Dog Woes

[ccnumber4]

So cute!  Has he gotten over his fear of people?

[MeloRed]

I had a similar event happen at the Petsmart Grooming Salon.  I have two dogs and while one was getting her nails clipped, the other stayed beside me and my 8-month old baby.  Another man came in and wasn't paying attention to his very friendly spaniel.  I was trying to juggle a few things and the spaniel got a little too close to the baby.  My very protective pooch snarled at his dog...  then the owner commented on my unfriendly dog.  Nooo...  your dog invaded her family territory.  As he was leaving, another woman came in, her turned to her and said "keep your dog away from that one, she is very unfriendly."  Fortunately she was sane and when I explained to her what happened she thought it was perfectly reasonable that my dog might not like another dog getting close to her baby.

[Irish Clovers]

It's up to us mere humans to speak for our dogs, since they can't.  I do not and will not hesitate to tell anyone to BACK OFF if I feel my dog is uncomfortable.  Granted, a socialized dog is a happy dog but in times of stress it's our job to look out for their safety and the safety of other dogs. 

[CocoCamm]

I know where you are coming from but at the same time I can kinda sympathize with the "old bag." Now in no way do I condone her nastiness but I can kinda understand her attitude towards unfriendly dogs. (Please understand that I do not think your dog is nasty this is merely an in general vent)

I worked in a pet store for several years (actually several pet store spread out thru several years) and you would be amazed at the dogs that people would bring out in public. Dogs that would snarl and grow at people that walked by, dogs that would snap, even dogs that would bite. My coworker had to go to the hospital because he was bit by a customers nasty dog. What did he do to said dog? Well he had the audacity to walk past him! Dog lunged and took a chunk out of his leg.

Now I do think the vet is a different situation because any dog no matter how nasty has the right to medical treatment but I do HATE owners of dogs that have no social graces because they ruin things for those of us that worked hard to have a well behaved companion.

[ccnumber4]

My dog was securely leashed and kept at my side.  I was very clear that she needed extra space and this woman ignored me three different times.  My dog did not lunge or bear teeth, but gave warning growls, as a stressed dog is prone to do when her space is violated.  And the etiquette violation here was her loudly proclaiming in "baby talk" about how nasty my dog was.  The situation you are describing is not at all the same thing. 

[hobish]

I think it's funny when people get passive-aggressive through their pets. That woman sounds like a miserable old witch. You were much more polite than I would have been. Of course, I'm extra-protective of my dog as well.

My Joey (Curly Joe) looks very approachable, but he was abused as a puppy and scared to death of other people when I first adopted him. I found most strangers extremely understanding when I told them that he was newly adopted and still very afraid of people. They couldn't very well judge me if I hadn't had much of a chance to work with him.

I volunteer for a local animal shelter at some of their mobile adoptions. We set up in the same area every week. We usually have at least one dog there and we stay in that area the whole time. One day, a lady came in with her cat. She walked up to us and said, "My cat hates dogs!" and shielded her cat like the dog was going to attack it. I very politely said, "Well, I promise we won't allow the dog to travel outside of our little area here." If your cat hates dogs, why would you bring it over to where the dog is? I think some people just like the attention.

BTW - here's a picture of my fur kid.

Redleo, your dog looks very very much like a dog my parents used to have! We also adopted him after he had been abused and he ended up being a great dog, although not good with small children other than my sister who could do danged near anything around him & he wouldn't bat an eye. We thought he was a flat out mutt until we went to a dog show one day & saw a dog that looked exactly like him. It turned  out he was a Briard, a type of sheep dog. They have really neat coats that form insulation when they get wet. He was also the only dog we'd ever had that could unwind himself from a tree once he was wrapped around it and he was friends with all of the neighborhood cats. They'd eat out of his food dish, even.
Sorry to ramble. I miss our ol' Pupdog.

[hobish]

That lady was batty, ccnumber4. Especially since many types of Spaniels are very territorial and known to be aggressive despite their sweet looks.

Before someone takes offense - not all Spaniels, but lots of them. Ask my AnSci professor.

[ButterflieRJ]

Beautiful dog!!

I don't think you did anything wrong at all.  The PA old bag did, IMO, and I think that the Diva's idea is fantabulous LOL! 

I too don't like entitlement-minded pet owners.  It's a huge peeve of mine, right up there with people who don't take proper care of their pets.  And that's all I post on the subject or I'll go off on a not-so-great ranty tangent.  LOL!