What People Say About Dogs/Your Breed

Ahh, you know I love Bimmer.

Even though these types of comments can be extremely irksome to hear, they are amusing to read. I will come back to this thread later.

Usually, people TELL me that my smooth Collies are beautiful Greyhound or Collie mixes, trying to impress me with their knowledge, instead of asking me what they are. When I tell them they're purebred Collies - smooth coated Collies they say "Oh, you shaved them. I don't blame you!" No, I didn't shave them, their coat is naturally this short. Usually they respond with "Oh" and walk away. A few are truly interested and hang around for the breed history lecture.

Some other real gems:

"I like the REAL Collies better."
"Are they standard sized Collies?" (I guess smooths look smaller than roughs due to lack of hair but they're the same size dog).
"Are they as smart as the long haired ones?" (This is after I've explained that they are the same breed, just a different coat variety, born in the same litters, etc., so it's a silly question).
"Do you give the short haired ones away?"
"Why would someone want a short haired one if they could have a long haired one?"

"I don't like they in that [insert tricolor, blue merle or white here] color. Collies should be brown like Lassie."

Oh he is a weird pit bull
Oh neat looking Aussie terrier ( did they ever have one ?)
Oh that is one of those aussie sheep dogs right ?
Oh you have an Aussie Shepard with no blue eyes.
oh neat lab/shepherd dog

then on the flip side I have those who know what he/ she is and they are bad looking as far as standard goes
Oh tails are docked too long ?? They are ? we dock ACDs now for standard ?
Oh that is a nice looking red, blue heeler LMAO there
oh they can not be pure bred


then there are the select handful who don't care what they are but tell me what a beautiful pair of dogs I have and how well trained they are. Those are the ones I like the best.

Ronin/Ilsa:
1. "Do they bite?" (only stuffie toys and bad guys)
2. "Can I pet them?" (of course!)
3. "what breed are they?" (I thinkt he color throws people off)
4. "Are they nice?" (as they let their dog run up to my dogs an bark in their faces)
5. "He's handsome" (to Ilsa)
6. "She's pretty!" (to Ronin)

Ada
1. most everything said to Ada involves squealing, cooing, smiling giddily and making "omigosh that's adorable!" noises. That, and...
2. "Woww.... she's faaaasssttt...."
3. "Do the Doberman beat her up?" (nope.)
4. "Does she boss around the Dobermans?" (Only Ronin.)
5. "Is she full grown?" (yep... at 18lbs, she's a VERY petite girl!)

*dies*

"Oh Look! Lassie!!!"

"She's kind of big for a Sheltie isn't she?"
(Mental Note: yes, and you are kind of big for your brain aren't you?)

"Do you have to brush her?"
(Mental note: No. She's so smart, she brushes herself)

"That's a Border Collie, right?"
"No..it's a Collie".
"Yeah that's what I said. A Border Collie".

"That's not a real collie is it? I mean it's not brown and white (sic)"

"Is she friendly?" (while kid does pat pat, slobber)
"Well sometimes she bites without warning" (no more pat pat, slobber)

i feel so lucky how i was brought up, i never thought BSL could happen till i found out about it. it never registered in my mind that certain breeds of dogs could just be agressive for no reason. so pits, rotty's, dobes etc have never ment anything differemt to a sophie or a buster.

and i cant believe people will still be scared after clearly meeting a dobe, pit etc that is very friendly and still theink their dangerous

...that's a bad thing? I mean I guess it's cool if you don't like it, but tons of people have petted my dog without asking me and I don't see anything wrong with it.

I usually don't mind what people say anymore, but quite a few people ask if my dog was a chocolate lab... I don't get annoyed it, but I think it's a little amusing

Only you. I sure missed your wit.

The most recent thing I *think I overheard was a mom telling her kid to be careful because there was a Pit Bull nearby. The kid then proceeded to walk their beagle away fom said Pit Bull and towards a Schnauzer, who promptly fired up. All I could do is look away and smile to myself at the irony.

