I like to give people the benefit of the doubt. I believe the average adult can handle and care for a dog properly. Even if it’s their first dog, most people can put two and two together and figure out how to train and exercise a dog. If not, they can pick up a book or take an obedience class.
If someone asks for my advice, I give it. If not, I keep to myself (and blog about it later). But every once in awhile I see people who amaze me, and I just have to say something.
Last summer I saw a woman verbally abusing her dog and even hitting him every time he came to her because he didn’t come fast enough. Go figure.
I explained to her what she was doing wrong, and she was happy to take my advice.
The people who need serious help with their dogs probably aren’t the ones reading this blog. The people who do read this blog are responsible, educated dog owners like me. That’s why I’m writing this post. Most of the time it’s better to let things go, but sometimes we just have to say something – for the dogs..
People like us can help the less fortunate dog owners and their dogs.
Saturday Ace and I witnessed a bad dogfight that could’ve been prevented. This was one example where giving a man the benefit of the doubt was a mistake on my part.
Ace and I were out for a nice walk around 6 p.m. when the sun was beginning to set and the weather was fairly warm. Snow was melting and we even smelled a few BBQs.
We took our two-mile route, expecting everything to remain peaceful. As we were making a turn and heading down 28th Avenue towards 32nd Street, we noticed a man standing on the corner with a golden retriever.
Assuming a dog is friendly is a worse mistake than assuming it is aggressive.
Because of the golden’s breed, I wasn’t very concerned. My mom’s golden has some leash aggression issues, and I know Elsie is harmless.
This owner, though, concerned me more than the dog.
“No! No barking!” he yelled as the dog lunged and barked at Ace and I. “No!”
But the man’s “scolding” was followed by him jumping up and down and yelling, “Is that your doggy friend? Is that your friend? Look, a doggy friend!”
The guy seemed very immature. For a half-second I thought I should say something to him. I knew his excitement was causing his dog to act excited and aggressive, and he seemed to be totally unaware of this. I hate to admit it, but part of the reason I let it go was because the dog was a golden retriever.
I was also thinking of my own dog’s safety. The excitement from the man-and-dog pair made Ace a little nervous too. Ace’s hair was standing up on his back, and he kept looking over at them. I mean, who wouldn’t? The guy was yelling at us, pointing and jumping!
I said hi but kept Ace at my side away from the other dog and kept walking.
We were met immediately by another man and his pointer. Pointers are another breed people assume to be friendly and harmless. The three of us were all within 10 feet from one another at this point. I assumed the two men knew each other and were on some kind of running date.
The golden’s owner kept jumping up and down saying, “Look! Doggy friends!”
I was jealous that Ace and I didn’t have walking buddies, but we continued on our way. Ace looked up at me, and I swear he rolled his eyes. “Some people …”
We heard the shrieking from the dogs before we even got a block away.
There was not much Ace and I could do, but I went back to make sure everyone was OK.
Two women ran out from their houses and threw water over the dogs to break up the fight.
I did not get too close. Bringing another male dog into the situation would’ve been dangerous, so we stayed several yards back. As one woman ran back into her house, I yelled, “Are you guys OK?”
She yelled back that she thought so.
The men and dogs kept at each other. There was definitely too much testosterone in one spot.
I saw that the pointer had “locked” onto the golden and the two men did not get them apart for about a minute. Once they did, they stood there yelling at one another and their dogs went at it again within seconds.
“I don’t know you!”
“Get away from me!”
“Get your dog outa here!”
Other people came out of their houses and one man yelled something like, “Hey! Get your dogs and go home! Get those dogs away from each other!”
Well, duh.
Once again, I’m not sure you can train stupid owners.
Ace and I walked away at that point realizing the damage had been done and we didn’t need to get ourselves involved. I didn’t see any blood from where we were standing, so most likely the incident sounded a lot worse than it really was – the human fight and the dogfight, that is.
On our walk home I kept thinking to myself what an idiot that owner with the golden was and why hadn’t I said anything when I first saw him? What if he’d let his dog get closer to Ace? What if a child had been out walking his or her dog and had been attacked? What if that pointer had been a shih tzu?
We have big problems when two grown men older than me can’t control their dogs. The only thing that would’ve been worse is if the dogs had been on Flexi leashes.
In suburban areas like south Fargo, there are a lot of unexercised, untrained, leash aggressive dogs that haven’t been socialized. I come across dogs like this almost every day.
