So an older couple is walking to the park through a strange neighborhood ( they are visiting from another state) and an English setter got loose and runs up to them barking. She is about 35 lbs, friendly but she does not know these people nor they her.

The old man who is about 6'4" stands there and stares at her. The owner runs up (she is disabled, can't run, and dog would run from her anyway) and the man starts yelling at her how he is going to kick the dog and sue her, while still staring down the dog. She tries to get dog,, but dog doesn't listen to her, only her son.

She ran to get her son to get the dog, the old couple continues towards the park and dog is still barking, but not lunging or growling or anything else, just barking. the park is right across from dogs house, of course tons of kids and parents there. dog owner waiting to get son, ,still trying to get her dog herself, but not succeeding. Old man thrwos something at the dog, then spins himself in circles yelling at owner and dog.

The dog never nipped or anything, she just barked, but the owner was trying to tell the man to stay still so she could grab her.

son of dog owner gets to park and yells at dog who runs back home into the house. Turns out the old couples son (40 ish and also very tall) was there too and starts yelling at the mom, ,getting very close to her, dog is gone of course. So son, who is 17 tells the man to back up away from his mom, and then the 40 year old starts squaring up,, pounding his chest and telling the kid to go for it, he w0ould put him in the hospital.

kid of course defends himself and mom, mom pushes son back, neighbor had run home to get her husband because they know the dog and owener. Some other neighbor said she is calling cops, even though the dog was gone and the mom and son went back to house, but it's right across from the house.

See, the son let out some language, you want to (*&(*_ fight me? So thank goodness good neighbor got them out of there. He knows dog and was surprised, but was able to talk them down, the mom and son who were very upset.

Cops came, and of course the worst thing was the fact that the son said fuck at the park. lots of kids and paretns. all them knew the dog, these other people did not.

So, I dont' think anyone was cited. Mom felt really bad about the dog but did not understand why someone that was 70 would be so aggressive. This dog does bark, but she is a lover and has never bit anyone. I think the people at the park said she nipped the guy, but I saw and that was so not true either.

I got to talk to mom later with her sweet dog. So emotional son is brown and convinced the reason the cops got called is because he is brown (mom is white). This is in a highly Mormon neighborhood, ,so the fuck was what the cops were worried about. Go figure.

She said the cops (Utah county sheriff) were finally nice after talking to the neighbor who knew them and the dog and saw the whole thing. but they said that Cedar Hills (Utah county also) has neighborhoods at war, everyone moving, because of dogs, cats and chickens. He didn't want that to happen here. The mom and son are not lds either.

Crazy. I am so ready to get out of here. The fact that an adult told the son he would put him in the hospital, and that the people at the park lied about stuff. I dont' get that. Is that normal? Human nature? I know people take sides. Obvi9ously I have mine.

Mom and kid are going to be selling their house, not by choice. I'm sure the neighborhood will be glad to see the heathens leave.....

Sigh. Guess you can't say fuck at the park.....

Let me clarify the "guess you can't say fuck at the park" this was at 9, and the guy who was a foot taller than the mom was coming at the mom, so the son used the fuck word.


So, you can't say fuck when you are defending your mom from a big tall man.

No, you shouldn't say fuck around the little ones, I agree with that. This was an escalated situation. Yes, the mom and guy yelled, but the guy maybe should have left mom alone because soon as the kid yelled at the dog she ran home. So there was no reason to come up to the mom.

She is tough though and doesn't back down, though she did push her son back. That guy wouldn't back down though, just kept threatening. thing is dog didn't do anything else except bark. hmmph.

Nobody is a bigger dog lover than me.

This would depend on the situation. If I see that the dog is barky but keeping a distance, no big deal. But if it's actually nipping at my leg, you've got to kick it. Not brutally, of course, but authoritatively. Dogs have to know who is in charge. If you establish with the dog that you are the boss, he will settle down. And when he settles down I pet him and love him. And when the owner approaches and says how sorry they are, I say don't worry about it.

it doesn't matter what i would do - i'm good with dogs but some people just aren't

and guess what? they don't have to be

control your dog

That's how I often feel about children in public. My dog is better behaved than many kids I see.

That made me chuckle.

:D always a pleasure snb.

