Entitled dog walkers

[citywolf]

My sister was walking our 4 month old lab x collie(L) today. On her walk she came across a lady who was walking her Cane Corso on the same path, so my sister decided to cross the road to another path for various reasons.

This lady then said to her ‘I see that as dogism, which is practically the same as racism to me,’ including that the breed is looked down upon a lot of times blah blah blah. Obviously me and my sister were mostly shocked at the fact she basically called her ‘racist’ in the most lightest situation for something that wasn’t even a big deal.

Firstly, we don’t know her nor her dog. The dog could have been reactive to others for all we know, especially when the breed is known to be bred for fighting. Our dog has a small frame and is still developing puppy so even if they just played friendly, the cane corso would most likely be too rough for him. Or even our dog could have made one wrong move and that’s it.

Secondly, how would she know our dog was friendly to other dogs? If the dogs crossed paths and L went for him, that would be a liability on my sister and the lady would have had a hurt dog. For the moment L seems extremely friendly to both humans and the dogs he has met, but as we’ve only had him for 2 months and while his testosterone kicks in, we would rather stay cautious for now and keeep socialisation controlled, especially since he can be quite full on.

Third point is simple, there was no room on the path anyway and whilst this lady was trying to explain her dog was friendly, she could barely hold him on the lead. Very inviting.

My sister even said she loves Cane Corsos, she just didn’t feel comfortable walking past one with L which I personally think shouldn’t have been such a big deal. One thing I’ve learnt about owning a dog is how a hand ful of dog owners genuinely think the world revolves around them and act like everyone should know the ins and outs of their dog, then make it a big deal when people don’t abide by THEIR rules.

 

[field]

@citywolf “I actually crossed to avoid you. I didn’t even see the dog.”

 

[rosethepoet]

@field boom

 

[mariegmgs]

@citywolf Dog owners can be assholes too. Don't sweat it, as ridiculous as she was, she isn't worth your time. You do you. You, your sister, and your dog all deserve to feel safe while walking.

 

[citywolf]

@mariegmgs Absolutely. I apologise if this subreddit gets a lot of posts like these, but I just couldn’t get over how ignorant a grown person can be, especially while owning the breed she owns lol.

 

[yvee]

@citywolf Let me guess the woman felt holier than thou... People can be so overly negative because THEY are miserable. They can be miserable by themselves. OK?

Remember you your sister and your dog are severely allergic to negativity and bad vibes. Continue living your best lives. That woman can go eat a d*ck, respectfully

 

[mdstehling]

@citywolf I wouldn’t have been able to hold back my laughter at “dogism”

 

[dj]

@mdstehling Same. If it had been me, that lady would've gotten a whole lot of getting-laughed-at and not much else. Some apologies probably, if I could get them through the laughter as we depart, because laughing at strangers is rude but yeah, "dogism".

Maybe shouldn't be so callous though. There is no place for dogist beliefs in our society.

 

[fearful]

@citywolf Just keep walking lol. The best way to ruin these people's days is to entirely ignore them like they didn't say anything at all lol.

 

[theweebabyjesus]

@fearful Lol true

 

[curtiscurrier]

@fearful

 

[jcvd]

@citywolf Comparing dog breed based precaution to the very real and prevalent and damaging behavior of racism is incredibly insensitive to people of color. It completely diminishes the trauma they/we (I am Mestizo) experience. Dog breeds have bred behaviors, that’s the whole point of dog breeds. They are not comparable to human races and ethnicities, which is a social and cultural construct. To suggest so is racist in itself. I know this is becoming a concerningly popular thing to conflate, but this comparison has notoriously racist origins. She’s not on the “morally correct” side that she is trying to project.

I have a German Shepherd. People cross the road when they see me walking her because she is a large and powerful breed of dog. Plenty of German Shepherd lines were bred for protection work, and plenty of them are unfortunately backyard bred to crap and are unstable. It is completely warranted to be wary of my lovely dog. These people do not know me, nor my dog to have any confidence in how she will behave. They are looking out for their safety as is their right.

I cross the street when I see questionable dogs as well. I tell people to “suck an egg” on the very rare instance they call back to me “she’s friendly” in haughty tone. I don’t care. I don’t know you, I don’t know your dog, I don’t know how you have trained your dog, and I have already bore witness to “friendly dogs” attacking and killing other dogs, and even attacking people.

No thanks.

 

[citywolf]

@jcvd The ‘dogism’ comment was what shocked me the most out of it all. Whether she was trying to victimise her dog who couldn’t care less and would probably prefer to dodge a potential stressful encounter with a high energy puppy idk.

 

[onevoiceunified]

@jcvd I HATE when people compare the two. I’ve noticed it a ton with doodle people who say that people who don’t like their dog are just racist and that their mixed breed is no different the a biracial person… I can’t.

And I’m sorry to get off topic but what is mestizo? I’ve never heard that before.

 

[jcvd]

@onevoiceunified Mestizo refers to Latin Americans with a mixed Native/European background. It’s not a race recognized by the US census, so typically in the USA we’re simply classified as White. There’s often a lot of contention on whether Hispanics are “White” in the USA, some are, some aren’t functionally speaking but still get labeled as such. My Dad per the USA census is “White” but I assure you, he’s never been treated as a “White person” in the USA lol.

There’s some back and forth on the term since it had some historically demeaning usage. In some countries, like El Salvador (where my dad is from) it’s a label of pride and represents the dominant culture there.

Mestizo culture quickly became the most successful and dominant culture in El Salvador. The majority of Salvadorans in modern El Salvador identify themselves as 86.3% Mestizo roots.

https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Mestizo

 

[dynadin]

@jcvd Mestizo

Mestizo (; Spanish: [mesˈtiso] (listen); fem. mestiza) is a term used for racial classification to refer to a person of mixed European and Indigenous American ancestry. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturally European even though their ancestors are not. The term was used as an ethnic/racial category for mixed-race castas that evolved during the Spanish Empire.

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[onevoiceunified]

@jcvd That’s super cool to know. Sorta like the differences between those from central and South America vs Spain but a little bit different? Sorry, I’m sure I could’ve looked it up but I figured I’d ask so I had a little more context to understand it.

And don’t worry, I’m definitely not calling anyone by any ethnicity based names because… I just won’t. It makes my skin crawl. I just wanted a little more context and I always wanna know a racial slur if i ever hear it just in case because I don’t like people like that.

 

[rickylovesjesus]

@citywolf People are so ridiculous. You own a massive dog, of course people are going to avoid it for whatever reason (their dog, your dog, drama lol). I cannot with people lol.

“I crossed because you looked like a B”

 

[woodnhen]

@rickylovesjesus I crossed cos your shoes are too ugly

 

[zee1]

@citywolf Lmao I would’ve just very tersely responded with “MY dog is aggressive, THAT’s why I crossed the road. It’s not ALWAYS about you” and rolled my eyes right back into my head.

My dog isn’t aggressive at all but I’m just spiteful and enjoy making people feel stupid when they try to attack me lol

I always try to give other dogs plenty of space on walks, be it a Cane Corso or a Golden or a Pomeranian. Because I don’t trust the owners. I always assume every dog I come across is untrained, unsocialised and that the owner doesn’t know how to control it. I’d guess that I’m right 50% of the time.