There are thousands of neighborhoods out there just like mine. For you responsible dog owners out there who are reading this, sometimes it’s better to walk away. But sometimes we need to speak up.
March miles: 58
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Unfortunately, I see that here on a fairly regular basis. What makes it worse – the poor dog is usually a pitt, Rottie, Dobie, or other similar breed that “looks mean” and the human is a young guy (read: wannabe toughie) that refuses to get his dog neutered. You know, that is just mean as far as they’re concerned – why would you take a guys pom-pom’s away? At any rate, the dog is left out in the backyard to bark all day and when the human decides he wants to walk the dog with his spiked collar and no leash while he’s shirtless on the beach, it almost always ends in an altercation. Yeah, I have a hard time biting my tongue…
I wonder about human logic at times…the other day a colleague told me that he (fortunately) won’t let his wife get a dog until she gets over her odd view. She believes she won’t get attached and so it will be perfect when she gets tired of it or needs to take it back. What!? As I mentioned, I’m really glad he’s put his foot down on that one.
Seriously, animals are not disposable or a tool to boost our egos. As you said, most everyone that reads this is not in the situation you write about or the two I’ve mentioned. We can only advocate and spread the word.
Thanks for those examples, Apryl. Wow. I know exactly what you are talking about with the wannabe tough guys. But that example with your colleague’s wife is a new one to me!
I see a lot of guys out with their aggressive dogs who seem to think the dogs make them look tough. I think a guy with an out of control dog is weak, unless he is actually trying to train or rehabilitate a dog with issues from a previous owner. I also see a lot of women with aggressive dogs who seem to be unaware of the danger. They do nothing to correct their dogs and are either in denial or they are clueless about dog behavior.
Ugh, I can totally relate to this and to Apryl’s comments. We have a house on our usual “potty walk” path that has 5-6 high energy, powerful breeds fenced up in the backyard. In our two years here, I have never once seen those poor pups out of their backyard. Every single time we walk by, they go bananas (e.g. barking, snarling, gnashing teeth, etc.). Yes, my dogs will bark when people go by, but never with the obviously aggressive body language these poor dogs display. The worst part of it all is the owners will egg them on (“yeah! get ‘em!”) or scream relentlessly for them to shut up. I have never worked up the courage to say something to them, though. It is such good exposure for my dogs who have become almost nonreactive that I continue to use this route, but I worry about (a.) what would happen if the dogs got out and (b.) what the owners reaction to a fight might be!
The most important thing we can keep doing is to keep our own dogs under control and teach them not to respond to frustrated, aggressive, unsocialized dogs. I know what you mean about it being good exposure. Ace is unfazed by the dogs that bark at us from behind their fences. But if one of those dogs were loose we might have some problems.
It is sad when we see situations like this. I used to see it alot when I lived in Fargo and would take my Dalmation out for walks. My Dal would look at me like what is wrong with him/her. Kinda like Ace.
My Dalmation actually changed some tough guys attitudes quick at the lake once. It was basically my parents there dogs a couple of kids and my dal and me there. When a couple of Harleys pulled up. One guy had a girl with him and the other a shepard. When they were walking to the beach I heard the girl say oh look a dalmation. Which one of the guys commented Dalmations are p#**y dogs. Well we kept playing fetch in the water not really thinking anything of it. That was my first mistake. The shepard was quite aggressive and attacked my dal before I even knew what was going on hardly. I looked over at the guys and they were just laughing. The dogs were quite aways away so the fight was over before I could get there. It ended with the shepard squeeling for his life and my dalmation on top of him with him pinned on the ground by his throat. There was some minor blood but nothing serious. When I yelled at my dog he let go right away. The shepard ran back to his owners and the one guy said come on lets go to his woman. So they headed to their bikes. The girl came over to me and said that was awsome and walked to the bikes also.
I have always wondered what became of that dog. His owners were obviously dissappointed in him when he lost a fight to a dalmation. I just hope they loved him anyway no matter if he was the tough dog they wanted or not.
Ugh, that’s the thing. Dogs like that shepherd will get otherwise well-behaved dogs into trouble. Good thing your dalmatian was only defending himself and listened to you when you told him to stop.
Hmm. Thanks for sharing this, Lindsay. I almost always make the mistake of assuming that golden retrievers are always friendly, so thanks for the reminder.
I know, it’s bad that we make assumptions like that.
