Argh!! People are so dumb!!

[Romy]

Ok, just have to vent here.

Today was the 80th anniversary of my husband's elementary school, which we live a few blocks from. We decided to go, and also took Strider, our service dog in training. It was an outdoor event, and we thought it would be great socialization for him.

The school has signs posted out front that say:

No dogs allowed except for service dogs.

Ok, fair enough. In this state dogs in training get equal access rights to fully trained animals as well. Anyway, nobody had any problem with him whatsoever for the longest time. He was so good! There were toddlers darting around him everywhere with hotdogs in their hands, dropping food. He wanted it, but he minded super well and didn't pull or anything.

Then it happened. (insert spooky music) I walked up to the water cooler which had several moms clustered around it, all yakking to each other (all I wanted was a drink!) We were 10 FEET away, and her toddler screeches bloody murder and starts yelling "doggy! doggy!" and crying as if he had had his face ripped off or something. Then the dumb lady turned around and started reaming me for having a dog there, when you can clearly see that he's all dressed up for work with his little patches and stuff. She spent the rest of the picnic holding the little boy and shooting mad glares at us. She tried to complain to the superintendent about it, but he had just finished telling us that he was seriously considering going home to get his greyhound. Ha!

 

[Cheza]

I've noticed that in life in general, there are quite a few people who either;

a) think that they're the only ones who could possibly be right about something
b) don't pay attention to anything at all
c) are giant drama queens
d) all of the above.

This one sounds like d to be honest. I can't blame anyone for having a child that's afraid of dogs, but to yell at you is a little over the top, especially when there are signs posted. I wouldn't sweat it, you were in the right

 

[goldiefur]

What a B!tch!

 

[Georgygirl]

Maybe she should stop coddling the kid and try to help him get over his fear of dogs instead of encouraging it. I'm pretty sure that he's going to encounter more of them in the future. Some people are idiots...

 

[Romy]

Yeah, afterwards I told my husband that if our daughter ever reacted like that to something obviously harmless, then I would just be like "Stop crying. You're fine." It has worked with every other kid I watched.

Then again, maybe she is afraid of dogs too and that is where the kid's fear came from in the first place. Strider is only 13 weeks old, he's not even very big.

 

[Jean Luc Picardy]

She probably thought Strider was a pit bull

 

[Lilavati]

In my exprience, children in this country are afraid of dogs for one of two reasons:

1) They were attacked by a dog (fair enough)
2) Everytime they have started to approach a dog, one of their parents grabs them and yells at them for getting near that dangerous, dirty animal.

My hunch .if her kid is afraid of dogs, its her own dang fault. And if its not her fault, then she should be dealing with the phobia, because in this country, going through life afraid of dogs is not a particularly healthy way to live. There are dogs everywhere, so even if you don't like them, you'd better be able to cope.

 

[angelzeus]

service dogs

the child most likely was afriad of dogs and instead of mom trying to help her get over her fear mom agrees that dogs are bad not everyone can be a dog lover as we all are some people go through life no reliazing what they are missing out on by not haveing or letting there children have that experience you were right the lady needed so help

 

[Herschel]

2) Everytime they have started to approach a dog, one of their parents grabs them and yells at them for getting near that dangerous, dirty animal.

So true.

And I will add:

3) Parents never educated the child about proper dog etiquette. As a result, the kid ran up and grabbed the wrong dog and paid the price for poor parenting. (In other words, the dog was attacked and reacted)

 

[Lilavati]

So true.

And I will add:

3) Parents never educated the child about proper dog etiquette. As a result, the kid ran up and grabbed the wrong dog and paid the price for poor parenting. (In other words, the dog was attacked and reacted)

Granted, though that fits under . . . 1) was attacked by a dog . . .which, admittedly, is often the fault of the parents

 

[happyhound]

2) Everytime they have started to approach a dog, one of their parents grabs them and yells at them for getting near that dangerous, dirty animal.

