Reaction Of Chinese People To My Dog

[Mickys slave]

Ive noticed mixed reactions to Micky. Some people are happy to walk up to her and patter, though look to me for confirmation that its ok first. A lot of people though, see a big dog and avoid her - personally i dont think dalmatians are that big - and it doesnt matter their nationality. People are wary of dogs they dont know. And being a typical dalmatian, if you have her attention she runs over, tail wagging, all excited.... and when someone walks away she gets curious lol. I try to only let her off the leash where there is few distractions, and if im walking her on a leash i shorten the leash way before we get to the person so no one tries to tell me to control her - when its sheer curiousity on her part. Other dogs also seem to follow Micky and not listen to their owners when she is leash free. Ive had plenty of people freaked out my by her smarl though, even people who know her well. They think she is about to attack them, so i tell them straight up that the only time she has ever growled at anyone or anything was when a brown dog bit her on the back of the legs and ran off, so dad yelled at it, so now she doesnt like dogs standing behind her, particularly brown dogs. I tell people the worst she is going to do is lick people and sniff them, and then she does exactly that. Sometimes she is so caught up in her own little world that she doesnt even notice someone till they are patting her lol.

What i love however is other peoples reactions when big dogs are off leash and tearing around... When Micky was younger she used to play wrestles with a Doberman, and at another park with two Rodesian Ridgeback X's. She has always loved running with other big dogs her size or even bigger. The non big dog owners around look at you like because the dogs are running they are going to rip into their smaller dog, or because the dogs are running they are going to suddenly lunge at a person.... My dogs attention is completely taken by trying to catch the other dog, and i sometimes it takes a great deal of calling to get the dogs to go " oh hang on we leaving now " and stop having fun, but people assume a dog running is a bad thing. I guess its peoples experiences, but it takes 1 bad experience to ruin it for some people, and sometimes people never warm up to dogs. Everyones different i spose.

The dog before her that we had, was an Airdale, and the biggest softie. He was such a sookie boy, but because the second he was out of the yard on a leash he would pull so hard my dad had to run to keep up with him, people assumed he was bad mannered, when it was jsut his intial excitement lol.

[Loving my Oldies]

My heart aches for some dogs. In my neighbourhood is a couple with a gorgeous dog who is walked twice daily and is taken to the park where they play ball. But while walking he is on a retractable lead which the man constantly lets in an out and the dog is constantly being jerked back from a sniff here and a sniff there. And if we meet up while I am walking my dogs, the other dog can't even say hello or sniff bottoms, etc etc without being jerked back and forth.

It reached such a point of amazement to me that these people just wouldn't let the dogs play and sniff that I asked if he was their first dog. Nope - they'd had dogs all their lives.

[Ripley]

There is a German guy around our neighbourhood and twice now I've seen his GSD off lead. One day it ran at me and Millie and I know you aren't supposed to pick your dog up but when you have a larger dog running at you I don't care, I will protect my dog first. I picked her up and held her above my head. I felt paws on the back of my shoulders, I'm tall but the paws still reached my shoulders. I prepared for the worst but he just licked me. I was angry at the guy who came running up to grab his dog. What if I'd been a kid or an old lady. I told him he needed to take his dog to training, but he said he had and was embarrassed as he 'failed'. So yes I'd risk a bite to protect my dog, I wasn't going to take the chance of her being bitten with a GSD or any dog, running towards me on the street.

As for Chinese people, there are a lot of Asians in my area now and a few are scared of Millie and she's the size of a cat, it doesn't bother me at all if people are scared of my fluffball. Kids seem to love her though but it took a while for the 2 kids near us to get used to her. They will call her over when we are coming back from a walk, and she wants to go over to them with her tail wagging as she likes kids, but they then run from her squealing, so now I ignore them when they call her over and silently think, just go away and leave her alone, you little sh*ts.

