how do you handle breed discrimination?

DumDog

me "cant wait to get home! no telling what my dog has destroyed! laugh out loud"

nurse laughing too "does she like kids?"

me "yep, loooooves kids! such a big baby sitter"

nurse " awww! what breed is she?"

me " American Bulldog"

nurse "Oh my GOD! with a baby??"

 

Thats wicked funny! LOL. Bulldogs are know to be good family/kid dogs. So, I've read.

Three things

 Ignore the rude people

 Educate the ignorant people

 Do everything in your power to make certain your dog never adds to the discrimination.

donna's post sums it up nicely.

I am consciously making my dog (and now dogs) appear in the best light possible in public.  This is why Jada (pit bull) is getting training. 

Quite often I've heard people look at Gracie and say "one of those rottweilers" - and I immediately say, "Nope, she's a Doberman, would you like to meet her?  She's very sweet."  If people make negative comments about Dobermans and/or ask if she is "mean" I make a judgement call if I want that person to be around her or not.  (You know, sometimes it's better to keep people away from your dog.)  Almost every time we are out in public I deliberately "show off" her training- not to be a snot, but to show anyone watching her that she is under control and obedient.  I think any out of control dog in public puts all dogs in a bad light... but those of us w/"bad reputation" dogs have an extra responsibility.  This is part of why I trained Gracie to be a Therapy Dog.  To show that even the "bad" breeds are capable of tenderness, obedience, and reliability in odd situations.

i believe its ok to take your dog with you any time you can but you have to admit society hasnt been very dog friendly for many many years. and GSDs and the like have ALWAYS been viewed as mean and aggressive because.. THEY WERE. they were guard dogs. you just didnt see them out prancing on the end of a leash with a bandanna round their necks. mostly you saw them being walked by officers, body guards, and tough guys.

it doesnt shock me at all and i am not offended by the ignorance because its quite a sudden change.. that you have to admit! as a kid i never saw anyone taking their BIG dogs out anywhere unless it was a lab or golden going to the beach or hounds for hunt. no, what i saw was lap dogs and small friendly mutts out and about.

How I deal with it depends on the person, but sometimes actions are better than words........

Years ago, I had Petie with me in our small town, standing in front of a store on the main street chatting with a woman that we know.  A man and woman approach (they knew the other woman), the man looks down at my dog who is sitting on a loose leash minding his own business and this guy says..'Oh a Jrt, rotten untrainable dogs'.  I said, 'Yes they can be a problem for some people but that they are not all like that'.  He tells me I am wrong.  I said wait here and I'll be right back.  We had been standing in the middle of the block, I walked with Petie in a perfect heel to the other end, removed his leash, asked for a down, turned away and ran to the other end of the block, right past that guy.  I never looked back, I knew my dog was still there.  Once I was at the other end, I gave my recall, Petie flew to me, just after he pasted that guy, I gave my down, Petie dropped, recalled again, did a finish to heel and then walked back to them.  That guy says 'ok, so I've met one'.  The woman with him, gives him a cuff on the arm and speaks for the first time and says........'Your dog won't do that'.  I then informed him that there were countless Jrts out there that were trained far better than my dog...........

But that day still makes me grin.

DumDog

i believe its ok to take your dog with you any time you can but you have to admit society hasnt been very dog friendly for many many years. and GSDs and the like have ALWAYS been viewed as mean and aggressive because.. THEY WERE. they were guard dogs. you just didnt see them out prancing on the end of a leash with a bandanna round their necks. mostly you saw them being walked by officers, body guards, and tough guys.

But I think this is part of the problem, the misconception that GSDs are overly temperamental, reactive guard dogs.  In fact, they do not make good dogs for guarding because they need to be WITH their people (or more often, person), not allowed to roam around the grounds, barking and growling at anyone they see fit.  A GSD that reacts in this manner is a very poor example of the breed.  Character and temperament are just as important as the dog's structure.  They are intelligent and biddable, hence why they work well so close with a human handler.  There are several breeds that hit a lot harder and faster and might hang on longer than GSDs, but that type of hyper active drive and reactivity is not acceptable for the breed.  The GSDs I remember from my childhood were mild tempered family dogs with rock solid nerves.  Honestly, I was not aware they had such a bad rap until I started researching them for myself!

Liesje

DumDog

i believe its ok to take your dog with you any time you can but you have to admit society hasnt been very dog friendly for many many years. and GSDs and the like have ALWAYS been viewed as mean and aggressive because.. THEY WERE. they were guard dogs. you just didnt see them out prancing on the end of a leash with a bandanna round their necks. mostly you saw them being walked by officers, body guards, and tough guys.

 

But I think this is part of the problem, the misconception that GSDs are overly temperamental, reactive guard dogs.  In fact, they do not make good dogs for guarding because they need to be WITH their people (or more often, person), not allowed to roam around the grounds, barking and growling at anyone they see fit.  A GSD that reacts in this manner is a very poor example of the breed.  Character and temperament are just as important as the dog's structure.  They are intelligent and biddable, hence why they work well so close with a human handler.  There are several breeds that hit a lot harder and faster and might hang on longer than GSDs, but that type of hyper active drive and reactivity is not acceptable for the breed.  The GSDs I remember from my childhood were mild tempered family dogs with rock solid nerves.  Honestly, I was not aware they had such a bad rap until I started researching them for myself!

i see your point but i didnt mean guard dog in the sense of property or estate guardians. my bad. i've always seen them as jam up PP dogs and nothing more. my sisters, my dad, me, my mom, always had shepherds and they always roamed our land but ... only if we werent home and never just lashed out at strangers. there was one occasion when my sisters dog charged at a boy, but only because he sneaked up on us (kids..) and she wasnt expecting him. when she realised who was she backed off. he was our friend lol

granted..... if it had been Kaydee in that dog's position it wouldnt have been funny in the slightest. Kaydee suffers no fools - however we were kids so maybe she would have... she loves children..

thing is the reps come from people getting the latest fad and not learning before hand. it also needs to be a breed to match your personality.. some guard dogs dont have to be up under you 24/7 to be protective..

the other thing people seem to forget is that the dogs involved in attacks had the same factors. they werent all just being walked on a leash in the park..  it was usually a stranger or a child involved in the attack.. and the dog was poorly cared for and untrained or intended to be vicious.

that line is the one i use most often in an argument about controversial breeds. as common as "bad dogs" are you would think there would be a fatality a day!!