Just Wondering

[puppydog]

Out of curiosity, from the biting thread. People with small dogs, do you blame your dog if they bite a stranger that picked them up without permission?
I allow Lilly to defend herself and if people pick her up even though she has clearly warned them not to and she bites, I usually crap the person out, not Lilly.

I really do feel it is very rude to pick up a dog without first asking the permission of the owner and dog. Lilly does not like to be held, least of all by strangers. She only allows people she knows VERY well to pick her up.

What do you do?

 

[Maxy24]

I think it's the owner's responsibility to make the stranger VERY aware of their dog's feelings about being picked up. Most people are not all that good at reading dogs. I completely agree that it is an extremely rude and stupid thing to do (picking up someone's dog without permission) and if the person does not listen to you then they got what was coming.

 

[puppydog]

The thing is, we are often out and about and Lills likes to lie a few meters away from us in the sun, especially if we are at a pub or doing an outdoor lunch. South Africa is very dog friendly and your dog is not required to be on a leash as long as it is under control. Ben is leashed at all times because he does wander off and I don't like calling him all the time.
But sometimes someone will just walk up behind Lills and pick her up when she is relaxing somewhere. She lashes out, if her teeth connect they don't connect hard and she has never left a mark, she usually does it as a warning. If people approach and I see them, I greet them and they have to ask me if they can touch her. If the move towards her I stop them and introduce, then she is fine.

It is just those sneak attacks she resents and I do too!!!!

 

[corgipower]

I think there needs to be more public awareness regarding interact with unknown dogs. One of my biggest pet peeves is people trying to pet my dogs without asking me first. I once had someone reach out to pet my dog while he was peeing. He. Leg lifted on a tree and all.

Yea, if someone were to pet a dog of mine without asking and got bitten, I'd be blaming the person. My dog is fine in the presence of people ~ can sit, stand, lie down, walk past. That doesn't mean my dog wants to be touched by them.

 

[puppydog]

Lilly tends to move away from people quickly if they approach her in a forceful manner. If they corner her she turns her head away and growls. If people pick her up by surprise or force her to be picked up she bites.

If people approach her and put their hands out she is over there for lovings right away. She loves being petted and loved on. If they try and pick her up from there, she will scuttle away and come back for pets, mostly, they get the idea.

 

[FoxyWench]

i think its extreemly rude of ANYONE to TOUCH someone elses dog without asking first, i find it amazing here how many people just feel they have every right to pet my dogs...
ive even had paretns TELL their kids to "go pet the nice doggy" no "ASK if you can pet the dog first...oh no...they simply tell them like my dog is their personal petting zoo (this peves me of even more when i have ruby out and shes CLEARLY marked as a service dog...) i had one parent YELL at me when i told her her kid could not pet dodger (dodger is highly warey fo strangers due to a combination of abuse as a pup and lack of socilization on my part) dodger was in MY arsm off the ground, under control and behaving and this woman tells her son of about 6 that he can go pet the nice doggy, when i heard it i told her "no he cant, this dog is terrified of strangers" she had the gall to stand there SCREAMING at me about how her kid had every right to pet my dog, and if i didnt want people touching him i shouldnt have brought him outside! *blinks*

PICKING your dog up...oh there woudl be pain and suffering on the part of any stranger who picks up any of my dogs, they have no right and i would EXPECT my dogs to retaliate at that point...
if i hand the dog over...or its someone they know well and they intiate fine pick them up, hold them, whatever, but if im in the park walking my dog and some stranger decides oh cute dog and sweeps them up, they beter hope its the dog biting them because my first reaction woudl be Whos trying to steal my dog and as shy as i am, im also 300lbs of crazy if i think my dogs are in danger.

what IDIOT picks up a strange dog? thats like going over to an aligator and petting it...
definatly woudl not blame any of my dogs for biting that kind of idiot.

 

[Criosphynx]

Foxywench...:hail::hail::hail:





I'am NOT shy about telling kids to not pet the dog. If there is no parent there...forget it....I let supervised kids and older kids who ask first.

I've never really had an adult pet the dog at and inapropriate time....


I have had adults pick my dogs up without asking...but not suddenly upon meeting...usually at a dogpark.


I do however expect my dogs NOT to bite som'one unless they were being handled in an over the top manner...if they are simply picked up...in the same way I would...I don't expect them to bite the person.

