Get bent you old bag

[Primer]

Oh my, the dogs I've owned...

Speaking of dogs with prejudices, as terrible as it is, when I was still living at home, we had a black lab who would FREAK out if any males of African American skin tone came up near the house.

MY first dog (as an adult) was the same way. We got him when he was about 10 months old, but had gotten to big and rambunctious for the little girl that owned him. At the time, we lived in a very mixed neighborhood. It would not have been quite so bad, but the dog's name (named by a 4 year old)? Blackie. We lived on a corner lot and had a chain link fence. I always had to look around before I called him in!

A friend of mine has a dog that HATES black men and anyone in uniform. Anyone else she just wants to play fetch with.

Another dog...this one owned me when I was a kid. We lived at an apartment complex that provided housekeeping and gardeners. Dutch just loved the housekeepers, but hated the gardeners, who happened to be black men in uniforms. One day Dutch was out, and apparently one of the gardeners gave one of the housekeepers a playful swat on the butt. We got a call from the management office..."Mrs. <Primer's mom>, would you please call your dog in? He has one of our gardener's treed." The housekeeper involved just loved Dutch, especially after that!

I'm not much of a dog person, but I can usually tell the difference between vicious and playful. It's in the eyes, I think. Playful dogs have a kind of "so happy I'm stupid" look in their eyes. You can almost hear the voice going through their doggy brains: "Oh boy! Oh boy! Ohboyohboyohboy!!!!!! Peoples! Play! play with meeee! Playplayplayplay!!! Pleeeeeeeeeze!!!!!11!!!"

The doxie mix I have now--2 years ago some acquaintances brought him to a reenactment when he was about 10 weeks old. When you looked in his eyes, there was. nothing. there. No soul, no glimmer, nothing. He ended up coming home with me. He is now just about the happiest thing you could imagine!

[Blckroses]

This isn't just a dog problem.
We have 3 cats (I know, working my way to crazy cat lady) and one of them is very scared of strangers. She will hiss and growl at anyone new that gets too close to her. But she's really just terrified and has never bit anyone and doesn't use her claws if she bats at someone. When new people come over they think she's mean with all the hissing and growling, but she's just scared. I don't know if she was abused or not since we got her when she was a year old or so, but we've never done anything bad to her in the 3 years we've had her. She's also very loveable to my boyfriend and I with lots of purring and kitty licks.

[KiaKat]

We get a lot of dogs in the store, mostly because the owner's dog is here whenever she is, so our customers are welcome to come in with theirs.

We have one regular who has a little mutt. This little mutt is adorable, sweet as anything, but terrified of new people. He will approach you, then back off when you try to say hullo. He wasn't abused, he was adopted from a local woman who is known to take wonderful care of her dogs.

Actually, lately he's been better, but I think that's because he saw another dog getting pets and ear-rubs from us, so he realizes we aren't scary people. But it's just his personality.

Some people are just so convinced that everyone other than themselves are awful, terrible pet owners.

Or perhaps she's the type who feels that humans shouldn't have pets because it's animal cruelty?

[LewisLegion]

Oh please. I have a mini doxie...and she HAS been abused. She was a wreck when I got her...skin and bones, open sores, infected ears, terrified of EVERYONE (esp men).

You'd never know it to see her now. She'll strut right up to almost everyone with confidence, and acts like she never had a fear in the world. She does get a little hesitant about certain people touching her now and again but she'll just step back out of the way, not cringe like she's been beaten. And men with beards or faces covered she'll bark at a bit, but that's it.

Some dogs are just more timid than others, without ever having been hit or abused in any way.

[atomicthumbs]

Oh my god, what a massive bitch!

Actually, a small one, according to the OP.

[portia911]

I know. I love my little wagglebutt dog. She thinks she is really brave protecting me. Bless her.

[Munkie]

I like dogs to a point, and I can usually tell when one is friendly. I've been getting pretty good at reading animal body language. I own two cats who love just about everyone. My black cat is a snuggle bug with anyone who'll scratch and tug his ears. My white one is a little more discerning... he'll only snuggle with me at any given time of day, though he will often snuggle my roommate at night. Both of them HAVE TO sniff strangers, and usually will find a spot nearby to perch and observe said strangers but will not actively snuggle while the strangers are there. They'll accept the petting, but once they have had their fill, off they go, not to come out until everyone's gone.

[roadgypsy]

I had a similar problem the other day, I have a lab I take with me everywhere in the truck, I feel bad sometimes he doesn't have more room to run, but he's very co-dependant and is happy just to spend time with me. whenever i go to a terminal to get repairs done, I have to put him in his kennel outside, regardless of the weather but I always do my best to make him comfortable. On thursday I was in our PA terminal, and it was in the 70's with a nice breeze, he had a small amount of shade from a car, but it wasn't nessicary and i went off to shower after talking to service writer. As i was finishing up in the shower I got a knock and was told safety was looking for me, he'd been there for maybe 45 minutes at this point. I got downstairs and was givin a bunch of crap about how people complained he was distressed and in the sun without water, when he had drank before we got off the truck 45 minutes earlier, and there were threats made to call the police, I told them to go ahead, the police will come take 1 look at how healthy and attatched to me he is and be on their way. To prove a point, I spent the next 3 hours sitting next to him in the direct sunlight enjoying the beautiful day while reading, and noone had the courage to come say anything to my face about it. I also like to point out the lack of safety saying anything to the new drivers in orientation at the same terminal last fall who were lunging at him in his kennel and laughing when he threw himself snarling against the cage.