Edited November 18, 2009 by Ripley

[tarope]

There is a German guy around our neighbourhood and twice now I've seen his GSD off lead. One day it ran at me and Millie and I know you aren't supposed to pick your dog up but when you have a larger dog running at you I don't care, I will protect my dog first. I picked her up and held her above my head. I felt paws on the back of my shoulders, I'm tall but the paws still reached my shoulders. I prepared for the worst but he just licked me. I was angry at the guy who came running up to grab his dog. What if I'd been a kid or an old lady. I told him he needed to take his dog to training, but he said he had and was embarrassed as he 'failed'. So yes I'd risk a bite to protect my dog, I wasn't going to take the chance of her being bitten with a GSD or any dog, running towards me on the street.

As for Chinese people, there are a lot of Asians in my area now and a few are scared of Millie and she's the size of a cat, it doesn't bother me at all if people are scared of my fluffball. Kids seem to love her though but it took a while for the 2 kids near us to get used to her. They will call her over when we are coming back from a walk, and she wants to go over to them with her tail wagging as she likes kids, but they then run from her squealing, so now I ignore them when they call her over and silently think, just go away and leave her alone, you little sh*ts.

Ripley,

I'm sorry for what happened to you, tell this moron his dog must be on a lead in public that's the law. :D People like this give the breed a bad name.

As for obedience training, how many times did he go ? I bet not it wasn't long. ;) There's only one thing wrong with GSD's, they attract Idiots like him and the breed suffers.

[Red Fox]

My heart aches for some dogs. In my neighbourhood is a couple with a gorgeous dog who is walked twice daily and is taken to the park where they play ball. But while walking he is on a retractable lead which the man constantly lets in an out and the dog is constantly being jerked back from a sniff here and a sniff there. And if we meet up while I am walking my dogs, the other dog can't even say hello or sniff bottoms, etc etc without being jerked back and forth.

It reached such a point of amazement to me that these people just wouldn't let the dogs play and sniff that I asked if he was their first dog. Nope - they'd had dogs all their lives.

Okay, this is a little OT

While I don't agree with the dog being jerked around on a flexi lead at all the bolded part of your post bothers me a bit.

When we first got Kei we were told socialise, socialise, socialise! We went to puppy pre-school and socialised, we went to obedience and socialised, we socialised Kei with friends dogs and dogs we met on walks. And (while Kei now loves other dogs) I have ended up with a dog that values play with other dogs over all else. This has caused major problems with training and walking. I have been dragged down the street and have ended up on my ass countless times when my dog saw another dog and went into overdrive.

Not only is this behaviour extremely embarassing but with a 40kg+ dog it's downright dangerous.

I'm now working with the help of a very good trainer (K9 Force ) to correct this problem and am proud to say we are doing well. But what it does mean is that Kei does not get to socialise with other dogs. He is not allowed to approach and play with dogs we meet on walks, I just don't put him in that situation.

This doesn't mean that he has no fun or that he will never get to play with another dog again though.

I can completely understand why someone would not allow their dog to sniff and play with others. And when I do eventually get another dog I will look to neutralise it to other dogs from a young age rather than socialise.

While it's nice to have a friendly dog it doesn't work that way for everyone .

[Ripley]

Ripley,

I'm sorry for what happened to you, tell this moron his dog must be on a lead in public that's the law. People like this give the breed a bad name. :D

As for obedience training, how many times did he go ? I bet not it wasn't long. ;) There's only one thing wrong with GSD's, they attract Idiots like him and the breed suffers.

tarope, the dog was on his front porch and got excited and ran to us. It's not the first time. He said he was embarrassed as his dog was so badly behaved at training, the dog is pretty young I think. I used to refer to him as the mad German guy but I haven't seen him around for a while now, maybe he moved.

[poodlefan]

This is a bit OT but the problem with picking up your small dog is that only are you drawing attention to the dog as a higher prize but you also increase the risk to yourself of getting bitten. Eg as a large unknown dog walks past on the same path the little old lady picks up their little dog. The large unknown dog lunges at her and dog because she drew attention to her dog. If she hadnt of panicked and kept walking the dog would have don the same.