If my dog bites som'one I would do LOTS of training/socialization with that dog to make sure it doesn't happen again... In fact I already do this...if som'one is holding my dog and I have treats...I'll ask the person to feed them treats....california is very sue happy.... Its VERY important that my dogs are comfortable in many situations.

Just in case.

 

[Laurelin]

Out of curiosity, from the biting thread. People with small dogs, do you blame your dog if they bite a stranger that picked them up without permission?
I allow Lilly to defend herself and if people pick her up even though she has clearly warned them not to and she bites, I usually crap the person out, not Lilly.

I really do feel it is very rude to pick up a dog without first asking the permission of the owner and dog. Lilly does not like to be held, least of all by strangers. She only allows people she knows VERY well to pick her up.

What do you do?

I would blame myself for allowing the situation to get that far. I know that's not entirely reasonable because I have had people try a few times. I've altered what I do around people accordingly. In some crowd situations it's just best to pick the dog up yourself, even though mine are fine walking past people and other dogs in close proximity. Whenever a kid comes to pet, I always kneel down next to the dog and most the time keep a hand on the dog just in case.

I am very confident though that none of my dogs would bite if someone random did grab at them or pick them up.

 

[Criosphynx]

I would blame myself for allowing the situation to get that far. I know that's not entirely reasonable because I have had people try a few times. I've altered what I do around people accordingly. In some crowd situations it's just best to pick the dog up yourself, even though mine are fine walking past people and other dogs in close proximity. Whenever a kid comes to pet, I always kneel down next to the dog and most the time keep a hand on the dog just in case.

I am very confident though that none of my dogs would bite if someone random did grab at them or pick them up.

and this....^^

 

[corgipower]

ive even had paretns TELL their kids to "go pet the nice doggy" no "ASK if you can pet the dog first...oh no...

I was out with Ares and we were playing. He had a ball. Along comes a young kid - maybe 6 or 7 accompanied by a man who looked like maybe her grandfather. The kid sees Ares and starts to move towards him. The man grabs the kid's hand and stops her, says to her "You need to ask first." The kid starts to ask the man and he explains that it's me she needs to be asking, so the kid asks me if she can pet the dog. I smiled a huge smile and explained that she needed to wait until I got the toy from Ares first. Once the toy was gone, the kid came over and petted him while I thanked the man for teaching her correctly.

Another time I had 3 dogs with me at the park and they were all doing a down stay. A family came over and the mom wanted her kids to pet the dogs. Didn't ask me if they could, just sent her kids over. I looked up and said something like please don't pet them. The mom had a fit about it, claiming that I had no business bringing my dogs to a park if kids couldn't pet them. Uh, yea...dogs are friendly. I'm not.

 

[Buddy'sParents]

One of my biggest pet peeves with owning dogs is that people feel they have some sort of privilege to be in your dogs presence and thus squeal "oooohhh look at the cuuuuute doooogggieeeeeeeeee" as they are rushing the poor dog(s) at the same time!

I WILL use bodily force. NO ONE approaches my animals without approval from me or my husband, FIRST. Especially in that high pitched, squeaky voice. And guess what, I'm not going to make my dog stand there while you gush if they don't wanna! Nope. I don't own dogs for anyone else's benefit except for mine.

I hate parents that do not teach proper dog manners to their children. How to approach dogs, how to ask if they can pet them.

So, not that anyone would try to pick up any of my three (hah!, good luck) if they approached after being warned and they were to get knocked out by Bella's tail or pushed down or snapped at, it's their fault. BUT, it would also be my fault for letting it go that far. If someone is able to approach without my approval, I have failed my dogs and my vow to protect them.

 

[Phoenixangelwyngs]

I don't have smaller dogs so perhaps my opinion doesn't matter but I'm offering it anyway....

If I approached a dog that I don't know and I pet it or attempt to pick it up then HECK YES I expect the dog to react appropriately. I can read dogs fairly well though and I always instruct my son to ask and I ask too. How hard is it to say, "Oh cute dog, may I pet him or her?" I expect even dogs I know to be not okay with me running up to pet them.... I usually talk to them first and wait for them to become curious of me before offering my hand to sniff while looking away from the dog so they don't interpret my actions as threatening.

 

[Buddy'sParents]

I don't have smaller dogs so perhaps my opinion doesn't matter but I'm offering it anyway....

