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themintycupcake:
trashcanbees:
rose-owl:
northernsaw-whetowl:
just-call-me-ella:
Okay so here’s the thing. I love dogs. Dogs are amazing wonderful creatures. But we have to stop acting like dogs are perfect, or safe to be around every one and every thing.
I just watched a gif of a man walking his dog when they came upon kittens. The dog immediately lunged - only to have the mother cat barrel in and scare the dog off. I was furious, because the owner sat and watched as his dog lunged at a kitten - and had to be beaten off of it by its mother.
In the comments people were discussing it, saying “That dog just wanted to play! He wasn’t going to actually *hurt* the kitten!”
And I’d really like us to stop this.
“He just wants to say hi,”
“he’s just trying to play”
are two phrases commonly said by people who do not understand their dogs behavior, and make excuses for them.
That dog did not want to play. When dogs want to play, they change their body language and start using different behavior - most obviously the play bow. They sniff first, and get introductions out of the way. If your dog lunges for something the moment they set its eyes on it - they do not want to play. Just imagine, if you were a kid who had never met someone before and they just straight up attacked you. That would be different from someone walking up and saying “hey, do you wanna play/wrestle?”
And here’s the thing. There’s nothing wrong with that dog, it just should not be allowed around animals smaller than it. Cats, hamsters, rabbits, hedgehogs, even toy breeds of dogs, I wouldn’t consider safe. And thats OK! You can have a perfectly happy life with your dog never harming any animals as long as you know this and make sure to pay attention. But if that dog harms a kitten or other small animal, I blame the owner, who should have known better.
We have to be responsible owners and know our dogs. And as people, we need to stop making excuses for other animals and instead do our best to make sure everyone in the situation is safe, not just the dog who “just wants to play” or “was just trying to say hi”, while barreling straight for something.
Just because you love your dog doesn’t mean its not aggressive in specific situations. Doesn’t mean its safe for all to be around. Doesn’t mean its incapable of fault.
Could I also add that we need to remember not every person is okay with dogs running up to them/jumping on them? One of my favorite places to bird is also a place where people have their dogs off-leash. There have been so many times I’ve been looking through binoculars, only to have a large dog sprint over and jump on me.
It got to the point where I started to develop a (slight) fear of dogs there. It was like I was watching over my shoulder every time because it generally happened at least once a visit.
I don’t know dog body language, so sometimes they’d be barking or growling and full out running at me. Even now, I don’t really know how to judge whether they’re aggressive or playful. Sometimes it was just a big dog barreling at me, and I never knew what to do other than stand there and wait to see what happened.
It was way too common for me to ask the owner to please get their dog, and for them to either think I was being ridiculous or to not even apologize. One day there were three dogs, and they managed to come up behind me without me realizing until they were close and nearly knock me over. I started crying, and the owner – who didn’t see it because the dogs ran ahead – thought I was absolutely crazy. “They’re just being friendly,” he told me.
And like I get it, they trust their dogs and know they wouldn’t hurt anyone, but I can’t judge that, and I also just sometimes want experiences without dogs doing that.
At this point, I just avoid that park, and that’s ridiculous. Like I’m an animal lover, and I generally love dogs. If it’s enough to drive me away, I can guarantee it does the same to other people.
There’s also a problem with people who have this idea that all dog breeds act like well trained golden retrievers. Whenever I tell someone that certain dog breeds require more training than others I get the same whiney ass response “well my dog is perf so ur just a hater”. Apparently stating that dogs are simply animals and not perfect babies must mean I hate them, right?
People who get large/high energy/intelligent dogs without doing research or training end up with a dog with behavioral issues. Ironicaly those people end up contributing to the “bad dog breed” stereotypes they try to debunk and their dogs suffer for it.
People definitely have a much easier time accepting that cats aren’t for everyone than dogs, which is ironic because the stakes are much lower with cats.
It was a recurring problem for my family where strangers with large dogs would try to bring their big dogs close to our small dog to “say hello.” We would always tell them to please not do that, and of course a lot of the time they’d get offended. How dare we imply that their dog would do anything to hurt our dog? Yeah, well, it’s happened before, and 1) you’re a stranger with a dog we don’t know 2) your dog is far more capable of causing serious injury to our dog if something were to happen. We knew our dog, we knew that other dogs made her nervous, so we were being responsible dog owners and keeping her away from other dogs. Please respect that not every dog or its owner wants your dog near it.
