Terrified I'll get in trouble

Rev

Free_Spirit_31 wrote: »

I feel your pain Rev! I tend to walk him when the kids are at school and I avoid the school run because of his size people think he is aggressive and vicious and he really pants when I walk him. Any toy dogs that go by tend to have a go and bark at him, my dog just ignores it and plods along.

I was in the vets with my eldest last year. A jack Russell attacked him. He rolled over and tried to hide under my legs.


The JRT's owner and a few other people blamed him. Apparently it must have been him because he's one of those vicious staffs. He didn't even bark back. Just tried to get away. The JRT's owner was screaming at me to get my vicious dog away from her baby. Thankfully the receptionist pointed out the JRT attacked and my dog didn't even react. Which seemed to shut her up.

It's so frustrating. They're the softest, loyalest most loveable dogs I've ever met but get blamed for everything.

Example. The same vets visit. After the people had done shouting at me and wanting him dead a puppy's about the size of his paw walked over and started humping his head hahaha. He looked at me as if to say 'hold on. I never agreed to this'.

DaveTheMus

Rev wrote: »

I feel your pain. I have two staffys. One is fear aggressive.

I am terrified whenever I walk him even though I take every precaution. Muzzle, short lead. Go our when it's quiet. Avoid people as much as possible (he is a rescue and hit and miss with both strange dogs and hoodie types). Follow the behaviourist advice. Zylkene etc.


But still I'm terrified because people automatically assume he is being aggressive and not because he's scared.


My other boy is daft as a brush but still. I am on edge whenever I take them out because people only have to look at them and they form the wrong impression.

The irony here is that you felling on edge and constantly fearful while walking may in fact cause them to attack someone.

Your dogs will be sensing your fear and will in turn become fearful as well.

Rev

DaveTheMus wrote: »

The irony here is that you felling on edge and constantly fearful while walking may in fact cause them to attack someone.

Your dogs will be sensing your fear and will in turn become fearful as well.

I know


It's like a vicious circle. I get edgy, try to relax, feel crap about being edgy because I know it effects them. Then try and relax again.

catkins

My dog is a great guard dog and goes mad every time there is someone at the door. I make him go in his crate while I answer the door. It means I don't have to worry about him getting out and running into the road.


I have 2 dogs and one is a rescue. He is only just a year old and has not had a very good life so far. He has no aggression and loves everything and everyone but gets very excited when out which I am working on.


A couple of weeks ago me and OH were walking our dogs and a boy of about 11 was on a child's scooter on the path. It was a very wide path (about 20feet) but the boy came up fast straight towards the rescue dog and then swerved just before he touched him. The dog started jumping and barking in excitement. Me and OH were trying to calm him down when the boy's mum came running over screaming and shouting at us. She shouted "Is that dog tame?" and when I tried to explain he was young and we were trying to train him she just screamed at us saying he should not be in the street where there were children. I was trying to avoid a row but was not prepared to take the abuse she was giving us so calmly pointed out that her child had almost run into the dog for no apparent reason when there was plenty of room to avoid him and that he was old enough to know better. Cue more abuse and threats that she would report us as we had a dog that was unsafe around children!

RuthnJasper

Rev wrote: »

Example. The same vets visit. After the people had done shouting at me and wanting him dead a puppy's about the size of his paw walked over and started humping his head hahaha. He looked at me as if to say 'hold on. I never agreed to this'.

Haha; that made me laugh! You have NO IDEA how much I needed a smile this morning - so thank you!

My late, beloved, Jasper was a Staffie and the most kind and loving dog imaginable. He played "Bullseye" in several different theatre productions of Oliver! and the child casts were always squabbling over wanting to cuddle him - he used to get 'groupies' at the Stage Door as well (not sure how the adult cast felt about that, hehe).

One of his friends, Eddie, was a Rottweiler and also a gentle and friendly chap - in The Dog's Blog (my homepage) I characterised Eddie as an extremely camp dog, forever bickering with his fellow Rottie and "long-term gentleman companion" Angus (more true than you might think... ).

People's misconceptions of certain breeds annoy me intensely. Several times when I was out and about with Jasper, total strangers would approach me and say things like "your dog should be shot". Awful. To my mind, it's similar (and as bad) to folk assuming that men from certain ethnic groups are "all" violent gang members or women from certain counties are "all" slappers. It's just not true.

Keep those tails wagging! x

roobee13

zaksmum wrote: »

And I hate it when I'm out with both dogs on lead and a foreign person with a couple of kids acts like she's just seen an escaped lion! Panicking and gathering the kids to her so they end up screaming and terrified while the dogs look on totally bewildered.

^^^ This!!

A few weeks ago a kid (maybe 3) on a scooter came running towards one of my dogs saying 'doggy'. Said doggy thought he was a new friend so starting walking towards him wagging his tail, as they do. Mother was a good 20ft away and the kid literally started hysterically crying and screaming, I've never seen such a ridiculous reaction. The mother didn't say anything but gave me the filthiest look imaginable!!