If I approached a dog that I don't know and I pet it or attempt to pick it up then HECK YES I expect the dog to react appropriately. I can read dogs fairly well though and I always instruct my son to ask and I ask too. How hard is it to say, "Oh cute dog, may I pet him or her?" I expect even dogs I know to be not okay with me running up to pet them.... I usually talk to them first and wait for them to become curious of me before offering my hand to sniff while looking away from the dog so they don't interpret my actions as threatening.

Thank you for teaching your son to ask! More parents should.

 

[Fran101]

Because Kenya is a GSD.. people are very careful and when kids try to run up to pet her theiir parents YANK them back lol sometimes having a GSD is a good thing. But strange thing is, She LOVES kids. and likes to be petted

Charlie is a bichon frise, hes small white and fluffy but most of all, hes a grumpy old man and he loves taking his walks IN PEACE. if people ask, i let them pet him, hes fine with people petting him but we have had problems with people picking him up. He has arthritis and people picking him up the wrong way HURTS but it has happened to us many times.. im walking with charlie and while im distracted (answering my phone) i will hear a loud yelp and some kid will be holding him wrong and putting strain on his front legs, hes screaming and pain and then the kid drops him and looks at me like IM crazy. I told that kid to always ask and that charlie couldve bitten him and he hurt my dog badly, he ran off crying, i didnt care.

 

[Beanie]

I would blame myself for allowing the situation to get that far.

This is how I feel, too. IMO it's my job to protect Auggie from stupid people - not Auggie's job to protect Auggie from stupid people.

 

[HoundedByHounds]

Mine know the rules well...so two more kiddos out there won't accost you. LOL.

I also ALWAYS THANK CHILDREN WHO ASK FIRST. I remark how nice that was and how my dog appreciates them being so polite. They usually puff out their chests and get very proud.

We musn't forget to reward those folks who do things RIGHT as well. Esp in the hearing of other folks!

 

[lizzybeth727]

I would blame myself for allowing the situation to get that far. I know that's not entirely reasonable because I have had people try a few times. I've altered what I do around people accordingly. In some crowd situations it's just best to pick the dog up yourself, even though mine are fine walking past people and other dogs in close proximity. Whenever a kid comes to pet, I always kneel down next to the dog and most the time keep a hand on the dog just in case.

:hail: Exactly what I was going to say.

It is not acceptable for my dog to bite anyone, anywhere, anytime; small bite, big bite; smart person, stupid person, in my presence, or by herself. NEVER acceptable.

If she feels she needs to bite someone, I am not fulfilling my responsibility to her. It's MY job to do whatever I have to do to keep her out of situations where she is that uncomfortable and stressed.

Yes, I definately agree that people who pet or pick up my dog without permission are stupid and annoying. But letting my dog bite them is not going to solve the problem. Preventing them from petting the dogs and educating them about why it is important to ask permission is much more effective.

 

[Sweet72947]

People around here are pretty good about asking first. Nobody has tried to pick up Benji, but if they did he would probably snap at them, or at the very least look at me like "what is this crazy person doing??" Somebody would have to knock me down before picking up Benji without permission, however.

I knew a miniature poodle in my old neighborhood who would SCREAM if someone she didn't know tried to pick her up. She never tried to bite, but if someone grabbed her, there would be a high pitched scream, the person would be startled and drop her, and she would continue on her merry way. (RIP Sandy)

 

[Paige]

I'd keep her leashed. She clearly shouldn't be off lead if she feels the need to bite? Is it right of them to try and pick up your dog? NO! But as her owner knowing she is like that you are best keeping her as close to you as possible. If she's on a lead you are holding and you aren't fully paying attention you certainly will feel the dog getting picked up. Or notice the weird person crouching around your feet.

 

[ma-vie-en-vert]

To say a dog shouldn't ever bite anyone ever is to say a human should never ever hit anyone. They have a right to defend themselves too. But even more important, we should stop situations from occuring where they might have to defend themselves. If some random went up to Alexa and she bit them I'd blame the random. She's never really in a position to do that, but sh*t happens sometimes. Even in our fenced yard there's been little kids (sometimes even older kids) who have tried climbing the fence to see the "cute doggie". I should be able to feel comfortable in leaving my dog her fenced yard without watching her every second. If you decide to be an idiot and try and pet her when she doesn't want you to and you get chomped, tough luck kid.