Little dog/Big dog people

ORIGINAL: RidgebackGermansShep
Do you all pick up your dogs around ANY large dog...like, even a golden retriever or other "friendly" breed dog?

Yes!! In fact we have a Golden Retriever in our complex that has been off leash and I picked my dog up. The general public may have breed predjudices, but I know that ANY breed can be aggressive or simply have a high prey drive.

ORIGINAL: kpwlee

I'm with you - I think that an intelligent and aware owner can tell the difference between an aggressive dog off leash or on, with an incompetent owner and a well-trained dog walking calmly with their owner.
If you can't and you instinctively pick up your dog because my large dog is walking  in the same vicinity  - I am offended.

I think it's a little low to insinuate that the dog owners that pick up their dogs aren't intelligent or can't read a dog's body language. [&:] Sometimes the clues are subtle. The dog is just a little tense or a little too focused on the little dog. They aren't always straining and snarling at the end of the leash you know. [&o] With the GSD that almost attacked Gingerbread, there were very subtle signs. I know that I figured I was probably overreacting and took the owner's word that the dog was good with other dogs. So if there's even a question, better safe than sorry. []

What you are assuming is I haven't trained him, I cannot control him, he is a savage, going to attack your dog and neither of us is to be trusted.
Sorry there is no other message to be taken

Maybe that is what they're assuming, but THEY DON'T KNOW YOU. Other times people may just be afraid of large dogs. Why take it so personally?

The current arguement about picking up small dogs explains why I wouldn't want to own one: they're too delicate.  I wouldn't want a dog that other dogs looked at as prey.  I am a big dog person. A big dog in a little body, like a JRT, would be ok. 

There's nothing wrong with small dogs, but they aren't for me. 

Everyone has their own preference.  I like both larger and small dogs,and hope to always have one of each. I wouldn't call either of mine delicate. My terrier can, and does, jump off of everything, can run at an amazing speed, and is always ready to go go go. My poodle mix runs with the big dogs at the dog park with nary a concern.  I don't sit around worrying about their limbs snapping. 
 
The fact is, my large dog could be just as likely to be injured in a dog attack (though his coat would protect him) and if I could physically pick him up I would.  I don't worry about my dogs being seen as prey so much as the fact that the same bite on them vs a larger dog could mean death vs stitches. 

I really don't see why it's offensive to pick up a small dog around a strange dog.  [&:]

I think it's kind of silly to get offended at.

Just to clarify, I am not offended when an owner picks up their small dogs when they see me/us coming with our three large dogs.  What happened in the park the other day (described in my previous post) is typical but it does not ever offend me...not even a little bit.

All I have to say is this--those offended by people picking up their small dogs around your large ones had better never get a pit bull.  You will spend your entire lives being very offended.[sm=rofl.gif]

well i guess i'm the odd man out. I can understand picking up the little ones around an unleashed dog or a dog that was close enough to attack...but passing in a pet store or far enough out of the way on the sidewalk just seems unnecessary to me. Maybe i just need to get a small dog again. I just know i've never picked up my 8 lb jack russell.
 
 
christina- i couldn't imagine owning a pitbull in this country. I would be a pretty bitter person.

I think of myself as a "big dog" person. My "dream" dog is an Irish Wolfhound. So, why then was our last dog a Yorkie and our current dogs Shelties? My husband is a "small dog" person. I'm gradually working him up to a larger dog. [] In the meantime, I tried to pick a breed with other characteristics that appealed to me.

I understand the concern for the safety of a small dog - much the way I worry about our puppies while they are so tiny. I'm actually looking forward to them reaching full size so I do have to worry quite as much about them.

I think part of me would rather someone pick up their small dog when they see us coming rather than just assume she's OK and let them wander over to say hello.  I usually get that a lot and the dogs are on a flexi lead and it's just turns into a big problem for me.

I'm offended that everyone has to be lumped into a big dog or little dog loving category. What about us medium dog loving people? Where do we fit in?
 
