I don’t understand why this is so hard to understand.
If a happy dog is running directly for me, I know what happy dogs often do: they want to jump on people. I will prepare myself for this, usually by stooping so that the dog doesn’t need to jump to greet me or putting out my hands so that the dog doesn’t successfully jump all over me. If it’s a wee little poodle and I’m wearing grubby blue jeans, it’s one thing; if it’s a big dog or I’m wearing pantyhose or nice slacks, it’s another.
If a happy child is running at me, I’ll probably do the same thing: stoop or put my hands out to greet them. Most happy children do not have long hard curling nails that will snag or dirty my clothes. Most (not all) people also train their progeny better than their dogs.
We have two, once three, fairly big dogs – a bit smaller than your average Labrador but bigger than a beagle. They wouldn’t intimidate most non-phobic adults, but they could definitely scare a kid if they weren’t being careful. We handle that situation in two ways: first, our dogs are VERY well trained not to jump up on people. They bounce and wag and love love love, but they don’t jump. One will happily put his head in your lap and the other will try to shake hands with you over and over and over (:rolleyes: yes, it’s a pain, we’re trying to teach her better and have been trying for years), but they’ve had enough training to not jump on people.
And second, if we’re having someone new over, we make sure they know we have dogs and cats and they’re all fairly large and sociable. If this is a problem – if they’re phobic or just dislike animals – we have no problem putting the dogs outside or in kennels and putting the cats in the bathroom for a few hours. If the animals start to misbehave, they get put outside or in kennels. I don’t see why this is such a problem. If the guests didn’t like incense or garlic or cookies or blue slippers we would not try to push those things on them. If we thought their demands were too great we would not invite them over. It’s just courtesy. What’s the matter with that? Surely it’s not news to anyone that some people just don’t like dogs. Making sure there isn’t going to be a problem is one really fantastic way of preventing problems from cropping up.
Oh, and the GSD/PWD thing: I was confused when I saw it. I Googled it. I rolled my eyes and thought “Ah, I get it. Either you assume everyone knows what you mean or you’re being intentionally needlessly obtuse.” I went on with my life unscathed.
No, it appears you are missing the point. A headlock is completely inappropriate behavior from a child. Jumping up is completely inappropriate behavior from a dog. Both are equivalent behavior – at best inappropriate, at worst could cause me injury, by accident or otherwise – and therefore get the same response – I will push them away from me. There is no difference in the way I respond. I won’t wait for a kid to hit me before I push him away, either.
Because I’m not. A well-behaved dog can touch me all it wants, because it won’t be doing so inappropriately, because it’s well-behaved. I do play with dogs. I don’t play with dogs that jump up or otherwise behave inappropriately.
I like dogs; I dislike the vast majority of dog owners, because of exactly this. I don’t believe for a second that you don’t understand what I’m saying. You’re just trying to justify the fact that you don’t want to take responsibility should your dog jump up on people. I’m sure you’d like to tell yourself it’s perfectly okay for your dog to jump up on people, without regard to how said people feel about that. That doesn’t make it true.
Apparently you need a lot more context than average then. Particularly since you only responded to about 10% of what you quoted.
And? Are you just proving that you are smart enough to have caught that?
Oh please what? You don’t agree that it is a common misspelling, or that you spelled it correctly only where you quote me?
Wow. You are completely out of touch with both kids and dogs, aren’t you? A headlock is MUCH more inappropriate behavior than merely putting hands or paws on your pants. And unless you are a seriously delicate flower, a dog merely jumping up and putting paws on you is not going to cause you injury - certainly much less likely than being put in a headlock.
Then you don’t play with dogs very long. A dog isn’t an infallible being, it will behave (what you would consider) inappropriately at some point.
Honey, my dogs don’t jump on anyone (I’m working on my third Obedience Trial Champion fercrissakes), and I am far more conscious of whether or not any given person may be made uncomfortable by them than the average pet owner. However, I still would not allow you near my dogs because of your intent to over-react should they do something that you don’t like. The average person does not assume they could be injured merely because a dog jumps on them.
