What would you have said to....

Looking right at her "I've got my eye on the PIG"

OK, that's just what I'd WANT to say.

But still.

ORIGINAL: houndlove

This is one of the reaons I wear my mp3 player while walking--even though I don't have it turned up loud enough to not actually hear people's comments, I can pretend like I didn't.

People of certain cultural groups or demographics in general just do not like dogs. Where I used to volunteer, a shelter in a very urban setting, the only dogs you'd normally see really were in fact very scary: junk yard dogs and fighting dogs for the most part. The only dogs I ever saw being kept as pets were very small dogs. Large dogs=gaurd dog/scary dog. So me walking my large dogs there really threw people for a loop. Here are these very large dogs, yet they seem to be pets, but what kind of pets are they? What's going on here? Add to that the legacy of police dogs (and further back, tracking dogs) in relation to the African-American community, and you can get a fair number of people who are very afraid of large dogs (take a look at some of the archival photos of how police dogs were used during the civil rights movement). I try to be understanding of anyone who is afraid of dogs, and just demonstrate that with my dogs at least they have nothing to be afraid of but if they're more comfortable with us being far far away from them, that's fine.

I probably in this situation would have just smiled and said "Don't worry, he's totally under my control." and kept moving and maybe even crossed the street to be farther away from them.

 
I know this I suffer the same problem with ppl that go to my dad's store. They tend to get surprise because alot of Mexicans don't treat their dogs like I do mine. To them a dog is just a dog (well some do). One time I brought Shailer to the store because my brother was calling me and I couldn't leave him out so I brought him in an two little girls started screaming just because he was looking at them and the mother of one said "Uhm thats and Ugly dog!" now that was not called for but I let it be that lady has issues with ppl too anyways.

We were traveling with Socks, my elderly dobX a couple of years ago.  She was obviously a grizzled little old lady at the time (17).  We were going up in our hotel elevator with her.  She sat next to my legs looking very noble, quiet and, well, old. 

A black little girl (about 6-7) and her mother  got onto the elevator with us.  The little girl was absolutely petrified of Socks (who could, at that time, hardly get up, let alone lunge at anyone) and actually hid behind her mother and started to cry.  I told the little girl not to worry that I would hold on to Socks.  The mother glared at me and glared at Socks and remarked that she couldn't believe the hotel allowed dogs on the premises. 

I just gently hugged Socks closer next to my legs, reached down and scratched her ear, smiled and said that we frequented the hotel often and Socks is a welcomed, respected  senior citizen there who wouldn't hurt a fly. 

Some people are just phobic.