Big assumption not always proven in reality. I speak from experience. Sometimes the dog is going to lunge because it wants to attack anyway. Too late to find that out when the dog has yours in its mouth. :D

Sometimes picking up your small dog isnt the best thing for anyone. It can as others have said have negative effects on the other dog over time.

And sometimes it might just save your dogs life. Let me tell you, if a dog is coming hard at you straining on the end of a lead and its big enough to get your dog in its mouth, you tend to do what you think is best to prevent an attack. I've moved out of range of some dogs to have te owner change direction to bring them in on mine.. you know, the "he just wants to say hi" brigade. When this "friendly" dog is walking stiffly with a fixed hard stare and is pilar erect, I don't take them at their word. If the dog is coming, it already knows your dog is there - you won't draw attention to it by getting it out of initial attack range. I'll take a few bites if it means my dog survives but fortunately few DA dogs are HA. They have to get past my boot anyway.

I think the "picking up your small dog makes it dominant" theory is a crock of shite. Most small dogs don't have death wishes and its an owners responsiblility to defend their dog isn't it?

3 out of 3 attacks on my dogs over the years have been GSDs. Most poodle people are dead wary of them.. something in poodle body language doesn't sit well with GSDs so don't be offended if poodle owners avoid you - sometimes their actions are based on bitter experience.

Edited November 18, 2009 by poodlefan

[Vehs]

3 out of 3 attacks on my dogs over the years have been GSDs. Most poodle people are dead wary of them.. something in poodle body language doesn't sit well with GSDs so don't be offended if poodle owners avoid you - sometimes their actions are based on bitter experience.

have you seen K9- the shep ALWAYS gets with the st poodle..... I was going to get a st poodle for the D

sorry about your wee dogs PF

[Akayla]

This is a bit OT but the problem with picking up your small dog is that only are you drawing attention to the dog as a higher prize but you also increase the risk to yourself of getting bitten. Eg as a large unknown dog walks past on the same path the little old lady picks up their little dog. The large unknown dog lunges at her and dog because she drew attention to her dog. If she hadnt of panicked and kept walking the dog would have don the same.

Big assumption not always proven in reality. I speak from experience. Sometimes the dog is going to lunge because it wants to attack anyway. Too late to find that out when the dog has yours in its mouth.

Sometimes picking up your small dog isnt the best thing for anyone. It can as others have said have negative effects on the other dog over time.

And sometimes it might just save your dogs life. Let me tell you, if a dog is coming hard at you straining on the end of a lead and its big enough to get your dog in its mouth, you tend to do what you think is best to prevent an attack. I've moved out of range of some dogs to have te owner change direction to bring them in on mine.. you know, the "he just wants to say hi" brigade. When this "friendly" dog is walking stiffly with a fixed hard stare and is pilar erect, I don't take them at their word. If the dog is coming, it already knows your dog is there - you won't draw attention to it by getting it out of initial attack range. I'll take a few bites if it means my dog survives but fortunately few DA dogs are HA. They have to get past my boot anyway.

I think the "picking up your small dog makes it dominant" theory is a crock of shite. Most small dogs don't have death wishes and its an owners responsiblility to defend their dog isn't it?

3 out of 3 attacks on my dogs over the years have been GSDs. Most poodle people are dead wary of them.. something in poodle body language doesn't sit well with GSDs so don't be offended if poodle owners avoid you - sometimes their actions are based on bitter experience.

I didnt say always I said sometimes. I mean it as information for people to consider. I also didnt say it makes the dog dominant but a higher value item.

Ive also seen a little dog have it neck broken becuase the owner went to pick up the dog - the big dog only "switched on" to the little dog when the owner went for it.

My point is that each case needs to be seen individually. If you pick up your dog every time when a large dog approaches with out "seeing" the other dog you may have a problem. Not that it isnt the other person responsibility to make sure their dog is safe but it would be a bit too late then.

Lakota has known poodles and hasnt had a problem.

I also dont get offended if people avoid me so long as they let me get on with my walk too.

