People have zero survival instinct and it’s hurting my dog

@knittedspoons I really dont get this. I adore all dogs. I want to pet every single one i see. BUT even if they are calm and happy, i still just leave them alone unless they walk up to me. Why? Because its common sense and not my dog. I have had too many rescues to know that even the happiest of dogs can have their triggers. Idk why people cant just mind their own business
 
@knittedspoons I hate people like that. We tried taking my Dane hiking. We’d pull off the trail when there were people coming. We were several feet off the trail and had some old guy come within an foot of my barking lungin dogs face and scream “control your dog”. We turned around and went home after that. Most people were great and understood and kept walking while we’d try to get his focus back but that dude just ruined it.

But still real bright getting in a dog of that sizes face like that
 
@knittedspoons I yelled at some dipshit who I told not to approach my dog who was hitched to a coffee shop patio railing while I ran inside for my drink. My dog was calmly sitting and waiting. I saw a woman approach her and called out, "Please don't approach or pet my dog." The idiot calls back, "It's alright! I'm a dog person!" And cue my dog start barking like crazy because -- shocker -- she didn't want a stranger approaching and standing over her. I was so pissed -- told the woman to GTF away from my dog, unhitched her and took her inside with me. That was the first time I really wanted to just haul off and punch someone.
 
@matt_fif I don’t disagree with your comment in general. My dog’s reactivity - and it’s fairly mild - stems from being nervous with strange men and overly excited about other dogs. I’m hypervigilant (not perfect by any stretch!) and there were no dogs in the area and the two men on the patio were on the other side. I made a calculated risk to grab a drink I knew I was waiting because the staff waved me in - we walked there nearly every day. What I didn’t count on was that crazy lady, although my dog had a fairly normal reaction to a stranger suddenly looming over her (all dogs bark, especially when they get nervous).
 
@celtish It’s a really irresponsible idea to leave a dog tied up alone in public, let alone a reactive dog.

Ignoring theft potential, strangers getting bitten or hurting your dog, the dog could also get loose and bolt.
 
@knittedspoons Why have dogs out and about in public that people can't feel okay of just walking by? I get reactivity, but dangerous dogs shouldn't be bred and in public. There are so many good dogs too out there! If your at a park on a sidewalk and a dog is freaking out, you should move away. Make em.sit off path, say we're training. If I need to change my direction, that isn't common decency. That's the dog owner thinking people should do something because they feel they deserve to be there. You chose the dog. You chose the place. If a dog is bugging out and unsafe, there are many choices then any public forum where people need to walk by. This isn't the bystanders choice.
Source: I have a somewhat reactive livestock guard dog. And a great dane. My dane is with my 24/7. He's amazing and I trust him. My other dog? She is not up.for more stimulus. She doesn't do a lot outside my house and property, and she is happy and healthy and we do different things to stimulate and train and expose her. Know your dogs. Be smart.
 
@knittedspoons When our dog was still really struggling, I’d be well off a trail or path, suitcasing or holding my dog on the short lead and people would still come really close, ask if they could pet or worse - let their dog out on a retractable. I’d be obviously giving him commands and feedback but they want to hold a conversation or ask of their kids can pet. Yeah no, move along.
 
@thewordiswisdom It’s amazing to me how much effort people put into ignoring such obvious signs. You can be in distress, loudly voicing you concerns, and they will still go out of their way to disrespect your boundaries. I’m so sorry.
 
@knittedspoons I totally get your feelings. My dog was reactive for a bit and when people would go out of their way to come near my dog, I'd tell them he is very nervous and we are working on it and not to approach. I'd keep it friendly
 
@knittedspoons I totally get what you mean, my dog is reactive towards strangers in certain situations. See a stranger on a path while walking, he's fine. Us ordering food through the drive-through, he's fine. He sees people working with lawn equipment or roofers, he's fine.

What he isn't fine with, is random people that are meandering near us. One example is while we were on vacation, I took him out to go potty. He's about to do his business, when we both see an older woman carrying a cup of coffee walking towards us. He starts barking, she gets closer. HE CONTINUES TO BARK AND SHE GETS EVEN CLOSER.

At this point, I knew that he will not use the bathroom and I try to walk away to put distance between us. SHE FOLLOWS US. Starts talking like "oh I had a dog who barked at everything, oh he's so cute, oh what's his name". Like cool you aren't scared of my dog but he doesn't want you near us.

I had to carry him back to the AirBnB and try again in 30 minutes.

So I get your frustration and I empathize.
 
@knittedspoons Yes, my dog is highly reactive to my neighbours dog and every time they see us, the neighbour starts walking quickly towards me with their off-lead dog. I always shout for them to move away or leash their dog but they seem to see it as some kind of challenge. All I want to do is get her out of the situation and home to safety. If they are at a reasonable distance my dog will try to run away but I have no doubt that she would bite if they actually managed to corner us. Why do they want that?
 
@knittedspoons Fuck me. Wouldn't life be so much easier if other people didn't exist? Some people are just plain idiots. I honestly wonder how they are still alive.

This morning I walked past someone with a puppy on an extending lead. My dog hates puppies and those leads (same). Of course the owner was beaming at me like I was supposed to think her dog was the best thing ever. I shouted mine isn't friendly and tucked right into the side with my dog at my ankle. "oh, he only wants to say hello" as this untrained obnoxious dog was bounding towards us totally out of control. "No, mine isn't friendly" I repeated. I was just about to turn around when the puppy ran at us, still on the extending lead. All hell broke loose and the puppy ended up trying to run away across the road straight in front of a bus. Luckily it missed being hit and was between the wheels. This is the SECOND TIME the same owner has done exactly the same thing.

We could have walked nicely past each other, said good morning, and carried on with the rest of our day. But no, we both went home shaking, terrified a poor bus driver and set my dog back a step or two. Sweet Jesus people irritate the shit out of me.
 
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