Had a person come up and actually start petting my mal while asking me yesterday.
My response “well you’re already doing it so i guess.”
Gave me a dirty look and walked off.
Most people are oblivious that asking permission and/or mal’s wearing a muzzle isnt for THEIR protection….it is for the dog’s.
One of the reasons a lot of service dog handlers now use the head halter type collars is because many people assume it is some sort of muzzle and are less likely to approach or try to touch the dog.
Yep 👍 When we are in formal public access, he is in full uniform. Airports are challenging until I start bantering withmy potty mouth just to keep them away.
Dog is dog and as long as its not a service dog or growling at me I WILL be asking to pet it. I was actually approached by a pit bull bulldog cross who had snapped his leash and his owner was talking that he was friendly. He got the treats in my purse.
As long at its not showing aggression or tasking, I will ask to pet the baby.
Same! I even introduce myself to the airport pups (when they're just hanging around, not busy), and I get to learn their names and breeds. Obviously you can't pet them, but yeah, if they ain't working, and the stuff and owner are okay with it, I'm going to ask 100% of the time. When I can't ask, I inevitable give puppy eyes and go "awe, now look there" to myself. I can't not notice a dog, ya know?
Same, and its rare I don't have a treat on my person lol. Even if they say no, I still like to ask about the dog, time permitting. I like to get to know about their name, age, breed, etc. I don't mind if people don't want their dog pet, and I get that, but oohing and ahhing is fair, as long as I don't point and bring attention to them lol. I just love dogs, though so some just come up to be pet.
I had it happen once at customs, and i was like "they're touching me, but I'm allowed to enjoy it, right?" And he smelled the jerky in my bag along with some medication and the obligatory dog and cat treats for any strays I wander across.
Aww what a sweet boi! Its also fin when other random animals approach you with zero signs of rabies. Like oh...this deer wants my pretzel..if course she does.
I love animals in general
Yes. like the one time to actually give them a possibility of overcoming their fear of humans.
Granted, you're also dosing the dog in a smell they don't associate with a great emotion so you know, baby steps.
I >think< he was trying to say you are denying your dog of socializing opportunities, while putting off pheromones from the interaction that further imprints negatives on the dog.
Note: I'm not agreeing with that, just stating what I got from the comment.
Right! I'm not advocating otherwise. Honestly, I don't want people coming up to pet my new Mal puppy. But, I don't want him aggressive towards people either...unless I tell him to be LOL. In working with my new pup (I pick him up in 4 weeks) I plan to greatly socialize by giving him exposure to lots of situations, but when it comes to people saying "oh, so cute...can I pet your dog" the answer is NO. Not everyone thinks that way. A person has their own right to say yes or no.
I don't ask people if I can pet their dogs, but I do come up to people that have dogs I'm interested in...being that I am a dog person and like to interact with other dog people....and strike up a conversation. I want my dog undisturbed by other folks that do the same thing to me. I just don't see the need for them to touch him. I don't have to be weird about it or give off negative vibes to the dog. Just "no, but thanks for asking...he's in training" is all that should be necessary.
Had someone do that while trying on muzzles 🥲 my boy is a chewer and I was evacuated due to a fire and couldn’t have him destroying property he’s the sweetest ever but they had no way to know that
My mal is a sweet gal but something about hats and sunglasses she can’t stand. And over the top squealing “ omg is that a puppy malinois” She will look like she wants to go toward but she just steps in front of me and my girls and then kujo comes out . I now have her ques and know her body language and if someone asks I will have to hug them for her to know it’s ok . She is extremely protective of us especially at night on walks or night runs.
Socially when she is off leash she is friendly but everyone once in a while I’ll have to recall her staring at this guy that saluted me at the dog park . Poor guy had a brain injury ( not from my girl) but the military a vet that can’t get social ques anymore and is violent. Now she sees him and tracks him through the park to make sure he doesn’t come near me. She tired to get him off some man that can to my aid after he grabbed me and almost hurt me bad. So needless to say she is on edge when she sees anyone resembling him.
I’m working with her to get over it however she’s a smart cookie . The best dog I have ever owned . One of the pack . Sassy and sweet .
My mal has a ‘Do Not Pet’ vest and a muzzle for busier places we go in case someone sticks hands out without me noticing. How many people have asked to pet him in the last year you ask? All of them. How many do I give an absolutely no to? All of them. How many of them get snotty and rude? All of them. One guy asked me if he could pet my dude at the park one day, I said no but thank you for asking. He proceeded with, “why not? I have been around GSDs before so it’s okay.” I laughed and said, “that’s exactly why you’re not touching him. He’s not a GSD.” He looked confused and then said, “yeah okay then cool guy.” Lol people are the best.
Lol I've gotten more and more rude to people about this as I get older. "Oh you want to pet a dog? Go buy a dog"
People always like to feel entitled to other people's dogs for some reason.
I had someone a few weeks ago say "oh I have a pitbull too" when I was out with our Dutch shepherd. I was real offended lol
Years ago, I had the sweetest Doberman in the world. Some woman came up, grabbed her Face and kissed her muzzle. Now, Saga was fine with that but I certainly wasn’t. I grabbed the woman’s face and leaned in to kiss her. She was like wtf are you doing?!? I was like the same thing you just did to my dog, I figured you were ok with it since YOU didn’t ask first. You were lucky THIS dog was ok with it, the next one might not be and you’ll be needing plastic surgery.
*I’m also a woman.
Damn, that’s crazy. I’m really afraid that something like that is gonna happen to us one day. That would be game over for that woman if she did it with my Boxer. He’s a sweetheart, approach him slowly or give him a toy and he’ll be ready to die for you within 15 minutes of knowing you, but he really doesn’t like strangers in his business.
Some time ago we had a real close call. We were standing by a shop waiting for my gf—and this actually made it worse, once my gf steps into a shop, he just stares at the door in full guard mode until she comes out—and this lady was passing by. Out of the blue she just booped his nose and even made that booping sound.
In that moment his hackles came up and I just instinctively pulled him back to me (even though that couldve made it worse) and he didnt snap, he just gave her this brutal death stare. Like one more time and I’ll drop you stare.
I was just speechless. It couldve gone so bad I didnt even have time to be pissed. I was jist grateful she had her hand.
Good god people are idiots.
Who goes up to a strange dog and kisses them?
I apologize, i TRULY dont like using this word, but people that do those things are retards. There is no better way to explain it. They seriously must be learning impaired to do that crap.
A (male) friend of mine had a bully. A drunk woman kissed the dog - after he told her not to (he knew his dog had an aversion to the smell of alcohol). She got bit but not badly, just a warning nip really. She then assaulted my friend. I caught the tail end of the interaction, I didn’t see it all, but she just walked off afterwards swearing at him. Stupid cow.
My girl is very friendly but I avoid drunks and addicts because they are incapable of reading the dog’s signals.
Eh, probably best to leave learning-impaired and slurs out of this conversation, people can be very stupid and entitled without having a disability and there’s already plenty of nasty sentiments about learning-impaired people out there :/
Nobody in there right mind. I wouldn't even do that zoinked oit of my head. Dude petting a dog after a few edibles is amazing but I still ask first. I like my hand thank you.
I am a little reckless with my own "can I pet your dog?" requests, but I always ask, and if the answer is no, I simply inquire as to why - without taking offense. (It's just to help me to learn to recognize signs of dogs that are not friendly, as much as I can recognize them.)
That said, I always approach dogs and their people cautiously, and I watch the dog carefully as I approach to see if I can understand what they are thinking or feeling before anything happens. There are plenty of times where I just get a, "hmmm, I don't think so, not this dog" feeling from 10 ft away and I just talk with the owner from a distance.
The idea of sticking my hands AND my face (?!?) right into a dog's muzzle, especially a dog I do not know at all, seems downright reckless... ☠️
But, as the other comments here point out, people can just be really stupid ... 🤦🏻♂️
Fair. I will keep that in mind.
I do try to be -engaging- with the owner (vs. challenging) without pressing the issue. If they seem annoyed, I will apologize for bothering them, compliment the dog, and then walk away (w/o expectations.)
So I currently have a collie, not a Mal. But for me it would depend how the "why?" was asked. If it was standoffish or annoyed then I'd match that energy. But I've had people ask "oh why? Is she not friendly?" In a quite cheerful way and that hasn't bothered me. I've even asked some people to help with meet and greet training if I get a good vibe from them. We're currently working really hard on polite interactions with strangers (she started out very reactive and barking constantly), so occasionally, I've said no, been asked "why?", explained the training we're trying to do and then asked if they were willing to try and greet doggo on my terms. She struggles with people immediately coming into her space, but done right she is lovely - this is why I wouldn't say yes to everyone, especially if I got the vibe that they wouldn't listen to my instructions or might assume they knew better than me. The last thing we need is to add negative interactions to her memory bank. If you're holding back and not getting in my face while asking, I'd say that's already a good sign, to be honest.
When we first rescued our GSD he was incredibly dog and people aggressive - definitely a rehab case - so that was always a straight "no" for the first couple of years, and we got a lot of snotty responses from people, especially people that claimed to be "used to big dogs" (yet clearly weren't picking up on my dog's "stay the hell away from me or I'll bite your face off" body language).
Luckily he's soft as anything and too old to be anything but chill now, so he gets to meet lots of friends and even joins us at the pub nowadays, but god it took a lot of work to get him to that stage!
Positive interactions with strangers are very welcome, it's just gauging who I can trust to not encourage the behaviours we're trying to train out (jumping, demanding barking etc). At the start of our training, I'd even have classed walking by and saying "hello" without any reactivity as a positive interaction, nowadays we try and hold conversations, have her say hello without jumping etc etc. You sound like the kinda person that I'd probably invite to say hello 😂 but then, she's a lover, not a fighter, and she is just a pet at the end of the day. I don't have as much skin in the game as people with working protection dogs. The biggest risk with Millie is that she'll cuddle flop onto your face and suffocate you 😂
As others have said I would stop asking why after the initial no. At the end of the day it’s their dog and their “property” and they might just not want someone touching them for no reason at all. It’s the same as asking “can I step into your yard?” “No.” “Well why not?”
Sure, it may not cause harm to anyone if you had actually stepped in my yard, but I just don’t want you to.
I guess my intention is always just to engage in some casual conversation about dogs. I guess I'm not sure how to convey that, but I clearly did a bad job here because I did not mean it to sound challenging or confrontational.
Also, if I approach a person and their dog and they say, "no, you can't pet him ", I stop, in my tracks, because getting any closer means I might get attacked by the dog and I don't like any dog that much! 😏 But I still enjoy talking with dog owners, and I guess this is my awkward way of trying to engage them, which I would probably say after taking a step back (a non-verbal sign that I'm trying to diffuse the moment.)