Call me a tattle tale, but I have a good relationship with our local Animal Control and I always report any incident to them. When a police car or AC car pulls in front of a house and a uniform knocks on the door, people do change their behavior.
I have a hard time controlling Timber, I admit it. That is why we use a choke chain on walks. Even Trooper can be a challenge if I’m not paying careful attention. If another dog is aggressive towards him he can lose his head so I have to be very careful and I do not approach strange dogs expecting them to be “nice”…that is just insane.
The worst is when we are in a public venue (like a train) where leashes are required and people think their dogs are just so perfect and let them off leash. That ticks me off SO badly because the dogs will come up to us and while we know our dogs are not super aggressive we also know they will defend themselves if another dog IS. Trooper especially. And he’s gotten more aggressive the older he’s gotten.
Oh man thats frustrating, at first when I was reading this I thought the man with the golden retriever might have been special needs or something… but I guess not…
I think you give adult dog owners too much credit. I don’t think that the average adult is capable of owning a dog. There are so many times that I come home from a day of working with dogs to complain to my wife that the majority of dog owners should not own dogs in the first place. Your experience seems like the norm when it comes to dog owners, not the exception. As much as I love dogs and recognize the importance of socialization, I never get near another dog owner and his dog due to incidents like the one you describe. This kind of crap happens all the time.
Yeah, you are right, Ty. I’m sure you’ve seen it all. It’s unfortunate for the dogs. At least you have helped many of them though.
I trained dogs for three decades. Long ago, I gave up even addressing these nimrods. (Really, I do try to be supportive, encouraging, and enlightening. But in reading this post, I’m acquiescing to my disgruntled side.)
“Is he friendly?” Aside from my dog being female, that question will be met with a smile, and little more (okay, maybe some veiled disdain, and a desire to put as much distance as possible between me and that person, should he/she say something else as offensive).
A repeat of “Is he friendly,” will be met with, “Pardon?” (after 2 or 3 times asking “Pardon,” I’ve probably already passed the moron).
Actually, before I go any further, I have to say this is most often about projection. A person asking this kind of question is usually doing so because he/she is aware he/she has little control over his/her own dog. They’re projecting their fears onto others. I mean, if we were talking about reality, and what’s really going on, I’d never have this kind of question asked of me because anyone viewing me with my dog(s) can see I’m completely in control: no tight leashes indicating lack of training; no attempts at avoidance or fleeing; just a confident, happy owner walking an obedient, well-mannered dog.
I beg people to base their decisions on reality, rather than fantasy or hysteria. …You can imagine how successful I’ve been…
I was at our veterinary clinic, recently, where my obedient, darling, perfectly-socialized Great Dane was sitting quietly with me, awaiting our turn. A “man” entered the clinic and, like pretty much all do, was dragged mercilessly around by his completely out of control Golden. He was throttling the poor thing as though he was in a fight for his life, when he asked breathlessly, “Is he good?” Smiling, I used my usual ‘ignorance’ ploy but I think I eventually managed a, “Pardon?” He asked again, all excited, exhausted, out of breath, and straining. “Is he good?” I believe I just smiled, raised my eyebrows, and may have even shrugged my shoulders. When I looked down, his Golden was practically in my crotch. (He’d just let it go…of course, he had no control and, I guess, his arms had grown tired from all the straining.) It had, technically, bulldozed its way to my dog’s rear end, which was perched nicely beside me on the bench. (In the classic Great Dane manner.) Unbelievable. Let’s just say I’ve never inflicted my dog on someone else like that. In fact, my dogs are taught not to even reach out with a wet nose while passing others on walks. In short, I don’t allow my dogs to touch anyone without them first giving permission (save occasional, gentle greetings with humans at off-leash dog parks…but even then, my dogs don’t typically touch more than a light, inadvertent, nose poke).
See…the thing is, while I abhor nearly all dog owners I come across because of the way they unconscionably and needlessly abuse their dogs (with choking and yanking and yelling and even striking), my own dog is near-perfectly-trained. (As an experienced dog trainer, the proof of the pudding should be in the eating.) My current dog is obedient, so on-leash or off, she’s under my verbal control…actually and completely…down to being able to ask her to move one step forward, backward, sideways, stop dead in her tracks, etc.
I use a simple, flat, buckle collar to hold tags and be legally compliant, not for control. I rarely ever have any contact with a dog’s neck…nor does anyone who has properly trained his/her dog. Physical restraint is not training, it’s the antithesis of training.
