Does this make you guys mad too?

[monarch64]

Awww... so should my Milo, who''s bitten us, his owners, and never anyone else, never be allowed out in public? We muzzle the poor boy at the vet just in case, we keep him on a prong collar during every walk...he''s a loving, jovial pup, much like his compatriate Daisy, but since he bit his own owner once when he escaped should he be put to sleep? M grabbed him by the haunches one. time. and Milo panicked and bit M and drew blood. That was three years ago...should Milo have been put down? He is the gentlest, sweetest dog, has been socialized and loves kids...loves basically everyone he comes into contact with, but because he once bit his owner (my DH), should he be put to sleep at 3 years old????? Come one people,

. this dog may have bitten someone one. time. out. of. panic. Does that make him a menace? Our village didn''t think so...he''d already been through two 8 week sessions of obedience training with other dogs/people and passed...please, don''t just pass judgment on a dog who is primarily a great one.

 

[AmberGretchen]

Date: 4/5/2008 6:44:56 AM
Author: monarch64
Awww... so should my Milo, who's bitten us, his owners, and never anyone else, never be allowed out in public? We muzzle the poor boy at the vet just in case, we keep him on a prong collar during every walk...he's a loving, jovial pup, much like his compatriate Daisy, but since he bit his own owner once when he escaped should he be put to sleep? M grabbed him by the haunches one. time. and Milo panicked and bit M and drew blood. That was three years ago...should Milo have been put down? He is the gentlest, sweetest dog, has been socialized and loves kids...loves basically everyone he comes into contact with, but because he once bit his owner (my DH), should he be put to sleep at 3 years old????? Come one people,

. this dog may have bitten someone one. time. out. of. panic. Does that make him a menace? Our village didn't think so...he'd already been through two 8 week sessions of obedience training with other dogs/people and passed...please, don't just pass judgment on a dog who is primarily a great one.

Ditto Monnie on this one. While I totally agree with those who said that it is the owner's responsibility to do everything in their power to avoid putting their dog in a situation where they might bite someone, especially a child, sometimes mistakes and unpredictable things happen, even with the best of intentions. And as in the situation Bee mentioned, where they found evidence of the dog having been provoked with violence towards it, I don't think its at all fair or reasonable to put a dog to sleep in a situation like that.

Certainly, if a dog is aggressive towards humans when its not provoked then that is a substandard temperament, and that dog is probably living a miserable, stressful life anyway and being put down is sometimes the kindest thing. BUT, its not reasonable to expect a dog to tolerate being hurt or threatened and not at least try to defend itself the only way it knows how.

Finally, I must also agree with those who say the parent in Peepa's original situation was an idiot, and clearly needed to get her child away from your dog. In general, I think that people have a fundamental misunderstanding a lot of the time about children and dogs - they should never ever be left unsupervised under any circumstances, and even if you don't own a dog, I think its worthwhile to spend some time making sure your child knows how to act around dogs once they are old enough to understand.

 

[diamondfan]

First, there are laws about cleaning your dog doo in public, so bring a baggie!

Second, Peepa, I would have removed my dog and myself from the child. I would not have waited if the child seemed intent on not listening to me, I would then just ambled on somewhere else. Waiting for the parent to have an A HA moment or for the kid to listen is not the point. You can move and remove yourself. A halti is the thing I was talking about. It is not super uncomfortable for the dog from what I understand, the way a muzzle would be.

Also, this is a topic that makes me nuts too, generally speaking, in terms of people who bring their little dogs all places and the dog is not a pleasant dog. Look, I bring Maya to Petco and to the other dog boutiques. I even bring her to my Saks which allows dogs, even large ones, BUT I never take her off the first floor front area which is tiled, she has made her business at home before we leave (I make sure) and we are there for 15 minutes. She is also a very friendly calm and quiet dog who does not bark or jump on people. I have seen people there with little dogs who are snippy, yappy, growling, etc. I do LOVE dogs but do not want to be standing next to a dog that seems ticked off to be there.

I do not blanketly think if a dog bites it should be killed, I think the circumstances need to be looked at. If a child was provoking an animal that had no route of escape, while I would be of course sad that a child was hurt, I also could not fully blame the animal that was merely reacting and trying to protect himself. But that said I think you should know your pet well if you take them out.

A teacher at a local private school near my house was pet sitting a normally well behaved dog for her friend. She brought it to school and was working the car pool line. There were tons of kids and cars and commotion. Well, something spooked this dog and it attacked my friend''s 2nd grade daughter. The girl was standing near the dog waiting to be picked up but was not interacting with it. She was a beautiful little girl who now has scars for life, she needed hundreds of stitches all over her entire face, and even with the best facial plastic surgeon in Philly doing it she will always have scars. She is lucky that she did not lose an eye. She is also now terrified of dogs to a point of hysteria, which I can understand. She needs therapy still to this day. The teacher was fired, not sure what happened to the dog, and I think there is a lawsuit, or was one.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 4/4/2008 9:28:28 PM
Author: Fancy605

Date: 4/4/2008 5:02:41 PM
Author: Keepingthefaith21



I recently had a situation at the Vets office where a child was tormenting my kitten. This kid kept sticking his hands in the carrier despite my several requests for him to stop. The kitten was a rescue and was terrified enough. After I repeatedly asked the kid to stop poking the kitten he proceeded to SCREAM at him. The entire time this was happening his mother did NOTHING. I was getting so upset one of the techs had to come around and let me into the exam room before they were ready for me because it was obvious my patience was worn.

