"mean dogs"

The most even tempered, biddable, and well mannered dog who frequents our dog park is a 5 year old, not fixed, male rottweiler.  I will say that he may have gotten a few looks when he first came in - he is huge, all muscle and he is not fixed (which I think always gets a stare or two), but it became really clear within a few minutes that this dog takes whatever is thrown his way, listens to his person, always, the first time, and loves people and dogs, big and small.  I am hoping that people passing by look in to see this big rotty playing and listening so nicely.  His owner always says he (the dog) is doing "PR" for the breed!

I would have to say that I tend to be wary of any unfamilar dogs, regardless of breed. Not necessarialy because of the dogs but because of the owners. [] I don't frequent dog parks b/c luckily I live in a rural area and we have a nice sized yard for our guys to play. I think some owners are in denial about their dog's temperment. I have seen this through the years in my agility class. Some owners will say that thier dog is great with other dogs yet I see them go after other dogs. [8|] Now that I have my first small dog, I am much more aware of other dogs and will usually not let Dasher play with any dog unless I get to know both dog and owner over a few interactions. We have a standard poodle in our agility class that went after Dasher while he was running a course, chased him up the A-frame. The owner didn't have a hold of her leash while we were running (a major rule break in our class). Luckily Dasher was fine, but the poodle owner was convinced that she just "wanted to play" with Dasher....hmmm sorry, that was not play, it was prey.

If I was in a dog park situation, I most likely would not let Dasher play with other dogs until I got to know the owners and dogs better, regardless of breed. But I will say I may be initally more leary of big dogs simply because they could do more damage quicker as Dasher is a small dog.

the meanist dog I ever knew was a Lhasa Apso.  His owners thought it was funny to throw water in his face and would laugh when he growled and snarled.  He was a mean little dog but that was the owner's fault.  Although it wasn't funny when he started biting the owner's friends.  One time he really bit the heck out of this guy's knee.  I had a rott and he was a very good and extremely tolerant dog to kids and dogs.  I look for a responsible owner and good dog to play with my Lil Shih Tzu.  I am not breed biased and I didn't get any negative feedback from anyone when I had my Rott although most people I knew owned them at some point and knew they were a good breed.  I think that the media has played a big part in people being breed prejudice.

Our dog park is frequented by many GSDs and one of the ladies runs a GSD rescue.  Most of the time they are quite well behaved, but they do often get the blame for being the troublemakers.  So much that when something does happen, she looks around for witnesses that the GSDs were not involved with the shenanigans.

I get the.... 'is that the dog from National Geographics Designer Dogs'  I say the same breed but mine is socialized, trained and good dog LOL... My Central Asian Ovhcarka, people dont know what he is, so they dont say anything about him

Babst, I've loved everything I've read about the Ovcharkas.  I think they are incredible dogs but alas, I don't have the land or a job for one, or two for that matter.  Just a curious question for you...how are they inside the house?  Are they pretty energetic?  They are gorgeous animals..
 
Sorry about the thread hijack here...
 
-Ed

I had a lady come up to me in petsmart when Rory was a pup and say "do you know what your pup was bred for? for fighting! do you plan on fighting that dog"?
I looked down at her adorable aussie and said "lady that dog was bred for hearding, do you have sheep at home for her to heard?, I bought my girl as a comapnion just as you did".Ooh I was fuming! I live in California where we have a lot of problems with pits and we meet a lot of people who discriminate against  pit bulls.
Just this monday we were at the vet and we were coming from the back office to the waiting area. The nurse was infront of us and saw that there was a golden retriever in the lobby. She told the owner that we had another big dog coming through and the lady said "no problem". As soon as the lady saw Rory (tail wagging happy as a clam) she freaked out. "oh no, I dont want my chelsea around THAT dog, is there a back door"? Then the lady said something that made my heart hurt, she said " I hope you gave that beast her shots". I was speechless, the nurse just ushered her out and around the back while I stood there in shock waiting to pay my bill. The nice nurse then came back and apologized, I left feeling so upset but I knew this would happen someday. The funny thung is its hardly ever the other dogs who are fussy, its the people and its very sad.

I haven't been discriminated against too bad YET but am sure that it will happen someday soon.
 
But the looks I get when I take Prince out are enough to drive me up the wall. I've just learned to not pay any attention to them and let Prince do the talking. When other dogs are barking and snarling at us, he simply ignores them, with his tounge hanging out happy as can be. It makes me so pround to have him healing next to my side and not paying any attention to the people/dogs that are acting up!
 
It's sad, but I feel that stereotypes will always exist in this country...whether it be towards a breed of a dog or a race of person!
 