I don’t think most folks consider a scratch or two as an injury (I certainly hope not), and I would also hope that getting scratched more than once doesn’t lead to assuming that all dogs are going to injure you.
I am fond of dogs, and have had a number of them in addition to the current beast. I do not assume that everyone shares my love and tolerance of dogs or that they regard being scratched or knocked down by someone else’s dog as something other than an injury.
It goes with being a mature and responsible pet owner. You need to learn this.
Indeed - I can’t imagine a responsible pet owner thinking of ‘it’s no big deal when my dog sometimes knocks down or scratches people’ as a defensible position.
You need to learn to read posts in context. I was responding to posts by Little Plastic Ninja and Kaio where they seem to think that getting scratched is the same thing as suffering an injury. Getting knocked down wasn’t referenced. There seems to be a desire by some folks in here to equate being touched by a dog with being - as Kaio said, put in a headlock. That is what I am responding to.
As for being a mature and responsible pet owner, as I said above my dogs never jump on anyone. I also said that I am involved in competitive obedience and am about to finish my third Obedience Trial Championship. Next week we will compete in the (very minorly televised) National Obedience Invitational. I trained dogs professionally for decades. I highly doubt there is anyone on this board with as much experience and expertise at training dogs than I have.
Not believing that a minor scratch is the same thing as being put in a headlock has zero to do with being a mature and responsible pet owner.
“Well, you won’t get injured!”
“Here is a minor injury you might suffer to yourself or your clothing.”
“Pathetic! That doesn’t count!”
“Well, what about a larger danger?”
“You didn’t mention that before, so it also doesn’t count.”
I think he’s saying that having your skin broken by a dog’s nails is an injury. I have to agree. Also, I get really pissed when dogs ruin my clothes with their teeth or nails.
I don’t agree that a scratch is an injury, but again what I am responding to here is equating being touched by a dog with being - as Kaio said, put in a headlock.
Today I got whacked with baseboard I think it was, at Lowe’s by a kid that was swinging it back and forth as he walked with his (I assume) father. I managed to avoid it as they were coming at me, but he got me on the backswing after I passed them. Raised a dandy bruise, but I don’t consider that kid as having injured me. As much as I dislike kids, I don’t stoop to what I see as a very over-exaggerated response to dogs jumping up as I’ve seen here.
An injury is anything that causes physical damage to the body, no matter how minor. Yes, a contusion counts, you weirdo (**contusion **definition: an injury that does not break the skin).
Eh, whatever. There is too much focus on what one person thinks is an injury and another thinks is just a boo-boo, and none on my actual point, which was again - there is no comparison between getting (maybe!) a scratch from a dog that jumps up on you, and getting put in a headlock.
I haven’t said that they do - as a matter of fact, I’ve said at least twice that mine don’t. However, one should not automatically commit violence on such a dog over the possibility of a minor, er, injury such as getting scratched. Particularly if a certain person has stated he/she is willing to wait to see if he/she is going to be injured by the approach of a being of another species.
Shoot, I’ve been severely bitten by client dogs in the past, but I would never assume a dog that is jumping up is intent on actually hurting me, and over-reacting as some here say they will.
The act of a dog jumping on someone can injure them. I have met elderly people who have fallen and broken bones because when a dog jumped on them in a friendly fashion, they lost their balance and fell. Also, human shins get cellulitis from minor scratches very easily in diabetics.
Nobody in this thread has identified themselves as anything but an average adult. As a card carrying crip, I imagine I’m the most likely one to get a real injury from a dog jumping up yet I would never plan to commit violence on it’s body for merely being friendly and without manners. That is the part I don’t get.
Forget it, people. Curlcoat is right and you all are wrong, wrong, wrong, and she’ll keep replying to this telling you all you are wrong. This is because curlcoat is a troll who has done this in about 30 other threads.
