On the issue of courtesy towards dog-owners

[Manifest]

So today I was out with my dog for a walk, She is a little french bulldog and one hell of a friendly dog, loves humans more than dogs and will literally walk right past another dog to simply get to the human.

Now, I love this dog with all of my heart, and unfortunately I had to learn the hard way that I had to be careful with her, and it ended up being her that had to pay the price with a dog bite in the lip.

I learned that lesson to the full extend and I never, EVER, get close to another persons dog, leash or not, if it isn't absolutely controlled where I can intervene on my own accord, I will not get anywhere near that person.

The same goes for humans, if I ever run into anyone I try to steer away as much as possible, simply because I don't want to end up in a situation where I don't know how they might react or something unexpected might happen, don't get me wrong, my dog wouldn't hurt any person or dog just because, even in a tense moment where the dogs may growl, I have never seen her initiate the stand off, and if she takes it up and starts to make a dominant stance I will pounce on her and correct her the instant it happens.

But one thing is to try and be the best dog owner you can be, and then have these absolute morons that as soon as they see the dog will get down to it's level make contact inviting it over, making it hard for me to control my dog, and then be surprised when she jumps at them trying to get as close as she can.

These, complete idiots, are what what sets me off. To have to deal with these completely socially incompetent pricks, is one of the biggest challenges I find when I go out.

The fact alone that they would just walk by and then suddenly make contact with my dog, even to let their kids run straight at her with out a word is mind-boggling to me, the ideology of "dog owners are the ones that have to take responsibility when it comes to their dogs" is one of the biggest fallacies I've heard my entire life! How the heck am I supposed to have any control when people left and right are making contact to my dog with out even the slightest hinting at a permission from me? How am I supposed to take responsibility for my dog when I'm not even allowed to have control over the situation?!

Look, I'm not the freaking dog whisperer, I have made and still make huge mistakes, two months back i was running with her without a leash and it nearly ended in yet another mistake that she had to pay for because I was an complete and utter fool. But, Come. On. How can dog owners be expected to be any good when the norm in society is to treat dogs like human beings and make contact without any talking to the owner?

This turned into a huge rant, and I'm sorry, I just had to get this of my chest, today was just one too many..

[Sid]

People really need to understand that dogs are NOT little humans - but then I also think you should probably give your dog a little more training ( I say that in a spirit of friendly advice and not confrontation - it's obvious you care about your dog and have a good attitude )

We own Rhodesian Ridgebacks, and they a large and powerful hunting breed with very independent minds who need to be given firm rules to follow. I expect my dog to return to me with nothing more than a click of my fingers and the word " here " no matter what the situation. Ridgies ( and I expect most other breeds ) respond best to lots of Scooby Snacks and positive reinforcement for good behaviour.

Cesar Milans advice on dog training is pretty much on the money in my experience.

[Motokid600]

So my neighbors dog gets out of its pen the other day and wonders into our garage. Corners my cat. Cat goes berserk. Dog needs a $1k worth of medical treatment. Owner sues us.. that's humanity for ya.

[Firov]

So my neighbors dog gets out of its pen the other day and wonders into our garage. Corners my cat. Cat goes berserk. Dog needs a $1k worth of medical treatment. Owner sues us.. that's humanity for ya.

1,000 dollars in medical treatment from a cat attack?! What kind of "cat" do you have? A mountain lion?

[Canopus]

I completely understand your problems. I also had problems with someones dog coming to close to my Czechoslovakian wolfdog ,who was still on her leash. She felt uncomfortable and slightly bit the other dog in the neck. Nothing serious, except the woman who the other dog belonged to flipping out of course.

[Drunken Hobo]

Once whilst in the pub, my parents had somebody come up to our boxer dog & put his face right next to the dog's. When she started growling at him, he tried to feed her a biscuit by holding it in his mouth and trying to get her to take it. What sort of frigging idiot does such a thing, especially to a large dog that is warning them to go away?

She wouldn't have bitten him, but he didn't know that. If she wanted to, she could have torn his face off before he could flinch.

