Why don't people listen to me!! (rant)

WHY don't they listen?  Because they're stupid.  They think they know better.  Or they just don't want to. 

I find it very difficult to EFFECTIVELY tell people not to touch my dog.  It goes against the grain.  You will likely have to develop a more authoritarian demeanor to handle stuff like that in future if you have two animals you like to take out but who are NOT friendly to children.  I hate hurting people's feelings but I have a dog who can be iffy around girls and I've learned to just plain say NO clearly and literally MOVE in front of the dog to prevent touching.

Let the first word out of your mouth be a very low, but very commanding "NO"

Then you can go on to say "I said NO ... do NOT pet my dog ... please.  He does NOT like to be touched and I do NOT want him to be pushed to do anything negative.  You simply do NOT have permission to touch my dog nor my cat."

Take the word "children" out of the equation ... she probably wanted to say "I'm not a child" -- which she obvioulsy was.  We tend to say something softer and kinder like "Oh you'd better not .. he might ..."

But just plain SAY NO.  Plain, clear, direct, .. and quasi nasty.  so who cares if you don't come off as Ms. Congeniality. 

And you may need to leash the cat.  People are going to be stupid.  It's in many of their natures to be stupid.  But the problem is then your cat may suffer for it. 

people often are just plain stupid.  Unfortunately it's not often the stupid person who pays the price.  grrrrrr.

 Thankfully I don't run into that around here much.  At least I haven't yet.  They really drill it into kids heads at school here.  In fact, on the school bulletin board at Kale's school there is a big poster about dog safety.  I think its wonderful.  The only issue I have with the kids here is that they tend to RUN up to us and then stop just out of reach of leashes to ask if they can pet the dogs.  By that point the dogs are assuming they are getting skritches and are confused when they stop just out of reach.  I would prefer that they walked to us... but whatever.  I'm still in control of my animals at that point. 

In TBay, where I used to live, I despised it when I would see kids coming toward us.  Kids there NEVER asked.  I still have to fight the urge to tell kids to back off when they approach.  BUT I do want my dogs to be approachable.  So I put them in Sit Stays and allow the kids to pet them.  They usually love it, except for larger boys, read older boys.  Then Onyx will go into her skittish dance of,"I'm tougher than you, bet you can't get me when I stand behind my mom."  Sigh...

I know this was frightening !! But now that you have had some time to cool off I have a question. How did your cat get away from you? Was he on a lead?  If not, why wasn't he?  I know from your post you love this cat, why would you take a risk in taking him to a public park off lead?  A stray dog could do the same damage that that ignorant kid almost did.  If he was on a lead couldn't you have pulled him closer to you as you said in a very stern tone DON'T TOUCH MY PETS!!!  I am lucky my hounds do very well with strangers and kids BUT I often am asked to hold a show dog that doesn't .  I have a calm gentle demeanor most of the time but I can go Stern in a nanosecond.  I want to stress you were not the bad guy in the situation, but there are ways to avoid the problems and wondered if you had considered them? I used to have a pair of leash trained cats. they were quite a novelty and always, always very safe! BTW everyone in life may have a problem with people invading thier personal space and being rude, strangers who want to cuddle your kids or touch your preggo belly, people who ask what you earn, weigh, paid for etc.etc.

Best of luck and hopes that it never happens to you and your furkids again.

Bonita of Bwana

calliecritturs

And you may need to leash the cat. 

Cameo was a wild cat when we got him so there is no way we'd be able to get a leash or collar on him.

I put Maze in behind me just in case she went to bite. I thought I did sound pretty serious but I guess not. I'm short (5'3';) so a lot people don't listen to me. I guess I just have to use my "You did something really stupid" voice that I use for Maze. Lol. Kinda sad I have to use it on people thou...

In my town, I wish they had dog safety lessons in school but they don't. I'm surprised there are not a lot more dog bites here.  

I'm positive Cameo can defend him self against stray dogs and wild animals. His previous "owners" didn't feed him and basically couldn't have cared less about him so he learned to defend himself and became wild. It took Alex 2 years to reach the point where he could touch him and me another 6 months to pet him.  