That said, sometimes we have to "read" the owners just like we try to "read" the dogs... 😏
(Fwiw, I would never ask people why I couldn't trespass on their property - that's just asking for trouble!)
I grabbed a woman’s face. (Not drunk by the way) and did indeed lean in as if to kiss her. I was a lot more physically confrontational when was younger.
People are such morons around Mals! It’s not a popularity contest and I don’t care if people get all huffy. Just don’t touch or try touch to my dog she’s a trained protection animal.
People need to pay attention to collars and vests. I have vision impairments but I ask if I see an unusually brightly colored collar or vest. Because ya know, I like living.
My favourite was a women at our campground was walking by us and she asked to pet Bane and my wife was nice about it and said no, he is very protective when our daughter is with us and strangers approach us (because he’s trained to protect her which we did through a trainer, and he’s spent every day of his life with her so she’s basically his person), and this woman looks my wife dead in the eyes and says, “why would you get a pet that you can’t have around people?” Lol my wife didn’t even respond she just turned away from the woman and went back to talking to our daughter. As much as Bane is a “pet” he’s also not. That’s not why we got him. We live in a very rural area and my wife and daughter are home alone frequently with my MIL. There were also home invasions and break ins for a solid 3 month span. I got my Mal to protect my home and family. He does bite training, scent recognition training with our daughter, and he does agility. Calling him a simple pet is an insult to him lol and shows peoples ignorance when it comes breed like ours. I have always said, he’s pretty to look at but like most things that are very pretty in nature he’s very bad for your health lol
I have two dogs, but i love dogs so much that when i am away from my own (and often, even if i am with my dogs) i still want to interact with all the ones i see. For me it’s not about being entitled. It’s about being around the best creatures in the world and wanting to connect with them. Yes… Every. Single. One.
I said i want to engage. I didn’t say i must be given access or permission.
I didn’t say i was someone that will walk up to an unknown dog and start petting.
I didn’t say that i am someone that gets pissy if the owner says no.
I wasn’t defending people who feel “entitled” to other people’s “property.”
Since i understood the topic to be more about educating (or a wish for educating) those that do not understand your side, instead of just a rant without solution or growth, I was attempting to have a conversation. I can see that was a mistake.
I hate it when people ask to pet my dog. She’s reactive and not friendly to strangers. I guess it’s nice that they at least ask, but it gets old. I’m also not just hanging around public places with her. I’m literally walking her for exercise and people come up and ask to pet her. I just think it’s weird and annoying. I can’t help it. lol
So many ppl react like saying saying no, is not okay, that some ppl feel like they can't, there have been a few times when I have asked and they look like they want to say no but feel like that would be rude, so I just say "it's all good you can say no, you have a cute (or similar) dog by the way" and leave them alone.
Bella shows them exactly why she wears a muzzle if they try. -_- Wish she was more friendly, but I guess that's what I get for adopting a barely socialised Mal.
In time, she may come around, or at least lessen in reactivity - for your sake and hers, fuck others. She may continue needing the muzzle for a while, maybe not, but always better safe than sorry. One of mine can be animal reactive towards those he doesn't know yet or trust (dobie mix), and I've really liked the goodboy (brand) gentle muzzle. It's adjustable in every way and seems more comfortable for longer or more consistent wear. Good luck, and thanks for taking in a baby that just needs a bit more TLC than some are able/willing to provide!
Thanks for all that! One of the things I promised myself when I became a foster fail with her was to keep living in reality about her situation. She'll most likely never get to the point where we can do dog sports (which is one of the reasons I wanted a working dog), and she may always need to wear a muzzle, but I can do a lot with her reactivity! We've been chipping away at it since day 1. We like the muzzles from The Muzzle Movement. We've tried a lot of other brands, and this is the only one she hasn't tried to constantly get off. I think she has some trauma surrounding them. These muzzles seem to work, though, and they're customizable! Colour combos and additional hardware options, too! I have 2 of them, and if I could, I'd buy every single colour they had.
Edit: I was doomed from the very beginning with her. She was only supposed to be a short-term foster, but the potential adopters really gave me a bad feeling, and I wanted to work on her reactivity. So, she became a long-term foster. And before I knew it, I realised that I'd fallen deeply in love with her. I abandoned the deposit I'd already paid with a GSD (my dream dog) breeder that I'd been talking to for over a year and adopted Bella. I'm afraid she's corrupted me as well, because now, I've found a Mal breeder that breeds for the police and sport, and I'll be getting a baby land shark when Bella is much much older.
I'll have to look into that brand! Thankfully, mine only needs a muzzle around cats (my mom had a few when we visit), but I agree - we can only live in reality and do what's safest for everyone involved, and if that's a muzzle, then it's a muzzle for the time being.
Yep, my GSD mix was a foster fail, so I totally get it! I had him from a puppy, and I'm not a monster, so I obviously fell in love lol, and now he's my big baby. Good luck during the land shark velociraptor stage bahaha - now that, I don't miss one little bit!
My Mal is very I got to know you before you touch me. He's becoming slightly more tolerant, but he does not like random pets from random people.
Back when he was a lot more reactive, people would just stand there and stare then say, "Is he friendly?" Like bitch, he's barking at you and does he sound friendly?
Makes me feel like a lot of people just have room temperature IQs.
A lot of people don't seem to be able to process the real life inputs they're being given lol.
I had a guy come up to us at a bar once with a little dog that was yapping and pulling and ask if my dog was friendly, and when I said "no"(which isn't really true, but get that dog away from mine), he brought his dog closer and asked if he was friendly sometimes. Like why are people willing to risk their dog's life on that?
I had the opposite with my childhood dog who was a miniature dachshund. People always assume that a little dog is friendly and would bring their bigger dogs over. No, just because she’s small doesn’t mean she would try to bite your dog’s face off. She was NOT dog friendly.
Omg my little Dukie a Minnie long hair Doxie would bait you into getting close enough to “face jump”. He was going for a toung kiss 🙄 F ker also would steal the earrings out of your ears if you weren’t careful. 🤣. If he was a biter he would not have lived to 16
Mine was a black and tan long hair! She was usually pretty nice when you respected her boundaries. However I did learn very early on when I was around 3 years old not to corner animals when I did and she bit my nose. Besides that you just had to be careful giving her food because she would almost take your finger off without meaning to. She had a reputation at the vet’s office too. I can definitely say that I would trust my Mal mix and my pitty mix with kids more than I would my doxie. With my Mal mix especially I would be more concerned about her “defending” the kids from their own family.
My mal acts completely different to strangers depending on if my kids are with me or not. He does not like anyone he doesn’t know to be near the kids. So he does circles around them to keep them together. He also does that when we go camping. He is making sure there will be no wandering off.
Same with my mal mix and her pitty mix sister. I think she knows that her sister is too friendly for her own good and will try to make friends with anyone and anything, even if they aren’t friendly.
We had this with our GSD rescue.
"Is he friendly?"
"Well, his hackles are up, his head is lowered, he's glaring at you, and his lip is twitching with a low growl.... what do you think?"
Only to be followed with "oh it's fine, I'm used to big dogs!" *starts approaching and reaches out hand*
Ma'am, its not his size that's the problem, he's been abused by every human in his 10 short months of life until he came to us, he has learnt that human hands cause pain and he's understandably scared and defensive - I will defend him from your grubby uneducated hands with my life if it helps me teach him that I will never let him be hurt again. The number of adults I've had to body block to keep away from him is ridiculous. The kids were always great, though. I've only ever experienced entitled adults. Funny how 5 year olds can understand, but Granny feels entitled to the floof! 😅
He's my old man now. We love him more and more every day 🥰
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“Can I pet your dog?” “No, I’m not friendly”
Sure…before you do it’s on YOU and call an ambulance too!
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My dogs a weird one. I only have to worry about men. She loves kids and she loves women, but if a guy is staring at her and they put their hand out she will bark and growl at them. The kids have an age limit I haven't quite figured out either. We were on a bike ride and a couple kids asked if they could pet her. I stopped and said sure. She jumped up on the kid that was about 6, but then the kid that was probably about 16 started to walk towards her. I warned him like, this might sound weird, but you might be too old. I told him he could try. She won't bite, but she might make some noise. Sure enough, as soon as he stuck his hand out she let out a little bark.
I'm a guy and she's never behaved the way she does with other guys towards me.
😂 my two males don’t like men either, the female is a dunce & loves everybody… unless they come into the home uninvited. I walked in with graduation regalia still on (cap & gown) and that was the first time I’ve ever heard her bark at a person.
BUT, I am 100% OK with them not letting strange men close to us. They’re super chill in public spaces, but they don’t appreciate people lingering or intentionally approaching/ trying to pet.
It kind of bothers me because I'm in a position where I can bring my dog to work, and I do. The problem is my industry is very male dominant. The majority of my co-workers are men along with the majority of customers that walk into the door.
I just grab her and leash her in my office as soon as I know customers are around. I'm not really worried about her biting people, but I don't want people to feel uncomfortable around her.
My dad was with me when I picked her up back in January this year and she still barks at my dad and has an issue with him. It's weird though because it's not aggressive. She's got her tail wagging and she's jumping around pretty playfully, but at the same time she's also kinda like cowering away from him and then she comes back to put her teeth on his hands. She doesn't really go in for a bite, her teeth just kinda touch his hands and that's as far as she takes it.
Oof, yea that can be a bit of a predicament!
How old is she? Have you tried teaching her ‘place’? It might be helpful for her to be given a different ‘job’ around strange men. Weird about your dad! Is it when she first sees him? Or all the time? Do you live with your dad?
My adult male growled at my dad the first time they met (I adopted him while my dad was on vacation lol), but they’re best buds now. The week I adopted him I started having him meet the landscapers— he knows how to open doors & can let himself into the backyard at will & let my other two out with him. it’s been a year and a half and he’s still weary of them, but the two guys are comfortable around him (he just watches them suspiciously).
He is a friendly dog, I highly doubt he would ever bite (I’m not foolish enough to be complacent about it, though). He also tends to have good judgement & can be situational. At a restaurant patio? No issues with the waiters coming up, handing food/water to them, other people can approach while we’re seated and ask questions about the dogs (scored a couple clients this way 😂). At ‘work’ functions he doesn’t bark at the men (mostly). Part of it may also be how I myself dont like being approached by people, especially men, when we’re out and he may just be feeding off of that.
She just turned 2 a couple months ago.
I have not tried place.
I do live with my dad, so she sees him every day. It can be kinda random at times. She'll still play with him though. He can grab a rope or a ball, and she'll play with him. They've hung out on the couch together, although she was very unsure about it, it was her decision to get up there without being asked to. He can tell her commands like sit and paw, and she'll listen, but she's still kinda cautious about it with her ears folded all the way back.
