# Is it acceptable for dogs to put their paws up on a stranger in public? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 2, 2009, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-acceptable-for-dogs-to-put-their-paws-up-on-a-stranger-in-public/516073 "2009-11-02T18:07:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-acceptable-for-dogs-to-put-their-paws-up-on-a-stranger-in-public/516073/61 "2009-11-04T04:44:51Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Absolutely not. And as soon as a dog does this, unless it’s a puppy, I immediately think less of the dog owner. This. If the dog is so poorly trained that it will run up to a total stranger and jump up on them, it’s not too much of a stretch that they might be so poorly trained that they’d bite, too. I love dogs, but with 90% of the dogs I encounter, I’m absolutely disgusted by their owners, who apparently cannot be arsed to bother with even minimal training. Once I was bitten by a dog while out for a run in my own damn neighborhood, because the owner couldn’t be bothered to train it properly – so it got **really** excited that I was passing by, jumped on me, and chomped my wrist while I was pushing it off. What was the owner doing? Limply holding onto the other end of the leash like a wet rag, saying “Rocky, no!” while doing absolutely nothing to try to pull the dog away from me. (Seriously, the leash wasn’t even taut.) Then when I told her that her dog had bitten me, she ran. I was busy checking for blood, and she completely disappeared in under five seconds, before I could even get her name (or see where she went). If your dogs jumps on me you’re very likely to piss me off enough to start filing reports with animal control on your ass. If you don’t have time to properly train your dog, you **don’t have time to own one.** ---
**Author:** ![BMada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/96bed5/32.png) [@BMada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMada)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-acceptable-for-dogs-to-put-their-paws-up-on-a-stranger-in-public/516073/62 "2009-11-04T04:57:46Z")
> [@Kaio](#): > > This. If the dog is so poorly trained that it will run up to a total stranger and jump up on them, it’s not too much of a stretch that they might be so poorly trained that they’d bite, too. > > I love dogs, but with 90% of the dogs I encounter, I’m absolutely disgusted by their owners, who apparently cannot be arsed to bother with even minimal training. Once I was bitten by a dog while out for a run in my own damn neighborhood, because the owner couldn’t be bothered to train it properly – so it got **really** excited that I was passing by, jumped on me, and chomped my wrist while I was pushing it off. What was the owner doing? Limply holding onto the other end of the leash like a wet rag, saying “Rocky, no!” while doing absolutely nothing to try to pull the dog away from me. (Seriously, the leash wasn’t even taut.) > > Then when I told her that her dog had bitten me, she ran. I was busy checking for blood, and she completely disappeared in under five seconds, before I could even get her name (or see where she went). > > If your dogs jumps on me you’re very likely to piss me off enough to start filing reports with animal control on your ass. If you don’t have time to properly train your dog, you **don’t have time to own one.** wow if a dog bit me and had a leash on it, first thing i’d do is hold onto the leash so it won’t leave my vicinity. I had to get the Rabies vaccination because a cat bit me and I couldn’t find the cat and its owner to make sure it wasn’t 100% rabid. My doctor said it was a precaution. Tetanus shot, one rabies vaccination and two steroid shots in the ass. and subsequent visits for more rabies vaccinations. Funny thing is I asked my doctor if it was common for rabies vaccs to be ordered, he said mostly for children… I was in my twenties. I felt like a dork. I pet a homeless person’s cat at a soup kitchen I was volunteering to start up a conversation and she had a pitbull there too. I’m a dog person but that dog kinda scared me, shoulda went for the dog though, cat’s are fucking crazy. Dog’s are easier to read. Lesson learned no more touching pets that I can’t get back to. ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-acceptable-for-dogs-to-put-their-paws-up-on-a-stranger-in-public/516073/63 "2009-11-04T05:07:23Z")