So if a dog runs up to us on a walk, I can either keep her heeling beautifully at my side (on-leash or off)…as any responsible dog owner can with thier own dogs, or I can permit her to “meet” the other dog, which she will do appropriately.
In coming across aggressive dogs, her ample socialization allows her to employ various calming signals to diffuse the situation rather than escalating it, in similar ways to how she deals with very fearful or submissive dogs.
I have never felt anxious about taking my dog into any situation and, indeed, she’s better-traveled than most humans. We travel everywhere together.
But I see how not training your dog makes owners anxious and nervous and probably causes all kinds of problems that might never have occured without their anxiety telegraphed to the dog.
I feel terrible for them, because I know it is all so needless. Ten minutes of obedience training and an hour of exercise and socialization per day is all it takes to make a dog into a reliable, good canine citizen…without all the anxiety and worry over one’s own dog’s behavior, or that of others. Obedient dogs do what their owners tell them. Well-socialized dogs avoid problems with other dogs and people. It really ain’t rocket science.
Maybe different than some of the responses, I never worry at all about encountering other dogs or their owners. I’ve never scolded another dog owner to put his/her dog on-leash. I have, however, been in heated yelling matches (okay, 2 out of 3 there was some yelling) with people who assume MY (perfectly-trained & socialized) dog is a problem because THEY haven’t trained their own dogs.
In one case, at an off-leash park, a woman actually had the nerve to chastise me for not putting my dog on-leash because her dog is aggressive. A) aggressive dogs have no business at an off-leash park, even if you keep them on-leash for what should be obvious reasons: I.E. all the other dogs are off-leash and will likely approach your aggressive dog. B) My dog is perfectly socialized and doesn’t even approach dogs who don’t signal their interest in meeting her. She merely walked by this woman and her snarling, lungeing Golden Retriever, without so much as a look in her direction.
Her rant was because she felt that, in seeing her with her dog on-leash, I should have put my dog on a leash.
Well, I have one thing to say about that: There’s is no scenario I can imagine where I’d leash my dog in an off-leash area. Period. No equivocation.
I’ve heard all kinds of theories as to why someone might want to leash a dog in an off-leash park, but none have ever rung true. My dogs aren’t a problem. If I want to, I can have them at-heel the entire time, or just the walk back to the car. I’ve never come across another dog owner in need of a leash. In 30 years of dog training, there hasn’t been a single reason for me to leash one of my own dogs at an off-leash park. (Don’t get me wrong. There are perfectly valid reasons for keeping dogs leashed at the dog park. It’s just that none of those valid reasons conclude that other dog owners should leash their dogs.)
I can only assume this woman was so embarrassed by her dog’s behavior, she had to lash-out at the only person who witnessed it: me.
That is the common thread I find among dog owners. Blame everyone but yourself. This mentality is so pervasive, that I dare say it is rare for me to meet another dog owner/handler who doesn’t first blame away his/her own dog’s bad behaivor. If it isn’t blamed on some external force outright, then it is explained away, minimized, or denied.
In the case of this woman and her aggressive Golden, I was calm, at first. But this woman’s escalating comments got under my skin, and I remember eventually yelling at her to train her dog, and socialize it before she comes back to an off-leash area.
One non-yelling match was with a woman and her aggressive Shiba Inu at an off-leash dog park. As we approached along the trail, she called ahead. (The “calling ahead” thing is the first, and probably most obvious, sign of an inexperienced or negligent owner. I’ve never “called ahead” and never needed to.) She was asking if my dog is friendly, or something.
That’s a pet peeve I was alluding to earlier. If you assume that all dogs are not “friendly” (whatever that means), and feel so strongly about that you must “call ahead” to everyone you meet, then you have more problems than anything I can say to placate you. “Does he bite?” “Is he friendly” Those kinds of questions will either be ignored by me or, if I’m in a bad mood, met with a question like, “Are you a pedophile?” “Do you bite?” Or, “Your dog looks vicious.” There’s a lot of tragic psychology behind the kind of person who calls-out something negative like that, and expects that a verbal answer will be the key to a positive experience. As an experienced dog owner/handler/trainer, I have no use for these kinds of people and their retarded “questions”. They’re insulting and an irritation. I know my dogs and I’m confident in my abilities and their good behavior. …No need to assume negative things about everyone else. I have control of my dogs. Case closed.
