Okay, I Finally Snapped And Was Rude

[minimax]

I replied "Well, you should really mind your own business".

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Ouch

Love that you give kudos to the OP for being rude, but someone else is and they get a frowny face

[Chezy]

I say u have to get good at juggling

i think u need to take a happy pill , the walk isn't doing it obv :laugh:

[Guest Panzer Attack!]

Hahaha, between us, le boy and I have 3 dogs (occasionally 4 when the ex 'lends' me the dog we bought together) and the other day I was at St Kilda holding two of ours plus a friend's while he and our mate were getting a gelato. Cocker, Cavalier and Staffy pup. The looks I was getting were hilarious. Someone pointed at me and said in a stage whisper to their mate "look at the crazy dog lady!" and a few more had their "hands full" comments to share with me. A couple of other people were really nice and came up and asked about the dogs.

The surprising thing to me was how many people were happy to let their kids come and pat Rocco (Staffy) and Rudy (Cav) without asking permission. Like, one kid snuck up behind me and started pulling my poor Cav's ears before I realised what was going on, I very nicely asked her to stop and the mother was mortified, but imagine if my dog was aggressive! My Papillon would not have sat there and tolerated his ears being pulled.

I can understand your frustration, MM, but working with animals I can kinda see it from the other side too. Sooo many people with pets have no idea, so it makes sense that people without pets can make comments like that without realising how many times you may hear it or how frustrating it can be (i.e. the saddle comments, or calling someone a crazy dog lady - bit rude guys) !

[tlc]

One comment and probably the funniest I have had to date, was a guy watched me in a car park while he was getting his bike out of the car and I was putting my dogs in after a walk and he said. "Why didn't you just get one big dog". :laugh: I'm not even sure what the logic is behind that comment but I thought it was funny and he thought it was funny!

[Guest Labradork]

On the positive side, I love meeting people who are genuinely interested in talking to me about my dog, especially other dog owners. I have made quite a few dog walking friends in this way :)

Edited November 8, 2012 by Labradork

[Guest Labradork]

I can understand your frustration, MM, but working with animals I can kinda see it from the other side too. Sooo many people with pets have no idea, so it makes sense that people without pets can make comments like that without realising how many times you may hear it or how frustrating it can be (i.e. the saddle comments, or calling someone a crazy dog lady - bit rude guys) !

Thanks for that explanation. That makes sense :)

ETA

Sorry, who is MM?

Edited November 8, 2012 by Labradork

[persephone]

Love that you give kudos to the OP for being rude, but someone else is and they get a frowny face

I don't think what the op said was nasty or harsh , however the second comment would have stung me badly ..... that's all. :)

[Guest donatella]

One comment and probably the funniest I have had to date, was a guy watched me in a car park while he was getting his bike out of the car and I was putting my dogs in after a walk and he said. "Why didn't you just get one big dog". :laugh: I'm not even sure what the logic is behind that comment but I thought it was funny and he thought it was funny!

Some jerk said to me once "if I was going to get anything under 10kgs i'd get a cat"

[Guest Labradork]

I replied "Well, you should really mind your own business".

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Ouch

Sorry, I didn't see your post...

I was just empathising with the OP. Also, I wasn't trying to hurt anybody's feelings and I didn't say it in a bitchy way. The woman actually apologised and everything was okay :)

Edited November 8, 2012 by Labradork

[Aphra]

There's a thing called phatic communication, which is basically the kind of cliched small talk we all use to open channels of conversation and build commonality. Like talking to taxi drivers about the traffic or people at the bus stop about the weather. The content is meaningless, the intent is to build a little, safe, social connection. Really, all you have to do is smile and say yes, and everybody is happy. Given how often people come into the forums with examples of people being rude and hostile, I'm not sure why a small attempt at a friendly connection upset you so much.

[Guest Labradork]

There's a thing called phatic communication, which is basically the kind of cliched small talk we all use to open channels of conversation and build commonality. Like talking to taxi drivers about the traffic or people at the bus stop about the weather. The content is meaningless, the intent is to build a little, safe, social connection. Really, all you have to do is smile and say yes, and everybody is happy. Given how often people come into the forums with examples of people being rude and hostile, I'm not sure why a small attempt at a friendly connection upset you so much.

I don't think everybody does this though. I know a lot of people who don't do 'small talk' and I find it refreshing. It doesn't mean they're not warm and friendly. I think sometimes the best way to authentically relate to someone is to be honest with them :)

Edited November 8, 2012 by Labradork

[Greytmate]

There's a thing called phatic communication, which is basically the kind of cliched small talk we all use to open channels of conversation and build commonality. Like talking to taxi drivers about the traffic or people at the bus stop about the weather. The content is meaningless, the intent is to build a little, safe, social connection. Really, all you have to do is smile and say yes, and everybody is happy. Given how often people come into the forums with examples of people being rude and hostile, I'm not sure why a small attempt at a friendly connection upset you so much.