She tends to do better if she's ignored. I've had the guys at work try to approach her, and I almost have to train them as much as the dog. I've learned if guys don't give her attention, don't look her, don't try to reach out to her, she'll approach them and actually let them begin petting her, as long as they don't look at her.
We had a comcast guy come to the house to repair a line last week. I had my dog locked in my bedroom, but then he asked to see the modem and that happens to be in my bedroom. I warned the guy she doesn't like guys, but he stayed very close to me, almost walking into the bedroom as the time as me. She was soooo mad about that. That was definitely the most vicious she's ever sounded.
Ahh! Seems like fear-reactivity/ insecurity.
Definitely try giving her something else to do & keep her mind from solely focusing on the scary, threatening people.
Don’t comfort her (tell her it’s okay, pet her, talk sweet to her). I’m not sure if this is something you do, but a lot of other people do. Only offer reinforcement during activities of bravery (approaching them to sniff/ investigate without being vocal). If she’s barking at people at work, ask them to stay where they are until she stops. Same point to not escort her away when she’s being reactive. Both of these can reinforce the reactivity by the ‘scary’ situation ended when she acts crazy. You can also try a bowl of treats and a sign that instructs people to toss one to her from a distance and walk away.
You might be right, but it's just so strange how brave and confident she is in regards to literally everything else. It's the reason I wanted her in the first place. We can go anywhere and through anything and she'll lead the way. I thought she was gonna be the friendliest and bravest dog ever. She does amazing with women and kids, but once I brought her home and started taking her places I realized she's got some kind of issue with other guys.
She was a stray for the first year of her life. When the shelter brought her in she was nothing but skin and bones. Then she spent a year in the shelter. I've had a lot of people make comments about how maybe she was abused since I don't really know what could've happened in her first 2 years of life. I don't really think it's that just based on how she reacts with me and how she was that first day I met her.
Part of the reason I've been bringing her to work is also to try and get her over this, so we'll keep trying and I'll keep some of what you've said in the back in my mind so we can work on it more.
She sounds a lot like my big male. He was found as a “stray” at \~1-1.5 years old, spent 9 months in the shelter. Staff said he was slow-to-warm & didn’t like men— which was PERFECT! I had been newly moved-out & living on my own when I had a strange/scary incident with a guy at the front of my house late one night, my board & train dog charged at him when I opened my door to get something from my car and started barking right up on him @ crotch level 🤣 so, the next day I went to the shelter to adopt their largest dog. That dog wasn’t friendly with other dogs (or children… mastiff/bully something), so wildly inappropriate for my line of work. Krüger was 2nd largest, was dog-reactive, aloof, and just wanted to run the fence at the other dogs when I met with him. Very underwhelming as a potential adopter, but I took a chance on him based on his length-of-stay & lack of interest from other people.
He turned out to be the BEST dog I’ve ever had.
A lot of times people think fear/ reactivity stems from abuse, which it can, but it’s also likely she just wasn’t exposed to certain things and only had neutral/negative experiences/feelings when she did encounter them. I’m fairly certain my large male experienced abuse, however. The months following his adoption, if I lifted anything above my head he would cower down to the floor, pee, and run away. It took a lot of counter-conditioning for him to be confident with the stimulus even coming from me.
It could also just be their personality/‘wiring’. Back when I did dog rescue, I got a pair of pups that someone found at their garage at 4-5weeks old. The pups lived in their home until \~4 months old, and the day I picked them up the female bit me. The male was fantastic & got a home quickly… female was always ‘weird’ and would bark/growl/nip people, so we kept her indefinitely. She never grew out of it. She would even display the behaviors towards my sister who lived with us off & on throughout that dog’s life.
Keep working through the issues though! If your dad doesn’t already walk/feed her, ask him to start.
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Photo of my big guy with ‘grandma’
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And another with me (am chonky 😂 😭)
My answer has always been "Well, he's got teeth".
All dogs don't bite until they bite for the first time.
I've volunteered at several shelter and worked at a kennel that does boarding and training and seen several dogs that were described as friendly and docile and then bit a person "out of nowhere".
Another answer to this I saw online and liked was "Yes, if you don't mind not getting your hand back" but I feel like it wouldn't work in a real life because they would start reaching in to the pet as soon as they heard the Y sound forming.
I am so happy that nobody asks to pet my mal in public, she's not mean but when she's wearing her gear she looks a little intimidating. she is a little grumbly sometimes but thats just her backtalking to me when I tell her to do something she doesn't want to lol
I have a husky/GSD mix who can be reactive to strangers petting him. He wears a vest and now a muzzle. Even with the vest that says “do not pet” someone pets him without asking anytime I take him out
My Mal was the sweetest little girl. Loved people and dogs and everything.
Then she turned 9 months old.
Dad! That plastic bag just looked at me! I'm going to kill it!!!
Yep. Mine spent 15 minutes barking and growling at a piece of paper flapping in the breeze….in my neighbor’s yard……100ft away.
And some people wanna come up to that and pet/kiss a strange dog.
Ya….that’s smart.
https://preview.redd.it/jahnp6eadu4d1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=24335e6b976396a5110ca6af393c9ba8c69c3321
I love how far the switch can flip from feral to cute puppy lol
“Why are people willing to risk their dog’s life on that”
Because they dont give a crap. They couldn’t care less about their dog’s life and probably see their dog as a possession rather than a family member..
People are idiots.
I don’t get it. These dogs are wicked smart. Why is this sub so anti social? They are smart enough to have manners. I let strangers pet my mal (and before that my litter twin GSDs) every chance we get. Dinners on restaurant patios aren’t just for chihuahuas and labs. Working breeds can chill and socialize, too. They are sharp enough to do it all.
Many reasons. For pets, dogs that get to meet everyone can easily develop reactivity trying to get to every stranger they see to greet them. The dog in the photo is a multi-purpose working dog, and while I spend plenty of time ensuring he's neutral around strangers, there's absolutely no benefit in letting people pet him.
People seem to underestimate the importance of having a dog be completely neutral towards people and dogs. I've never fully achieved it and always admired people who have dogs trained to that degree. Constantly being allowed to socialise with everyone just breeds excitement, and the assumption that they might get a fuss from everyone they meet. Which is fine for some dogs, but I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable having a protection dog wanting to love on everyone he laid eyes on.
I have hopes that my collie might get to that neutral stage at some point, she's the first dog I've had from a puppy, she's still young and I'm unpicking a lot of the mistakes I made at the very beginning which I believe added to the reactivity that is common in the breed anyway - one of those mistakes was letting everyone say hi to her when she was a tiny pup!
Lots of people project their own feelings about "socialization" onto their dog, and think the dog can't be happy unless they get to meet everyone and get pets. Then that gets reenforced by the dog pulling to meet everyone("look how excited he is! He wants to meet you!"), and then eventually turns into having a reactive dog and needing professional training.
I'm sure you can get your dog there, especially a collie! Just remember to keep your expectations in step with the dog's progression and set them up for success repeatedly before proofing
THIS exactly! I was told by the local positive only training crew that she was just nervous, advised to keep her away from other dogs and people because it was just "too much for her". My gut told me that wasn't the case, but I ignored it (still kicking myself to this day). So when we started going out around other dogs again, and she started desperately wanting to get to those dogs I'm like "oh great, she's gaining confidence", then over time the incessant barking started every time I didn't let her greet, the lunging at people while on lead.
Now I'm spending £££s with a behaviourist trying to unpick those behaviours. She a gem in every other way and our trainer says her obedience commands are better than his own dogs, so it makes the reactivity even more frustrating as all anyone sees is 15kg of chaos potato that screams at everything, instead of the sweet gentle smart girl that I have at home.
I wanted a Mal, but I was in no way ready to take one on - especially as my first dog on my own! One day, when I have more space and I know I can 100% commit the necassary time to all of the types of training I'd want to do with them. Flyball and agility with Millie on top of the constant walking is enough for me at the moment 😂
Hey I would say after a reactive collie, a Mal would be easy(relatively) Lol. I appreciate you taking the time to train your dog to the level they deserve
It’s more the fact that people assume that they can pet any dog they see. It’s especially infuriating as someone who works with guide dogs in training and has seen people just start petting a dog in vest without asking. We’re trying to teach them that there is work time and play time, and people trying to pet a working dog makes that much more difficult.
I agree 100%! People want to believe that they have a dog that is so aggressive that they can't train them to be in public safely. Idk why. Maybe they're lazy. Maybe they're bad trainers. Maybe they just need to feel that way to feel safe.
I sleep during the day. I’ve not really had a chance to digest the more thoughtful comments. There are some claims that I want to read about. That comment really didn’t require any thoughtful response.
ETA: Why on earth is this being downvoted? How silly.
I warn people that if they try my Mal and he bites them, it’s not my problem or fault. Keep your hands to yourself and stop being silly. Some kids decided to kick a ball at my Mal after I said they couldn’t pet him and he punctured their ball and they tried to get mad and I told them I would report them for attempted assault.
I am not in the US. Where I am, provoking an animal that was leashed and whom you were explicitly told not to touch, is a viable defense. He didn’t attack anyone and was minding his business. That’s why those kids had no defense because kicking a soccer ball at my dog because I said you cannot touch him?? Assault and all he did was puncture the ball in retaliation. They had to buy their own ball
A country where the population is generally afraid of them because of a bad history during colonialism and where mals are primarily used by cops-this highly respected by the cops
You just described like 80% of the earth's surface lol. Much as i love dogs, there are no places I know of where someone can be charged with assault for kicking a ball at one
No. You don’t actually know everything and every place and country and culture This is what happened and I am not interested in actually revealing where I am located. Believe what you want, but it is what happened when they kicked the ball at my dog and it is what happens when you actually assault dogs. People aren’t out here always acting like Karen’s where dogs are always at fault. Sorry for not conforming to your western centric view of the world.
My Mal mix is generally friendly but shy, but is very protective, especially of her pitty mix sister. So we’ve got the combo of one dog who would probably try to make friends with a bear if she saw one and another who has snapped at other dogs if they even sniff her sister. Plus my pitty mix doesn’t realize she’s 70 pounds and will jump on people and dogs so she can play and lick their face. So it infuriates me when someone just walks up to them and I’m having to control one overly excitable dog who’s jumping up to try to lick inside their ears and one nervous dog who might snap or try to run away.
what if it's a little kid that tried to pet them...? kids will do stuff like that, cause they don't understand. If that kid does touch your dog, and it reacts by biting it, you get sued, and the dog gets put down. A good guard dog knows when, and when not to actually be on guard. I'm not attacking you, but I'm curious, how would you react to them biting that kid who doesn't understand? My dogs where typical "aggressive" breeds, and they didn't lunge attack, go on guard for no reason. The only time my dog (Foxy, pit/lab) growled was when my mom was near, cause she hated her ~~for good reason~~, but; random humans walking down the street she'd lay on her back. My rotties (Bear and Zoe) were the shittiest guard dogs ever, sweet and cuddly besides with my mom. Animals just hate her... any way... I socialized them from a young age, cause if they bit someone I'd have make a very depressing decision.
