Odd Encounter

[TheCheekyMonster]

Maybe the dog didn't like the fact you were shouting out at them? That may have freaked it out?

One of mine is friends with everybody the other doesn't like strangers approaching and will bark. She's fine with people she knows though, both dogs had a similar upbringing.

I think she freaked out once her owner started to engage, she didnt mind me talking, it was when her owner responded to me more than once that she lost the plot... could have been a number of things, the fact that I was turning away after he had responded to me...not sure... I just did not expect it, thats all... not saying anyone is irresponsible, but if a child or someone came from behind to ask the question, he had head phones in... he cant hear.. someone may have walked closer to them and there could be a different ending.... they are not strangers to the neighbourhood someone who has not been taught to ask first could have just walked up....

Edited July 16, 2012 by TheCheekyMonster

[megan_]

I don't think he should have been wearing earphones - that is irresponsible because you can't hear people coming up from behind.

CM I think the people that are taken aback are responding more to your suggestion that something has "gone wrong"/the dogs haven't been socialised to end up this way.

I have a sometimes fear aggressive dog. I am a good owner and I'm SICK of being blamed for the way she is. She is who she is. If everyone just obeyed the law (ie no off leash dogs in on leash areas) and respected her space life would be dandy! That said, I never listed to music when walking her, I would have played "look at that" when you started to approach and I would have body blocked you if you kept approaching - meaning she would never have reacted.

If socialisation made all dogs stable then the world would be a much happier place, but it is a fallacy.

[BlaznHotAussies]

I don't think he should have been wearing earphones - that is irresponsible because you can't hear people coming up from behind.

CM I think the people that are taken aback are responding more to your suggestion that something has "gone wrong"/the dogs haven't been socialised to end up this way.

I have a sometimes fear aggressive dog. I am a good owner and I'm SICK of being blamed for the way she is. She is who she is. If everyone just obeyed the law (ie no off leash dogs in on leash areas) and respected her space life would be dandy! That said, I never listed to music when walking her, I would have played "look at that" when you started to approach and I would have body blocked you if you kept approaching - meaning she would never have reacted.

If socialisation made all dogs stable then the world would be a much happier place, but it is a fallacy.

Exactly! My dog hasn't had anything bad happen to him, except very little socialisation in public (has plenty of dogs in his "pack" at home - all BCs though) so that along with his natural tendency towards being timid made him a very timid guy when I got him as a 3 year old. I will admit though, that perhaps if he were socialised when he were younger, before I got him, his timidness wouldn't have developed so much

But gosh, the way some people asked "what's happened to him!?" when I was first socialising him...

[Dame Aussie]

Maybe the dog didn't like the fact you were shouting out at them? That may have freaked it out?

One of mine is friends with everybody the other doesn't like strangers approaching and will bark. She's fine with people she knows though, both dogs had a similar upbringing.

I think she freaked out once her owner started to engage, she didnt mind me talking, it was when her owner responded to me more than once that she lost the plot... could have been a number of things, the fact that I was turning away after he had responded to me...not sure... I just did not expect it, thats all... not saying anyone is irresponsible, but if a child or someone came from behind to ask the question, he had head phones in... he cant hear.. someone may have walked closer to them and there could be a different ending.... they are not strangers to the neighbourhood someone who has not been taught to ask first could have just walked up....

Yeah, I wouldn't wear headphones even if both of mine were perfect, I want to know if people are approaching.

[TheCheekyMonster]

Maybe the dog didn't like the fact you were shouting out at them? That may have freaked it out?

One of mine is friends with everybody the other doesn't like strangers approaching and will bark. She's fine with people she knows though, both dogs had a similar upbringing.

I think she freaked out once her owner started to engage, she didnt mind me talking, it was when her owner responded to me more than once that she lost the plot... could have been a number of things, the fact that I was turning away after he had responded to me...not sure... I just did not expect it, thats all... not saying anyone is irresponsible, but if a child or someone came from behind to ask the question, he had head phones in... he cant hear.. someone may have walked closer to them and there could be a different ending.... they are not strangers to the neighbourhood someone who has not been taught to ask first could have just walked up....

Yeah, I wouldn't wear headphones even if both of mine were perfect, I want to know if people are approaching.

So do i, Gus has not one agressive bone in his body... but he sure likes to jump on people and I like to be ready for it when people come up for a pat....I just never envisioned these dogs to be reactive...I had no reason too, and it just puzzled me thats all, I thought I would have picked up on this earlier.

[sas]

There is a man who walks his red kelpie and Siberian husky twice a day around our street... he has had these two dogs since pups, they always look so pleasant just enjoy their walk and i've never seen them interact with anything that passes they are absolutely stunning!!, they are about 2 years old now and I have ALWAYS wanted to become acquainted with them but never had the chance to ask for a pat... well yesterday I had the chance, I was about 6 meters away, and i yelled out can I have a pat... he stops as he sees me walk towards him takes our his headphones and asks me to repeat myself... (im 5 meters at this point) so I do, he laughs and says no you cant they arnt friendly.... I was shocked, and thought he was joking.. so i laughed back and said ow really, his like yea they will bite you... and all of a sudden the kelpie lashes out and starts snarling at me snapping and basically going nuts, I have never been so shocked I backed away back into my car and said puzzled haven't you had them since they were pups and his like yea but they are a bit funny.... WTF!!!!!! how does that work? if you saw these dogs you would think they are the most loved and cared for dogs, yet to see it react like that from a person 5 meters away was just mind boggling....

Just because the person has had them since they were a pup doesn't mean they can't possibly have temperament flaws. A dogs tempermanet is genetic, it's the environment that turns genes on and off.

I'm not sure why you're shocked? Not all dogs want pats frm strangers or even like strangers.

