Fearful reactions from other people?

[binka_nugget]

We had this discussion on another board. It was pretty interesting so I thought I'd bring it over here.

What kind of fearful reactions (if any) have you and your dog/s recieved from other people?

I haven't really had anyone cross the street or pick up their dogs like a lot of others said on the other board but people tend to ask if Kai's friendly and don't ask about Kaedyn. What's amusing is that Kaedyn is fear aggressive and Kai is the really friendly one. A lot of people just come up and pet Kaedyn and then ask about Kai.

[Smilla]

Unfortunately, people usually assume Lefty is really friendly and want to come up and pet him. He's actually quite a bit skittish and sometimes doesn't react well. He's never tried to bite anyone but has growled before.

I think he makes the woman who delivers our mail pretty uneasy, because he barks at her so ferociously from the window. One day, he was in the yard with me on a 30-foot lead when she came walking around the corner on the opposite side of the street. He saw her and went running towards her. I saw her eyes open wide with fear and she began to walk backwards. I went after Lefty while yelling, "He's on a lead! He's on a lead!" However, she walked backwards up a small hill and ended up falling on her behind. :( I felt really bad!

[pitc9]

Mine are "ok" with people as long as they are true dog people, and when I tell them they are skidish, they move slow, and just know how to introduce themselves to mine!
I have had a woman scoop up her dog and run to the other side of the street:rolleyes: But you can imagine what a happy mom I was when we passed them and neither of mine made a peep!:D
Buddy will bark when he's scared... and what a loud bark he has!!:eek: Once I had a couple walking past us on the other side of the street, and Buddy started barking. I was telling him to sit and trying to keep him from barking. It's not like I was letting him bark!! Well the guy yelled from across the street "SHUT UP ALREADY" Ohhh I was so mad. :mad:

[primabella]

Mickey doesn't really get bad reactions from other people. If they don't like dogs, they'll just move to one side of the sidewalk so we can pass or walk a little faster by us. If they do come up and pet Mickey they'll usually look at him and then at me, I guess looking for some approval to pet my dog, lol. Mickey is really great with strangers (usually) so I'm not worried to let someone pet him. Sometimes he will bark and the people will just sort of laugh and back off. But nothing like you said, of picking up their dogs or anything like that.

[prechrswife]

This isn't about my dogs, but about my sister and brother-in-law's dogs. They have a chihuahua and a greyhound. The greyhound is huge. He can stand flat-footed and see what is on top of the kitchen counter. He is also harmless. His size frightens people sometimes, though.

The chihuahua thinks he is ferocious. He barks at anyone who comes to the door. The pizza delivery guy is extremely scared of the chihuahua. When he delivers a pizza, my sister and her husband have to go out on the porch to pay the guy and get the pizza. He is afraid to come to the door.

[cocker_luva]

people arent really fearful of Jesse. she loves people, just not little kids; expecially near her back legs. now her eyesight and hearing isnt too keen, plus her history of back leg problems. many senior citizens smile big and come over to pet her whenever i walk her, because cockers were very popular in their generation.

plus her small size is very inviting to people. she is just so awesome! :D

[chrissycat21]

People are afraid of Snowy because all 11 pounds like to try to jump up and reach your face so she can give you kisses. But most of the time when we tell people that, they don't mind. With little kids, I just hold her down so she doesn't knock them over.

-Chrissy

[lovemyshiba]

I'm sure you all know which one of my dogs gets a fearful reaction:rolleyes:
It's amazing--we'll take Kito and Jada downtown, and people will smash themselves up against the sides of a building to avoid being anywhere near her, yet people will walk right up to Kito--he's the one to worry about. Kito is very wary of strangers--he snapped at my neighbor once, and just doesn't always take kindly to someone coming at him and petting him. If you do it the right way, he's the sweetest dog on earth.
But Jada--all she wants to do is make friends--the only worry from her is that you'll need a towel if she comes over to you:D
I can even hear some of the parents--the kid will say "oh mommy a doggie, can I pet it?" And smart mom or dad will go, "oh no honey, that's a mean dog":( If Jada was truly a menace, would I be walking her around downtown, with all of the people around???