Drives me mad.

Irony being my dogs are labradors!! But because one of them is big, he too gets 'the look' and a bad rep based on his size.

I will also never understand the prejudice against staffies and certain other breeds. I've never known a 'bad' staffy, but plenty of bad spaniels, jack russells and other breeds who are generally associated with being a 'family' dog.

I wouldn't worry OP, sounds like it was a one-off incident and nothing actually happened

JimmyTheWig

catkins wrote: »

A couple of weeks ago me and OH were walking our dogs ...

To play devil's advocate, if your answer to

"Is that dog tame?"

was anything other than "yes" then I think she as reasonable to say

he should not be in the street where there were children.

I must admit that I wouldn't be happy about someone "trying to train" their big dog where my children were playing. If "trying to train" means "not yet trained" (which it does to my mind) then that presents a danger.
Yes, the child shouldn't have scooted at the dog. And it's certainly no excuse for the woman's attitude:

She shouted...
she just screamed at us...
more abuse and threats

But I can understand her being wary of the "untrained big dog" around her children.

jaylee3

Offering an alternative slant; I'm not gonna lie, I am actually afraid of dogs. Especially big ones and ones that have a 'reputation.' I don't like going into peoples houses unless they put their dog in another room. Sorry if this offends anyone and you are free to be p1ssed off with me. I was attacked twice as a child though and one left me with a 2" long scar on my thigh. One dog was loose in the street, and one dog was a friend's dog!

If I am walking and I see someone with a dog on the loose (and this happens maybe 2 or 3 times a month,) I panic. The chances of the dog attacking is probably less than half a percent but I just feel scared.

If they have their dog on a lead, I am pretty OK to be honest, because I know that the vast majority of dog owners are responsible and can control their dogs well.

I was walking down a not-very-busy road the other day and a man had TWO rottweillers not on leads (a bit irresponsible no matter what the dog imo,) and I damn near cacked myself!

They walked past me, and looked as if to say 'what ya lookin' at, sniffed the air tossed their heads, and carried on walking.' So as I said, the chances are high, that a dog is NOT going to attack.

Playing devil's advocate though, there have been some attacks - some fatal - where the dog is not under control and is not restrained. So despite the fact people love their dogs, and assume they are soft, and will never ever attack, you just cannot take that chance, so the guy with 2 loose rottweillers was very irresponsible.

I also had an incident last year, where a big family on an estate I used to live on had their 3 pitbulls running around in the drive, not on leads at all, and one of them came up to me and my niece, barking and growling: I was terrified. I went into the garden of someone I didn't know to 'escape,' and his owner called him back. Maybe he wouldn't have hurt me or my niece, but I was not taking any chances.

All this said, I have never reported anyone whose dog barked at me, and growled at me, I have seen people with dogs with no leads in the streets I have walked down, (the street they live in) and think they are very irresponsible. But I have never reported anyone, and it's unlikely I ever would. Only if the dog did actually attack, and it was not under control at the time. So if I had been the takeaway delivery person, I would have been marginally disgruntled, and then moved on and forgotten about it.

Sorry if I offend anyone: I am just giving a slightly different view.

I don't dislike dogs, I am just pretty scared of them. Maybe an irrational fear in most cases, but I can't help it sorry.

Raksha

What frustrates me most about this new legislation is that employers of people likely to interact with dogs while doing their jobs don't appear to realise they may havea Duty of Care to reduce the risk to their employees by guving them training to recognise a truly agressive dog and how to act to minimise the risk.

More and more organisations are doing this sort of training in schools and with youth groups and I'm sure they'd be more than happy to offer the same to a corporate client.

RuthnJasper

jaylee3 wrote: »

Offering an alternative slant; I'm not gonna lie, I am actually afraid of dogs. Especially big ones and ones that have a 'reputation.' I don't like going into peoples houses unless they put their dog in another room. Sorry if this offends anyone and you are free to be p1ssed off with me. I was attacked twice as a child though and one left me with a 2" long scar on my thigh. One dog was loose in the street, and one dog was a friend's dog!


Sorry if I offend anyone: I am just giving a slightly different view.

I don't dislike dogs, I am just pretty scared of them. Maybe an irrational fear in most cases, but I can't help it sorry.

I'm not offended by your post - I totally understand that not everyone likes dogs and that lots of people are nervous of them. I have a Parson Jack Russell now who is a little sweetie-pie, but I also look after a friend's dog from time to time. This dog is a Giant Schnauzer and, whilst she has a very loving nature if you know her, she can appear extremely intimidating as well as being a very big dog. I always put a muzzle on her when we go for a walk - I know that she wouldn't hurt anyone; but other people don't.