 Also Cameo will only run if it's a strange person who goes up to him to fast or scares him in a way. Normally he'll stay and fight but in reality he's a friendly cat if you let him come up to you.  He always comes to the park with us and plays tag with Maze and this is the first time I've had this problem. Usually I have to warn people not to touch Maze but that's the first time I've had to tell them not to touch Cameo.

I have the opposite problem.  Some people will not come within 10 yards of Kenya even if I'd offer them $100. 

But she looks so sweet.. I love her big ears! Makes me wish Maze had pointy ears.. but then she'd look funny. 

 I have the same problem as Liesje..LOL..

oranges81

But she looks so sweet.. I love her big ears! Makes me wish Maze had pointy ears.. but then she'd look funny. 

Thanks!  She actually is sweet, and very shy too.  She's a little "scarier" in person b/c she is darker and when her mouth is shut she looks very serious!  The pics in my sig are kinda light and yellowy and she looks a lot less menacing with her big grin and sloppy tongue. 

 I think if I ever met her in person, once we got over the "I'm a new person" phase, I'd play with her ears.. I've got a strange fasination with big ears.. Lol.  She does look very serious and in the picture, she's got this look of "I know what you're thinking.. You want to give me a cookie" Lol. Either that or she looks like she's going to cry...

oranges81

 Either that or she looks like she's going to cry...

Haha, that is why I love shepherds.  I love the melancholy face, like they always need a hug (but might rip you open if you try to give one....just kidding).  And yes, I play with her ears all the time! 

I've always wanted a sheperd but something always stops me from getting one..
Maze's ears are so long I can touch the tip of her nose with them.. Lol..

a wee bit off topic but i just realised something.... Kayla and Kenya were both the names of my dad's two late German Shepherds.. Kenya was a puppy when she was let out of his backyard by the ever escaping great dane he had at the time, which resulted in her being hit by a car.. and Kayla died recently because his girlfriend left the gate open. Both dogs were velcroed to my dad... but if he wasnt around they would do what every they jolly well pleased. i only just found out about his Kayla this past weekend..

anyways... that aside..

i have mixed opinions about my dogs.... people who love the look of a bulldog but know nothing about the protectiveness scare the dickens out of me....  which is why my dogs are always leashed and stay right by side.. never ever do i let the leash hang slack.. not because i'm worried about my dogs, but because that gives me the edge against people who want to pet. i can see them coming and quickly pull the dog in behind he and block the path of the oncoming person.....instead of having to reel my dog, which yanks on the leash, which can make the dog nervous, which can then make the dog seek out the source of my trouble, which would obviously be the person walking towards us which would THEN flip their switch into "OK Mom's Scared, so we need to PROTECT HER!!"

..... chain reactions.... ugh... normally though... if they really want to pet the dog i put the dog in a down position facing me.. i pet the dog's head, the person can pet what ever they want..shoulders, neck, ribs, back etc... the bullies dont care as long as they think they are getting 100% of my attention... i only have one that has me convinced she would bite someone if they were acting weird... but even that dog will obey me and relax and be still for someone to pet her.. Unless that person is acting like a physical threat, she's as gentle as a lamb..

and yeah i would certainly have a talk with the parents of that kid...... your cat was almost hit by a car, but it could just as easily have been the girl that got hit.. either she has a hearing problem or a serious lack of respect for adults..... 

Short doesn't have a whole lot to do with it. I was a substitute teacher for a little while, and a lot of the (elementary!!!) kids were taller than me, at 5'3". It took.... a lot for me to learn to say what I meant, in a way that people *understand*. I don't remember when it happened, but I know it had something to do with dogs. I do what Callie does. Body blocks make a real statement. The way you say it makes a real difference. "NO, you may NOT pet the dog" and "Well, she's not feeling much like petting, so please leave her alone" sound completely different. You can't request that a child not do something that is a safety issue. You need to *tell* them.

And please keep your kitty inside, where he's safe. That sounds soooo scary!