I sincerely hope you place indicators on them when you're in public at all... cause that's not a decision a dog lover should have to make. Again, it's not an attack on you or your dog, I'm just curious.
My personal dog(pictured) is socialized to react neutrally to every uncomfortable situation and interaction I can think of. My post is about the public thinking they have the right to interact with people's dogs, there's no way to know if they're aggressive or not.
That's good, but a young child doesn't have that insight. Kids are dumb, and don't think about things like this. Sometimes folks assume dogs in public are fairly safe for kids to be near, and not every parent is on guard all the time ( which is normal in some cases, like at beaches, or public parks. Also, cause bad parents exist). If it's and adult and they know better than to touch your dog, and they get bit; that's on them.
I personally wouldn't touch a dog that is not mine w/o permission though, cause I know better. Hell I wouldn't even pet a dog, who is showing visible signs of fear. Pacing, panting heavily, shaky, ears down and body low to the ground. I'm an adult and know not to not only could I get bit, it's just rude.
Of course they don't. If someone is a shitty parent, they'll let their kids run up to unknown dogs and interact with them.
On the flip side, if you can't train your dog to be neutral, don't take them in public or at least muzzle them
correct, their body language is a bit like ours... tbh it's kinda like interacting w an Autistic person (I'm autistic btw, not a flex, just kinda comparing) no eye contact unless they are comfy around you, approach slow, and not reaching over their heads, that's a blind spot.
Depends on the dog. My GSD will love it no matter where you're petting him, my Dutch will just wait for it to be over. Although that's not a dog that's really fit to be in public anyway
I've only met gsds that were nervous wrecks... you're a great dog owner if you got them to good and calm in public. I have no experience with Dutch shepherds, so idk about them. My rotties loved when people approached them, they got all wiggly and lay on their backs, most would just move out of the way, and my kids would look so sad... i got them ice cream tho. My pittie was a good girl, all mushy, and sweet with kids and small animals.
There are a ton of horribly bred "GSDs" in the US, the breed has been extremely popular for way too long and breeders just throw random, unhealthy dogs together to make quick cash. That leads to a whole lot of the behavioral problems you've seen, along with lack of training.
As someone said earlier, Dutch shepherds are war criminals trapped in a dog's body lol. I love them and they work 10 times harder than any other breed I've ever met, but there are some consequences you have to deal with there
My mal generally ignores everyone when on the streets. When we go on the field off leash, he’ll have a laser focus on the ball. Some other dogs running around? No problem, because ball time. Happy Frenchie wanting to play with him? Nope, ignore.
However, when he was a pup, we had to train him so much. He was reactive, would snap at hands: it wasn’t safe. People would ask me to pet, I’d say no, but they’d still bend over to pet and he’d snap (lucky on a leash). We got that out of him.
In house he is wary with strangers and I tell everyone to ignore him. After some time he’ll wind down and he’ll be calmer when everybody has settled. And even then: let him come to you, don’t force yourself on him. Yes, I know you have/had a dog too, and yes I know you are not afraid. Oh boy, that is really hard for some to follow, because they like him so much. Sometimes I will put the muzzle on him too to bring the point home.
Even when I say: do not stand over him, please don’t put your face close when he is hyped (e.g. tugging a rope), I’ll have to watch out for people not to force pets. He’ll come to you when he’s more comfortable. Yes, he is happy when the ball gets thrown and it’s also a way for him to test you (bad people don’t throw balls). But he really needs to get to know you after a couple of visits to be really at ease at all times. Even if you played with him the first time, take it easy this time too. He isn’t aggressive, but a bit anxious and wary in the beginning. If he is not feeling it, he’ll just walk away: he has never attacked.
But if you do all this and at his pace, he will go through fire for you. Our friends have to endure his smooches, he’ll lay on the couch over their lap, he’ll greet them immediately: it’s a lasting one-on-one bond.
Well, after 6 years of no incident it happened: he snapped when someone grabbed him from behind “to say goodbye” when everyone was getting ready to leave. It was a chaotic moment, they were new, they had a weird vibe, they saw how other “known” friends interacted with him, he gave signs (he was nervous), we should have seen it. But he bit a woman in her arm. Well, shit. Nothing too bad, no aggressive shaking, but hard enough to draw blood through a jacket, fleece sweater and a shirt.
Woman was shocked but didn’t blame our dog. They came around again a week later. We said again: leave him be, do not engage or it’ll be a thing every time you visit. He was also muzzled because I knew the husband wanted to show they weren’t scared. Just as everything seemed to go fine, the guy stood over him …. And grabbed him. I immediately intervened but our dog already snapped but muzzled. Jeez, dude, what did we say??
We also learned from this and he’ll be now muzzled when it’s crowded in our house. I mean, in the end we are still responsible and we can’t rely on others to follow our instructions.
Mine's a malamute/husky mix (ngl, I follow a LOT of subreddits for all kinds of breeds because I love learning about them and hearing stories from owners and such), but I've also experienced this sort of thing. I don't understand why people don't think they have to be careful with strange dogs?
I mean, to some degree I DO get it. Dogs are often happy, cute and MANY are pretty friendly. But they're still a stranger with four legs, and to them you're a stranger on two. And dogs all have different personalities, fears and boundaries, just like humans do.
I struggle to walk my dog at the local park, because everyone else walks their dogs there too, and they almost ALWAYS decide that if my dog exists, they must be friendly with other dogs too.
She is not. She was never socialized by her first owners. She has NO idea how to interact with other dogs, and any time we try it out we go INCREDIBLY slow.
Is she good with people? Absolutely! 100% ready to receive attention from ANY human she sees from a distance. But walking her around the park is supposed to help her get used to other dogs being present at all. From a distance. And people will just zoom over with their dogs and go, "don't worry, they're friendly!"
Okay, great, but you have no idea what MY dog is like?? And then when I try to tell them and they do it anyway, and my dog panics and starts barking and looking angry/scared, a LOT of them look offended. As if they understand the secret whims of every dog in existence and MINE is a huge problem because she reacted the way I said she would when I tried to stop them.
Also... a bunch of old dudes like to sit on benches at the park and "make friends" with all the dogs by feeding them straight up handfuls of treats. My dog's working on losing weight. They don't care if I politely decline. They'll try to shove them at my dog anyway, hoping I'll get yanked over and have no choice but to let them overfeed my dog. If we manage to just walk away, they look HELLA offended.
As much as we all wanna love and appreciate dogs, a lot of people need to work on remembering that these are animals they don't know and they can still be unpredictable for that reason. A bit of caution can keep everyone way safer.
My husky is usually good w people petting him. He is a year n a half. He jumps around cause he gets excited, so it scares people off. He did snap at a kid yesterday. Kid came up ask I said yes, he let my dog smell him n his tail was waging so I was like cool. The next kid just ran up, so my dog barked n snapped. I guess he doesn't like being corned, so be careful.
As a child I had a dog that looked like this one, I named him spot due to him having a white spot on his forehead when he was a puppy but as he grew the spot grew out and he was all black, I must have been asked a thousand times why I called him spot over the following 15 years.
Usually I say just plain up say "no" of they ask. If someone, usually a child, approaches anyway I will say "we are not a petting zoo" and walk the other direction.
Had a person come up and actually start petting my mal while asking me yesterday. My response “well you’re already doing it so i guess.” Gave me a dirty look and walked off. Most people are oblivious that asking permission and/or mal’s wearing a muzzle isnt for THEIR protection….it is for the dog’s.
I've always found it interesting that people have a much higher tendency to avoid a dog if they have a muzzle on, the one time it can't kill them lol
One of the reasons a lot of service dog handlers now use the head halter type collars is because many people assume it is some sort of muzzle and are less likely to approach or try to touch the dog.
Yep 👍 When we are in formal public access, he is in full uniform. Airports are challenging until I start bantering withmy potty mouth just to keep them away.
Dog is dog and as long as its not a service dog or growling at me I WILL be asking to pet it. I was actually approached by a pit bull bulldog cross who had snapped his leash and his owner was talking that he was friendly. He got the treats in my purse. As long at its not showing aggression or tasking, I will ask to pet the baby.
Same! I even introduce myself to the airport pups (when they're just hanging around, not busy), and I get to learn their names and breeds. Obviously you can't pet them, but yeah, if they ain't working, and the stuff and owner are okay with it, I'm going to ask 100% of the time. When I can't ask, I inevitable give puppy eyes and go "awe, now look there" to myself. I can't not notice a dog, ya know?
Yeah. Even if they aren't friendly I offer the owner a treat for them if I can.
Same, and its rare I don't have a treat on my person lol. Even if they say no, I still like to ask about the dog, time permitting. I like to get to know about their name, age, breed, etc. I don't mind if people don't want their dog pet, and I get that, but oohing and ahhing is fair, as long as I don't point and bring attention to them lol. I just love dogs, though so some just come up to be pet. I had it happen once at customs, and i was like "they're touching me, but I'm allowed to enjoy it, right?" And he smelled the jerky in my bag along with some medication and the obligatory dog and cat treats for any strays I wander across.
Aww what a sweet boi! Its also fin when other random animals approach you with zero signs of rabies. Like oh...this deer wants my pretzel..if course she does. I love animals in general
How do you determine if the dog is a service dog?
Yes. like the one time to actually give them a possibility of overcoming their fear of humans. Granted, you're also dosing the dog in a smell they don't associate with a great emotion so you know, baby steps.
What?
I'm so confused lol
Right? I have no idea where that comment was going lol
I >think< he was trying to say you are denying your dog of socializing opportunities, while putting off pheromones from the interaction that further imprints negatives on the dog. Note: I'm not agreeing with that, just stating what I got from the comment.
Oh I guess I could see that, most people think socialization is meeting and interacting with people and dogs, not being trained to ignore them
Right! I'm not advocating otherwise. Honestly, I don't want people coming up to pet my new Mal puppy. But, I don't want him aggressive towards people either...unless I tell him to be LOL. In working with my new pup (I pick him up in 4 weeks) I plan to greatly socialize by giving him exposure to lots of situations, but when it comes to people saying "oh, so cute...can I pet your dog" the answer is NO. Not everyone thinks that way. A person has their own right to say yes or no. I don't ask people if I can pet their dogs, but I do come up to people that have dogs I'm interested in...being that I am a dog person and like to interact with other dog people....and strike up a conversation. I want my dog undisturbed by other folks that do the same thing to me. I just don't see the need for them to touch him. I don't have to be weird about it or give off negative vibes to the dog. Just "no, but thanks for asking...he's in training" is all that should be necessary.