I had a lady at a pet store tell her young (18 mos or so) child "Kidname, THAT dog BITES! Stay away from it!" (in re to the kid walking towards my GSP). I can understand wanting to teach your kid to not go up to strange dogs.. but building a fear of strange dogs is not the way to go about it. Now her kid is going to scream in terror when a strange dog comes near when him when he should just ask permission to pet or calmly walk away.

There should be some sort of class to take that is a pre-requisite to giving birth.

 

[lilprairiemutt]

What a B!tch!

You just insulted female dogs everwhere. LOL

I agree, that woman needs to help her child over fears not encourage them.

But then I knew some parents when I was a teenager who had told their little boy so often not to touch animals because they will bite, that he was terrified of even tiny kittens. My friends mom babysat him.

I guess they hadn't thought to include horses in their, animals are evil lectures, beccause he loved to come up and pet my Arabian through the fence. My Arab had a special place in her heart for small children. She really opened that little boy up to animals. By the time we moved a year later he would snuggle full grown cats, and pet dogs, but never in sight of his parents.

 

[Romy]

She probably thought Strider was a pit bull

Ha ha! You're probably right. Strider is brindle and white so he must be one of the fighting dawgs! Actually, right now everybody thinks he's a hairy whippet.

Look at this pit bull! Wouldn't any self respecting person run in terror? :lol-sign:

 

[Plushie]

I feel bad for you and that kid. I can just imagine that kid growing up and walking down the street, seeing someone with a dog and climbing up a tree calling his mom on speed dial. That's so stupid. She should get over herself. Drama queen.

But I'm sure it it was a 2 pound chihuahua like my sister's the little kid wouldn't notice it was there. *sigh*

 

[Lilavati]

I had a good friend with a severe phobia of dogs. I once had to rescue him from a perfectly friendly Weim that was wandering around the apartment complex. He was so scared of dogs that he was afraid to hold a 4 week old beagle puppy. I have no idea how he acquired this phobia, but it was really severe. My guess, since he said he'd never been harmed from a dog, is that he got it from his mother (who died when he was fairly young). My point here though is that he was always polite about it. He'd just say if someone came near with a dog, "I'm sorry, I'm afraid of dogs, could you not come any closer?" He also knew that screaming and acting out was a great way to make the situation more frightening for everyone. Heck, when I saved him from the Weim, and the owner (who was near by) apologized, he said "No, really its ok, I just am afraid of them, your dog didn't do anything bad"

I wish that everyone could be so polite about it . . . if you have an irrational fear, you shouldn't inflict your issues on everyone else. If your child has an irrational fear, maybe you should get them help . . . so they don't end up as a man in his mid-twenties who is afraid of puppies.

 

[Jean Luc Picardy]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! PIT BULL!! RUN! RUN! RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!



:lol-sign:

Strider is a real looker

 

[NobleRuby]

I really get aggravated with people that don't ever expose their children to animals, and the pet owner is then to blame for a child acting out. It's not that hard to visit a pet store to pet puppies once a month. Oh well, at least you know who not to hang out with ;p

 

[Whisper]

Ugh, sorry about that. People with service dogs usually end up with some real whoppers.

ETA: Stryder is adorable!

 

[Lilavati]

Ugh, sorry about that. People with service dogs usually end up with some real whoppers.

ETA: Stryder is adorable!

I don't get that either . . . can these people READ? It says 'service dog' . . yes, READ IT . . you know what that means? The dog has been trained within an inch of its life . . its no threat . . . this is not the droid you are looking for, move along . . .

 

[rosiesowner]

I have a simular experience EVERYDAY, we have a parkette out our front door and our nieghbours are on the other side of it. They have a little girl (maybe 5) and a tiny poodle cross I would assume. Well a few days after we got Darcy I was playing with my daughter (2) out front and had Darcy on leash next to us. I heard the little ask her grandpa (who lives with her) to go and play with Waverly (my daughter) and he YELLED at her, "NO YOU ARE NOT GOING NEAR THAT DOG, hes very dangerous".
Now everytime she is outside and I take out Dracy she runs screaming about tthe big mean dog.

GRRRRRR, the kid had no problem with the dog until dumbass grandpa scared her half to death!!