[TheCheekyMonster]

There is a man who walks his red kelpie and Siberian husky twice a day around our street... he has had these two dogs since pups, they always look so pleasant just enjoy their walk and i've never seen them interact with anything that passes they are absolutely stunning!!, they are about 2 years old now and I have ALWAYS wanted to become acquainted with them but never had the chance to ask for a pat... well yesterday I had the chance, I was about 6 meters away, and i yelled out can I have a pat... he stops as he sees me walk towards him takes our his headphones and asks me to repeat myself... (im 5 meters at this point) so I do, he laughs and says no you cant they arnt friendly.... I was shocked, and thought he was joking.. so i laughed back and said ow really, his like yea they will bite you... and all of a sudden the kelpie lashes out and starts snarling at me snapping and basically going nuts, I have never been so shocked I backed away back into my car and said puzzled haven't you had them since they were pups and his like yea but they are a bit funny.... WTF!!!!!! how does that work? if you saw these dogs you would think they are the most loved and cared for dogs, yet to see it react like that from a person 5 meters away was just mind boggling....

Just because the person has had them since they were a pup doesn't mean they can't possibly have temperament flaws. A dogs tempermanet is genetic, it's the environment that turns genes on and off.

I'm not sure why you're shocked? Not all dogs want pats frm strangers or even like strangers.

im shocked because;

1. You wouldnt suspect it, they appear comfortable and placid.

2. I did not realise this sooner

3. I could understand if one was reactive... but both? and they got the dogs at the same time

4. WHY LAUGH ABOUT IT!!!! having a reactive dog is not a laughing matter

and every time we saw him we would say hi as they walked past....It just took me by suprise.... I think given the circumstances shocked is a pretty natural response.

Edited July 16, 2012 by TheCheekyMonster

[megan_]

He might have laughed to try keep calm and keep them calm? If I'm stressed my girl is stressed, so I talk to her in a happy voice, If someone asks for a pat I also talk in a high pitched, happy voice and subtly step in front of her to physically block them. She walks on lead beautifully, shows no anxiety and looks like a perfect angel.

When she used to react, her social, I-wub-everyone "brother" would react too. This is normal. HE would feed off of her emotion, would react, see what was happening and then stop immediately. Imagine if your partner woke up in the middle of the night "WE'RE BEING ROBBED! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" THEY'RE GOING TO KILL US". You wouldn't just lie in bed and say "there, there dear". You'd respond in kind and then realise afterwards that he might have been overreacting.

[GeckoTree]

The good thing about being shocked and surprised is now you wont be in the future, kuddos for asking for a pat first, many people don't.

[TheCheekyMonster]

The good thing about being shocked and surprised is now you wont be in the future, kuddos for asking for a pat first, many people don't.

haha, I have also told my younger brothers and sisters to NOT pat the dogs, they have never been taught to ask, I only learned to ask through DOL... my little brother never asks to pat dogs and so far his been lucky, hopefully now they have learnt something, they were as shocked as I was to hear you cant pat them so I'm glad I found this out sooner rather than later, and in a safe way!

[Malamum]

He may have laughed as he wanted to keep the conversation light hearted and indicate that even though his dogs don't like strangers he himself is not an unfriendly guy.

I have told people to please get/hold their off leash dogs as my dog does not like strange dogs, they ignore me and let their dog get in my dogs face and then start abusing me for having an aggressive dog when he reacts. It gets tiring and it really sucks that you get treated like you are the worst owner on earth so again his laughing may be something he does to hide his awkwardness in an uncomfortable situation. Like someone else said the earphones are probably so people leave him alone and don't try to engage.

I also nod, smile or say hi to people I walk past but that doesn't give them a free pass to touch my dogs.

Edited July 16, 2012 by Malamum

[sausy.dog]

I agree. If they grew up together it is likely that one (probably the kelpie) was born like it and the other learned the behaviour. Growing up we had lots of kelpies and some were not overly friendly.

That's an odd generalisation. Your experience growing doesn't mean that the breed is more likely to be aggressive or unfriendly. I was bitten by a GSD as a child and chased by a few others - doesn't mean I think that the breed tend to be like that generally.

As people have pointed out, it's possible that the dogs just weren't socialised with dogs outside of their pack. In any case, there's nothing wrong or strange about a responsible owner taking his dogs (over which he has control) for a walk and preferring that strangers do not interact with them except on his terms. It's possible that in a play setting or in his home they are friendly but perhaps they have reason to be wary of strangers while on a walk. I don't think it has anything to do with breed and I certainly don't think it's 'odd'. What would be odd was if the dogs looked fine but then attacked people for no reason.

Well it wasn't meant how you read it. The generalisation is more that a lot of people seem to think that all kelpies are happy, people friendly dogs. My point was that is not always the case. Read it how you want.

[koalathebear]

Well it wasn't meant how you read it. The generalisation is more that a lot of people seem to think that all kelpies are happy, people friendly dogs. My point was that is not always the case. Read it how you want.

Your explanation makes sense, I could only read the original wording the way you wrote it implying that the Kelpie was more likely to be unfriendly:

If they grew up together it is likely that one (probably the kelpie) was born like it and the other learned the behaviour. Growing up we had lots of kelpies and some were not overly friendly.

There are lots of unfriendly Kelpies out there, but unfriendliness isn't a breed trait. Your comment makes more sense now that you have clarified it.

Edited July 16, 2012 by koalathebear

[Ons]

such beautiful dogs and i dont know what happened to them!

:) probably nothing!

we have beautiful dogs .. fine with us & those they work with .. but they will not tolerate strangers .

same with one of my coolies, absolutely worships me, adores my housemate but very wary of strangers. She lunges on the lead at strangers if they get too close. None of my other dogs are like this at all, it's just how she is.