Funny, I never had a kid almost rip my arm out of its socket, but I have had a dog do that. (I still have a massive scar on my left arm from the incident). People forget dogs are A) animals and B) predators by nature. Just cause your dog loves you doesn't mean it isn't dangerous to others. They have strong jaws, sharp teeth and often an aggressive nature when they feel threatened (and some dogs are just aggressive period).

Control your dog or its going to get pepper sprayed and/or shot. I am under no obligation to let your pet tear a chunk out of me no matter how much you want to try and humanize them.

I own two dogs that I love deeply, but I recognize that they are not people and never will be. They can behave in unexpected ways and no matter how well trained they can be unpredictable.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/23/2014 03:24PM by jesuswantsme4asucker.

Funny. I have had kids knock me down, bite me, rip out chunks of my hair, etc. And not all of that was at work.

My dog is perfectly well behaved. My biggest issue with society and how they a towards dogs is they don't teach people how to properly approach a dog(any dog). I've had both adults and children run up to pet my dog without asking and go over his head. That's terrifying for an animal. He has never reacted in anyway except to pull away and hide by me, but at is not how you approach a dog. If you approach a dog that way and you get bit, that's your fault. If you let your kids run up at a dog like that and they get bit, that is your fault. But I'm the bitch for telling your kids no, you can't pet my dog. Or raising my voice and telling them to stop as they run towards him.

Funny.

I love dogs. I don't understand what you mean by "go over his head." I pet neighbors' dogs all the time, but I let them come to me after the neighbors have told me in the first place it's okay to pet. Is it a position I shouldn't have my hand in?

What I've always done is, with the dog a few feet away, extend my hand out, palm up, and wait for the dog to sniff my hand, then let it insert its head into my hand. Then I pet. Am I doing something wrong? I wouldn't want to scare a dog for the world.

Palm up is perfect. Letting the dog come to you is perfect again.

What happens mostly is people pet dogs palm down over the top of their head coming from their snout. It's a hostile gesture and blocks the dogs vision.

I always tell people to imagine someone coming at your face, with their palm down and blocking your vision. That's what the dog sees and feels.

Thank you so much for the reply! I've always petted from center of the head backwards to the neck gently. Thanks again. I was worried I might be frightening the wonderful dogs we have in the neighborhood without meaning to. Whew, relief!

Is always best to start under their head by their neck unless you know the dog well enough.

You're welcome and thank you so much for asking :)

I'm with you. What would I do? If the dog gets close and is threatening (size and demeanor), I'd like to shoot it, but I don't carry guns. My next choice would be to bash its head in with a bat. I don't carry a bat.

So, what I actually do when I'm hiking and people allow their dogs to run around in the mountains - I climb trees, get up on some rocks, or maybe climb on top of a car.

I do trip out at how people don't mind letting their dogs runs loose, they can't get the dog to answer, and I get the living shit scared out of me while I'm out trying to enjoy a hike.

Hmmmmm. Guess you didn't read the rest of the post.

I have been approached by dogs many times in my life. Bitten by several while doing a paper route for years. So I have a healthy fear of them at times, but have grown to love them as an older adult.

I think that accidents happen and dogs get loose. I also think that anyone who lives in a neighborhood with dogs like everyone hear should at least have a basic knowledge of what to do.

I didn't know these things as a kid. Now I do, and when I am walking in a new area, I am prepared for it.

This dog is also now a service dog. I had forgotten that. I know that she wasn't trained for that originally, but as the mom has had here health deteriorate the dog has learned some helpful tasks, and is considered a therapeutic service dog.

The mom does have a hard time with her if she gets loose. for whatever reason the dog doesn't look to her as the alpha. I know she has tried to train her since a puppy, but the dog has always reacted great with the dad and the kid, but the dad is gone and has been.

All I know is that you don't stare down a dog. And you don't run. And you probably don't want to be yelling at the owner, especially when the owner is trying to get the dog.

Heck, I don't "like" kids, and people don't keep control of them......living in houses, you gotta be on the lookout. No, I dont' hate kids, just they bug me sometimes. Prolly cause I don't have any anymore.

What is ironic is that normally that time of night there are 5-10 dogs running around loose at the park. Of course not when the cops are around like tonight. But every other night. They all play together. The owner did and does feel really bad about this, and had she not been threatened by the son after her dog was gone she would have totally gone up and apologized to the old guy. But his son went after her, which made her son kick into defense mode. Dog was long gone.