(I"m not serious, I haven't read the entire thread - I just peaked in to see what the fuss is that there are 7 pages devoted to this subject!)

ORIGINAL: kpwlee
I think that an intelligent and aware owner can tell the difference between an aggressive dog off leash or on, with an incompetent owner and a well-trained dog walking calmly with their owner.

If this were true, there'd never be any dog-on-dog attacks because we'd all instinctively know what kind of owners and dogs we were dealing with...

If you can't and you instinctively pick up your dog because my large dog is walking  in the same vicinity  - I am offended.

So if I don't have this instinctual gift of intuition that tells me whether or not your dog is aggressive AND I can't read YOUR mind to tell me that you are a responsible owner and aren't going to accidently drop that leash if your dog lunges, you're going to be offended that I choose to "rather be safe than sorry" and protect my dog before an incident happens?

What you are assuming is I haven't trained him, I cannot control him, he is a savage, going to attack your dog and neither of us is to be trusted.

No, I'm not. I'm not assuming anything. I'm taking a precaution. It has nothing to do with you or your dog. It has to do with me and mine.

There's a common practice by motorcyclists to "pretend they're invisible". This is a precaution. Because if they pretend they're invisible, they'll be very aware of their driving and they won't likely be hit by a car. Because if a car hits a motorcycle, likely the majority of damage is going to be incurred by the bike rider, NOT the car driver. They have the most at stake, they are the most vulnerable. They take the RESPONSIBILITY to insure their own safety.

Same with a small dog owner. IF there is an incident, their small dog is WAY more vulnerable. They are the ones likely to end up at the vet or dead, while your dog might have a scratched lip.

Sorry there is no other message to be taken

But there is. The message is, "As an owner of a small dog, I have an added responsibility to protect my dog against ANY dangers, real or imagined. I take that responsibility very seriously. If you are offended by my choice to protect my vulnerable dog from possible dangers, that is your choice. But it is nothing personal because I don't know you or your dog and I don't have the instinctual gift of intuition that would assure me that my dog is 100% safe. It is not my responsibility to know whether or not your dog is aggressive or whether or not you are a good owner. It is my responsibility to protect my dog. If that offends you, so be it."

That's the message I choose to take. You can, too. []

That is prejudice.  Prejudice is harmful and the people/dogs you accuse of being dangerous when you have no indication that they are, are of course offended.

They're not accusing, though. They're saying "I don't know whether he's aggressive or not." They're not assuming, they're simply taking precautions. Just in case. They don't know and don't want to guess.

And the dogs aren't offended [sm=happy.gif]  It's only the owners who get offended. It doesn't hurt your dog to see someone else pick up their dog. Your dog isn't suffering prejudice.

When you wear your seatbelt, do you think other drivers should be offended? After all, you're assuming they don't know how to drive and are going to careen across the road and plow into you! LOL No. You're taking responsibility for your safety should there be an accident. That's all these owners are doing.

Just as you are when it is said that many small dogs are untrained and annoying when yours is not.

This is true. It's the same thing. BOTH should stop taking these things personally and getting offended.

I'd much rather the owner of ANY sized dog assume that mine are evil heathen dogs than to assume that my dogs will automatically love their dog, and letting it come up to them without asking.
 
I don't like for my three dogs to meet a solo dog all at the same time. They are pretty good dogs, but if something were to go wrong, it's just a lot to deal with. I appreciate people respecting this rather than saying, "But he's friendly".

When you wear your seatbelt, do you think other drivers should be offended? After all, you're assuming they don't know how to drive and are going to careen across the road and plow into you! LOL No. You're taking responsibility for your safety should there be an accident. That's all these owners are doing.

Heeheehee!

I'd much rather the owner of ANY sized dog assume that mine are evil heathen dogs than to assume that my dogs will automatically love their dog, and letting it come up to them without asking.