[SilverOrb]

Now that pisses me off. My best friend has a dear little pupy who was badly abused and rescued. This dog is less than a year old and has had already had puppies. She was in a home with dozens of other dogs and cats, and has a very hard time relating to men. She is very sweet, but constantly needs held and touched. You should have seen her getting used to a big house with friendly puppies and a big back yard!

Real dogs are abused every day. As are other animals that are never reported (like ratties )

She should focus her energies on animals that actually ARE abused.

[mharbourgirl]

My furbaby is THE most entitled little princess in the universe, and she gets very annoyed with me when I don't cater to her every demand. She barks at anyone who comes into the yard, or walks down the street, or pulls into the neighbor's yard. And she has scared a few people because her bark could clean glass and sounds insane, but it's all just a bid for attention. And she will KEEP barking after your in the house until you give her the worship and adulation she believes she deserves, too. If you're someone she especially likes, she will, unfortunately, be so excited that she will widdle on the floor and then look extremely embarassed about it.

We got her when she was 6 months old, and she's always seemed a bit starved for attention, not to mention getting very upset unless the whole family is in the house and preferably within eyesight. If my mother-in-law is taking a nap, for example, she'll trot back and forth from room to room just keeping tabs on everyone. I'm not sure what her care was like before we got her, but it doesn't seem to have included much attention.

Oh, does anyone else have a dog that will hop in any car door that's open and expect to be taken for a ride? Doesn't matter if it's a stranger's car, either. She tried to go for a ride with the mail lady one day. Fortunately we live out in the boonies so the people she's done that to were family or friends who knew her tendencies, and she rarely goes outside without a leash on anyway, but it does worry me a little. She's obsessive in some ways, and this is one of her things that I've not yet been able to train her out of doing.

[Music Mo-Gal]

the customer states in a matter of fact manner "Well she's obviously been abused!"

I am going to be the lone voice of dissent here and say that I don't find this particularly sucky. I hear people say this kind of thing all the time. It's a logical assumption that a skittish, nervous, shy pet has been abused.

I also don't think the customer was accusing YOU of abusing the animal; she probably assumed it was a rescued animal that was taken out of a horrible situation.

[ravenrose]

or my personal favorite that I should have him "de-barked". I told THAT person "You first, bitch. He's a dog, what kind of sound is he supposed to make? Moo?!"

Some people shouldn't be allowed to speak. Can we get that old bag de-barked?

Oooh, I hate that! I have a Papillon, (for those who don't know, their nickname is Yappy Pappy, because they are quite vocal), and I've had 2 former landlords tell me, AFTER I told them that she is yappy, and had been living there for several months, that she needed to be debarked, or to have a shock collar put on her! She's 4 lbs.

Oh, does anyone else have a dog that will hop in any car door that's open and expect to be taken for a ride? Doesn't matter if it's a stranger's car, either. She tried to go for a ride with the mail lady one day. Fortunately we live out in the boonies so the people she's done that to were family or friends who knew her tendencies, and she rarely goes outside without a leash on anyway, but it does worry me a little. She's obsessive in some ways, and this is one of her things that I've not yet been able to train her out of doing.

My Tibetan Spaniel mix does that, lol. When he manages to escape out of the front yard, that's how I have to catch him; he gets so excited about exploring that I can't get him.

[KabeRinnaul]

I had a rottweiler with the same problem. She just hated men for some reason. It was really funny when a van full of male solicitors would pull into the driveway though. She went berserk! Never bit anyone, but if you didn't know her, you'd never be able to tell.

I used to have a dog like that. She was a Lhasa Apso who hated any men she wasn't completely used to. The only ones she'd tolerate were myself, my dad, one of my uncles, and one of my cousins. Anyone else, she went right into "guard dog" mode and aimed for the ankles.

Any women she met (excluding a cousin who teased her constantly), she'd sniff them, then lie down on their feet and go to sleep.

[Anakah]

Where do you work where you can have a dog with you?

[KhirasHY]

If he's wagging his tail like mad, are you sure he's not saying "play with me!!!11!eleventy!"

Heh, that reminds me of my last dog...dalmation, she would get so excited when people came over that several things would happen all at once:

1. She would wag her tail so hard, her entire body would be propelled into motion by it.
2. She would bare her teeth, and begin licking the air (wasn't a threat, was just her reaction to anything fun )
3. She would get really confused as to which noise to make, and would make something that was a cross between a bark, whine, growl, and yip...the best way to sum up the sound is "GroaaaaaOAOAOaa".

To sum it all up, when someone finally reached out to pet her, #4 and #5 would occur...

4. Her brain would explode. Tail wagging motion now has the power to take out a Ford F-150, and her licking proficience goes up by 100. She now shakes with anticipation at being pet, but is so eager to lick the person's hand that she prevents them from petting her.
5. Her excitement would get to her, and she would proceed to immediately pee. The tail wagging then turned this into something worse, since the newly formed puddle on the wood floor suddenly became a sprinkler.

Due to #5, we made sure that people met her in the back yard All things considered though...I miss that dog a lot...