Sure, hindsight being 20/20 and all, but I was shocked that the dog jumped me in the first place, that the owner couldn’t be bothered to pull it off me, and the damn thing bit me, I really didn’t want to be that close to it. I also wasn’t expecting her to run, silly me. I only looked down for a couple seconds, I haven’t a clue how she managed to disappear that fast. Luckily, while I had tooth-pressure marks, the dog didn’t actually break the skin. I grabbed its ear and pulled its head away from me hard once I felt the jaws go around my wrist. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-acceptable-for-dogs-to-put-their-paws-up-on-a-stranger-in-public/516073/64 "2009-11-04T05:25:34Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > This is the first I’ve heard of this, especially with dogs being so useful in the days in which the Koran was first written. Why? Is it one of those religiously based bans like pigs for Judaism? From [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_and_animals#Dogs): > [@](#): > > The majority of both Sunni and Shi’a Muslim jurists consider dogs to be ritually unclean, though jurists from the Sunni Maliki school disagree.[25] However, outside their ritual uncleanness, Islamic fatāwā, or rulings, enjoin that dogs be treated kindly or else be freed.[26] > > Muslims generally cast dogs in a negative light because of their ritual impurity. The story of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus in the Qur’an (and also role of the dog in early Christianity) is one of the striking exceptions.[27] Muhammad didn’t like dogs according to Sunni tradition, and most practicing Muslims do not have dogs as pets.[14] It is said that angels do not enter a house which contains a dog. Though dogs are not allowed for pets, they are allowed to be kept if used for work, such as guarding your house or farm, or when used for hunting purposes. > > According to a generally unaccepted Sunni tradition attributed to Muhammad, black dogs are evil, or even devils, in animal form. This report reflects the pre-Islamic Arab mythology and the vast majority of Ulema (Muslim jurists) viewed it to be falsely attributed to Muhammad.[25] > > Another Sunni tradition attributed to Muhammad commands Muslims not trade or deal in dogs.[28] According to El Fadl, this shows the cultural biases against dogs as a source of moral danger.[25] However, the Hanafi scholars, the largest school of ritual law in Sunni Islam, allow all trading in dogs. > > According to one story, Muhammad is said to have informed a prostitute who had seen a thirsty dog hanging about a well and given it water to drink. Allah forgave her because of that good deed.[14][29] > > In a tradition found in the Sunni hadith book, al-Muwatta, Muhammad states that the company of dogs voids a portion of a Muslim’s good deeds.[30] > > Dogs, outside the ritual legal discourse, were often portrayed in the literature as a symbol of highly esteemed virtues such as self-sacrifice and loyalty or on the other hand as an oppressive instrument in the hands of despotic and unjust rulers.[25] > > The historian William Montgomery Watt states that Muhammad’s kindness to animals was remarkable for the social context of his upbringing. He cites an instance of Muhammed posting sentries to ensure that a female dog with newborn puppies was not disturbed by his army traveling to Mecca in the year 630.[31] Also see: > **[Muslim Taxi Drivers vs. Seeing-Eye Dogs](https://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2005/11/muslim-taxi-drivers-vs-seeing-eye-dogs)** > > Muslim lore has it that dogs, and especially their saliva, are impure, so pious Muslims often avoid the animals (though they are used for hunting, guarding, and guiding). In most circumstances, this repugnance does not present a problem in the West,... [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16472393/](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16472393/) > **[Muslim outrage at police advert featuring cute puppy sitting in policeman's hat](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1030798/Muslim-outrage-police-advert-featuring-cute-puppy-sitting-policemans-hat.html)** > > A postcard featuring a cute puppy sitting in a policeman's hat advertising a Scottish police force's new telephone number has sparked outrage from Muslims. > **[Muslims Owning Dogs: Permissible? - Fiqh - IslamOnline](https://fiqh.islamonline.net/en/muslims-owning-dogs-permissible/)** > > Dear scholars, As-Salamu \`alaykum. Is it permissible for a Muslim to own a dog? Is there any restriction on keeping the dog inside the house? Jazakum Allah khayran. And a welcome contrarian viewpoint: > **[The great Arab-Muslim-American dog story.](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2004/11/the-great-arab-muslim-american-dog-story.html)** > > Having a dog in an Arab/Muslim household is an exhausting proposition. Who wants to wash or take a shower every time a dog touches or licks you, as I... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-acceptable-for-dogs-to-put-their-paws-up-on-a-stranger-in-public/516073.md?page=3)