I dont' like dogs running up to me barking either. but I would at least not try to make it worse. Still I think it is funny (not haha funny) that the cops were so upset about the swearing. She said they were thinking about giving a ticket to the son for that. Seriously? The mom totally acknowledge the dog was loose, but they didn't ticket her. I dont' think they did anything to the man either.

I think things like this are very interesting, to see how people perceive a situation and how they react, and then to find out why they reacted the way they did. If people knew everything before the incident, then there would be so much more understanding. Plus it was 100 degrees. I don't know if heat really pisses people off, but it was sure flippin hot tonight.

Calling a dog that is this poorly trained a 'service dog' is an insult to all the working dogs and people who make accommodations for them. This is a dog with a few useful tricks.

I will usually continue walking and ignore the dog or tell it to go home. They usually get rather bored and end up leaving me alone. This works even when I have my dog with me.

It depends on how the dog is barking. My dog barks at everything that moves. But he's all noise and no aggression. After 5 years of trying to break him of this habit, we gave up. It's his nature and we can't seem to change that.

But he's very well-known in the neighbourhood. People just laugh at him. He'll go up to you, greet you and then bark at you.

But when we encounter a dog who is barking very aggressively and showing his teeth, we avoid that dog. We know he means business.

If I encountered one barking at me, if it wasn't an aggressive bark, I'd just tell it to go. Sometimes they back off a bit and continue to bark, but from a greater distance.

I guess if it was aggressive, I'd get aggressive back - show it who's boss. I'd growl and yell. Some people carry large sticks here when they walk their dogs, because there are coyotes.

We had a coyote come up to us and try to get at our dog. I just kept sort of jumping at it and yelling. It would back off, come forward and jump back again. Finally it gave up and ran away down the street.

I'd put on my 'pack leader' attitude and have the dog rolling on its back within thirty seconds.

Knowing how to handle dogs is a very useful life skill.

It depends. If it was just me, I'd be all, "Aww, who's the pretty doggy?" and I'd play with her/pet her etc. depending on how friendly she is. You said this was an English setter so those dogs are kinda dumb and super friendly. So I'd be all over that dog, try to hold it for the owners so it didn't dart off. (I once body tackled a stranger's errant Lab to keep it from running into the street and getting smooshed by eight lanes of Saturday traffic.)

If my dog was with me and a strange dog ran up to her -- if it was at all doggy aggressive, I'd have a fight on my hands and wouldn't be able to do anything except let my dog defend herself. But if the dog was all sniffy and tail-waggy, my pibble loves to make friends and I'd just let them play until the owner got there.

Either way, I would completely rip the owner a new one for allowing the dog off-leash. We have leash laws for the DOG's own safety. If you don't have 100% vocal control, keep the dog leashed when it is not in your yard. You wanna let your big dog run free, fine, find a dog park or make sure you have a big fenced in yard. Or walk the dog properly (a couple miles per day for a big dog -- minimum).

And yes, I suppose I understand that somehow, dogs dig out from under fences and can turn certain kinds of doorknobs. But still. It is your responsibility to keep your dog leashed or contained and in control at all times. I've had dogs for 20 years and not once have I ever had one of my dogs get out by accident and go run loose in the streets. NEVER. My front door doesn't even open unless the dog is leashed or crated.

Note: I stopped reading after "and the dog ran into the house" because I don't care what the people did. People are assholes. The subject line asked what would I do with a strange dog running up and barking? The short answer is, say hello and make friends, find the owners, give 'em hell for letting the dog get loose.

When I see this in my own neighborhood, even if the owners are standing right there, I call animal control. It is very dangerous for your dogs to be running loose. They could get hit by a car or worse, run into some dog hater who carries pepper spray or a firearm around. Want your goofy, friendly dog to get shot? Keep letting it get out randomly with no supervision. Lock down your house and secure your fences. I'm sorry, but other people's irresponsibility with animals sets the fires of rage burning in me.

I'm not afraid of dogs, so this wouldn't bother me too much. The barking may be harder to read. Since he's a runner, but very interested in me, I'd see what I can do about getting him to let me pet him and grab his collar for you or at least stay still until you got there.

It really doesn't matter if the dog wouldn't hurt a fly. When a large dog runs up on people, especially one that's barking, it scares them. Let's add that the woman was older and one who could be seriously damaged if large dog knocked her over or bit her. They don't know the dog isn't out for blood. It was threatening behavior, and you should expect that people can and will freak out.