[GoldenRetrLuver]

Neither of mine have ever gotten any "fearful comments". Molly is the one that usually turns heads, though. People think "Wow, Lassie! I want to pet her!", which I can understand, but I have to tell them that she doesn't like strangers going up to her. Like I mentioned in another thread; she's a very timid dog.

As for Daisy, she'll probably go up to you for some petting and lovin' if you don't do it first. ;) She's my social butterfly. She loves any and all people.

[dappledoxie]

Most people want to come up to my two and that's fine with Claire but Rebel has to warm up to you, I always just want people to let Rebel come to them like if they'll squat down Rebel is most likely going to come up to you right off but if you run up to him and bend down over him he'll run away from you to go inbetween my legs and sometimes he'll let out a sqeal. Usually they are both really really friendly, just those times when Rebel has a mood. Claire is never afraid, lol!

[ParNone]

With Murph and Maddie, the only fear reactions have come from toddlers. All that terrier bounciness is a lil' daunting for toddlers, I think. But from about 4 yrs old up, they are universally loved. Everybody comes up to pet them, without asking.

With Oz, most people ask if he bites first, before they'll pet him. Workmen and meter readers that came in my backyard at will, with M&M back there, won't now that Oz is there. I've had small dog owners pick their dog up and I had a guy pull his lil' daughter in close to him, when we've walked by them. But generally speaking, he gets pretty positive reactions I think.

With Gully, except for that one lil' kid that yelled at him for his play bark at the kid's shih tzu puppy, he's gotten nothing but positive responses so far. He's still somewhat small though. It'll be interesting to see how it changes, once he's Oz's size, since he's got the darker coloring.

Par...

[Cinder & Smoke]

While in High School, I had Lady, a lil Pomeranian/MIX who
thought she was a 12 pound miniature GSD Guard Dawg! :p

NObody set foot on our yard without "hearing about it" from Lady!
She had her best *phunn* with the
Postmen and the Dry Cleaner's Delivery Guy!

Postman *whistled* :) while he walked!
If she was INside - she's start "telling" Mom the Postman was
getting close when he was Three Houses away!
But if she was OUTside (on her 20 foot rope on the front porch) -
she played it :cool: and never made a *sound*!
She'd *wait* behind the bushes shielding the porch till the Postman
was within *reach* of her rope (and she knew EXACTLY how long
that rope was!) - then spring out to ambush the poor guy!
Postman learned if he didn't HEAR her inside - she was *lurking*
behind the bushes - and he'd call her "Oh, LADY!"...
She fell for it EVERY time - and dash out *barking* like
she was gonna eat him! Mom would rush out to retrieve the mail.
If I had her out for a walk; that SAME Postman was her Best Buddie -
as long as we met him one house before or after HER House! :rolleyes:

The Dry Cleaner? His truck brakes ALWAYS *squealed* to "tip her off".
And he was *DUMM* - NEVER learned she was always tied up if out...
She'd *bark* as he approached and *squealed* to slow down...
then *hide* (quietly) as he came up the walk...
The *attack* was started as his foot hit the porch steps...
*BARK* *BARK* *Barkity-BARK* :eek: >>GASP<...
and he'd begin his MAD DASH "ALL the Way" back to his truck!
Mom would appear, *reel in* our Guard Mutt, and *wave* the All-Clear
to the poor Dry Cleaner, peering out from the "safety" of his truck!
You'd think that after he got *chased* by a tied up lil Mutt a
few dozen times - he might have noticed a pattern?
Mom tried to get him to *honk* when he arrived out front...
He always "forgot"! :rolleyes:

:D

/s/ Phred .