ETA: Vehs

Edited November 18, 2009 by Shadow walker

[chrisjc]

sheesh, try walking a pitbull then, even my well mannered healing apbt sends people running of all races! and it sometimes seems like she knows it too,the disapointment on her face when someone avoids a walkby pat is like shes been scarred for life!

but on a serious note , it would come down to the individual, person more than a generalisation. we had a chinese butcher that used to supplie some of our chicken at my old pet food shop and all he would ever do is come out to the car pat kimba and then joke to me about how good she would taste on the spit! He would always give her the fattiest bits of chicken skin he could find and tell me how i needed to fatten her up for when we got together for a bbq! hilarious, and obviously she looked forward to seeing him every day and him her too i think, i wonder wheather she would have the same attitude if she knew what we would be talking about while she was scoffing a couple of necks down!

Edited November 18, 2009 by chrisjc

[jaybeece]

I don't mind if people are afraid of my dog. I use it as a training exercise to keep him as calm and polite as possible and find it helps them deal with him better. It's not their fault they're scared.

My parents have homestay students from Hong Kong living with them, one of the boys took one look at my dog when he came into the house and nearly jumped a metre into the air. My dog went up to say hi, he took off and they played chasey around the dining table ;) I shouldn't have laughed, but it was hilarious and he did laugh once he realised the dog was playing, not trying to eat him. The boy they have now just took to my dog the second he saw him which was pretty cool, he's a very outgoing kid and despite having never seen a large dog before, he went straight in for a cuddle

And a couple of years ago I walked the dog up to the local pizza place and was sitting outside waiting for the food to cook. One of the guys, I think he was Chinese, came out to chat about the dog and while talking about food he said chicken frames make his dogs fart so bad they sleep outside. I asked what he had, my brain generalising straight away and thinking they were small fluffy things and he said "Oh 3 rotties" He wouldn't have been taller than 5'5" and probably weighed less than each dog.

So yeah I don't know if the asian/Chinese generalisation works. Mum and dad have a lot of people from Hong Kong coming and going through their house and only a couple have been afraid of my boy.

[APBT]

sheesh, try walking a pitbull then, even my well mannered healing apbt sends people running of all races! and it sometimes seems like she knows it too,the disapointment on her face when someone avoids a walkby pat is like shes been scarred for life!

but on a serious note , it would come down to the individual, person more than a generalisation. we had a chinese butcher that used to supplie some of our chicken at my old pet food shop and all he would ever do is come out to the car pat kimba and then joke to me about how good she would taste on the spit! He would always give her the fattiest bits of chicken skin he could find and tell me how i needed to fatten her up for when we got together for a bbq! hilarious, and obviously she looked forward to seeing him every day and him her too i think, i wonder wheather she would have the same attitude if she knew what we would be talking about while she was scoffing a couple of necks down!

ive never had a problem walking my pit, different area different people i spose.

[grantwit]

My suburb where i live has a large Asian community. Most are ok with my GSD (also helps shes only 5 months old!) but you do get nervous looks. It doesnt bother me. As she is still young and boisterous i tend to move off the path and give them plenty of room when i pass. Sometimes they will stop me and ask if shes ok to pat, other times they dart by quickly. I dont mind moving to give them space though, if i was confronted with a large dog that made me nervous i would appreciate the owner doing that for me.

You can get the opposite reaction though from the community in general. Now we arent talking about a little fluffy thing, but a large dog who, although only 5 months, is bigger than young kids. Ive been in the pet shop with her talking to the owner, i look up and a mother has walked up with her 4 year old, not spoken to me and just told her daughter to hold her hand out and pat Cullen. What if my dog was nervous of kids? What if she had gotten excited and knocked the poor child over. It would have all been my fault then im sure! Its no wonder kids are bitten by dogs all the time with parents like that!

[ILuvAmstaffs]

I had some guy telling me at a dog park that chinese people would hate my dog etc because they are so scared of them. I just nodded my head & didn't point out that my mother is Singaporean chinese & has owned GSDs (my grandfather bred them) then dobes most of her life & is my amstaffs biggest fan.

Having owned larger dogs all my life, I haven't noticed any real reactions from chinese people in general. Though I often get nasty looks from older australian ladies when walking my dog. ;)