Its not so funny when a 30 pound lab does the same thing. The owner will be told off to train his/her dog.
Unfortunately, not everyone understands that its bad manners for a dog, regardless of its size to be untrained, full stop. We'll definitely have lesser of these anti-dog threads if thats the case (and no chance for dog owners to get on their high horses)!
If dogs are really so predisposed to violence as you indicate (which I don't believe) - certain behavours making them violent regardless of training - then surely they shouldn't be allowed in public? The police manage to train their dogs to bring down fleeing people with miminal damage.
If a slavering, barking dog comes running at you and you stand still. there's always the possibility that it will rip your jugular out. I'd rather the owners prevented it happening in the first place - and I think it's incumbent on them to do so. Not on me having the self-control to stand still while a toothy, howling, massive beast comes running at me, just on the off-chance that it wants to make friends, and is not, in fact, the doggy equivalent of an axe-wielding maniac,
Hah - knew there was something wrong with you. Really? Cats are easy. Treat them with the same disdain as they treat you, and you'll be fine. (
Cats are unlikely to be able to rip your jugular out though - not for want of the desire to do so, I suspect. If it wasn't for the fact that they look pretty, and make a nice noise when we stroke them, we'd realise what evil minded little basts* they all are.
* Egyptian pun
Well, aside from the cat who thought it would be great to wake me up on New Year's Day by 'kneading' my face several times after being brushed off and then who I gave a flying lesson until he hit the wall and got the clue, I've been fortunately unfettered. My sister has cats, one who also learned the hard way that I am not the one he should mewl at when he wants out to go prowling at 3am.
It's not just the dog that needs to be trained.
I think the giant breeds have a sense of humor about that since they all do this and I think they enjoy the reactions.
The dog not on a lead, was gambolling about and rushed over to us to share his excitement, jumping up, both paws on my friends shoulders, dog breath in face, tongue lolling, big smile on doggy face......
My friend, not being a "dog person" was horrified to be covered with dog saliva - especially as we had intended going to a restaurant for some refreshment on our walk.
Oh, the dog owner, with un-attached lead in hand, had attempted to call his dog, but dog was too excited to hear, so he shouted to us that his dog would not "harm" us........ But obviously being spattered in dog-drool should be quite acceptable...?
Now ... I am gong to seek out one of those "pepper spray" defence thingies you attach to key-ring, and then some poorly trained dog belonging to a sloppy owner, is going to have to suffer .........(My sincere apologies to dogs, but self-defence of myself is more paramount, in these cases, than your own joy)
Cheers,
Nick
Smoky, the dog owner was completely in the wrong, and I'm sure all the responsible dog owners here - elevated equestrians included - would agree. No dog should be allowed contact with a passer-by, human or animal, without the person's or other animal owner's consent.
That owner should not have allowed his dog off lead if the dog's recall was not reliable and instant. It's people like this that give responsible polite owners - the majority of us - a bad name.
However, I would caution you against the pepper spray idea as (elevated equestrian concerns aside) you might find that it lands you in trouble. You could find yourself liable for the dog's vet bills, or worse.
Not only that, using peper spay or inflicting pain is dangerous for you . Essentially by inflicting pain you could turn an exhuberant playful dog into a defensive one. A natural reaction to pain might be retaliation. If the dog is close enough to bother you, you'd be within lunging distance. For your own saftey, please don't try pepper spray.
Instead, difuse the situation. Carry a small pop-open umbrella. When a dog is bothering you and the owner is being irresponsible, simply say 'Pfui!' in a loud but non-emotional voice and, keeping a safe distance, pop the umbrella open as a sort of barrier/shield. Dogs tend to find the noise and sudden appearance of the umbrella confusing, and will usually stop.
This acomplishes the same thing but no one gets hurt, and does not leave you open to liability.
Hope you aren't bothered again.
Yes, there are a lot of stray and rabid dogs in places like India, or South America; the children there are darker-skinned (or is that offensive ) and this is why the OP probably sees a lot more of them being scared of dogs than he sees children here being scared of dogs...it wasn't a ''racist'' post at all...
In Romania we had a ton of stray dogs too, and the children are mostly white. However, there are also a lot of gypsies which tend to be dark-skinned, not just in Romania but all over Eastern Europe.
The point is, there are more children scared of dogs because they are taught to be, rather than because of a phobia, which is quite a bit rarer (otherwise dogs really wouldn't be such common household pets). Usually children in areas with stray, vicious dogs are taught to be scared of them. Presently, these areas tend to be have darker-skinned people.
The pepper spray was my knee-jerk reaction to "being interferred with" when not asking for it.
Now, I really do not want to have to take a flipping umbrella out with me when I go for a walk on a nice day - I like my hands free, I don`t take anything with me, except a few bucks in pocket in case I find a nice restaurant.
So what other defence mechanism would you recommend?
Maybe swearing at the owner ....? Ja, that should work ..... loud and horrible sounding .......
Gee .. I once had a horrible huge dog (so ugly he was handsome) whose drooling exposed jowls, breadth of chest, and arrogant lope, terrorised people .... but he obeyed my voice - instantly - he even ignored other dogs - and other human race groups - of all ages and sizes.
I used to joke with visitors who were nervous around him ... by saying "Just make sure you don`t use the word K-I-L-L and you`ll be fine". The look on their faces was to die for.... .. so I had to say "Only joking!"