People get nasty, and while it was completely unnecessary to go off on you (mom) with the yelling and the threats, the best way to have avoided further confrontation would be to walk away even with the yelling, just walk away. The guy sounds like an ass, but Mr. 17 shot his mouth off and didn't help matters in the least. The situation escalated. I'm sure the dog was reacting to this confrontation as well. Once the dog was gone or leashed/collared, walk away. Continuing to engage the tall man was a mistake. If the tall man followed you as you were trying to go home, then I'm not surprised someone called the police. The tall man clearly wasn't going to listen to his mother, either, who knew the dog, so this situation unraveled really fast. Sorry how that played out.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 07/23/2014 09:03AM by omreven.

As an older person who loves and keeps dogs, i have to say that the dog owners were completely in the wrong and handled it horribly.

Accidents do happen, but when they do, you just keep repeating loudly that the dog will not hurt you and I'm sorry.

Old people are easily injured and a simple fall can be life threatening. the man had every right to his reaction.

The son needed to be apologetic. His action was worse than the dogs. He was breaking the law by not controlling his animal.

I like dogs, and have two of them.

However, rule 1 when taking your dog outside: Put it on a leash. I cannot describe the frustration I have with owners who indulge in any of the following statements:

"He wouldn't hurt anyone"
"He's obedient"
"He knows not to run in the street"
... fill in the blank here.

My 90-pound northern breed has gotten yipped at plenty of times by off-leash ankle-biters (most notoriously chihuahuas). One took a nip at his paw and ended up getting bitten. The owner was livid, but again -- his dog was off leash and acting aggressive toward other dogs. Animal control asked me about 5 minute's worth of questions and cited the other dog's owner.

Another time, I hit a couple's yellow lab. They were walking with it off-leash, and it jumped into the street without looking behind it. It sucks for everybody.

In this situation, prevention would have fixed a whole host of problems. Also, some people have an instinctive fear of dogs, no matter the size. They may be acting unreasonable from the PoV of a dog lover, but that's not our place to judge.

Also, escalation of this nature properly belongs on a kindergarten playground, not a city. Most people will tell an event how they see it. It looked (probably) like the dog was aggressive, the couple were frightened, and the son escalated the situation by swearing and threatening them.

And, if you ever encounter the same situation, the proper way to approach a strange dog off-leash (if that's what you want to do) is with palms out and your mouth closed, and not making any sharp movements.

I recommend standing your ground, but letting the dog approach you -- while you move slowly, don't stare, palms out, don't show your teeth. And never, ever lean down to pet the top of a dog's head. You block its eye contact with you -- that is a threatening gesture. My otherwise friendly dog will startle and bark at you if you walk up to her, lean over, and try to pet her head.

The proper way: Let her come to you, offer a palm, and while she's sniffing, reach under and scritch her chin until her body language relaxes and she flops over on her back for a nice, submissive belly rub.

Title should really be:
What would you do if an off leash dog runs up to you barking, won't listen to its owner, only goes home when a teen yells at it and then also curses at the people the dog was barking at?
(But that's too long to fit in the subject line.)

Quit trying to pretend it wasn't you that cursed at the people your dog was threatening.

Answer: make the idiots take dog training classes.
It's not a race issue, it's a morons owning dogs issue.

I am extremely afraid of dogs. My level of fear is totally irrational. The worst part is that the dogs know and even nice dogs get aggressive with me. I would like to walk through my neighborhood, but I'm too afraid that someone's dog will get loose. I used to walk around my local park. There was a lady who would come to the park with a large dog that was walking her. She clearly didn't have control of the dog. When I saw them in the park, I'd go back to my car and wait for them to leave.

I know that my fear is irrational and I tried to conquer my fear by making myself stay on the trail and pass dogs and their owners. I would hold to my pace, try to breath normally and smile at the owner, or say good morning. I was making slow progress.

One day a large dog appeared in the park without it's owner, my car was on the other side of the park. I walked through the park with the dog jumping around me. He probably just wanted to play, but when you're phobic, playing isn't an option. My heart was racing and the sweat was pouring off of me. I was so scared I could barely get the door to my car open. This happened three years ago, I have not been out walking since. I bought an exercise tape and do my walking in the house. I would love to walk in the park, but I can't trust my neighbors to control their pets.