[manda99]

I get fearful reactions from people all the time. Smokey wants to be friends with everyone (except kids) but a lot of people want nothing to do with him. It's funny, though, because he is quite the ladies man. At the vet's office all the girls have to say hello to him and he just loves the attention.

A couple weeks ago when he had his cone head collar thingy on our neighbors asked if he was wearing it because he is getting dangerous. Haha. Although I guess I can't blame her for asking because Smokey doesn't really like her daughter (she is a little mentally impaired and yells/talks at him in Russian. It scares him).


Long story short -- Some people have negative reactions to him but then again, I've turned A LOT of people into pitbull lovers after meeting Smokey, too.

[Amber]

I don't get bad reactions from my dogs. I've had people come up to me to tell me how cute my pups are, and ect.

My dogs will let anyone pet them, but with Elvis he doesn't care for little kids, and usually barks at them.

[heinz57_79]

You better believe I get fearful reactions! from the uneducated morons out there... :rolleyes: People LOVE Charlie and Chloe, but they see 2 rotties and OMG!! Aren't they vicious? Aren't you afraid they'll attack you?? Yes, I'm afraid my rotties, who continuously get beat up by my 28 lb. corgi. ugh! So anytime we're in PetSmart or wherever and a kid wants to pet them, I basically say please! :) I'm hoping that one day people won't look at breeds like rotties and pitties etc and think they're mean dogs.

[K9soul]

With my RB collies, people were never really afraid of Cody, but were sometimes fearful or uneasy of Willie, I guess because of his black coloring. I will never understand why so many people feel that a black dog = dangerous.

Now with Tasha and Tommy... amazingly a lot of kids seem drawn to Tasha for some reason. I always thought they'd be more interested in Tommy, since goldens are common, in a lot of TV movies and shows, etc. Maybe it's because he's so big, he dwarfs little kids. Unfortunately, Tasha is the one more likely to growl or snap if she feels cornered or pushed, so I try to just keep her away from children, I'd not want to take any chances of something happening.

[Kfamr]

People seem to be dumb around here, thinking they're just capable of walking up and petting any strange dog. Lucky for them, I keep Simba back and allow them to pet Nala.

They seem to be fearless of my three.

[Toller 42]

people are afraid of Tango because they think her Halti is a muzzle:rolleyes: , but they will walk up and pet my Rotti without asking:confused:

[robinh]

This is really fascinating. It seems like people seem drawn to the quiet reserved dogs - wanting to pet them. I think if they truly were dog people, they'd know that was the wrong thing to do.

When we go out with all ours, everyone wants to pet Max - bad idea. He's never bitten anyone, but he's skittish and spooks easily. I watch his body language very carefully. Molly and Kirby LOVE attention, but people shy away from them.

If I meet up with someone who has one of the quiet ones, I'll ask if it's ok then I let the dog approach me. I've tried to explain that to a couple of people but they insist on rushing toward a shy dog.

[chocolatepuppy]

Great post! A lot of people are afraid of my Lacey. Must be the black and tan colors. If a true dog lover comes around she's no problem it's like they've known her forever, but the people that are afraid of her can get her upset. My neighbors dad,who's in his 80's, asked over the fence once, how many people has she bit:confused: I of course said none. Lacey seems to react to however the person acts towards her. Mandy,of course, is miss personality. She tries to carry on if Lacey does but she's not very good at it.

[kingrattus]

Never had a proplem when RB Mas was loose or holding is 6 inch leash in his mouth. But if I had him on a leash & his halti, people stayed away & told their kids that dog bites

I ALWAYS stood up for Max & said pardon me?? Max doesn't bite, why on earth would u think that?? They would answer that he's wearing a muzzle. I would say umm no, can't u tell that ur arm can fit inside his mouth, look how wide his mouth is open & watch this. I would pry Max's mouth open & tickle his tounge (which they loved).