But I am, more often than not, usually polite. I’m really not as hostile as I’m sure I’m making myself sound. …Just tired of these people and venting a bit, here. But I usually just smile and keep on going. No harm actually done to any parties.
In any event, long story short about the Shiba owner, after further discussion, it became clear that she felt it was perfectly okay to walk her aggressive dog in the off-leash area, as long as she kept it leashed. I pointed to the sign at the entrance to the off-leash area, and indicated where it reads, “Aggressive dogs are prohibited from the park.”
It takes all kinds, I guess. This woman actually not only felt comfortable bringing her aggressive dog to an off-leash park, but she expected everyone else she encoutered to restrict THEIR dogs, in order to accommodate her and her ill-mannered pooch.
Again…it takes all kinds. I mean, that takes some kind of moxy. To think the whole world must move to accommodate you, all because you’ve failed to be a responsible dog owner? After all, there’s nothing wrong with making accommodations for others when appropriate. Making it easier for someone who’s a danger to her dogs, other dogs, and society? Uh, I don’t think so. People like that deserve all the scorn that can be levied against them. Well…okay, what they really need is a mentor, to show them how to be a responsible dog owner, and how to get better behavior from their dogs, and just how to be more considerate to others. Scorn feels good in the moment. Education is more likely to be an actual solution.
I remember seeing a dog nuisance story on television, where the owners of a barking dog blamed the neighbour for eliciting their dog’s barking by “being out in his backyard.” He should know the dog is going to bark when he’s out there, they reasoned.
You can’t make this stuff up!
‘If only other dog owners would be responsible, my dog wouldn’t misbehave.’
I hear this rationale all the time. My solution is to actually train and socialize my dogs (and supervise them at all times outside the home and with children, of course). That way, it doesn’t matter whether the neighbor’s dog is barking or gets loose or runs over to us, or some dog at the dog park is aggressive or big or small or whatever. I don’t hide behind blame with any of my dogs. I view their behavior without rose colored glasses and without embarrassment or guilt or shame. I objectively see if there’s some area of training lacking. If there is, I correct that.
There is no excuse for not maintaining a well-mannered, good canine citizen. It’s not okay for any dog to threaten an innocent person or pet. It’s not okay to choke a dog, or to allow a dog to be a nuisance or a danger. And, quite frankly, most dog owners I encounter, are the exact types of people who will blame everyone and everything before they own-up to having not trained or socialized or supervised their dogs very well.
I don’t know how to overcome that. Of course, it’s not unique to dog owners. Parents do the same thing. Their own children are never the problem. (It’s always the influence of friends or circumstance.)
I spent many years teaching responsible dog ownership, dog walking etiquette, and the ethics of animal ownership. Sure, I converted a few. But it’s a drop in the bucket. With literally tens of millions of dog owners, I’m resigned to the fact that most are complete losers when it comes to responsibility.
If I hear, “If all dog owners were as responsible as you,” or “If all dogs were as well-behaved as yours,” “there’d be no problems,” one more time… (sigh)
To borrow a line from Dennis Miller, “You know, it’s the few rotten million that spoil it for the other eleven.”
What it comes down to is we can only control our own dogs. I work to make sure my dog is as trained and socialized as possible. My dog doesn’t cause any trouble, so other dogs leave him alone. I’ve seen several dog fights, and my dog is never involved. You probably get comments like “Oh, your dog is so calm!” or “If only my dog were as easy as yours” as though it’s some kind of coincidence that your dog is well behaved. People don’t realize that if a dog is calm and well mannered, someone has put a lot of time into training that dog.
Speaking of stupid people, I met a guy at the dog park a few months ago, and noticed his dog had a big chunk of skin missing from his shoulder. I asked what happened, the guy said the dog was bitten a few days ago by another dog. He continued to say that the wound just bled and bled, and the guy couldn’t get it to stop, even when he tried to staple it together. Yes, that’s right, this guy tried to staple his dog….Why, oh why, would that seem like a good idea to anyone? I am convinced people need to pass a basic training course and get a license to have pets, and children too!
Oh my gosh, that poor dog. I hope that guy doesn’t have kids.
I’m a non dog owner. I doubt that stupid dog owners can be trained. Trouble is, most dog owners are these retards who tie up dogs at coffee shops, let the dog defecate and not clean it, use those extending “leashes” (which should be illegal), let dogs off leash, coop up dogs in studio apartments all day, or claim “it don’t bite!”. Note that unless it took a 120mph hockey puck in the teeth, it bites. And don’t forget the owner cooping up the dog on a porch to get lonely and howl at police sirens.