I'm going to start replying "Only with smart people." Give folks a moment to pause and consider whether they qualify or not.

I don't get many comments that I take negatively about my dogs .. that may come from many years of teaching dog classes and being around so many people with their dogs (maybe I've heard it all? *L*).

Khana tends to get the majority of attention - she DEMANDS it! Typical comments:

"ooooooooohhhh .. what a pretty dog!"

"She's got gorgeous eyes!" (I get that one a lot - and not many people get the sex wrong - she definitely looks feminine).

"Wow, her tongue is purple!".

"What breed is that?" .

"May I pet her?" (people here are really pretty good about asking).

.. and after hearing the breed, I sometimes get:

"She's small for a chow!" and just as often: "She's big for a chow!" .. *L*

I haven't quite figured out how they can know that if they had to ask her breed in the first place!

Then there's the inevitable:

"How much times does it take to groom her?".

Of course there's the lady yesterday who said (with a bit of a sneer):

"Chow and ..... ?" So I said "full chow" and she replied "Oh?" in a slightly disbelieving tone of voice. I just smile at those kind of people and start talking about her titles and conformation points and how her parents are champions, etc. I never argue with them, I just start giving them all the background on her. It never fails to shut up people like that - I'm not sure if it's because they realize they're wrong or if I just bore them into silence .. *LOL*.

Trick, the German shepherd, is usually with me and I sometimes get people questioning what breed she is because she's very dark. Of course, then I get those who tell me stories about the shepherds they've owned/known in the past. Somehow all those old time shepherds were HUGE - last one was 180 pounds and he swore the K9 cop wanted to breed to his dog. I didn't bother to tell him that a 180 pound shepherd was completely unlikely, unreasonable, and probably unhealthy .. *L*.

But mostly I get comments like:

"What a great shepherd - I love shepherds!"

"She never takes her eyes off of you!".

"Wow, she looks great for 11!".

I was at the fishing lodge the other day and one of the guides was playing with Trick (throwing a stick) and he told one of the guys there that Trick knew how to fetch a beer from the fridge. The response to that was "you need to breed her - THOSE are the type of genetics we need to keep!" .. *chuckle* .. I just laughed. Fishing guys are all about the beer!

Melanie and the gang in Alaska

Here's ours:

A man slowed his truck down on the other side of the street and called over: "Do you hunt with that dog?" I told him no, he seemed disappointed, but said "He's a nice looking dog." I had the same thing happen with another guy, a week later. Fergus is a good looking dog, but do I look like a woman that hunts? I better start walking him with high heels and make up on.

Here's what tney say about Casey:


"Awww look shes smiling!"

OR

"I thought she was going to bite me"

"Isn't she a nice old dog" (*sniff* I hate the word old)

I had a lady tell me, "Oh those are parsons now" I said no this is a registered Jack Russell terrier. She proceeded to tell me that I was wrong. It didnt' matter I was on the BOD for the national breed club for JACK RUSSELLS or a breeder or anything. I quickly saw I couldn't educate her, so I walked away. A lot of people think they are Parsons. But I do try to explain, and most people are smart enough to get it.

"I hate JRTs, but I like yours" Get that a lot, or in a similar vein from people I meet through obedience.

Wow JRTs are hyper aren't they? Not that I have found.

Okay, since I don't have any of my own (but I can go on about the crap I get with my cats, and I will), I've quoted and compiled my favorites.. bwahaha. Now you can get the same laugh in less than six pages.



With cats...

"Wow, cats are so aloof/unloving/destructive/crazy/untrainable I don't know how you can stand them."
-Well, that would be mine know sit, down, up, give kisses, and talk with me; they have scratching posts and nothing in my house has yet been destroyed from their claws (fur is a whole 'nother matter), I get woken up in the middle of the night to give them attention, I constantly have a kitty in my lap or tripping me, and they love me enough to deal with my crap . Suuuuuure. As for craziness? Zoomies are NORMAL for cats, especially the midnight zoomies. When they race wildly around the house together, it's FUN. When your kids run around, you don't think they're crazy, do you?