When I use to walk Cezar a 200 pound attack Rotti with my friend (we weighed about 120 pounds each at this time) Everyone would flee.
1. because he was a rotti
2. because he was massive in size (not fat, just really big)
3. because we had 2 car tow chains on him. Each of us wanted to walk him, so we use 2 chains, so we wouldn't fight who got to walk him first.

Cezar was a big sucky poo. & was trained extreamly well. If he saw another dog he wanted to eat we would tell him NO, don't tought that dog & swat him on the butt lightly. & he would stop trying to eat the dog.

He never barked at people when we walked him & was very friendly while being walked with us.

The super old lady couldn't resist walking up to him & grabbing his cheaks & giving him a kiss. She was in total love with him. She had to weigh less then 90 pounds, she was sooo tiny. We kinda thought she was nuts for doing that to a guard dog.


When We trained Rocky the rotti to stop eating dogs (we got him use to max by tying him snug to a tree & letting Max loose 7 then petting & giving both dogs treats. Only took about 30 mins until Rocky loved Max.

We would walk Rocky & Max together. Max would be loose like allways & Rocky was on lead with a muzzle on. Just incase someone spooked him or a loose dog ran up to him & scared him (there were loads of loose dogs in the park). A father & his 2 young kids wantd to see the doggies. We told them to stop & we'll bring Max up first. Max LOVED liks. Well Rocky saw how much attention Max was getting & wanted to see & play with the kids too. We asked the father & he said sure bring the big guy over.

Well Rocky loved the kids, but not the father, so the father sat down at a distance. The father said take the muzzle off, he's hot. We knew Rocky was ok with kids & the kids litterly took it off for us. Rocky went nuts & licked them all to death. Both Max & Rocky were whining & had their butts going a mile an hour.



I was trying to train my sitters English Springer Spainal to walk on a leash without killing everyone & thing in site. The dog was a BIG sucky poo in the house. She would hope onto the the couch with me & lay on her back & fall asleep with me holding her.

But take her outside & I had one killer dog on my hands. The sitter got her a muzzle for me & off we went. GRRRRR SNARL SNAP LUNDGE BARK... SHe was a handfull. But I was determaned to train her. I met up with some of my guy friends who said they would help me.

We went onto the docks (we wanted to be away from ppl). Kept her on her leash & muzzle & I told JC to approach her. She would go insane & I would snap her choaker hard & tell her no. Took about 30 mins until JC was about a foot away from us. but she was still angry. Saddly I stopped going to the sitters once the judge said we could see dad again & the dog had been sold to a farmer far from kids & strangres. I heard she loved it out there & was well behaved.

[bckrazy]

Strangers rarely ask before they pet Gonzo... they see a Border Collie and think he's friendly. I get really irritated when people allow their kids to run over to him and crowd him, but I think it annoys me more than him. I also just hate it when people aproach Gonzo, immediately bend right over him and reach down to rub his head... which is the worst possible way to aproach a dog. sometimes I tell them, "please dont bend over him, its scary to dogs", and they look at me like I'm crazy. He is usually very friendly with people. He does occasionally shy away from some men, or little boys, but he loves girls ;)

:D it was hilarious though, when I was walking my sisters Bulldog Benny, we passed about 10 people in our nieghborhood and all of them completely avoided us, crossed the street to pass us then crossed back over. These are the same people that run up to see my shy little Gonzo. Ben is the sweetest dog ever, I dont know what people are thinking sometimes :rolleyes:

[Twisterdog]

The only one of my dogs that people seem to be afraid of is Keito. He's totally silent, and very aloof and calm. He also has a piercing stare. If someone talks to him, he simply stares calmly at them as if to say, "You idiot. Don't touch me." I've had people call him "spooky", "scary" and "too human." :p He's as gentle as can be, and would tolerate someone petting him if he couldn't get away, but he's definately a one-person (me!) dog.

