Could Have Been Disastrous!

[Maxiewolf]

Hmm I dunno maybe I'm over reacting but sheish, I reckon I saw someone do about one of the stupidest things with a pup I think I have ever seen In my dog owning life.

I was minding my friends shop yesterday morning, I'd taken Brutus to work with me so I could give him a bath in the morning before we opened (it's a pet shop with a grooming room. - well not a pet shop really she doesnt sell pets, she's a rescue promoter ) cos at the moment my back is too sore to do him the old fashioned way at home.

Anyway, shop is of course sensory overload for Brutus who can barely sit still or contain himself (even after an 8klm walk to GET THERE) so of course we are massively excited any time someone comes in, holding up a toy and expecting everyone to play with him... We can usually get him to sit quietly and wait to play... So.. in the afternoon a guy comes in with this tiiiiiiny little beagle/cavvyish looking little puppy holding it in his hands...

He walked over to Brutus, and I thought he was gonna let Brutus sniff him while he was holding the pup in his hands, before I could say probably not a good Idea for such a young puppy (plus I also had no idea what Brutus would do with something so tiny..) he promply plopped the puppy on the floor and skidded him right up to Brutus's FEET!! Ahhh!! Like he was a bowl of food or something! EEK!

So, I'm like stunned... he didn't check with me first to see if my dog was friendly (yeah okay it would be pretty stupid to bring an unfriendly dog into a public shop, but hey people have done dumber things.. I always assume the worst of people for that reason.) So.. possible scenarios here ..

1. Brutus Doesn't like having small puppy shoved into his space near his toys or stuff, decides to growl or snap at small puppy = Puppy scared for life, angry owner for having "vicous dog" like Dobermann in public, possible vet bills or worse.

2. Brutus the over excitable near 40 kilo behemoth doesnt realise that puppy is small and fragile and proceeds to treat it like any other big dog he plays with, jumps on and or squishes/hurts little puppy = Puppy also affected for life and vet bills et al.

Scenario 3 - Thank DOG - as it would happen Brutus stands there and gets down to tiny puppy level and allows himself to be happily crawled over and have his ears licked in and chewed on and pawed over and doest not move at all, moron owner picks up puppy... thankfully no harm done.

But Just AHHH!! I know at least 2 other dogs that frequent that shop that belong to customers that if you did a silly thing like that scenario 1 or 2 would have been likely. I mean by all means socialise your puppy but theres a right way and a wrong way to do it and personally to me I thought that was the stupidist thing Id ever seen.

[mumof4girls]

Brain of a duck.. people continue to amaze me..

[RiverStar-Aura]

People are just lacking in common sense these days. The sheer stupidity of people no longer amazes me, it's just expected.

Oh me of little faith in the human race!

[Tilly]

Some people just have no idea ... I had my 7 month old GSD boy at small local off leash park. Car pulled up beside park so I head over to my boy (he was going through selective hearing stage) ready to clip lead on ... when the guy gets out of the car and drops the tinest little pup over the fence and continues his conversation on the mobile with his back to the park.

Thankfully my boy decided he would listen to me and came running when I called his name ... and when I tried to explain to the guy that is was not a good idea to drop such a small pup into the park when a large unknown dog was there ... I got abused and told my dog shouldn't be there if he wasn't friendly.

Couldn't get him to understand ... my dog is friendly but he was a 35+kg puppy who had no idea on his size or strength ... and could have easierly hurt the puppy.

[WeimMe]

A lot of people have this dewy eyed belief that all adult dogs have some kind of maternal instinct and will be friendly and tolerant of pups.

In most cases this is probably true...but like you said, sometimes young large dogs have no idea that their idea of play would likely result in injury to small pups and other dogs, like some people, don't always tolerate babies all that well.

[BC Crazy]

Some people are in fairy land I think. I witnessed a very similar scernario yesterday at our local leach-free dog beach but it had a very horrific & tragic ending.

In short ( as I am still quite upset about what took place ) One large dog & 2 very small puppies all playing in the shallows, off lead. Owners are present but not

paying enough attention IMHO. Big dog has a brain snap, picks up one of the pup's, shakes it & puts it under the water. 5 second's later, poor puppy is dead

Owners of puppy screaming & crying. Tried to resuscitate the puppy but it was all to late. I hardly slept last night as all I could hear in my head was this poor woman's

screaming & the tiny pup yelping. It all happened that quickly. You can just never be too careful. R.I.P little girl. So, so sorry.