Some people have commented that they don't like children. I get that, but I haven't heard of any children chasing down and biting an adult, so I fail to see how that is a valid comparison.

In the story that the OP told, I don't think anyone behaved appropriately. The woman with the dog wasn't in control of her dog. The boy was belligerent and had a potty mouth. The older man escalated the situation by raising his voice and threatening to kick the dog. I hope the older lady wasn't phobic like me, or she spent the next half hour breathing into a paper bag.

Bottom line, I wish people who claim to love their dogs would be responsible dog owners.

Releve, I could have written nearly every word you say here. I have always had a terrible, irrational fear of dogs. If I am outside and I hear a dog barking or see one not on a leash, my heart starts racing and I start sweating trying to think of how I can get to safety. It doesn't matter how big or small the dog. I also had an incident in the park so I don't go there alone anymore. I never walk in my neighborhood alone anymore because of loose dogs. I wish people would always obey the leash laws, but I also understand that accidents happen and my level of fear is pretty over the top. I know that dogs need to be able to run and be free sometimes but I wish dog-owners would do that at a dog park or somewhere there are not other people close by. Anywho, it's good to know I am not completely alone in my fear!

To answer the OP's question, I would scream and try to climb on something nearby or tell my husband to protect me! I feel badly for the mother in this incident you describe because she was trying get the dog. She knew it should not have been out unleashed. I totally understand someone still being angry because the dog scared them, but the escalation here is ridiculous. Obviously, she did care that the dog scared them and knew it shouldn't be out unleashed, so continuing to yell at her was not helpful and took the situation to an unnecessary level.

I can relate to everything that you two (Releve and Raging) wrote! It takes courage for me to walk around the neighborhood. I don't even like to go outside in my backyard because there is a small city park there and lots of loose dogs. Thank goodness we just got a fence, but I still don't like to go beyond my fence. And speaking of neighbors, as soon as one gets a puppy, I don't go over there anymore. That is now getting more difficult as my daughter still loves playing at her friends' houses, even if they have new puppies (and she is getting increasingly more afraid of dogs as well.) I like reading tips on how to approach dogs, or what to do if one comes up to you, hoping they might sink in.

+1 for me. I refuse to let my fears control me so I still go out and hike. I carry a 18 inch piece of rebar (because most dogs back down if they see a stick.) I also carry bear spray.

I don't think my fear is irrational. I was bit once for walking on the side walk and have been chased by an unleashed dog. That time I even asked the owner for permission. I should not need permission to jog down the trail. The owner should have know to hold on to his dog.

I have come to realize it is not dogs I have the problem with it is stupid owners.

My FIL was attacked by a dog when he was a kid, it has led to him absolutely hating dogs, it has spread down to my wife and all her siblings.

They have no idea when a dog is being aggressive or barking just because, they automatically assume it is going to attack and bite them.

Like others have said, it isn't their job to become dog lovers, it is the job of dog owners to control their dogs.

It sounds like the older man had a bad history with dogs--staring down a strange dog is not a good idea, usually you can just ignore a dog, especially if you're on "neutral ground", like a park, and it will get bored and walk away or it will be curious and quietly check you out--rarely will it bite or nip. I probably do things the wrong way--I go ahead and sit on the ground, on the dog's level, and they always figure out that I'm OK, the worst damage is slobber. The Dog Whisperer would be appalled I'm sure.

What should I do in this case, dog experts?

My best friend has an American pitbull. She is very large and loves to bark at almost everyone. There are a few people that she seems very angry with, and I am one of them. When I go to their house, they tie her up with a steel cable, or put her in a room.

My friends say to me that I should not feel bad, because she dislikes many people. I honestly don't know why they have her. But, the main question is, should I try to become friends with the dog? I don't see them very often, maybe three times a year. So the dog has little opportunity to get used to me.

So my question is, what do I do on those visits? Try to befriend the dog somehow? or be resigned to having a dog restrained or isolated?