I’m convinced that dogs are smarter than the average dog owner. No wonder these retarded dog owners are so smart. I am no dog expert but I know enough to not have a dog I wouldn’t be able to train anyways.
Most of the dog owners I know love their dogs very much, but they do not provide the most basic needs to their dogs. They do not provide enough training or exercise. And they do not spend enough quality time with the dog doing fun things.
I know what you mean about the retractable leashes. Of course, some people use them responsibly, but most people use them because their dogs are not trained to walk nicely on a leash. They are pulling all over the place, and a retractable leash makes it more comfortable on the owner’s arm because there is so much slack.
OMG I CANNOT AGREE ENOUGH WITH THIS, LINDSAY!!!!!! (and Marjorie and Ty!) Reading all of these examples gets my blood boiling, and I can’t imagine how many more examples there are out there (honestly, I don’t want to know)!!!
I work at a dog spa, and I can’t tell you how many times I have wanted to chew out a customer for having ill control over his or her dog. Guys with tough-looking “status symbols” (in horrible condition – aggressive, bad skin, long, broken nails, bleeding necks from the choke chains they use because the dog PULLS), families with high-energy but popular dog breeds…the other day a mother and her FIVE daughters came in to wash their year-old Burnese Mountain Dog. She had a harness on, and the mother couldn’t for the life of her understand why the dog pulled so much! Unbelievable. The dog was so ill-behaved that I had to bodily lift her since she was running loose around the shop and slipped out of the harness AND collar, and put her in the tub (to which the mother and daughters marveled at how strong I was in controlling THEIR dog)!
I thought about asking her whether she knew her working dog was using the harness as a working device which was encouraging the pulling, but from my own experience, customers more often get insulted than appreciative when you point out a flaw in their dog raising techniques.
It’s so so sad, but I have learned, for the most part, to keep my mouth shut unless someone explicitly asks for my advice (then I give it to ‘em in a torrent). People won’t learn if they are willful or in denial about their dog. I’m still trying to come up with a nicer way of telling someone he’s a moron without actually telling him he’s a moron…
So glad others feel the same way I do!!!
Alyssa, I hear ya! I work as a dog walker and pet sitter and I imagine I come across some of the same scenarios you do. It’s hard to keep my mouth shut sometimes. I do not use harnesses for any dog. I also do not use retractable leashes. I also notice that people will just let their dogs go if they are pulling too hard, like on the way to the dog park gate. Great. Reward your dog with complete freedom once it pulls hard enough!
Here is a rhetorical question: Why would any right thinking responsible person deliberately let a 4 month old Jack Russell off leash with the express purpose of letting it run up to a 120 pound Sheppard/Lab cross that they knew absolutely nothing about? Did they ask my permission to do so? When I tried to get away from this puppy that was jumping up into my dog’s face it just kept following us and repeatedly jumping up into his face, so I asked the woman to please come and get her dog. Her response to me was typical “oh, your dog is aggressive? you should keep it away from other dogs”. She then proceeded to berate me as though I was some how at fault. Honestly I get very tired and angry with this type of situation. Three years ago a small dog jumped up into my dog’s face and scratched the cornea of his eye, which, in the end, required surgery by a canine eye specialist. After the surgery, his eyelid was sewn shut for a month and the surgeon said that he may still lose the sight in his eye, which thankfully he didn’t. This cost me almost $5000.00. I tried to explain this to her but she simply didn’t want to listen, which I find quite typical of some brainless dog owners.
Here is my point. Just because you have a dog and I have a dog, does not make us obliged to acknowledge each others existence. You do not have some sort of unalienable right to charge up to me with your dog. Try to show a modicum of common sense that would dictate that walking your 5 pound dog up to a 120 pound dog might not be a good idea. Dog owners are not part of some mystical clique where we are all like minded and want to stand around talking to each other about our dogs. Dogs and their owners are just as varied in personality as non-dog owners. Just because you own a dog doesn’t mean we have one single other thing in common.
Yep. Totally agree. I come across this all the time, and it’s not just small dogs that run up to me and my dog. It’s usually OK because my dog is friendly, but I still don’t want him learning bad manners. I want him to greet other dogs calmly, and it’s hard to keep him settled when a strange dog is charging up to us barking – right up to his face. So sorry to hear about your dog’s eye.