I don't think everybody does this though. I know a lot of people who don't do 'small talk' and I find it refreshing. It doesn't mean they're not warm and friendly. I think the best way to authentically relate to someone is to be honest with them.

It depends on how social or anti-social a person is. What Aphra says is true, and it's actually a very important part of what a society is. The ability to engage in this way, without losing any privacy, is a positive character trait.

To the OP, if you cannot walk dogs without tripping over, you have your hands full. If you disagree that your hands were full, you could have released the leads, asked the dogs to sit stay, and shown him "Look no hands". But you couldn't because you really did have your hands full. Maybe you should walk late at night where there will be fewer people on the street, and the norms for social interaction are a lot different.

[minimax]

I love hearing the things people say to me or my dogs when I'm out, even if it's the same thing over and over. I love that people smile or laugh when they see my dogs - if it makes someone happy for a moment to make a comment to me, even if I've heard it a billion times, so what. I'd rather someone walk away happy than walk away feeling bad because I wanted to be rude to them.

Edited November 8, 2012 by minimax

[Loving my Oldies]

One comment and probably the funniest I have had to date, was a guy watched me in a car park while he was getting his bike out of the car and I was putting my dogs in after a walk and he said. "Why didn't you just get one big dog". :laugh: I'm not even sure what the logic is behind that comment but I thought it was funny and he thought it was funny!

But that is funny, tlc, and original .... I think. :laugh: A single dog to equal your four would be BIG.

I'm not sure why a small attempt at a friendly connection upset you so much.

Who's upset. He was just lucky :laugh:

To the OP, if you cannot walk dogs without tripping over, you have your hands full. If you disagree that your hands were full, you could have released the leads, asked the dogs to sit stay, and shown him "Look no hands". But you couldn't because you really did have your hands full. Maybe you should walk late at night where there will be fewer people on the street, and the norms for social interaction are a lot different.

Now that's funny too.

[noisymina]

Oh I do really sympathise, it get's very tiring hearing those same comments again and again. I walk two giant dogs and sometimes people think i am walking them for their entertainment only, and I will get stopped so they can make their joke to me, some of them are very rude too!

I like you try to be gracious about it, and 99% of the time I am, but occasionally I give in to my impulses and roll my eyes at them or say "whatever".

The one that drives me most crazy is "who's walking who!?" when clearly my dog is walking beautifully beside me with the lead completely slack

My DH used to say that Kaisie was taking me for a walk. Which was probably true about 50% of the time. Given she was a total steam train to start with, I used to think that was a compliment! To walk her at all was an achievement! :laugh:

[Loving my Oldies]

Sorry, who is MM?

The OP, me, Danny's Darling - aka Mother Moocher - LOL.

[Guest Clover]

I probably would have told you where to go if I got a response like that.

[griff]

what a nice thing for him to say I would of LOL and said yes it is :laugh:

lucky you dont have a large breed and get told

It needs a saddle, watch out it will eat me for breakfast , or they say ..those dogs are evil or dont walk past you at all but cross the road .

Now there are reasons to snap at the offender .

[Guest Labradork]

There's a thing called phatic communication, which is basically the kind of cliched small talk we all use to open channels of conversation and build commonality. Like talking to taxi drivers about the traffic or people at the bus stop about the weather. The content is meaningless, the intent is to build a little, safe, social connection. Really, all you have to do is smile and say yes, and everybody is happy. Given how often people come into the forums with examples of people being rude and hostile, I'm not sure why a small attempt at a friendly connection upset you so much.

I don't think everybody does this though. I know a lot of people who don't do 'small talk' and I find it refreshing. It doesn't mean they're not warm and friendly. I think the best way to authentically relate to someone is to be honest with them.

It depends on how social or anti-social a person is. What Aphra says is true, and it's actually a very important part of what a society is. The ability to engage in this way, without losing any privacy, is a positive character trait.

To the OP, if you cannot walk dogs without tripping over, you have your hands full. If you disagree that your hands were full, you could have released the leads, asked the dogs to sit stay, and shown him "Look no hands". But you couldn't because you really did have your hands full. Maybe you should walk late at night where there will be fewer people on the street, and the norms for social interaction are a lot different.

That's a good point and I wasn't trying to invalidate Aphra's point of view. I'm just saying not everybody is like that (and it doesn't mean you're a sociopath).

Also, I think sometimes people say things out of not feeling comfortable with themselves or the situation. They're not really thinking about what they're actually saying.

I sometimes forget that I'm a very confident and outgoing person, and not everybody is like that, so it helps me to hear things like this :)

[tdierikx]

To be fair, the OP is usually one of the first people to engage others in talk about dogs - in a positive way...

You must have been having a rough one for whatever reason DD... I think you can be forgiven this time... *grin*

I could lend you Pickles for an afternoon's walk - she gets all sorts of comments about her crazy walk... lol!

T.