Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
This thought process irritates me too. I have seen the most docile, calm dog completely snap at 12 years old and attack the neighbors little dog. The main one was a Husky and they were on neutral territory. I have no idea what triggered her.
Anyway, we have 3 German shepherds who we walk about 5 miles a day so encounter many people. We keep them on 6' leashes at all times and ALL THE TIME encounter people with those ridiculously stupid retractable leashes who let their "friendly" dogs just walk right up to ours. They never ask if ours are friendly or not and never even stop to think that maybe the dogs (animals) just won't like each other. I've seen way too many dog fights between "friendly" dogs that two grown men have no chance of breaking up. Then there's hospital bills for the dogs and the humans if they try to break it up. Just not worth it.
At the end of the day dogs are animals and you never completely know what they are thinking or how they will react.
I love animals as much if not more than a lot of people but I have to wonder sometimes. I mean, a lot of the people ive encountered say basically the same thing "Oh my lil precious wouldnt harm a fly. She wont bite". No, she wont bite YOU. Animals are territorial and theyll defend the home. Are people so naive to think that the precious pit bull, rott, german shepherd, great dane, etc they leave wandering around their yard unsecured wont bite someone (postal worker, utility worker:gas, water, delivery person, etc)?
Every dog has it's own character and the owner needs to know what that is. My dogs just want to play with anyone. There is not an aggressive bone in their bodies.
Having been on the other side of this as delivery person I can give you both perspectives. For me having had dogs my entire life and been around a lot of them I have a pretty good sense. Keep in mind I'd see these dogs once a year. Most of the dogs were great with or without the owner at home, there was one in particular I used to love because he'd follow me all the way up the driveway and be sitting outside the truck door with a ball or a rock to throw. Most of the dogs that showed minor aggression could be subdued with the doggy treats I always carried in the truck. The mean ones that I would never trust were few and those were always present with the owner. I never got bit in 20 years or was ever concerned about anything.
While on the topic I'll tell you a funny story about one dog. I frequently had to go into peoples homes when they weren't there. I forgot this one person had this black Great Dane that was even huge by Great Dane standards. I had to go into their basement and couldn't find the light switch, dind't really need so continued to do my work. Lots of noise going on here so you couldn't for example here a dog walking up behind you. Turned around and the damn thing was right behind me just about staring me in the face, almost had a heart attack. It was nice friendly dog though.
So true that any dog can bite (unless it's a senior citizen dog with no teeth ).
Dog owners who are ludicrous to make a claim that 'Fido' won't bite, are the same type of pet owners who believe everyone else in the world loves their precious 'family member'.
Nothing more irritating that visiting at someone's home and have their dog jump up on you, pump your leg or snick their nose in your crotch. Dog owners, like parents, need to accept the fact that the rest of the human race isn't in love with their precious little angel.
I have seen the most docile, calm dog completely snap at 12 years old and attack the neighbors little dog. .
Are you saying at 12 yrs old the dog snapped or the dog snapped at a 12 yrs old? If it was a 12 yr old dog I bet there was some pain issue involved like some arthritis. I say this because Chaos who is only 3 and grew playing at the dog park and did puppy and adult obedience classes as well as agility so was around dogs all the time and got along with everyone, she was a social butterfly . A year ago she started getting snappy first with young puppies (shortly after she turned 2) then it went on to be rowdy dogs and soon any dog she did not know. I thought it was due to her age as some dogs do change around that age. She still loved her friends and thank god that is a lot of dogs but even then she was not playing with them like she use too.
It turns out she had suffered a back injury unknown to me when she fell of a piece if agility equipment and running around and playing for months had made it worse so she was reacting out of pain. She did not want these unknown dogs to come near her as she feared they would jump on her to play and wrestling would hurt. A few months ago I took her to the vet as she very reluctant to sit and was having trouble standing, turned out she had a fever too and several other things going on so we did all sorts of tests, and X-rays and everything came back negative. But mean while my little pig had stopped eating, had lost all of her undercoat and just seemed very depressed yet the vet was stumped. After a few months of the vet still being stumped and fearing I may loose my young dog I called an animal communicator who I had used before and she told me # 1 we were dealing with two issues Chaos claimed her stomach was burning and had been since she had eaten something I had told her t leave and she told me how to treat it. ( she frequently walks on the beach and picks up everything and eats some of it so I am always telling her leave it and yes the vet was aware of this as I was very concerned as she had been chewing on the flipper of a dead sea lion and I was worried she had picked up something there) . The 2nd issue was she had fallen off a piece of agility equipment and had a spinal injury not obvious at the time and running around for months had made it worse so she told me to take her to a chiropractor and have some adjustments done. Despite there being nothing that obvious on her x-rays as all the vet saw was one ball in the hip joint sat a bit high but she did not feel it was enough to cause the issues I went to see the chiropractor and he said her one hip was higher then the other and she had a spot in the lumbar spine that was out so after 4 adjustments by him, she is now off of all pain meds and muscle relaxers and doing great back and being Chaos. She is eating like a pig again and her coat is coming back in and she is happy and playful again. She still is not wanting to deal with unknown dogs but most we meet are rowdy ones . Last month I did take the dogs on a trip with a friend from up North and her two dogs and she did not know them and at first was grumpy so they sort of kept a distance from her but when we went to an open space where they could run and play off leash she wanted off leash to play too and she and the younger dog were soon BFF's. The older dog does not play much so they were OK but not BFF's like the younger one.