Story of my life.
Had someone do that while trying on muzzles 🥲 my boy is a chewer and I was evacuated due to a fire and couldn’t have him destroying property he’s the sweetest ever but they had no way to know that
My mal is a sweet gal but something about hats and sunglasses she can’t stand. And over the top squealing “ omg is that a puppy malinois” She will look like she wants to go toward but she just steps in front of me and my girls and then kujo comes out . I now have her ques and know her body language and if someone asks I will have to hug them for her to know it’s ok . She is extremely protective of us especially at night on walks or night runs. Socially when she is off leash she is friendly but everyone once in a while I’ll have to recall her staring at this guy that saluted me at the dog park . Poor guy had a brain injury ( not from my girl) but the military a vet that can’t get social ques anymore and is violent. Now she sees him and tracks him through the park to make sure he doesn’t come near me. She tired to get him off some man that can to my aid after he grabbed me and almost hurt me bad. So needless to say she is on edge when she sees anyone resembling him. I’m working with her to get over it however she’s a smart cookie . The best dog I have ever owned . One of the pack . Sassy and sweet .
My mal has a ‘Do Not Pet’ vest and a muzzle for busier places we go in case someone sticks hands out without me noticing. How many people have asked to pet him in the last year you ask? All of them. How many do I give an absolutely no to? All of them. How many of them get snotty and rude? All of them. One guy asked me if he could pet my dude at the park one day, I said no but thank you for asking. He proceeded with, “why not? I have been around GSDs before so it’s okay.” I laughed and said, “that’s exactly why you’re not touching him. He’s not a GSD.” He looked confused and then said, “yeah okay then cool guy.” Lol people are the best.
Lol I've gotten more and more rude to people about this as I get older. "Oh you want to pet a dog? Go buy a dog" People always like to feel entitled to other people's dogs for some reason. I had someone a few weeks ago say "oh I have a pitbull too" when I was out with our Dutch shepherd. I was real offended lol
Years ago, I had the sweetest Doberman in the world. Some woman came up, grabbed her Face and kissed her muzzle. Now, Saga was fine with that but I certainly wasn’t. I grabbed the woman’s face and leaned in to kiss her. She was like wtf are you doing?!? I was like the same thing you just did to my dog, I figured you were ok with it since YOU didn’t ask first. You were lucky THIS dog was ok with it, the next one might not be and you’ll be needing plastic surgery. *I’m also a woman.
Damn, that’s crazy. I’m really afraid that something like that is gonna happen to us one day. That would be game over for that woman if she did it with my Boxer. He’s a sweetheart, approach him slowly or give him a toy and he’ll be ready to die for you within 15 minutes of knowing you, but he really doesn’t like strangers in his business. Some time ago we had a real close call. We were standing by a shop waiting for my gf—and this actually made it worse, once my gf steps into a shop, he just stares at the door in full guard mode until she comes out—and this lady was passing by. Out of the blue she just booped his nose and even made that booping sound. In that moment his hackles came up and I just instinctively pulled him back to me (even though that couldve made it worse) and he didnt snap, he just gave her this brutal death stare. Like one more time and I’ll drop you stare. I was just speechless. It couldve gone so bad I didnt even have time to be pissed. I was jist grateful she had her hand.
A girl did this to a shiba where I worked and she had to have facial reconstruction surgery due to the bite. So dumb.
What the fuck. I do not understand the depth of stupidity when it comes to other people left to their own devices
I love that you did that to her! 😅😂🤣 That's a very safe way for her to have learned a lesson.
Good god people are idiots. Who goes up to a strange dog and kisses them? I apologize, i TRULY dont like using this word, but people that do those things are retards. There is no better way to explain it. They seriously must be learning impaired to do that crap.
A (male) friend of mine had a bully. A drunk woman kissed the dog - after he told her not to (he knew his dog had an aversion to the smell of alcohol). She got bit but not badly, just a warning nip really. She then assaulted my friend. I caught the tail end of the interaction, I didn’t see it all, but she just walked off afterwards swearing at him. Stupid cow. My girl is very friendly but I avoid drunks and addicts because they are incapable of reading the dog’s signals.
This is why I dont approach anything while drunk. Good fucking god.
Eh, probably best to leave learning-impaired and slurs out of this conversation, people can be very stupid and entitled without having a disability and there’s already plenty of nasty sentiments about learning-impaired people out there :/
So many people think it’s just fine. So many.
Nobody in there right mind. I wouldn't even do that zoinked oit of my head. Dude petting a dog after a few edibles is amazing but I still ask first. I like my hand thank you.
You are one cool person! That's brilliant.
I am a little reckless with my own "can I pet your dog?" requests, but I always ask, and if the answer is no, I simply inquire as to why - without taking offense. (It's just to help me to learn to recognize signs of dogs that are not friendly, as much as I can recognize them.) That said, I always approach dogs and their people cautiously, and I watch the dog carefully as I approach to see if I can understand what they are thinking or feeling before anything happens. There are plenty of times where I just get a, "hmmm, I don't think so, not this dog" feeling from 10 ft away and I just talk with the owner from a distance. The idea of sticking my hands AND my face (?!?) right into a dog's muzzle, especially a dog I do not know at all, seems downright reckless... ☠️ But, as the other comments here point out, people can just be really stupid ... 🤦🏻♂️
Honestly? Being asked why after I already said no would irritate me. I said no, that should suffice.
Fair. I will keep that in mind. I do try to be -engaging- with the owner (vs. challenging) without pressing the issue. If they seem annoyed, I will apologize for bothering them, compliment the dog, and then walk away (w/o expectations.)
So I currently have a collie, not a Mal. But for me it would depend how the "why?" was asked. If it was standoffish or annoyed then I'd match that energy. But I've had people ask "oh why? Is she not friendly?" In a quite cheerful way and that hasn't bothered me. I've even asked some people to help with meet and greet training if I get a good vibe from them. We're currently working really hard on polite interactions with strangers (she started out very reactive and barking constantly), so occasionally, I've said no, been asked "why?", explained the training we're trying to do and then asked if they were willing to try and greet doggo on my terms. She struggles with people immediately coming into her space, but done right she is lovely - this is why I wouldn't say yes to everyone, especially if I got the vibe that they wouldn't listen to my instructions or might assume they knew better than me. The last thing we need is to add negative interactions to her memory bank. If you're holding back and not getting in my face while asking, I'd say that's already a good sign, to be honest. When we first rescued our GSD he was incredibly dog and people aggressive - definitely a rehab case - so that was always a straight "no" for the first couple of years, and we got a lot of snotty responses from people, especially people that claimed to be "used to big dogs" (yet clearly weren't picking up on my dog's "stay the hell away from me or I'll bite your face off" body language). Luckily he's soft as anything and too old to be anything but chill now, so he gets to meet lots of friends and even joins us at the pub nowadays, but god it took a lot of work to get him to that stage!
Understood. I want to try not to be "that guy", and to engage positively with the owner a bit (even if the dog is off limits... ;-)
Positive interactions with strangers are very welcome, it's just gauging who I can trust to not encourage the behaviours we're trying to train out (jumping, demanding barking etc). At the start of our training, I'd even have classed walking by and saying "hello" without any reactivity as a positive interaction, nowadays we try and hold conversations, have her say hello without jumping etc etc. You sound like the kinda person that I'd probably invite to say hello 😂 but then, she's a lover, not a fighter, and she is just a pet at the end of the day. I don't have as much skin in the game as people with working protection dogs. The biggest risk with Millie is that she'll cuddle flop onto your face and suffocate you 😂
As others have said I would stop asking why after the initial no. At the end of the day it’s their dog and their “property” and they might just not want someone touching them for no reason at all. It’s the same as asking “can I step into your yard?” “No.” “Well why not?” Sure, it may not cause harm to anyone if you had actually stepped in my yard, but I just don’t want you to.
I guess my intention is always just to engage in some casual conversation about dogs. I guess I'm not sure how to convey that, but I clearly did a bad job here because I did not mean it to sound challenging or confrontational. Also, if I approach a person and their dog and they say, "no, you can't pet him ", I stop, in my tracks, because getting any closer means I might get attacked by the dog and I don't like any dog that much! 😏 But I still enjoy talking with dog owners, and I guess this is my awkward way of trying to engage them, which I would probably say after taking a step back (a non-verbal sign that I'm trying to diffuse the moment.) That said, sometimes we have to "read" the owners just like we try to "read" the dogs... 😏 (Fwiw, I would never ask people why I couldn't trespass on their property - that's just asking for trouble!)
I would be such an asshole to you if you asked why after I said no lol
And I might well have earned it... 😏
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Well you’d be out 500 then. 🤷🏻♀️
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I grabbed a woman’s face. (Not drunk by the way) and did indeed lean in as if to kiss her. I was a lot more physically confrontational when was younger.
But you know, believe what you want.
These things do happen lmao, I don’t know why you’re accusing this poster of making shit up
People are such morons around Mals! It’s not a popularity contest and I don’t care if people get all huffy. Just don’t touch or try touch to my dog she’s a trained protection animal.
People need to pay attention to collars and vests. I have vision impairments but I ask if I see an unusually brightly colored collar or vest. Because ya know, I like living.
They are beautiful dogs and people can’t help themselves.
Even if the dog isn't a protection dog, if people want to pet a dog they should go buy their own
My favourite was a women at our campground was walking by us and she asked to pet Bane and my wife was nice about it and said no, he is very protective when our daughter is with us and strangers approach us (because he’s trained to protect her which we did through a trainer, and he’s spent every day of his life with her so she’s basically his person), and this woman looks my wife dead in the eyes and says, “why would you get a pet that you can’t have around people?” Lol my wife didn’t even respond she just turned away from the woman and went back to talking to our daughter. As much as Bane is a “pet” he’s also not. That’s not why we got him. We live in a very rural area and my wife and daughter are home alone frequently with my MIL. There were also home invasions and break ins for a solid 3 month span. I got my Mal to protect my home and family. He does bite training, scent recognition training with our daughter, and he does agility. Calling him a simple pet is an insult to him lol and shows peoples ignorance when it comes breed like ours. I have always said, he’s pretty to look at but like most things that are very pretty in nature he’s very bad for your health lol
I have two dogs, but i love dogs so much that when i am away from my own (and often, even if i am with my dogs) i still want to interact with all the ones i see. For me it’s not about being entitled. It’s about being around the best creatures in the world and wanting to connect with them. Yes… Every. Single. One.