That's the kind of dog I have. Honestly, if you see them that seldom, I wouldn't sweat it much. I have no qualms whatsoever about crating my dog if someone comes over that she just won't tolerate. (And mine is crate-trained, so if I stuff a Kong full of peanut butter and toss it in there, she's not only happy to be in there, she ain't leaving until every last speck of peanut butter has been licked outta that thing.:>))

I've had very good luck with that though. For some reason, this dog seems to feel threatened by you. Maybe you make strong eye contact, maybe there's something about your body language, maybe you're the twitchy, jumpy type who moves around quickly; it's hard to tell without studying the interaction. And it has a lot to do with how the owners react to the dog's reaction.

When that happens to me, I crate the dog. Ask the human to sit down and ignore the dog. Then I let her out. She'll run over to sniff. She might back up and bark. I correct her (and I'm standing where I can grab her if she decides not to be nice), and ask the person to keep still -- sometimes it's a quick movement that startles the dog. So far, 100% of the time (again, SO FAR), she gets a good sniff, decides the person is okay and relaxes.

The reason these people keep their dog is probably because she likes them and they like her, and it's probably not an asshole to EVERYone. American bulldogs can be territorial and only like their humans, depending on how they are socialized. I take my dog out around the neighborhood every day and introduce her to people and other dogs. She's gotten a thousand times better at this since I got her, but I had to keep exposing her to positive-outcome situations with people before she learned she could trust me to introduce her to safe people.

So yes, don't feel bad, especially if the dog is kept restrained while you are visiting. It sounds like they don't know how to socialize a powerful dog like an Am. Bulldog, so the next best choice is to isolate the dog to avoid escalating a situation. And they are being polite to you by doing so. Do not try to befriend the dog without their guidance and supervision. Mine is super well-trained and socialized because A) I have little else to do and B) I think it's important and I owe it to my dog's safety and to the safety of my community to have a well-behaved, well-socialized, well-controlled dog. She's 68% of my body weight. I can't have her getting out of my control and scaring, or god forbid, hurting people and I take that responsibility very seriously. I wish I could say the same for all dog owners, but I know that's unfortunately rare. Most dog owners consider being housebroken the extent of the training they need to ensure. I say that is literally the VERY least you could do.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 07/23/2014 01:43PM by dogzilla.

First not my dog, my neighbor who I know very well.

Son did not swear at the old man. He yelled at the man (the old mans 40 year old son) to back the fuck off after he sent the dog home because the 40 year old (both 40 year old and father very tall, hence tall man) started to follow mom and was yelling at her and getting close. She is 5'5", so her son was telling this 40 year old to get away from his mom.

the mom did tell (yell, as this is what the tall man was doing) that the old man (she had no idea that this tall man was son of old man dog was barking at and why the tall man was coming at her yelling) was purposely making the dog worse by his actions.

This man wasn't going down. the dog even went up to the old lady who was not frail either and stopped barking at her and wanted loves but the old man was freaking out.

The police were not called because of the dog, but because of the sons. It makes more sense now knowing that both were sons protecting and defending their parents, regardless of ages.

Sigh. No one is perfect. It is an extremely usefull thing to react appropriately with a barking dog. Dogs do get loose and I would rather be prepared then be stupid.

It's like saying "well, my light was green so it is my right to go as everyone should stop" and then get t-boned because you didn't notice the car running their red light.

She didn't get cited for the dog. There are always loose dogs, but people are pretty mellow about it. These people were strangers, that's all I can figure.

I'm sorry but if someone were threatening to my mom (gone but not forgotten) I would probably say fuck too. I think the adult tall man should have totally backed off. The mom was apologizing at first when she was trying to get the dog.

I will remember that carrying a walking stick. That make sense. Good idea. You never know. We have police dogs around here too, what if one of them got loose? Yikes!!

My concern is my dog who is looking at me to be the pack leader and protect her. If a dog begins an aggressive approach, I get between my dog and the other dog and yell at the dog aggressively to show the dog I am alpha and it should back down. Generally it will but sometimes I have to have several bouts of yelling as if I stop the dog may try to approach again.

If that fails, I have a can of mace to spray the dog with if it tries to lay as much as a whisker on my dog.

Is there a leash law? The dog should have been on a leash.

Clearly all sides over-reacting. Who cares if a dog barks at you? Especially a setter. Poorly disciplined dogs are a dime a dozen. Big stupid people and cranky old people are a dime a dozen. Stupid young boys are a dime a dozen. A better person would know how to handle the situation when a non-threatening dog barks at them. Do they do this with all dogs? Wiener dogs? Forgetting for a second that I'm a fucking stupid old man, the old coot in your story is a fucking stupid old man.