"Cats are impossible to houstrain."
-Yeah, that would be why my cats took a few weeks and your kid is still wetting the bed.

"Ohhh those claws scare me, they could get my eye out!"
-Yeah, they took mine out years ago. The ones in my head are fakes. (Seriously.. adopt a declawed cat, then. More than enough of them are turned into shelters each day and euthanized.)

"Don't pet my cat she's sick/doesn't know you/doesn't like you/in a bad mood/doesn't like being petted there."
"Oh, no, cats just looooooove me!"
or
"Oh, it's alright, she doesn't mind."
-And then they are shocked when Chili rears up and scratches them in the face, and give me horrified looks proclaiming how vicious she is. I TOLD YOU NOT TO PET HER YOU IGNORANT ASSHAT. Have some alcohol on those scratches. You only get neosporin and a band-aid after I'm sure you've been traumatized enough to not pet my cats ever again.

(People like this are why I lock my cats in their room when guests come over and guests are confined to two rooms in the house at first, no matter how well I know them.)

the teacup thing is common with us...dodger is only 3lbs so its an all the time thing...

I haven't gotten that many comments on my dogs. With Daisy I've had people yell "Cute dog!" out of their cars when they drive by. People ask me if she's a lab, which partly she is. Oh and one old guy said "If she were any bigger you could put a saddle on her and ride her!" Um yeah ok.

With Benji, I get asked if he's a shih tzu, and I can see why people might think that. I just tell them he's a terrier mix, we think Schnauzer/Dachshund.

In regards to cockers, I can see why some people think what they do about them. I worked at a grooming place for a while as a receptionist, and we did a lot of cockers. Most of them were not friendly, and a lot of them STANK because of ear infections and skin problems. There were a few nice ones (like the older cocker who's owner kept her in a full skirt all of the time, nice dog, kooky owner). You can see why people might not like cockers when most of what they are exposed to are stinky, gross, and unfriendly. I take dogs on an individual basis though.

ROFL! Priceless! Can't I steal that saying?

I'll just replace it with Toy Poodle and anything under 10 inches.

"Ohhh look its Lassie, She is so pretty"
-The name is Blaze, not Lassie, and its a HE not a SHE just like the orignal Lassie was a male too)

" Do you have to brush him everyday?"
-(Like others have said) No he can do that himself.

"Does she/he save you when you fall down or hurt yourself?"
-Yes offcourse, he didnt go through CPR/medical traning for no reason.

"She/he is small is it a mini lassie dog?"
-No, there is no such thing as a mini collie, he is just poorly bred.

"He must be part shepard becuase he isnt a regular size so he must be a mix of somthing" - I actually got in to a real argument with a lady at the dog park over this.
-No he is just poorly bred.

"Oh its a Lassie, look kids a lassie dog, go pet her she will be so friendly to you, all lassie dogs are.
-Well HE is friendly, he is also very shy and doesnt like kids running up to him, espeacially with out asking me so I can get him to sit still for a child.

He is a big sheltie.
-No he is a small collie (he isnt as tall as a collie should be)

"Do you shave him in the summer?"
-No, that would not be good for his coat. Plus double coated dogs like him keep cooler with all the hair they have.

"He swims? He must not be full collie. becuase collies dont like water!"
-Yes he swims. There is no rules perbreed that say they must hate water. He lovs water and enjoys it just as much as a lab would. He is full collie.

"He must have chow in him he has black in his mouth"
-No he just has a dark pigment on his gums. Lots of breeds and dogs get it.

"He barks alot and is chasing the other dogs (this is at the dog park, where he chases the dogs and bark at them) he is to mean!"
-He is a herding breed of dog. It is nautral for him to chase and bark. It is a game for him. Just like it is a game for your dog to chase a ball.

"Awww look at the puppy lassie dog!"
-He is not a puppy he is 4 years old.
--"But he is sooo small"
-He is not super small. He is 70lbs and 18inchs at the sholder, pretty much a good collie size.
There is so many more I could say, just cant think of any more yet lol.