[Fit for a King]

Brain of a duck.. people continue to amaze me..

I think that's a bit harsh.....on the duck.........

[Chezy]

silly thing to do , some ppl just don't know, did you point it out to him? so he doesn't do it to the wrong dog with disaterous results

[❤LovesPoodles❤]

Some people are in fairy land I think. I witnessed a very similar scernario yesterday at our local leach-free dog beach but it had a very horrific & tragic ending.

In short ( as I am still quite upset about what took place ) One large dog & 2 very small puppies all playing in the shallows, off lead. Owners are present but not

paying enough attention IMHO. Big dog has a brain snap, picks up one of the pup's, shakes it & puts it under the water. 5 second's later, poor puppy is dead

Owners of puppy screaming & crying. Tried to resuscitate the puppy but it was all to late. I hardly slept last night as all I could hear in my head was this poor woman's

screaming & the tiny pup yelping. It all happened that quickly. You can just never be too careful. R.I.P little girl. So, so sorry.

I wouldn't have been able to sleep either! Poor little puppy

[Maxiewolf]

silly thing to do , some ppl just don't know, did you point it out to him? so he doesn't do it to the wrong dog with disaterous results

I Was mostly speachless, (Dumbfounded) I was just too relieved when he picked the puppy Up and left after i didn't have what he wanted for the puppy in the first place. You think of all this stuff afterwards.. like I would have told him in addition to that not being such a smart Idea, I also would have said to watch that his puppy now doesnt bolt up to any big dog assuming that its gonna be okay.

All afterthought I guess.

BC Crazy, that is terrible for you to have had to see T_T , that was exactly the scenario I saw run through my head for a second - I mean as well as I know my dog whats to say he wouldn't just snap for an unknown reason? And eek as well I wouldn't let two small pups off lead on a beach in the shallows anyway The water rushing out could easily drag a puppy out in a blink of an eye! And there is the tragic proof that people just dont think, or supervise enough around their dogs.

[Chezy]

omfg that poor puppy BC

yes I hate it when that happens maxiewolf, shame as it would have been a good chance to educate a sm1 , if he'd have listened anyway

[wantsapuppy]

Omg poor puppy.

:rainbowbridge:

I don't even have a dog but this is one reason why I'm note real keen on the leash free areas. All it takes is one irresponsible jackass and terrible things happen

Seriously why do some people just have .

[BC Crazy]

Yes. I still can't get my head around what happened. Still can't sleep. It has really shaken me up. I've never let either of mine loose to roam as puppies or now. Just didn't for this very reason. Anything can happen.

Friends of mine always say that I am too protective with mine & "why don't I let them MIX more with other dogs ????". Cause they are actually happy to play with each other & a lot safer. I tend to stay as far as I

can away from other dogs/people 99% of the time. They are just too precious to me & it is my job to protect them as best as I can.

Sorry for the ramble guys. Just venting. Sleep deprived.

Edited April 3, 2012 by BC Crazy

[raineth]

good on Brutus though, what good boy :)

I bet you were proud of him :)

[fuzzy82]

Yeah, people are just stupid.

I was at the pet store with my poodle x one time, I was paying for something and couldn't watch her fully, so I had her on a tight leash behind me, so she wouldn't jump up on people. Then suddenly I hear very serious growling and snarling and turn around to find that a couple with a fluffy let their dog walk up to mine to "say hi". My dog was fine, she was just sniffing the air wondering what the fuss was about, but their dog was obviously vicious/terrified/aggressive etc.

So they just assumed my dog was friendly and let their dog walk up to mine when I wasn't looking, which could have resulted in my dog biting theirs. They were lucky enough that mine is friendly, but their dog was aggressive, so their dog could have bitten mine too.

Just rude. And stupid.

Good on Brutus though, I would have been proud of that.

Edited April 3, 2012 by fuzzy82

[Maxiewolf]

OH yes, I'm very proud of Brutus at times. For the things he does that are "Bad" like ie. Not come when he is called, Stubborn, Bossy, Dominating, selective hearing etc. Times like this I woudln't trade him for any other dog in the world. He has been attacked numerous times in his life by other uncontrolled dogs (he is an entire male and not once has he ever retaliated, or started it for that matter.) He was set upon by another dog in that same shop, made him bleed and everything and he just hid behind me, poor boy.

