Dog Community

Why do people antagonize other people's dogs?! (rant)

Posted : 2/13/2007 12:45:22 PM

I was walking Oscar this morning. It's becoming clear that Oscar is not always good with strangers, it's usually not an issue on neutral territory - outside, at the park, etc. He's only barked at people a couple of times on neutral territory (he's much more barky when people come to the door, but that's going to be another thread). In any case, it's generally not an issue, but it's something I watch for and try to either calm him down when it happens or just take him out of the situation ASAP if I cannot calm him down.

So this morning we met a guy coming out of his house on our walk. As always, Oscar seems more intrigued than anything else and stood (not tense) and looked at the stranger. The stranger asked me Oscar's name, after I responded, the guy barked at Oscar! It was so sudden and out of left field (who randomly barks at strange dogs?!) that I questioned my own hearing. For a second I thought Oscar barked, but usually if he would bark at a stranger he would do so long before I'd have any interaction with the person. Anyway, before I could gather what was happening, the guy said "uh oh" - I guess he could see Oscar was not pleased (interestingly I didn't see Oscar display any aggressive signs, he wasn't growling and I didn't see his lips curl, so I wonder what did the guy see). In any case Oscar started barking at the guy. I tried to calm Oscar down, but the guy started BARKING BACK!!! Of course that riled Oscar up, and I just turned around and took Oscar out of the situation. But seriously! WTH?!?! Why do people antagonize other people's dogs?! It annoys me because I'd like to de-sensitize Oscar towards strangers, and this guy deliberately riles him up!

Chuffy

Posted : 2/13/2007 12:48:49 PM

??????????

What an idiot!!!

[:@][:@][:@][:@][:@][:@]

melindar

Posted : 2/13/2007 12:50:28 PM

What a JERK!!! I haven't quite figured out why people do it either. I've had people bark at Copper for no reason (usually they're driving by). Luckily Copper isn't reactive about it. I'm sorry this guy was such a jerk!

Boxermom4

Posted : 2/13/2007 1:23:01 PM

We have neighbors that have done this to Houston in the past, when he was small, our dogs are always supervised when they are outside, even though the yeard is totally fenced in, we stay with them. For good reason. They bark, growl and wave there hands around, we have talked to them about ti numerous times, and it has stopped and the kids have apologized, now they have a pup and if Houston sees him he goes nuts, the guy put his hands over the fence last night and Houston turned his head very quickly UP towards the guys hand, he re tracted quickly, however, now my dog has to have a behaviorist. Makes me so hoppin mad!!!!

fuzzy_dogs_mom

Posted : 2/13/2007 2:16:30 PM

What a doofus. Also, we have to remember that none of us actually "speak dog" so when we bark at a dog, for all we know we're saying something he finds quite offensive.

Joyce

espencer

Posted : 2/13/2007 2:24:41 PM

What if................ suddenly Oscar gets loose "accidentaly" [

] you will see how that a$$ changes his behavior and thinks twice before "barking" back, of course that idiot would be crying like a baby and probably ends up suing you, at least the look on his face would be pricelss

MissMandy

Posted : 2/13/2007 2:25:16 PM

Sheesh...sorry to hear about that. Some people really can be thoughtless when interacting with other peoples' dogs.

Scout in Canada

Posted : 2/13/2007 2:26:42 PM

UGH People like that drive me nuts!! [:@]

I have had the same thing - someone will come over to our house, start flapping their hands around Scout's head in some sort of "game", and then bark at her. Then, they go home, and I'm left with a riled up spazzy dog.

badrap

Posted : 2/13/2007 2:38:17 PM

dude... was there something WRONG with this guy? i'm serious.. was he homeless or obviously mentally ill? this is the strangest thing i've ever heard!

people are always coming up to my dogs wherever we go, and touch and talk to them without first asking my permission, which i think is not only RUDE, but very dangerous. my dogs are happy piles of drool and wags, but what if?????? i would never approach someone's leashed dog without first engaging the handler.

also, i'm wondering if you live in a bad neighborhood and if there's a possibility that oscar is reacting to your discomfort in some way? the only time varitek ever barked at a human was on a windy night on the dark part of our path when there was a strange guy approaching us at a run (he was NOT excersising, this guy...) and tek flipped right out. i must say i was flipped out as well, and i think he was issuing this weirdo a warning, which worked by the way.

Caryl Peters

Posted : 2/13/2007 2:53:17 PM

cant understand why people think that is cute!

mrstjohnson

Posted : 2/13/2007 3:29:46 PM

What a moron!!!!

meilani

Posted : 2/13/2007 3:34:52 PM

Quite simply, it's because some people are arseholes.

I was coming home from the vet with Shiloh and he started barking. Turns out the idiot in the next car rolled down his window and was making faces, gestures and making barking sounds at Shiloh. So I rolled down the window and said...

Me: "Hey F***face! If you want, I can let him out of the car and you can do that in his face. Let's see how big your balls are then!"

Needless to say, he didn't take me up on the offer. And these are the same jagnuts who mess with a dog, get attacked by said dog, and can't figure out why the dog went after him/her. [:@]

whtsthfrequency

Posted : 2/13/2007 3:38:44 PM

I've had that happen too.

Once, some stupid college-aged kids (well....I am 22 so I suppose I am not so far off that mark....but anyway) thought it would be hilarious to try to let their dog get as close to Ginny as possible while walking behind me. Being fear aggressive she was going NUTS. I eventually stopped to let them by, and as they passed me, they just stopped and let their dog nearly touch noses with her! I mean, there is this dog with hackles raised, growling and lunging, and you think its funny to instigate this behavior using your own dog as bait? Yergh.

Raja19

Posted : 2/13/2007 3:57:31 PM

I have actually had this happen quite a bit, I have no idea why people feel the need to bark at a dog, but for some reason they do.

I actually had a vet tech do this to one of my dogs, My dog was already hard enough to hold and exited/stressed out enough and then she goes and barks at her....great idea. I remeber I looked at her and told her that her doing that will make my dog get more exited/anxious. And she told me that it can help some dogs to CALM down [:@]...hmm...yes my dog looked much calmer..now barking and jumping up.

miranadobe

Posted : 2/13/2007 4:01:22 PM

my friend has a rescued oversized Doberman (I think he's 32 inches at the shoulders.) Some chump was going around putting flyers on cars, including hers. As she approached, she heard her dog going nuts, and saw the guy rapping on the window and making faces/noises. She told him he had 3 seconds to back away from the car, but he still persisted... so she remotely unlocked the car. By the time she's opened the door and the dog was standing in a perfect heel next to her, he was 4 rows over.

My own dog, I was training in a downtown pedestrian area just a couple of weeks ago. Young adult, as part of a crowd, bends over my dog who is in a down-stay from a distance, and barks at her. I told him he didn't want to do that, and he laughed. But, really, what could I do? The instant I let my dog even appear to be reactive to that guy, it would be "Doberman attacks law-abiding innocent victim" in the newspapers.