I am telling you this because when behavior suddenly changes it can often be due to pain and sometimes that pain may not be obvious but now knowing what I do as I look back at the past year, it makes sense as Chaos backed way off at playing with her friends and even playing chase instead of chasing them all over she would lay in wait and jump as they passed, at agility she started avoiding jumps and we quit going, she stopped following me all over, she started getting grumpy with other dogs she did not know. All little things that one might just not think were a big deal but now in hindsight point to a dog in pain. Even if a vet can find no reason for pain such as our case there may be a reason.
We keep them on 6' leashes at all times and ALL THE TIME encounter people with those ridiculously stupid retractable leashes who let their "friendly" dogs just walk right up to ours.
I HATE the retractable leashes. We always walked our dog (pit bull) on a 6' leash as well. He was friendly to other dogs but how did their owners know that? Yet more times than I can tell you, someone would come strolling along looking at the lake or something while their dog was 15' away on the other side of the walkway at the end of the retractable leash. They not only had no knowledge of what was going on, they had no control whatsoever. Not to mention I have almost been clotheslined several times, while roller blading, by those damn leashes, in the same situation--owner on one side of the sidewalk, dog on the other.
I don't care for retractable leashes; and have been physically scarred by one whose bearer's dog was playing with mine while the darned wire leash wound round my ankle.
I use two or three leather leashes linked together, and can pull my dog close with little effort and then let him have some room if I want to, when I him on-lead.
I love animals as much if not more than a lot of people but I have to wonder sometimes. I mean, a lot of the people ive encountered say basically the same thing "Oh my lil precious wouldnt harm a fly. She wont bite". No, she wont bite YOU. Animals are territorial and theyll defend the home. Are people so naive to think that the precious pit bull, rott, german shepherd, great dane, etc they leave wandering around their yard unsecured wont bite someone (postal worker, utility worker:gas, water, delivery person, etc)?
Famous last words:
"My dog won't bite."
"She always responds to voice commands."
"My dog would never ______."
Etc ....
I try to upfront with people, about the friendliness of my dogs.
Like, if we are walking the neighborhood, and a family with young kids is out walking and I'll hear the kids say "Oh puppy, can we pet them." I generally turn around an say "yes, they are friendly" and make them sit. I have no fear of my dogs suddenly not being friendly since I'm with them and am in control with both the leash and voice. A few pats on the head later the kiddos are happy and so are my dogs, they seek out attention on walks. There have been times when I can tell they are uncomfortable(big loud teenagers in most cases), in those cases I listen to them and we just ignore the people.
That being said, I wouldn't trust mine to be friendly without me or my husband. I know for a fact that Maddie, our beagle mix, doesn't take kindly to people she feels are going to harm me.
Once my own husband playfully hit me with a pillow in front of her, she snarled and got in between us almost instantly and this is my *husband*, that she has known for 2 years. He then had to apologize profusely to her and give her like 4 cookies lol
So yes, all dogs can and might bite, given the right circumstances.
I love animals as much if not more than a lot of people but I have to wonder sometimes. I mean, a lot of the people ive encountered say basically the same thing "Oh my lil precious wouldnt harm a fly. She wont bite". No, she wont bite YOU. Animals are territorial and theyll defend the home. Are people so naive to think that the precious pit bull, rott, german shepherd, great dane, etc they leave wandering around their yard unsecured wont bite someone (postal worker, utility worker:gas, water, delivery person, etc)?
You are 100% correct. People think these little Bichons and Shih Tzu's won't bite but they are still dogs are heart. The smaller dogs can be very fierce if they have to be, they were originally bred to kill rats way back when and those rats can be pretty nasty and get to a good size.
My older Bichon/Shih Tzu mix I watch very closely around my little 1 year old grandson because he (the dog) hasn't had much exposure to little kids in his life and he's not too crazy about sharing his house with the baby and the baby seems to think he's a giant stuffed animal for him to play with. I've heard a few growls from the dog so no, won't be leaving them alone in the same room together.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Turned around and the damn thing was right behind me just about staring me in the face, almost had a heart attack. It was nice friendly dog though.
).
and yes the vet was aware of this as I was very concerned as she had been chewing on the flipper of a dead sea lion and I was worried she had picked up something there) . The 2nd issue was she had fallen off a piece of agility equipment and had a spinal injury not obvious at the time and running around for months had made it worse so she told me to take her to a chiropractor and have some adjustments done. Despite there being nothing that obvious on her x-rays as all the vet saw was one ball in the hip joint sat a bit high but she did not feel it was enough to cause the issues I went to see the chiropractor and he said her one hip was higher then the other and she had a spot in the lumbar spine that was out so after 4 adjustments by him, she is now off of all pain meds and muscle relaxers and doing great back and being Chaos. She is eating like a pig again and her coat is coming back in and she is happy and playful again. She still is not wanting to deal with unknown dogs but most we meet are rowdy ones . Last month I did take the dogs on a trip with a friend from up North and her two dogs and she did not know them and at first was grumpy so they sort of kept a distance from her but when we went to an open space where they could run and play off leash she wanted off leash to play too and she and the younger dog were soon BFF's. The older dog does not play much so they were OK but not BFF's like the younger one. 
