I am intimidated by some big dogs, but only when I am unable to sense their motive. Generally I am not afraid, but I stear clear of dogs who "give me the stare" or generally intimidate me.

I was at Petco last month and there was this very beautiful, huge, GSD named Max. Max was terrified to be in the store. He was trembling and shaking, and he had this "stare" that scared me a bit. I talked to him at a distance (I had Graham with me, as I always do when I go to Petco) because I didn't know him, so I stayed away because he did intimidate me. The (12 or so year old ) kid walking him saw that I was talking nice to him, so she felt that I needed a visit from Max. To tell you the truth, I was nervous, because she suddenly came at me with Max and I couldn't tell what Max's intentions were by the expression on his face. I figured if she was visiting with Max then he must be friendly, despite what he appeared to be. Max did end up being friendly, but he was also SOOO terrified because he wasen't well socialized and that was only his 2nd trip to the pet store. He was a big scardy

Also, within the first month that I moved into my apartment, there was a lady who was standing at her door waiting for her rottie to go potty. He was not leashed and he was huge. He saw me and Graham and immediately began trotting towards us. It terrified me. I had a hard time figuring out if he had a "friendly, submissive" look on his face, or if he had a protective, aggressive look on his face. I looked at his body posture and he looked to have a dominant posture. I backed away with Graham. He kept getting closer, I kept backing away, then when he was just about "at us", his owner called him and ordered him to come back. He was very obedient and did what he was told without thinking twice. His owner assured me that he just wanted to play, but I was still frightened by this 100 pound rottie coming towards me.

I ended up seeing "Winston" many times since then, and I made friends with him. I learned that the owner was telling me the truth when she said that Winston only wanted to play. He was a sweet dog, but he was also a Shultzhund (sp?) dog so he was very well trained. Sadly, Winston went to the RB around 3 months ago, he was 11 years old and he had bad arthritis.

I am afraid that some big dogs scare me but I also look at their body posture and body language and I can usually tell if they are friendly or of if they want me exterminated

One of the main reasons that I have chosen to get a golden instead of a GSD, is because I am intimidated by GSD's and I don't feel that it would be a good move for me. I don't want to have a dog who's breed intimidates or scares me.

The main reason I am afraid of certain dogs, even after their owners tell me that they don't bite, is because so many owners that I have come across are not telling the full truth when they assure people that their dog does not bite. I was lunged at by a Rodesean Ridgeback who's owner said that he didn't bite. After he lunged at me, they scolded him and then told me, "I am sorry, he usually likes women, he usually only goes after men and kids". If she only told me that her dog bit, I would have used more caution and sweet talked the dog from a distance instead of trying to pet it! People are dishonest and that's what scares me!