Fucking rude that I used the F-word. Apologies all around.

Thanks, that made me fucking LOL!!! Seriously.

I wish I could post a pic of here, I have one on my phone, but I have no clue how to do that.

She does have an attitude though.....

Funny!!

I think there is a leash law. The old couple did not have a dog.

Yeah, that would make a difference too.

The guy shouldn't have freaked out like he did. He overreacted and so did his son. But, dogs do that to people. When a dog rushes someone, even if the owners think that the dog is the cutest most tame dog in the world, there is a rush of adrenaline. It doesn't matter if you think the dog is friendly, clearly the dog has a reason to not be loose.

I'm not saying the older man's actions were justified, just that we should understand where they were probably coming from.

The other point I'd like to make is that the owner needs to be a better dog owner. It doesn't matter that everybody else at the park knows the dog, the owner needs to take better care of her animal. It doesn't matter that the older couple is from out of town. There is absolutely nothing wrong with walking.

A leash is usually a good idea. She should use one. If the dog was leashed but overpowered her because of her disability, then her and her son need to figure something out.

None of this, not even a little bit, is the older couple's fault for walking or for being from out of state.

This reminds me of a situation I was in. I walk and run around a lot around my neighborhood. I once got attacked by a large pit bull. The pit bull tried to bite me before the owner got there to intervene and I was lucky the dog never connected. Yes, I yelled. Yes, I threatened to call animal control. I never saw the dog again (I was about a block away from my own house), but the truth is that next time I see that dog off off of its leash I will call animal control. This is because the owner is clearly not responsible enough to own the dog and other people could get hurt.

When a dog approaches me and barks at me now I am very defensive and I'm not at fault for being a little fearful now.

About the police, well, the police got called because there was about to be a fight. It wasn't because it was a Mormon area and it wasn't because the kid is brown.

I would probably get out the mace. I have a huge fear of big dogs. I'm not going to stand there trying to figure out if the dog is nice or not. Obviously it's owner couldn't control it. Why would I think I could?

The other part for me would be about my own dog. She's very small. One bite from a big dog could kill her. I'm not willing to take that chance. My own dog has NEVER been off leash when we go outside.

We have a small dog (all of 12 pounds) who, for a multitude of reasons was not properly socialized when she was little. It seems she also has a anxiety prone temperament and barks at anything that she is unfamiliar with, and I do mean anything.

With us and people she knows, she's lovable and sweet and wonderful, anyone else, she barks and is very afraid.

For this reason, she is never outside our fence off leash. We watch for people walking on the sidewalk when she's outside and try to get her inside as quickly as possible, because no one should have to deal with a dog barking their little head off inside a fence or not. It's annoying at least and scary at worse. I don't think she would ever bite someone, but we worry very much that a small child would think she's cute (she is adorable) and reach in the fence and try to pet her. Even if she just nipped at a child, it could be very frightening for them and could mean trouble for our dog.

All that being said, our dog is just that, a dog. She is an animal and if something spooks her, or any other dog for that matter, they may react in a way that is unexpected. This is true for any dog, no matter how well trained. Some of the best trained dogs out there have turned and bitten their owners. It happens.

Did people over react, maybe, but if a strange dog is barking at me, off leash, in a public place while I'm just trying to have a nice walk, you bet I'm going to be upset at the owner. Just like I'd expect anyone to be upset with me if I didn't do my best to keep my dog under control.

I love dogs, I think they are amazing, but it is up to us owners to know our dogs and keep them safe, which part of which is keeping them under control in any situation, so that they don't lose control themselves.

But the responsibility for the situation rests squarely on the dog owner. Although it would be wise for anyone who can to become comfortable dealing with dogs, it's not THEIR responsibility. I do think the 40-yr old making threats should have been cited or are least warned for his aggressive behavior.

Dog owners need to keep their dogs in control. That includes me. If my dog got out and hurt or threatened someone, I'd feel really bad and I'd be responsible to make it right. My dogs HAVE gotten out before, and luckily, nobody has gotten hurt. My dogs are big and friendly, but I could certainly imagine that if someone was afraid of dogs, it could freak them out if one of mine came running towards them.