[Shelteez2]

I don't get too many reactions from my dogs. Like others have experienced most people want to pet Emily not Clipse. Emily is the more aloof one, she could care less about people. Clipse is the attention starved (if you ask him!) one who would stay in one spot for hours if someone was petting him.

As some of you know though, I do dog sit dogs. I've taken care of several sets of dobermans and have had some funny and not so funny reactions.

While taking care of my favorite dobes (Spencer and Taz) I ordered pizza. The delivery guy brought it and the dobes were barking, but they are well trained so I had them in a sit on either side of me and opened the door. Spencer, without breaking his sit, poked his head out the door to look at the delivery guy and the guy got scared and thrust the pizza in his face. LOL Imagine, sacrificing my pizza.....

Right now I am taking care of two other dobes, Mason and Ginger. While walking in the park I was coming upon a man and his toy poodle. Mason and Ginger are always on leash as they aren't well trained. Upon seeing the man (approx 40 feet away) I called the dogs to my side and kept walking. The man turned and saw us and then frantically started calling his dog's name (who was no where near us) and then scooped it up into his arms. He then turned to me and asked if my dogs had eaten yet today. :rolleyes: I was like "oh don't worry they prefer children over toy poodles". Okay I didn't say that but I thought it. LOL

I actually don't blame him for picking his dog up. I just didn't like his comment, LOL

[lovemyshiba]

Originally posted by Twisterdog
The only one of my dogs that people seem to be afraid of is Keito. He's totally silent, and very aloof and calm. He also has a piercing stare. If someone talks to him, he simply stares calmly at them as if to say, "You idiot. Don't touch me." I've had people call him "spooky", "scary" and "too human." :p He's as gentle as can be, and would tolerate someone petting him if he couldn't get away, but he's definately a one-person (me!) dog.

Must be the name, lol:)
My Kito has that same stare--"Don't you even think about touching me." Mine will tolerate a pet, but it has to be done properly, he has to sniff the hand first, and he's a one person dog too--me!!! Although, my husband would like to think differently.

[wolfie]

People often ask if it's okay to pet Daphne, does she bite, ect, but I don't think that's because she looks mean or anything - they're just being polite (and safe!)


Kids LOVE Daphne though. And Daph likes kids too. She's a good pup.

[molucass]

I have had a few people be afraid of Felony before they asked his breed, but mostly its after he's giving kisses, and they say "What breed is he??" and I say "Pit bull mix"...
Some people say, "Awww, he's so sweet." or something along those lines, but this one lady was nuts.
Her little boy was petting Felony and he was just sitting there being a good boy, occasionally licking him, and the woman asked what breed he was, and I said it, and she said "OMG! Why do people even bring those dogs out in public?! They are so evil, and one day your dog is going to hurt or kill someone! Why don't you leave that dog at home on a chain where it belongs!" :mad:
I said "Yeah, he's so evil while he sitting here licking your son!!" :rolleyes:

I think its so stupid how they are fine with the dog one minute, and the next minute they know his breed and immediately freak out and want to get away from him.

I've had kids be afraid of my girls before, (one weighs 11 lbs, and the other weighs 7 lbs.), but I think they were just scared of dogs in general. They would walk/run completely the other way to get away from them.

[Toller 42]

I can't stand people like that! i forgot to mention in my other post, usually people aren't afraid of Echo but once I went for a walk and a mom with her kids were walking too and the kids asked if they could pet Echo and of course I said they could and she was licking them and waging her tail and everything was fine, then the lady asked what breed Echo was and I told her she was a Rottweiler and she gave me this horrible look and pulled her kids away as if she was some kind of disease! she was going on about how somebody should kill all rotties, pitties and dobies and all they are is an accident waiting to happen :mad: and i said pretty much the same thing as molucass.

does she look like she wants to hurt anyone?

[CountryWolf07]

Not at all.

Anna and Rosie are so friendly. Crazy.