Recently, a dog ran up and nipped me. The owner did nothing to call her dog, nor did she apologize.
This is what I deal with regularly — people thinking their dog has to be “friendly” with me or with my dog.
I don’t give a hoot if your dog is friendly. I want your dog to be respectful and stay with you. I don’t need to be saying hi and acting like a goofball every time I see a dog, and neither does your dog.
I would like dogs to be treated as dogs, not glorified, spoiled, out-of-control beings that have unlimited boundaries. Keep your dogs with you. Bouncing ahead to greet other people and other dogs is not friendly, it’s rude, disrespectful and can easily lead to aggression. The dog in this instance was likely playing with me, as the owner stated. So that makes it OK to nip me, a total stranger? Why do I have to be your dog’s playmate?
I get asked so often if my Doberman is “friendly.” People are surprised when I say: “No, she’s not. She’s taught to ignore you.” I neither want, nor need, my dog to be an extroverted jerk around others.
We need a total re-think about dogs. If a child ran up and hugged a stranger’s leg, we might think that is cute once or twice, but repeatedly, it would be a psychosis. Somehow with dogs, it’s not seen that way. Why not?
Lorna Shaw
Victoria