10 years ago, I would have been afraid of dogs if I saw them off-leash. If you've never lived with a dog, or had a friendship with a dog, it's easy to feel threatened. It takes a while to pick up on the body language, or detect the different types of barks (like greetings vs. fear or threats).

If she can't handle her "service" dog, there's a problem. Service dogs should be the most highly trained dogs out there. They shouldn't be approaching other people or disobeying their owner, especially to the point that they actually put the owner at risk.

The following is pasted from a manual on service dog minimum expectations: http://www.petpartners.org/document.doc?id=170

Standards for the Dog
! The dog maintains controlled position, in appropriate proximity and position to handler, on cue by handler and/or as appropriate to the behavior.
! The dog performs the behavior without injury, discomfort, or interference to handler.
! Frequency of correct responses is high enough to ensure handler’s safety and not be an impediment to handler’s ability (with dog’s assistance) to perform daily tasks and respond to the environment in a timely fashion.
! The dog responds to commands and/or cues. The handler may give the cues or the dog may be cued by events in the environment.
Responds without prolonged delay, and does so without pain or physical discomfort to either dog or handler.
! The dog performs the behavior within a reasonable amount of time.
! The dog may exhibit submissive behaviors, but its behavior cannot interfere with the handler’s safety or control or the dog’s work functions.
The dog should recover from its submissive behavior quickly.
! The dog performs the behavior required by the handler.
! It is acceptable, and even desirable, for the service dog to display avoidance or appeasement behaviors to encourage less threatening and aggressive behavior from an approaching dog, assuming the approaching dog is directing its behavior toward the service dog rather than the handler.
! The dog does not pull toward animals or initiate interaction with animals. Ignoring or greeting other animals appropriately is essential because when in public, the service dog and handler will encounter other animals, on and off leash.

It sounds like the dog needs more training, or maybe it's not just not well-suited to it's job.

This dog was raised as a therapy dog, and has evolved into her service dog based on her helping her. I know she has done everthing training wise about this one issue.

It is the kind of dog partially and this dog.

I think you guys (and girls) maybe misunderstood that she was trying to get her dog. She had been chasing her around from the second she got away.

She has had professional trainers. It is a source of frustration, but she also needs her dog too.

Next dog she gets will be trained as a service dog from day one.

It is just part of this dogs personality.

Oh, and the brown thing? Her son has been searched while his white friends stood by. There is racial profiling in our area, whether or not this time hard to say.

I just think it is interesting that a 70 year old man would not know what to do and just stand there so she could grab her.

I was also amazed that she didn't get ticketed. I think that was because the other guy was so threatening it was on both sides.

And yes, her son saying fuck was the biggest issue for some reason. I dont' think that would be the case in say, Detroit or Chicago.

Interesting responses. I will show this to her. She feels horrible about it. It was an accident, and she is always really good about having her on a leash.

Thanks for the replies!!

Any unknown dog who charges up to me or my kids barking I regard as a potential danger, and I would feel perfectly entitled to use a knee or foot to knock the dog away if he got too close.

Dogs don't necessarily need to be on leads in public; but if they are not, they need to be trained to respond to voice commands from their owner. Either way, as one poster wrote, owners need to be in control their dogs. They think "Boozer"'s cute, and are confident that he'll never bite. The rest of us don't know anything about their dog; barring a specific invitation, they are not welcome to run up barking and jump on us. Simple as that.

A couple told us that they call our dog the neighborhood Mall Cop. LOL

Many dogs aren't trained properly. Many people aren't trained properly either. When those two things collide it can be ugly.

Glad no one was seriously hurt except aurally. It's very hard to recover from hearing the word fuck.

Dogs should always be on leash. Period. That said, accidents happen and the trick is to not exacerbate the situation. Keep calm and say you're sorry even if you're not. Some people are already having a bad day or a bad life and can be set off easily.

A couple months ago a woman was walking her dogs here in SoCal and they were attacked by two pits bulls. She pulled out a knife meant for filleting and killed the two pit bulls and saved her own dogs. The owner of the pit bulls said she wasn't justified. Whaaaa? I think she's a stud.

I once held my little dog over my head for five minutes while a pit bull jumped for her. I was terrified. The woman who owned the pit bull said I was just being silly and chastised me for feeding the pitt bull stereotype. I won't say what I wanted to do to this woman but didn't. No use escalating the situation.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/23/2014 04:28PM by blueorchid.