Calling entitlement something else doesn't make it not entitlement lol
I said i want to engage. I didn’t say i must be given access or permission. I didn’t say i was someone that will walk up to an unknown dog and start petting. I didn’t say that i am someone that gets pissy if the owner says no. I wasn’t defending people who feel “entitled” to other people’s “property.” Since i understood the topic to be more about educating (or a wish for educating) those that do not understand your side, instead of just a rant without solution or growth, I was attempting to have a conversation. I can see that was a mistake.
Why ask? Why talk to them? How do you know the dog isn't a service dog?
I hate it when people ask to pet my dog. She’s reactive and not friendly to strangers. I guess it’s nice that they at least ask, but it gets old. I’m also not just hanging around public places with her. I’m literally walking her for exercise and people come up and ask to pet her. I just think it’s weird and annoying. I can’t help it. lol
It's not just you, this dog is super friendly, but I hate people thinking they just have the right to pet him
So many ppl react like saying saying no, is not okay, that some ppl feel like they can't, there have been a few times when I have asked and they look like they want to say no but feel like that would be rude, so I just say "it's all good you can say no, you have a cute (or similar) dog by the way" and leave them alone.
Does your dog bite? No Crunch I thought you said your dog doesn't bite. That's not my dog.
Can I pet that dawg
[can I pet that DAWEEGGG!?](https://www.tiktok.com/@chiefmahomie/video/7266018938495044910?lang=en)
Can I PET THAT DAWWWWWWEGG 🤠
Do you like them hands? /s, he's super friendly until told otherwise, fortunately
Bella shows them exactly why she wears a muzzle if they try. -_- Wish she was more friendly, but I guess that's what I get for adopting a barely socialised Mal.
In time, she may come around, or at least lessen in reactivity - for your sake and hers, fuck others. She may continue needing the muzzle for a while, maybe not, but always better safe than sorry. One of mine can be animal reactive towards those he doesn't know yet or trust (dobie mix), and I've really liked the goodboy (brand) gentle muzzle. It's adjustable in every way and seems more comfortable for longer or more consistent wear. Good luck, and thanks for taking in a baby that just needs a bit more TLC than some are able/willing to provide!
Thanks for all that! One of the things I promised myself when I became a foster fail with her was to keep living in reality about her situation. She'll most likely never get to the point where we can do dog sports (which is one of the reasons I wanted a working dog), and she may always need to wear a muzzle, but I can do a lot with her reactivity! We've been chipping away at it since day 1. We like the muzzles from The Muzzle Movement. We've tried a lot of other brands, and this is the only one she hasn't tried to constantly get off. I think she has some trauma surrounding them. These muzzles seem to work, though, and they're customizable! Colour combos and additional hardware options, too! I have 2 of them, and if I could, I'd buy every single colour they had. Edit: I was doomed from the very beginning with her. She was only supposed to be a short-term foster, but the potential adopters really gave me a bad feeling, and I wanted to work on her reactivity. So, she became a long-term foster. And before I knew it, I realised that I'd fallen deeply in love with her. I abandoned the deposit I'd already paid with a GSD (my dream dog) breeder that I'd been talking to for over a year and adopted Bella. I'm afraid she's corrupted me as well, because now, I've found a Mal breeder that breeds for the police and sport, and I'll be getting a baby land shark when Bella is much much older.
I'll have to look into that brand! Thankfully, mine only needs a muzzle around cats (my mom had a few when we visit), but I agree - we can only live in reality and do what's safest for everyone involved, and if that's a muzzle, then it's a muzzle for the time being. Yep, my GSD mix was a foster fail, so I totally get it! I had him from a puppy, and I'm not a monster, so I obviously fell in love lol, and now he's my big baby. Good luck during the land shark velociraptor stage bahaha - now that, I don't miss one little bit!
https://preview.redd.it/1j3ukelf0y4d1.jpeg?width=1808&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a80eabec9299afe1c884bd496f47df18cc6ccd5e
I love the pink! What a sweet baby girl!
My Mal is very I got to know you before you touch me. He's becoming slightly more tolerant, but he does not like random pets from random people. Back when he was a lot more reactive, people would just stand there and stare then say, "Is he friendly?" Like bitch, he's barking at you and does he sound friendly? Makes me feel like a lot of people just have room temperature IQs.
A lot of people don't seem to be able to process the real life inputs they're being given lol. I had a guy come up to us at a bar once with a little dog that was yapping and pulling and ask if my dog was friendly, and when I said "no"(which isn't really true, but get that dog away from mine), he brought his dog closer and asked if he was friendly sometimes. Like why are people willing to risk their dog's life on that?
I had the opposite with my childhood dog who was a miniature dachshund. People always assume that a little dog is friendly and would bring their bigger dogs over. No, just because she’s small doesn’t mean she would try to bite your dog’s face off. She was NOT dog friendly.
Omg my little Dukie a Minnie long hair Doxie would bait you into getting close enough to “face jump”. He was going for a toung kiss 🙄 F ker also would steal the earrings out of your ears if you weren’t careful. 🤣. If he was a biter he would not have lived to 16
Mine was a black and tan long hair! She was usually pretty nice when you respected her boundaries. However I did learn very early on when I was around 3 years old not to corner animals when I did and she bit my nose. Besides that you just had to be careful giving her food because she would almost take your finger off without meaning to. She had a reputation at the vet’s office too. I can definitely say that I would trust my Mal mix and my pitty mix with kids more than I would my doxie. With my Mal mix especially I would be more concerned about her “defending” the kids from their own family.
I miss the Duke, but el shark is my best boy ❤️
One of my pittie boxer mixes isn't very dog friendly. Especially if my mom is around.
My mal acts completely different to strangers depending on if my kids are with me or not. He does not like anyone he doesn’t know to be near the kids. So he does circles around them to keep them together. He also does that when we go camping. He is making sure there will be no wandering off.
Same with my mal mix and her pitty mix sister. I think she knows that her sister is too friendly for her own good and will try to make friends with anyone and anything, even if they aren’t friendly.
We had this with our GSD rescue. "Is he friendly?" "Well, his hackles are up, his head is lowered, he's glaring at you, and his lip is twitching with a low growl.... what do you think?" Only to be followed with "oh it's fine, I'm used to big dogs!" *starts approaching and reaches out hand* Ma'am, its not his size that's the problem, he's been abused by every human in his 10 short months of life until he came to us, he has learnt that human hands cause pain and he's understandably scared and defensive - I will defend him from your grubby uneducated hands with my life if it helps me teach him that I will never let him be hurt again. The number of adults I've had to body block to keep away from him is ridiculous. The kids were always great, though. I've only ever experienced entitled adults. Funny how 5 year olds can understand, but Granny feels entitled to the floof! 😅
❤️🩹 Thank you for being that human for your baby.
He's my old man now. We love him more and more every day 🥰 https://preview.redd.it/d6t0dwyj845d1.jpeg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c62fb85645d43483ba750a775c96cc3db32b87d2
He looks like a sweet mr.
They can’t get close to pet , when asked , I just simply say no
I say no too and move.
Hahaha yep
😂 I’ll give them a look if they not polite 🤣
Generally no one approaches my dog or gets close enough to touch . 🤷🏻♀️ like stop asking to pet the dogs
Same. I have at the vet of all places. I think it’s because he’s well behaved and obedient. 🤷♀️ I don’t want strangers touching me either.
🤣🤣
Easier said than done sometimes though
Not at all if you don’t care about the opinions of others
I meant the "can't get close enough to pet" part
Oh, that is very true
Full disclosure, I'd probably try to let it still sniff me.
Whenever anyone asks me if my dog is friendly, I say no. Regardless. Not worth it.
It's a good policy
Better safe than sorry.
https://preview.redd.it/hdhcpfiqds4d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e803b5f8ca06d757b6ddc2b64b49f9d35d53140d “Can I pet your dog?” “No, I’m not friendly”
Lol accurate, like your dog's name
Wait, this is for mals, not GSDs. Is Loki still welcome?
Oh the dog in the picture is a GSD/Malinois crossbreed
My joke went over your head. I saw this was in a mal thread and Loki is a shepherd. The pic definitely looks like a mix though.
Sure…before you do it’s on YOU and call an ambulance too! https://preview.redd.it/xfdet64qks4d1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=41eed29b4331c8cd77320045271bdc7a8593e8fb
https://preview.redd.it/vo6we2jyls4d1.jpeg?width=624&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6cc15d10ded2a887c03c6a6d9924d14d10f6af11
I will hand you the treat in my purse and be on my way. (I enjoy my hand having function.)
My dogs a weird one. I only have to worry about men. She loves kids and she loves women, but if a guy is staring at her and they put their hand out she will bark and growl at them. The kids have an age limit I haven't quite figured out either. We were on a bike ride and a couple kids asked if they could pet her. I stopped and said sure. She jumped up on the kid that was about 6, but then the kid that was probably about 16 started to walk towards her. I warned him like, this might sound weird, but you might be too old. I told him he could try. She won't bite, but she might make some noise. Sure enough, as soon as he stuck his hand out she let out a little bark. I'm a guy and she's never behaved the way she does with other guys towards me.
😂 my two males don’t like men either, the female is a dunce & loves everybody… unless they come into the home uninvited. I walked in with graduation regalia still on (cap & gown) and that was the first time I’ve ever heard her bark at a person. BUT, I am 100% OK with them not letting strange men close to us. They’re super chill in public spaces, but they don’t appreciate people lingering or intentionally approaching/ trying to pet.
It kind of bothers me because I'm in a position where I can bring my dog to work, and I do. The problem is my industry is very male dominant. The majority of my co-workers are men along with the majority of customers that walk into the door. I just grab her and leash her in my office as soon as I know customers are around. I'm not really worried about her biting people, but I don't want people to feel uncomfortable around her. My dad was with me when I picked her up back in January this year and she still barks at my dad and has an issue with him. It's weird though because it's not aggressive. She's got her tail wagging and she's jumping around pretty playfully, but at the same time she's also kinda like cowering away from him and then she comes back to put her teeth on his hands. She doesn't really go in for a bite, her teeth just kinda touch his hands and that's as far as she takes it.
Oof, yea that can be a bit of a predicament! How old is she? Have you tried teaching her ‘place’? It might be helpful for her to be given a different ‘job’ around strange men. Weird about your dad! Is it when she first sees him? Or all the time? Do you live with your dad? My adult male growled at my dad the first time they met (I adopted him while my dad was on vacation lol), but they’re best buds now. The week I adopted him I started having him meet the landscapers— he knows how to open doors & can let himself into the backyard at will & let my other two out with him. it’s been a year and a half and he’s still weary of them, but the two guys are comfortable around him (he just watches them suspiciously). He is a friendly dog, I highly doubt he would ever bite (I’m not foolish enough to be complacent about it, though). He also tends to have good judgement & can be situational. At a restaurant patio? No issues with the waiters coming up, handing food/water to them, other people can approach while we’re seated and ask questions about the dogs (scored a couple clients this way 😂). At ‘work’ functions he doesn’t bark at the men (mostly). Part of it may also be how I myself dont like being approached by people, especially men, when we’re out and he may just be feeding off of that.