So I'm glad that he was so calm and patient with this little puppy thrust upon him. Gives me confidence for getting another puppy in the future that he may not play too rough, it lives to be seen. Mind you he is also this calm and "understanding" of little children, adults on the other hand he seems to think "your big, you can hack it." - Proceeds to jump on you and push you over. So yeah... Im so very proud that he held up his end of being a good dog.

*sigh* People just dont think, no wonder there are so many "problem" dogs.. just prooves more and more its the owner 90% of the Time and not the dog.

[BC Crazy]

Sooo very true Maxiewolf.

It is pretty much always the owners fault. 99% of the time. You are very proud of Brutus, as you should be.

I am proud of him. An entire male an all. You are obviously also doing ALL the right things as a responsible owner :)

Edited April 3, 2012 by BC Crazy

[Dame Aussie]

Yes. I still can't get my head around what happened. Still can't sleep. It has really shaken me up. I've never let either of mine loose to roam as puppies or now. Just didn't for this very reason. Anything can happen.

Friends of mine always say that I am too protective with mine & "why don't I let them MIX more with other dogs ????". Cause they are actually happy to play with each other & a lot safer. I tend to stay as far as I

can away from other dogs/people 99% of the time. They are just too precious to me & it is my job to protect them as best as I can.

Sorry for the ramble guys. Just venting. Sleep deprived.

I'm the same, my dogs only mix with other dogs we know. I stay away from all off leash areas and my dogs are happy as Larry. I don't get this idea that dogs HAVE TO play with other strange dogs....

[Poppy's mum]

I was reading a great book by Jean Donaldson the other day - 'Oh Behave! Dogs From Pavlov to Premack to Pinker', a selection of essays on different topics. In one she mentions an Ian Dunbar concept - "predatory drift". Bottom line was - even with well-behaved, well-socialised larger dogs, if you put them in a situation with much smaller dogs and the game-playing turns eg when the smaller dog cries out because it is stomped accidentally or whatever or becomes afraid when being chased and starts squealing, the predatory instinct can kick in and take over with unfortunate and tragic results.

This rang so true with me from experiences down the dog park. This was one reason I moved from pure chis to chi crosses (x JRT mostly) at one stage - they are a little more solid for meeting other dogs down the dog park and less likely to excite prey drive. I also notice a totally different dynamic now that I own a big dog and go to the park. It is much more relaxing - you don't watch out for something that might rush over and grab your littlie, roll it over or try to stand over it menacingly or chase it (with questionable intent) or whatever (all experiences I have had). That said, because I've been more relaxed, Poppy has had a few bad experiences with large dogs wanting to go for her (off-leash dog parks, what can you say? we don't go any more)

(Edit title of book from Dogwise Publishing)

Edited April 4, 2012 by Poppy's mum

[BC Crazy]

I was reading a great book by Jean Donaldson the other day - 'Oh Behave! Dogs From Pavlov to Premack to Pinker', a selection of essays on different topics. In one she mentions an Ian Dunbar concept - "predatory drift". Bottom line was - even with well-behaved, well-socialised larger dogs, if you put them in a situation with much smaller dogs and the game-playing turns eg when the smaller dog cries out because it is stomped accidentally or whatever or becomes afraid when being chased and starts squealing, the predatory instinct can kick in and take over with unfortunate and tragic results.

This rang so true with me from experiences down the dog park. This was one reason I moved from pure chis to chi crosses (x JRT mostly) at one stage - they are a little more solid for meeting other dogs down the dog park and less likely to excite prey drive. I also notice a totally different dynamic now that I own a big dog and go to the park. It is much more relaxing - you don't watch out for something that might rush over and grab your littlie, roll it over or try to stand over it menacingly or chase it (with questionable intent) or whatever (all experiences I have had). That said, because I've been more relaxed, Poppy has had a few bad experiences with large dogs wanting to go for her (off-leash dog parks, what can you say? we don't go any more)

(Edit title of book from Dogwise Publishing)

That's interesting Poppy's mum. Must read that book.