Same here! And same with people assuming my dog is scary and vicious. I'd rather them be afraid of my dog than have them run up to him and try to pick him up without asking.

so you can't tell an aggressive dog from a non- aggressive dog?
you can't tell a well trained dog with responsibe owner and an untrained dog with an irresponsible owner?
I find it very difficult to believe that iDoggers especially cannot do this
It, to me, isn't a secret gift to see the difference between and in control dog and an out of control dog

And yes I would be offended if someone walking with their dog saw us walking and swooped down and grabbed their dog for fear of us.  Sort of like walking down the street and people running away. Remember the sociological study where it was shown that if a black male approached someone on the street they went into immediate protection mode - and did not for a white male?  I do and that is prejudice - an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason.
I don't buy the seatbelt analogy - for various reasons, its the law for one, frequency, risk etc.  In this area there are a whole lot more serious car wrecks than dog attacks and yes I wear my seatbelt (during my time as a driver its always been the law) and drive defensively because I KNOW people are not paying much attention to their driving, not because they might not.

Personally I think its bizarre that under normal conditions someone would feel the need to grab their dog up as a safeguard because a larger dog is in the vicinity.  If there are indicators that it is not normal conditions do what you need to do to be happy.  I've never said not to do it. live and let live.  I have said that it sends a negative message to me and to my dog.
Should someone do this when I am out walking with Bugs, I will be offended.  It is my belief that you are doing this because you are afraid I might allow him to attack. If you did not believe this you wouldn't be afraid, thus you wouldn't pick your dog up.  That really is the bottom line.  Its a precaution taken because you think there might be an attack.  If you thought there was no risk you wouldn't do it.
To be clear, by offended I mean that you are making a negative assumption(s) about me and my dog and I think thats rude, similar to the response of the small dog owners on here who are offended when people have posted that lots of small dogs are not trained properly.
Additionally I have never stated that I want dogs to run over to us, this happens and as I posted earlier it is small dogs that do it in our neighborhood.  I just think the cross the road, grab up your dog reaction is over the top in NORMAL circumstances.
I am glad that I don't feel I have to do that because it would make going anywhere with my dog a terrifying experience and annoying if everytime I saw 'large' (not been defined) dog I needed to pick up my dog.

To finish, do what you feel you need to do, to be happy, however you cannot govern how I feel about your actions.  I won't be convinced that it isn't sending a negative message and you won't be convinced that its unnecessary.  Vive la difference

ORIGINAL: kpwlee

so you can't tell an aggressive dog from a non- aggressive dog?
you can't tell a well trained dog with responsibe owner and an untrained dog with an irresponsible owner?
I find it very difficult to believe that iDoggers especially cannot do this

Really?  I have a dog reactive medium sized dog, and I attempt to size up every dog we see.  I'm not half bad, but I wouldn't bet my dog's life on my abilities.  I find some breeds harder to read than others, and some dogs are quite subtle in their communication. 

I will never take offense when a dog owner errs on the side of safety. It isn't personal, and I don't need to make it about me or my dog.

Just my [sm=2cents.gif] but it's not always that easy to tell if a dog is well trained or well behaved just from seeing him walk toward you.  Max for example, will be walking quite nicely by my side, seemingly the best behaved dog in the world.  But ... he suffers from a bit of leash reactivity and it's not unusual for him to suddenly turn and lunge at a passing dog.  So I try to avoid this situation.  There are places on the greenbelt where I have a nice long view of what's coming from the other direction and there are other places where because of twists and turns of the path, and trees and shrubs, I can't see what's coming until it's on top of me. In that area, I walk on the grass instead of the path.  If I see another dog on the path coming toward us, unless it's a dog that Max has met and is OK with on leash, I move off the path and walk in the grass.  If that offends the oncoming person, I'm sorry. He's too big (60 lbs.) to pick up and I would really prefer to avoid an unpleasant incident.
 
Joyce