She just turned 2 a couple months ago. I have not tried place. I do live with my dad, so she sees him every day. It can be kinda random at times. She'll still play with him though. He can grab a rope or a ball, and she'll play with him. They've hung out on the couch together, although she was very unsure about it, it was her decision to get up there without being asked to. He can tell her commands like sit and paw, and she'll listen, but she's still kinda cautious about it with her ears folded all the way back. She tends to do better if she's ignored. I've had the guys at work try to approach her, and I almost have to train them as much as the dog. I've learned if guys don't give her attention, don't look her, don't try to reach out to her, she'll approach them and actually let them begin petting her, as long as they don't look at her. We had a comcast guy come to the house to repair a line last week. I had my dog locked in my bedroom, but then he asked to see the modem and that happens to be in my bedroom. I warned the guy she doesn't like guys, but he stayed very close to me, almost walking into the bedroom as the time as me. She was soooo mad about that. That was definitely the most vicious she's ever sounded.
Ahh! Seems like fear-reactivity/ insecurity. Definitely try giving her something else to do & keep her mind from solely focusing on the scary, threatening people. Don’t comfort her (tell her it’s okay, pet her, talk sweet to her). I’m not sure if this is something you do, but a lot of other people do. Only offer reinforcement during activities of bravery (approaching them to sniff/ investigate without being vocal). If she’s barking at people at work, ask them to stay where they are until she stops. Same point to not escort her away when she’s being reactive. Both of these can reinforce the reactivity by the ‘scary’ situation ended when she acts crazy. You can also try a bowl of treats and a sign that instructs people to toss one to her from a distance and walk away.
You might be right, but it's just so strange how brave and confident she is in regards to literally everything else. It's the reason I wanted her in the first place. We can go anywhere and through anything and she'll lead the way. I thought she was gonna be the friendliest and bravest dog ever. She does amazing with women and kids, but once I brought her home and started taking her places I realized she's got some kind of issue with other guys. She was a stray for the first year of her life. When the shelter brought her in she was nothing but skin and bones. Then she spent a year in the shelter. I've had a lot of people make comments about how maybe she was abused since I don't really know what could've happened in her first 2 years of life. I don't really think it's that just based on how she reacts with me and how she was that first day I met her. Part of the reason I've been bringing her to work is also to try and get her over this, so we'll keep trying and I'll keep some of what you've said in the back in my mind so we can work on it more.
She sounds a lot like my big male. He was found as a “stray” at \~1-1.5 years old, spent 9 months in the shelter. Staff said he was slow-to-warm & didn’t like men— which was PERFECT! I had been newly moved-out & living on my own when I had a strange/scary incident with a guy at the front of my house late one night, my board & train dog charged at him when I opened my door to get something from my car and started barking right up on him @ crotch level 🤣 so, the next day I went to the shelter to adopt their largest dog. That dog wasn’t friendly with other dogs (or children… mastiff/bully something), so wildly inappropriate for my line of work. Krüger was 2nd largest, was dog-reactive, aloof, and just wanted to run the fence at the other dogs when I met with him. Very underwhelming as a potential adopter, but I took a chance on him based on his length-of-stay & lack of interest from other people. He turned out to be the BEST dog I’ve ever had. A lot of times people think fear/ reactivity stems from abuse, which it can, but it’s also likely she just wasn’t exposed to certain things and only had neutral/negative experiences/feelings when she did encounter them. I’m fairly certain my large male experienced abuse, however. The months following his adoption, if I lifted anything above my head he would cower down to the floor, pee, and run away. It took a lot of counter-conditioning for him to be confident with the stimulus even coming from me. It could also just be their personality/‘wiring’. Back when I did dog rescue, I got a pair of pups that someone found at their garage at 4-5weeks old. The pups lived in their home until \~4 months old, and the day I picked them up the female bit me. The male was fantastic & got a home quickly… female was always ‘weird’ and would bark/growl/nip people, so we kept her indefinitely. She never grew out of it. She would even display the behaviors towards my sister who lived with us off & on throughout that dog’s life. Keep working through the issues though! If your dad doesn’t already walk/feed her, ask him to start. https://preview.redd.it/5iawbi4uss4d1.jpeg?width=1071&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6717fdfa7f1d8f57e981273ea74464e99ee64908 Photo of my big guy with ‘grandma’
https://preview.redd.it/ce2q1um3vs4d1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ea8028040143670e2def10c31001ca742c201344 And another with me (am chonky 😂 😭)
lol, That's a big dog. Mine would jump up on you just like that, but her paws aren't resting on your shoulders. She'd barely be reaching your waist.
"I don't mind but she's kind of a roll of the dice"
Simple answer fuck around and find out..
My answer has always been "Well, he's got teeth". All dogs don't bite until they bite for the first time. I've volunteered at several shelter and worked at a kennel that does boarding and training and seen several dogs that were described as friendly and docile and then bit a person "out of nowhere". Another answer to this I saw online and liked was "Yes, if you don't mind not getting your hand back" but I feel like it wouldn't work in a real life because they would start reaching in to the pet as soon as they heard the Y sound forming.
can i give your dog a reassuring nod of approval and a firm handshake to send him on his way
I am so happy that nobody asks to pet my mal in public, she's not mean but when she's wearing her gear she looks a little intimidating. she is a little grumbly sometimes but thats just her backtalking to me when I tell her to do something she doesn't want to lol
“He’s not a dog, he’s a werewolf”
My personal favorite is "does your dog bite?" I always respond the same way "all dogs bite, mine does on command"
“Not usually” seems to make people hesitate!
I have a husky/GSD mix who can be reactive to strangers petting him. He wears a vest and now a muzzle. Even with the vest that says “do not pet” someone pets him without asking anytime I take him out
Can see the little bite dog leash. 👀
"Grab the tab, not the dog" I really like the version he's wearing there, the braided biothane is super easy to get ahold of even if it's wet
Yeah, we run a short leather leash and made a huge knot in the end of it. Works for everyday off leash walks and is perfect for bitework. 😄
“Yo , your dog looks awesome! Can I pet him?” “That’s exactly why you can’t pet him”
My Mal was the sweetest little girl. Loved people and dogs and everything. Then she turned 9 months old. Dad! That plastic bag just looked at me! I'm going to kill it!!!
Yep. Mine spent 15 minutes barking and growling at a piece of paper flapping in the breeze….in my neighbor’s yard……100ft away. And some people wanna come up to that and pet/kiss a strange dog. Ya….that’s smart.
Stoopidest question ever! I get it ALL the time.
Simple answer fuck around and find out ..
I love this pic so much lol!
https://preview.redd.it/jahnp6eadu4d1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=24335e6b976396a5110ca6af393c9ba8c69c3321 I love how far the switch can flip from feral to cute puppy lol
Tbh I would.
“Why are people willing to risk their dog’s life on that” Because they dont give a crap. They couldn’t care less about their dog’s life and probably see their dog as a possession rather than a family member.. People are idiots.
That’s the please I’m not socialized help me look
Lol it's the middle of a bite work session
I don’t get it. These dogs are wicked smart. Why is this sub so anti social? They are smart enough to have manners. I let strangers pet my mal (and before that my litter twin GSDs) every chance we get. Dinners on restaurant patios aren’t just for chihuahuas and labs. Working breeds can chill and socialize, too. They are sharp enough to do it all.
Many reasons. For pets, dogs that get to meet everyone can easily develop reactivity trying to get to every stranger they see to greet them. The dog in the photo is a multi-purpose working dog, and while I spend plenty of time ensuring he's neutral around strangers, there's absolutely no benefit in letting people pet him.
People seem to underestimate the importance of having a dog be completely neutral towards people and dogs. I've never fully achieved it and always admired people who have dogs trained to that degree. Constantly being allowed to socialise with everyone just breeds excitement, and the assumption that they might get a fuss from everyone they meet. Which is fine for some dogs, but I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable having a protection dog wanting to love on everyone he laid eyes on. I have hopes that my collie might get to that neutral stage at some point, she's the first dog I've had from a puppy, she's still young and I'm unpicking a lot of the mistakes I made at the very beginning which I believe added to the reactivity that is common in the breed anyway - one of those mistakes was letting everyone say hi to her when she was a tiny pup!
Lots of people project their own feelings about "socialization" onto their dog, and think the dog can't be happy unless they get to meet everyone and get pets. Then that gets reenforced by the dog pulling to meet everyone("look how excited he is! He wants to meet you!"), and then eventually turns into having a reactive dog and needing professional training. I'm sure you can get your dog there, especially a collie! Just remember to keep your expectations in step with the dog's progression and set them up for success repeatedly before proofing
THIS exactly! I was told by the local positive only training crew that she was just nervous, advised to keep her away from other dogs and people because it was just "too much for her". My gut told me that wasn't the case, but I ignored it (still kicking myself to this day). So when we started going out around other dogs again, and she started desperately wanting to get to those dogs I'm like "oh great, she's gaining confidence", then over time the incessant barking started every time I didn't let her greet, the lunging at people while on lead. Now I'm spending £££s with a behaviourist trying to unpick those behaviours. She a gem in every other way and our trainer says her obedience commands are better than his own dogs, so it makes the reactivity even more frustrating as all anyone sees is 15kg of chaos potato that screams at everything, instead of the sweet gentle smart girl that I have at home. I wanted a Mal, but I was in no way ready to take one on - especially as my first dog on my own! One day, when I have more space and I know I can 100% commit the necassary time to all of the types of training I'd want to do with them. Flyball and agility with Millie on top of the constant walking is enough for me at the moment 😂
Hey I would say after a reactive collie, a Mal would be easy(relatively) Lol. I appreciate you taking the time to train your dog to the level they deserve
You're too kind! But I really appreciate you saying that, as I feel like I'm failing her any time we have a bad day!
It’s more the fact that people assume that they can pet any dog they see. It’s especially infuriating as someone who works with guide dogs in training and has seen people just start petting a dog in vest without asking. We’re trying to teach them that there is work time and play time, and people trying to pet a working dog makes that much more difficult.
I agree 100%! People want to believe that they have a dog that is so aggressive that they can't train them to be in public safely. Idk why. Maybe they're lazy. Maybe they're bad trainers. Maybe they just need to feel that way to feel safe.
I think there’s a lot of K9 cosplay if I’m honest.
