If I should ever start harassing/threatening the physical well being of strange people or animals in public, I will be more than happy to video my actions and reaction to the ammonia mix being sprayed in my face! P.S. My husband is a vet.
I am a human being and like 99% of human being we are pretty predictable due to being able to communicate with other human beings which takes away that unpredictability.
Dogs on the other hand can not communicate, therefore multiplying the unpredictability.
The other 1% of human beings should probably be on a leash.
To your second point, the person in charge has no authority over a dog if it is not on the leash due to dog being unpredictable.
I haven't the slightest idea how cyclist got into this conversation??? Strange and so off topic. People make comparisons to the weirdest things.
And, by the way yes it was strange a golden tried attacking with everyone considering them "oh so sweet" and great family dogs....any dog can be dangerous just as any human can be. You can't know how any strange animal will react to you or what they are capable of.
Dogs..... well, they are dogs, and I actually find any 'animal' predictable when you understand their behaviour.
Humans can communicate, but we also lie, cheat, and steal which makes us infinitely more unpredictable.
Dogs do communicate with each other , but they use sounds and body language as their vocabulary.
Barks, whimpers, growls, and all sorts noises coupled with the body language and facial expressions I mentioned earlier is how a pack will communicate and find order and coordinate actions.
As I said earlier, it is our responsibility to teach a dog how to live in our world.
What is unpredictable, is what efforts the owner has made to ensure that 'we' can predict a dogs behaviour. The fault again lies with the human.
We can otherwise assume a very predicable primative behaviour from the dog.
If you beat a dog, or spoil a dog etc., you can expect the dog to exacerbate more aggressive, anxious, dominant behaviour etc...... but unfortunately, predicting this is the hard part. This is where I think your point lies, and it's perfectly acceptable.
Humans however are not any different (and I would say 'worse').
Joe Bloggs out for a run should not have to learn the behavior of a dog just because they want to go for a run and some arrogant dog owners will not put their dogs on a leash in public areas because THEY know how their dog will react in situations.
.... I thought your point was a little later in my previous post, but again, that also falls into poor ownership.
I said in an earlier post:
"You are only afraid of what you don't understand".
If Joe Bloggs really has an issue with dogs while he's running, I firmly believe it IS in his best interests to learn about such things to help overcome his fear.
I know people who won't swim in the ocean because of sharks, and people who won't fly in planes because it WILL crash..... we all know this is bullshit.
I was afraid of sharks until I learned about how they work. I now know when and where to swim and what to do if encountered, and this has all been tried and tested....... I still respect sharks, but I don't have the fear.
Sharks are not going away any time soon, and planes will always fly somewhere...... Dogs will also be in the cities and parks where you travel and will always be there regardless of how much people sing and dance about it, so I don't think it hurts to learn a little about something that otherwise makes your life difficult.
This all being said, I think I can speak for all other dog owners where WE ALSO WISH that irresponsible dog owners and dickheads in general would pull their head in so the rest of us don't look so bad.
All of this changes nothing from the original post though....
- Keep your dog on a lead when other people or dogs are around.
- Assess the situation properly.
- Respect other peoples rights and phobia's.
Agreed
it is up to the dog owner to understand they in a public place and there may be people around who are not familiar with the behavior of THEIR dog.
Going for a run is a simple everyday occurrence, joe bloggs should not have to 'learn' anything to do this.
How often is it that these snarling devil dogs cross your path? Do you even have a dog?
Fact is that you're arguing for a position that most cantons don't agree with. If it makes you feel more comfortable, though, move to Schwyz - they have a leash law.
indeed all the talk of sticks and I do think it is reasonable to carry a stick but never to hit a dog with.
you would place the stick in front of you as you stand across the line between your dog (by your side as you, like me are a good owner) and the oncoming dog. This will slow it down and you can bang the stick on the ground if you need to.
This blocks the route the dog is taking and protects you and your dog.
This is more than enough to stop all but the most rabid devil dog and is a neutral way of you preventing the situation escalating. And without blinding the dog.
I'm off to the vet this afternoon and will ask him about his thoughts on spraying an ammonia-based solution into a dog's face. Should I photograph his expression when I ask?
Around these people Im a little nervous because i can see the owner has 0 control over the dog.
I grew up with dogs, I own a dog. . . I usually have no nerves or fear around dogs, even if i see a dog rambling on his own with no owner I generally feel OK because the dog is content off for his walk
.... but if a dog doesnt look happy and balanced with his owner I feel a little nervous.
You can't plead ignorance and hope that the problem will go away... it won't. You have to learn to deal with it as well.
Like it or not, dogs will be a daily part of your life, owners should do everything they can but as you know this is impossible - some dickhead somewhere will let his dog off the lead at the wrong time and cause problems.
If this seriously is an issue for you, and you do nothing to prepare yourself, then you only have yourself to blame.
You can't say that I haven't tried to help. Most of the important information is in this thread now.
Have you seen dogs that have not attacked you? Could you quantify the number of dogs you've seen that have attacked you against those that have not?
Do you actually have a dog?
And you made up the bit about your husband being a vet, didn't you?
Dogs that bite
Dogs off the lead
Owners that are cocks
What is the overlap???