 

we had an incident with Molly just this past weekend.
Hiking and a man came along. I always put Molly on leash when we see someone but DH had the leash and he kept on walking [:@]
Molly was barking (we're now working on more socializing with her - standing outside WalMart so she can get used to people walking by her).
As Molly was barking, at the man, his knee came up and hit her tooth.
He immediately said "she bit me". I said "she bit you?" cause I saw the whole thing.
He said that yes she bit him.
My friend was with me and saw the whole thing too. I asked to see his knee but he hesitated and I asked again. He lifted his pant leg and has a scratch that was barely visible with the naked eye.
And no...I do not find Molly's barking behavior acceptable at all and we are consulting a behaviorist about this along with the WalMart thing (which is going quite well BTW).
But I do think this man saw a GSD and immediately thought "lawsuit" which is why I insisted on seeing his "bite"
My friend's husband is an attorney and he adores Molly - so if I needed a witness I'm glad it was here LOL

I often get horrible stares and comments about my 'vicious' Rottweiler pup & Doberman. They're the sweetest dogs anyone could meet, but nobody gives them half a chance unless they're fellow 'vicious' breed lovers like us. I truly wish more people would educate themselves before making such awful comments...

ORIGINAL: orangedog

I truly wish more people would educate themselves before making such awful comments...

So true! Over Easter I was at a brunch with several people from church. A little (5-6) boy asked about my dogs and I told him I have a rottweiler, a sheltie, and a pit bull mix. He says "a pit bull? you have to kill him - his kind kill people." Okay, I'm not holding anything against the boy, but against his mom who was sitting there nodding in agreement.

I have had to develope a thick skin since I got Sally.  I never realized what idiots people could be, even when they are not meaning to be.  We went to the vet's one time and when one of the techs saw Sally (who was wagging her tail, doing the happy dog dance) she said, "You look like you you could just rip someone's face off, but you're a sweetheart, aren't you?"  Umm, thanks, I think....
 
My mom was upset when she first learned that Sally likely had pit in her, but after a while Sally has grown on her.  She has defended her to a co-worker, and even my aunt, who upon me proudly showing off a picture of my baby girl at Thanksgiving, responded with, "Eww, that certianinly IS a pit bull, isn't it?
 
That having been said, I am wary of ANY loose dog, whether I'm with Sally or not.  I will admit that I am a tad more wary around GSDs, as I've had some bad experiences with them--I was bitten as a child and got 21 stitches, have been chased by them twice and had one almost go after Sally and I recently, but I realize that this is MY problem, that I have to work through, and I would NEVER make a nasty comment to someone who had a GSD.  However, I did meet some very nice GSDs at the IKC show in Chicago and even knelt down to pet one after getting to know her a bit.  The owner said she was a bit shy so I approached her (with the owners OK) just like I would like people to approach Sally, and I got face licks and a little added confidence around the breed in return.

Respectfully, Molly should not be off lead until this behavior is under control.  She may be blameless, but the preception of an untrained, potentially dangerous dog is there to someone who is the recipient.  I suggest dog owners could help protect our rights by making sure we do nothing to give those who distrust all or some dogs, the need to complain which might restrict  those rights.
 
BTW I own or have owned  Dobes, GSDs and Belgians.  I practice what I preach.

ORIGINAL: mrv

Respectfully, Molly should not be off lead until this behavior is under control.  She may be blameless, but the preception of an untrained, potentially dangerous dog is there to someone who is the recipient.  I suggest dog owners could help protect our rights by making sure we do nothing to give those who distrust all or some dogs, the need to complain which might restrict  those rights.

BTW I own or have owned  Dobes, GSDs and Belgians.  I practice what I preach.

 
This post by mrv got my wheels turning a bit also. In a good way! I have noticed that a lot of owner's who own these "mean dogs" get so wrapped up in helping the dog's image that they tend to neglect the fact that they still have a strong willed dog on their hands. This man had a gorgeous Doberman, unalterd male at the beach, he was lettinghim off leash which is okay in our area but the dog was SO VERY aggressive with the littel dogs. The man would just laugh it off, he didnt notice the two people who had taken their dogs and left because of this. I would have and do leash Rory immedialtly if I think she is making someone uncomfertable or if there are small kids around. The list goes on and on, we cant push our dogs in peoples face, that would do more harm for their reputation then good.
It is also our duty to repect other people's fear and not try to push the dogs on them. I have people in my family whom I can no longer go visit when I have Rory with me because they are deathly afriad of my dog. Note they have never met her and the first whole year I had her I gave them alll the literature I could find on breedism and stuff but they wouldn't budge. I even tried the "but I raised her from a baby speal" and they still won't budge. I got really mad for the longest time but in the end I realized I have to respect their fear, as ridiculous as it might seem to some of us. Just a little thought sharing!