I like that term :-)
More power to ya. Let me introduce you to my attorney.
You’re going to sue me because I let people pet my dog? OK. I’ll wait for service. lol
That's the comment you'll respond to? Lol
I sleep during the day. I’ve not really had a chance to digest the more thoughtful comments. There are some claims that I want to read about. That comment really didn’t require any thoughtful response. ETA: Why on earth is this being downvoted? How silly.
No. Dont be coy. That is what you will hear when someone gets bit. Best trained dog is still an animal.
I warn people that if they try my Mal and he bites them, it’s not my problem or fault. Keep your hands to yourself and stop being silly. Some kids decided to kick a ball at my Mal after I said they couldn’t pet him and he punctured their ball and they tried to get mad and I told them I would report them for attempted assault.
While I get where you're coming from, none of that would go in your favor in court lol
I am not in the US. Where I am, provoking an animal that was leashed and whom you were explicitly told not to touch, is a viable defense. He didn’t attack anyone and was minding his business. That’s why those kids had no defense because kicking a soccer ball at my dog because I said you cannot touch him?? Assault and all he did was puncture the ball in retaliation. They had to buy their own ball
What country gives dogs human rights?
A country where the population is generally afraid of them because of a bad history during colonialism and where mals are primarily used by cops-this highly respected by the cops
You just described like 80% of the earth's surface lol. Much as i love dogs, there are no places I know of where someone can be charged with assault for kicking a ball at one
No. You don’t actually know everything and every place and country and culture This is what happened and I am not interested in actually revealing where I am located. Believe what you want, but it is what happened when they kicked the ball at my dog and it is what happens when you actually assault dogs. People aren’t out here always acting like Karen’s where dogs are always at fault. Sorry for not conforming to your western centric view of the world.
My Mal mix is generally friendly but shy, but is very protective, especially of her pitty mix sister. So we’ve got the combo of one dog who would probably try to make friends with a bear if she saw one and another who has snapped at other dogs if they even sniff her sister. Plus my pitty mix doesn’t realize she’s 70 pounds and will jump on people and dogs so she can play and lick their face. So it infuriates me when someone just walks up to them and I’m having to control one overly excitable dog who’s jumping up to try to lick inside their ears and one nervous dog who might snap or try to run away.
The bite not as bad as the head ripping back and forth
what if it's a little kid that tried to pet them...? kids will do stuff like that, cause they don't understand. If that kid does touch your dog, and it reacts by biting it, you get sued, and the dog gets put down. A good guard dog knows when, and when not to actually be on guard. I'm not attacking you, but I'm curious, how would you react to them biting that kid who doesn't understand? My dogs where typical "aggressive" breeds, and they didn't lunge attack, go on guard for no reason. The only time my dog (Foxy, pit/lab) growled was when my mom was near, cause she hated her ~~for good reason~~, but; random humans walking down the street she'd lay on her back. My rotties (Bear and Zoe) were the shittiest guard dogs ever, sweet and cuddly besides with my mom. Animals just hate her... any way... I socialized them from a young age, cause if they bit someone I'd have make a very depressing decision. I sincerely hope you place indicators on them when you're in public at all... cause that's not a decision a dog lover should have to make. Again, it's not an attack on you or your dog, I'm just curious.
My personal dog(pictured) is socialized to react neutrally to every uncomfortable situation and interaction I can think of. My post is about the public thinking they have the right to interact with people's dogs, there's no way to know if they're aggressive or not.
That's good, but a young child doesn't have that insight. Kids are dumb, and don't think about things like this. Sometimes folks assume dogs in public are fairly safe for kids to be near, and not every parent is on guard all the time ( which is normal in some cases, like at beaches, or public parks. Also, cause bad parents exist). If it's and adult and they know better than to touch your dog, and they get bit; that's on them. I personally wouldn't touch a dog that is not mine w/o permission though, cause I know better. Hell I wouldn't even pet a dog, who is showing visible signs of fear. Pacing, panting heavily, shaky, ears down and body low to the ground. I'm an adult and know not to not only could I get bit, it's just rude.
Of course they don't. If someone is a shitty parent, they'll let their kids run up to unknown dogs and interact with them. On the flip side, if you can't train your dog to be neutral, don't take them in public or at least muzzle them
correct, their body language is a bit like ours... tbh it's kinda like interacting w an Autistic person (I'm autistic btw, not a flex, just kinda comparing) no eye contact unless they are comfy around you, approach slow, and not reaching over their heads, that's a blind spot.
Those are actually two specific things we train to not react to, since that's how most humans try to interact with dogs
yep, still i don't. They tolerate it, they just don't like it.
Depends on the dog. My GSD will love it no matter where you're petting him, my Dutch will just wait for it to be over. Although that's not a dog that's really fit to be in public anyway
I've only met gsds that were nervous wrecks... you're a great dog owner if you got them to good and calm in public. I have no experience with Dutch shepherds, so idk about them. My rotties loved when people approached them, they got all wiggly and lay on their backs, most would just move out of the way, and my kids would look so sad... i got them ice cream tho. My pittie was a good girl, all mushy, and sweet with kids and small animals.
There are a ton of horribly bred "GSDs" in the US, the breed has been extremely popular for way too long and breeders just throw random, unhealthy dogs together to make quick cash. That leads to a whole lot of the behavioral problems you've seen, along with lack of training. As someone said earlier, Dutch shepherds are war criminals trapped in a dog's body lol. I love them and they work 10 times harder than any other breed I've ever met, but there are some consequences you have to deal with there
My mal generally ignores everyone when on the streets. When we go on the field off leash, he’ll have a laser focus on the ball. Some other dogs running around? No problem, because ball time. Happy Frenchie wanting to play with him? Nope, ignore. However, when he was a pup, we had to train him so much. He was reactive, would snap at hands: it wasn’t safe. People would ask me to pet, I’d say no, but they’d still bend over to pet and he’d snap (lucky on a leash). We got that out of him. In house he is wary with strangers and I tell everyone to ignore him. After some time he’ll wind down and he’ll be calmer when everybody has settled. And even then: let him come to you, don’t force yourself on him. Yes, I know you have/had a dog too, and yes I know you are not afraid. Oh boy, that is really hard for some to follow, because they like him so much. Sometimes I will put the muzzle on him too to bring the point home. Even when I say: do not stand over him, please don’t put your face close when he is hyped (e.g. tugging a rope), I’ll have to watch out for people not to force pets. He’ll come to you when he’s more comfortable. Yes, he is happy when the ball gets thrown and it’s also a way for him to test you (bad people don’t throw balls). But he really needs to get to know you after a couple of visits to be really at ease at all times. Even if you played with him the first time, take it easy this time too. He isn’t aggressive, but a bit anxious and wary in the beginning. If he is not feeling it, he’ll just walk away: he has never attacked. But if you do all this and at his pace, he will go through fire for you. Our friends have to endure his smooches, he’ll lay on the couch over their lap, he’ll greet them immediately: it’s a lasting one-on-one bond. Well, after 6 years of no incident it happened: he snapped when someone grabbed him from behind “to say goodbye” when everyone was getting ready to leave. It was a chaotic moment, they were new, they had a weird vibe, they saw how other “known” friends interacted with him, he gave signs (he was nervous), we should have seen it. But he bit a woman in her arm. Well, shit. Nothing too bad, no aggressive shaking, but hard enough to draw blood through a jacket, fleece sweater and a shirt. Woman was shocked but didn’t blame our dog. They came around again a week later. We said again: leave him be, do not engage or it’ll be a thing every time you visit. He was also muzzled because I knew the husband wanted to show they weren’t scared. Just as everything seemed to go fine, the guy stood over him …. And grabbed him. I immediately intervened but our dog already snapped but muzzled. Jeez, dude, what did we say?? We also learned from this and he’ll be now muzzled when it’s crowded in our house. I mean, in the end we are still responsible and we can’t rely on others to follow our instructions.
Mine's a malamute/husky mix (ngl, I follow a LOT of subreddits for all kinds of breeds because I love learning about them and hearing stories from owners and such), but I've also experienced this sort of thing. I don't understand why people don't think they have to be careful with strange dogs? I mean, to some degree I DO get it. Dogs are often happy, cute and MANY are pretty friendly. But they're still a stranger with four legs, and to them you're a stranger on two. And dogs all have different personalities, fears and boundaries, just like humans do. I struggle to walk my dog at the local park, because everyone else walks their dogs there too, and they almost ALWAYS decide that if my dog exists, they must be friendly with other dogs too. She is not. She was never socialized by her first owners. She has NO idea how to interact with other dogs, and any time we try it out we go INCREDIBLY slow. Is she good with people? Absolutely! 100% ready to receive attention from ANY human she sees from a distance. But walking her around the park is supposed to help her get used to other dogs being present at all. From a distance. And people will just zoom over with their dogs and go, "don't worry, they're friendly!" Okay, great, but you have no idea what MY dog is like?? And then when I try to tell them and they do it anyway, and my dog panics and starts barking and looking angry/scared, a LOT of them look offended. As if they understand the secret whims of every dog in existence and MINE is a huge problem because she reacted the way I said she would when I tried to stop them. Also... a bunch of old dudes like to sit on benches at the park and "make friends" with all the dogs by feeding them straight up handfuls of treats. My dog's working on losing weight. They don't care if I politely decline. They'll try to shove them at my dog anyway, hoping I'll get yanked over and have no choice but to let them overfeed my dog. If we manage to just walk away, they look HELLA offended. As much as we all wanna love and appreciate dogs, a lot of people need to work on remembering that these are animals they don't know and they can still be unpredictable for that reason. A bit of caution can keep everyone way safer.
Pretty good smile
Nope
G'mork!
My husky is usually good w people petting him. He is a year n a half. He jumps around cause he gets excited, so it scares people off. He did snap at a kid yesterday. Kid came up ask I said yes, he let my dog smell him n his tail was waging so I was like cool. The next kid just ran up, so my dog barked n snapped. I guess he doesn't like being corned, so be careful.
You do realize you're 100% liable if your dog bites a kid, right? Don't let people pet your dog
If the saying *"See with your eyes, and not your hands!"* had a photo...it would be this!
As a child I had a dog that looked like this one, I named him spot due to him having a white spot on his forehead when he was a puppy but as he grew the spot grew out and he was all black, I must have been asked a thousand times why I called him spot over the following 15 years.
Don't see anything wrong here, pup is just smiling cause they want to be pet. Can't imagine anything going wrong here.
Usually I say just plain up say "no" of they ask. If someone, usually a child, approaches anyway I will say "we are not a petting zoo" and walk the other direction.
If I see the interest - I say he is not a pet. Usually when the get the eye 👁️ they don’t bother. I’m sadly hyper vigilant.