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Originally Posted by Nancy1999  LOL, what a great writer you are! I know exactly what you mean, I was taking Joey everywhere, and things were fine, and all it took was a few people reacting like he was a celebrity to make him get all Sean Penn-like. I have no advice, I had to start leaving Joey at home; people would reach for him before I could warn them not to do this. I mean they would never shove their hands on a 90 lb dog's head, why do they think it's safe with a small dog? Now that he's four, he's much more settled and I've started taking him out again, but this time we are walking, and he's not in his basket where his head was so easy to reach. |
Er umm actually more ppl then you would think actually do that. A case in point, a couple of nights ago, I had the opportunity to witness, a man walking a large spitz mix dog through our narrow laneway. Young boy maybe 10 yrs old or so, is zeroing in on said dog. Owner is watching me, and I am watching him, two big dogs, narrow space, I stand back, boy launches himself at that owner and dog, and after reaching up and over the dog's head to pet the head, he proceeds next to stand to one side and give that dog a great big hug. The dog hated it, tail down, hunched over, etc. Man and dog walk off I walk to laneway, boy starts running to me, my hand goes us like a traffic warden and I say stop. He says why? I said you have no clue how to greet a strange dog. He say's well is your dog a bad dog, no I say he is a guard dog. Now let me explain how you greet a strange dog, I put Magic in a sit stay, you walk slowly up to the strange person and dog, without swinging your arms and waving them about energetically, and stop about 6-8 feet back. Then you talk to the owner for a bit, you ask if you can say hi to their dog, and what is the dog's name etc. You approach slowly, never pet over their head that is a threatening gesture, instead offer your closed hand to be sniffed, if the dog backs away, let the dog go, and don't try to approach the dog. If sniffing is all good, you can scratch or pet on the side of the neck and from the side of the dog. Never hug a strange dog, the hugging action is also a sign of dominance, and or can be perceived to be a threat. Wow he says |I never knew that, I said well I hope you remember it. Now you want to pat Magic? Try out your new techinque?
He does and all goes well, he says to me boy he is big how much does he weigh, I said I bet he weighs more than you do. Anyhow about 125 lbs the boy was about 80 lbs.
It is not just children either, many many folks here in the city were never taught how to approach a strange dog.
And I've gotten the ankle biter business, and the yappy business, and the she although he is a he.
Well Razz isn't an ankle biter, but he does bark sometimes a fair amount particularly at play. I just laugh, but personally I love the balls comment.
I might just say watch out this is my "attack" Yorkie - he goes for the balls