(Your picture was not posted)
themintycupcake:
trashcanbees:
rose-owl:
northernsaw-whetowl:
just-call-me-ella:
Okay so here’s the thing. I love dogs. Dogs are amazing wonderful creatures. But we have to stop acting like dogs are perfect, or safe to be around every one and every thing.
I just watched a gif of a man walking his dog when they came upon kittens. The dog immediately lunged - only to have the mother cat barrel in and scare the dog off. I was furious, because the owner sat and watched as his dog lunged at a kitten - and had to be beaten off of it by its mother.
In the comments people were discussing it, saying “That dog just wanted to play! He wasn’t going to actually *hurt* the kitten!”
And I’d really like us to stop this.
“He just wants to say hi,”
“he’s just trying to play”
are two phrases commonly said by people who do not understand their dogs behavior, and make excuses for them.
That dog did not want to play. When dogs want to play, they change their body language and start using different behavior - most obviously the play bow. They sniff first, and get introductions out of the way. If your dog lunges for something the moment they set its eyes on it - they do not want to play. Just imagine, if you were a kid who had never met someone before and they just straight up attacked you. That would be different from someone walking up and saying “hey, do you wanna play/wrestle?”
And here’s the thing. There’s nothing wrong with that dog, it just should not be allowed around animals smaller than it. Cats, hamsters, rabbits, hedgehogs, even toy breeds of dogs, I wouldn’t consider safe. And thats OK! You can have a perfectly happy life with your dog never harming any animals as long as you know this and make sure to pay attention. But if that dog harms a kitten or other small animal, I blame the owner, who should have known better.
We have to be responsible owners and know our dogs. And as people, we need to stop making excuses for other animals and instead do our best to make sure everyone in the situation is safe, not just the dog who “just wants to play” or “was just trying to say hi”, while barreling straight for something.
Just because you love your dog doesn’t mean its not aggressive in specific situations. Doesn’t mean its safe for all to be around. Doesn’t mean its incapable of fault.
Could I also add that we need to remember not every person is okay with dogs running up to them/jumping on them? One of my favorite places to bird is also a place where people have their dogs off-leash. There have been so many times I’ve been looking through binoculars, only to have a large dog sprint over and jump on me.
It got to the point where I started to develop a (slight) fear of dogs there. It was like I was watching over my shoulder every time because it generally happened at least once a visit.
I don’t know dog body language, so sometimes they’d be barking or growling and full out running at me. Even now, I don’t really know how to judge whether they’re aggressive or playful. Sometimes it was just a big dog barreling at me, and I never knew what to do other than stand there and wait to see what happened.
It was way too common for me to ask the owner to please get their dog, and for them to either think I was being ridiculous or to not even apologize. One day there were three dogs, and they managed to come up behind me without me realizing until they were close and nearly knock me over. I started crying, and the owner – who didn’t see it because the dogs ran ahead – thought I was absolutely crazy. “They’re just being friendly,” he told me.
And like I get it, they trust their dogs and know they wouldn’t hurt anyone, but I can’t judge that, and I also just sometimes want experiences without dogs doing that.
At this point, I just avoid that park, and that’s ridiculous. Like I’m an animal lover, and I generally love dogs. If it’s enough to drive me away, I can guarantee it does the same to other people.
There’s also a problem with people who have this idea that all dog breeds act like well trained golden retrievers. Whenever I tell someone that certain dog breeds require more training than others I get the same whiney ass response “well my dog is perf so ur just a hater”. Apparently stating that dogs are simply animals and not perfect babies must mean I hate them, right?
People who get large/high energy/intelligent dogs without doing research or training end up with a dog with behavioral issues. Ironicaly those people end up contributing to the “bad dog breed” stereotypes they try to debunk and their dogs suffer for it.
People definitely have a much easier time accepting that cats aren’t for everyone than dogs, which is ironic because the stakes are much lower with cats.
It was a recurring problem for my family where strangers with large dogs would try to bring their big dogs close to our small dog to “say hello.” We would always tell them to please not do that, and of course a lot of the time they’d get offended. How dare we imply that their dog would do anything to hurt our dog? Yeah, well, it’s happened before, and 1) you’re a stranger with a dog we don’t know 2) your dog is far more capable of causing serious injury to our dog if something were to happen. We knew our dog, we knew that other dogs made her nervous, so we were being responsible dog owners and keeping her away from other dogs. Please respect that not every dog or its owner wants your dog near it.
(Your picture was not posted)