Sometimes people are really stupid.

[Outback_Zach]

Sometimes people are really stupid.

That basically sums up humanity.

I have 2 goldendoodles (Some people laugh at the name until I tell them they are 90 pounds and I have seen them chase after a bear) and one really hates other animals, and we tell people this but they still see her and happily walk over to her with there dogs. Then they act surprised that she is aggressive.

[qeveren]

1,000 dollars in medical treatment from a cat attack?! What kind of "cat" do you have? A mountain lion?

Don't underestimate the damage output of a housecat. Two paws are equipped with knives, the other two with razors, and the face a staple-remover. XD

[OtherDalfite]

Don't underestimate the damage output of a housecat. Two paws are equipped with knives, the other two with razors, and the face a staple-remover. XD

I don't know if I'd call the back ones knives. They are more like stationary chainsaw teeth.

[relin]

Of course you should never make contact with a dog without first consulting the owner, but if your dog is that uneasy out in public, it's also good to put a yellow ribbon on the leash. Not EVERYONE knows what it means, but it's an excellent indicator for those of us accustomed to dog socialization. The more people who use this with their dogs, the better.

[BlackBicycle]

Don't underestimate the damage output of a housecat.

As a life-long cat person, I applaud you : )

Now, That yellow (I'd make it orange) ribbon idea is great! Wish it was made into a law.

[Awaras]

There are also these color-coded dog leashes:

http://www.friendlydogcollars.co.uk/

[wasmic]

I actually see myself a little in what the OP rants about. Not to the extend that the OP describes it, but a little. I'll think about how I behave when I meet someone with a dog.

[vetrox]

When i was a security dog handler I used to have a really shouty German Shepherd. I had a vest for him that had "Ask to pet" written on it in big capital letters. Did anyone ask before they come rushing over? Nope (only parents with small childeren)

You also have the people on the other end of the scale who are absolutley anti-dog in every single way. As I'm no longer a dog handler I now have a siberian husky that couldnt be better trained (unless it sees a fox) and I when it goes for its morning walk I take it to the park...you know where people have a habbit of walking their dogs. Now this park is clever, theres a play area that is completley seperated from the rest of the park and no dogs are allowed in this seperated area.

Now, if you want to play with your childeren outside of this area I'm all for that but if my dog happens to be walking around and having a sniff and what not and your child happens to walk up to it, please dont grab your child away and start screaming at me. Go take your child to the achre of land that dogs are prohibited from being in.

Also if you think my dog is misbehaving thats cool. Please tell me as I strive to have a well trained and behaved dog but an unfortunate thing about dogs is they like to chase things and they have a habbit of chasing things i havent noticed...like geese. So when my dog is chasing a goose I really dont recommend trying to grab my dog and then telling me to control it. Especially when its pretty obvious I'm trying too.

TBH the people who the op is describing are people who have never been around dogs. They dont know friends with dogs, they have never had dogs so they assume that people whith happy looking dogs are sensible and so are the dogs. I'm surprised childeren arent tought from a young age how to interact with dogs (I.E dont unless you have asked the owner) They get shown how to cross a road but not how to interact with animals?

Also I hate people who have dogs taht are aggressive to other dogs but dont muzzle them. My huskie loves other dogs...theres one dog that didnt like my husky and the owner just shrugged it off and made me out to be the bad guy? (Thats the short story )

Also dog owners who dont use a lead/leash. Owners who leave dog poop everywhere (is it really that hard to put your hand in a bag and pick it up? Your quite happy to own something that malts and slobbers everywhere potentially filled with parasites but you wont pick up its poo?)

I could go on but i will stop about now because i can get quite opinionated on this subject.

Edited January 7, 2014 by vetrox

[KOCOUR]

So my neighbors dog gets out of its pen the other day and wonders into our garage. Corners my cat. Cat goes berserk. Dog needs a $1k worth of medical treatment. Owner sues us.. that's humanity for ya.

Sue him for letting his dog enter your property without your permition.