also have to allow for a new start. The last foster didnt like cats no matter what- was put into the report too- he has a home with no cats and no interaction with cats, so little chance he will fail. Other then that he was great and everyone is happy. But if I only go where there is no exposure, they dont learn- I might as well start collecting dogs and that wouldnt help them - or me- in the least. So I always tell myself " Work with what you got, not with what you wish you had"

[Mudra]

I dont mind walking my dogs anytime of the day... WHAT BOTHERS me is that everytime I am out for a walk I always get comments like "are you capable of controlling your dogs?" I kinda get it and not get it. Is it because I am barely 5 ft tall and my dogs are taller than me when they stand up? Because as far as I am concerned, my dogs are pretty focus on the road when we go for a walk and as behave as I hope they would be. There will be sniffing here and there, but nothing that shows they are AGGRESSIVE. It pisses me off sometimes, when me and the dogs are underestimated by passersby. Is there a height requirement to own big dogs??? =P

[Goggie]

People think that Golden Retrievers are friendly, loveable dogs and for the most part they are right... but unfortunately, despite the breed, a dog is still a dog. They have powerful jaws and teeth that can rend flesh, sinew, and bone. Sure, some have a higher prey drive than others, some have shorter fuses and some are severely handicapped by a stupid owner. Anyways, I digress from the point I was trying to make. I have kids run up to Steel all the time, wanting to pet him and touch him. I'm sort of a grump when I walk my dogs, I don't like people touching them-- especially kids because my two big dogs can knock over a kid in a blink. My husband doesn't know why I don't like it and my response is, 'I'm not a walking petting zoo'.

Since getting Ubi, I sort of play on the stereotype of scary dog. People tend to steer clear of dogs that look like Ubi, despite the fact that he's wiggling his butt off because he wants to go play with them.

I don't like people in general. I especially don't like kids. I guess that's years of working in customer service industry that has made me so bitter. Fighting the losing battle against stupidity is a daunting task, no matter how much I get paid to do it. My dogs are my solace... I'd kick anyone's butt who messes with that.

[MegaMuttMom]

Originally Posted by FriendsOfZoe

Dom, it's definitely not a breed thing...just a people thing. People don't run from Zoe or bark at her, but they want to meet her or awww at her and stuff..and when you're trying to work very very hard on getting your puppy to focus on you and ignore passersby, it's just as annoying.

For me, it's not about dog lovers v. non-dog lovers, it's simply about space---I like in the winter, there is no one out and I can even walk main streets without having to worry about passing people and trying to keep Zoe from reacting (as in, trying to go meet them and get a belly rub).

I can go to the park and let her run after her ball without having a lot of other dogs there and mostly without having unfamiliar dogs there so that I have to be super on guard for fear that something will happen. There are no fights at the dog parks in winter--the only dogs there are the ones that go every day no matter the weather, and they know each other and are friends just looking to run around. The fighting happens when the weather gets nice and people decide it will be fun to bring their wild, unsocialized dogs to the park.

That's what I find. On the super nice days everyone brings out their dogs that haven't been allowed to run all winter. There are many that are full of crazy pent-up energy and many that aren't well socialized. I also find that often they have owners that don't understand dog behavior. In the winter you only see people who know and love dogs enough to give them what they need year round and all the dogs know each other. It is nicer.

[Love's_Sophie]

I think the thing that annoys me most is when I am somewhere and someone (kid or not) just has to try and pet my dog EVEN if I am giving Sophie a recall, so of course, she is tempted to stay for the pettings!!! I walk up to them and tell them NOT to pet my dog when she has been given a command...they usually say "oh, sorry" Once I have Sophie in a proper greeting I will then allow pettings.

Yesterday while at a pet supply store, there where these three kids trying to pet Sophie no matter where I went in this particular part of the store; I just kept moving, so they didn't have a chance...finally bypassed the parents, and gave Sophie a "leave it" cue (not that she needed it, but...hint hint, leave my dog alone, we're training) and the mom told her kids to stop... It's different when people ask, or kids ask their parents for me, but when your kid is following me around, and I have NO clue where the parent is...it is SO not okay!!!

I think, for the most part, from what I have seen this spring, I live in a decent area; the dogs at the parks I have gone to have been fairly well behaved and not nasty. But we try to frequent some of the larger parks, that have actual rec facilities (with staff watching over the park) on the park land...I think that in it self seems to keep alot of the weirdies away! They know they will get kicked off, so they just don't bother coming...Lol! I do feel lucky in this aspect; both for my sanity and my dog's safety!

[ara28]

Originally Posted by Mr Pooch

This evening i go back out and there are groups of teenagers everywhere still,barking at my dogs,smashing glass and to top it off some of them have offleash dogs too,if the owners are anything to go by the dogs cant be controlled.

I used to live in a neighborhood that was surrounded by bars so needless to say, being a young single female I am glad I have my dog, even though I've never witnessed him being agressive towards anyone, people typically wont mess with me when I'm walking with him. On one occasion, it was about midnight on a saturday night and this drunk guy started screaming at us saying "OOOO PIT BULL!!! GET THE F*** OUT OF HERE OR I'LL F*** YOU UP WITH MY GUN!" My dog turned around and stared at him like WTF?? Then the guy got down on the ground and started crawling towards us while barking at my dog. And I was thinking, lucky for this guy that my dogs not aggressive because he probably would have been attacked. Then some other man came walking down the street and started screaming at the drunk guy telling him to get lost and my dog would not move until he was sure that crazy man was out of sight. I don't understand what's wrong with people.

[doggone6]

I finally figured out how to deal with this stuff. For the angry parents/bicyclists/joggers I pull the dogs up on a short lead and have them sit/stay. I also smile. A few people in my husband's family are scared to death of dogs, so I know it's a real fear and I do my best to let people know I understand their reservations. If I get anything approaching a positive comment at that point, I encourage them to interact with the dogs before we go on our way.

As soon as someone starts barking or teasing (or their dog comes up to start something), I smile...walk over to them...and very sweetly and reasonably give them a nice, motherly lecture about why they SHOULDN'T be doing that. (This takes care of most teens, as they are getting enough motherly lectures already, lol.) I insist they pet my dogs. If their dog is the problem, I snag it by the collar and proceed as above. Last week, I taught one idiot how to teach his dog to sit and stay. He was so grateful, he tried to pay me.

Yes, I have been cursed-at and threatened by some of the more unsavory and macho types. At that point, I raise my chin...look them in the eye...and tell them I DO have a cell in my pocket and have NO problem dialing 911. I also tell them if they move a muscle I'll scream my bloody head off and let MY big dog out of his sit/stay. If I encounter them a second time, I DO call 911.