My blood is BOILING reading this

That Mother needs to get her act together and make her obviously obnoxious child start behaving itself! AND to respect animals and other people!!!

 

[ursulawrite]

I''m so glad that my Boston Terrier is not only receptive to being petted by anyone and everyone, but she just happens to be the most docile BT in the history of the breed, with the temperament of a big, floppy dog. We live in one of the busiest parts of Manhattan, and not a day goes by without children''s fingers dangling from strollers to grab her face, or strangers shrieking at her and touching her as they walk by. She tolerates it all, thank goodness, and I don''t have to worry.

The thing that annoys me more is the dog owners whose pets are offleash on the streets. While my dog is superb off-leash (we''re at the off-leash hours in the park every morning), she is defensive with other dogs while on-leash and they''re off. Bugs the heck out of me when a 90lb dog comes thundering up the street, bouncy as you like, wanting to say hi, while the owner is chit-chatting to someone or smoking a cig on the corner

Not to mention it being stupidly dangerous walking your dog off-leash, say, on Broadway or one of the other main thoroughfares.

 

[VegasAngel]

Date: 4/5/2008 2:45:33 PM
Author: ursulawrite
I''m so glad that my Boston Terrier is not only receptive to being petted by anyone and everyone, but she just happens to be the most docile BT in the history of the breed, with the temperament of a big, floppy dog. We live in one of the busiest parts of Manhattan, and not a day goes by without children''s fingers dangling from strollers to grab her face, or strangers shrieking at her and touching her as they walk by. She tolerates it all, thank goodness, and I don''t have to worry.

The thing that annoys me more is the dog owners whose pets are offleash on the streets. While my dog is superb off-leash (we''re at the off-leash hours in the park every morning), she is defensive with other dogs while on-leash and they''re off. Bugs the heck out of me when a 90lb dog comes thundering up the street, bouncy as you like, wanting to say hi, while the owner is chit-chatting to someone or smoking a cig on the corner

Not to mention it being stupidly dangerous walking your dog off-leash, say, on Broadway or one of the other main thoroughfares.

I just have to say I

Boston Terriers they are my favorite breed. My BT Sugar was the sweetest,most loveable, playful loyal dog. She was shared among my family staying with different relatives, everyone loved her.

 

[Diamond*Dana]

Date: 4/5/2008 2:41:07 PM
Author: Lorelei

Date: 4/4/2008 9:28:28 PM
Author: Fancy605

Date: 4/4/2008 5:02:41 PM
Author: Keepingthefaith21




I recently had a situation at the Vets office where a child was tormenting my kitten. This kid kept sticking his hands in the carrier despite my several requests for him to stop. The kitten was a rescue and was terrified enough. After I repeatedly asked the kid to stop poking the kitten he proceeded to SCREAM at him. The entire time this was happening his mother did NOTHING. I was getting so upset one of the techs had to come around and let me into the exam room before they were ready for me because it was obvious my patience was worn.

My blood is BOILING reading this

That Mother needs to get her act together and make her obviously obnoxious child start behaving itself! AND to respect animals and other people!!!

People need to control their kids, period. The girl in Petsmart that was bothering your dog should have left the dog alone, and her mother should have done something about it. And the kid that was teasing this kitten should have left the kitten alone, and his mother should have sone something about it.

I can understand that kids really don''t get it and have no idea that animals can be aggressive (I have 3 small children and dogs and cats), but face it...the animals don''t really get it either when they are being teased and picked on by kids.

Good pets can do bad things when they feel threatened, they are defending themselves. Do I think that there are times when a dog should be put down over attacking a person for no reason, I suppose...but should a dog be put down for biting someone that has made them feel the need to protect themselves, no.

 

[ephemery1]

Date: 4/4/2008 9:27:30 PM
Author: Tacori E-ring

Date: 4/4/2008 9:09:41 PM
Author: VegasAngel
Mirada, dogs in public places not pet related is a whole other topic that I totally agree with you on & could go on forever about, lol

arggg....I agree. I mean some people have severe allergies. I remember being in DSW (of all places) and this woman had her dog. The SA was actually nice enough to let her have it but kept telling her the dog could NOT go on the floor. The woman got such an attitude about it.

Ugh... I know this is slightly off-topic, but had to agree... I was in a center city nail salon on Friday and a woman came in for a mani/pedi with her fully-grown standard poodle!! My friend and I were appalled... WHY would someone presume it was ok to bring any dog, much less a 60 lb one, to a SALON??

She also had a baby with her, and with both the stroller and the dog, she was taking up a huge amount of space in a small, busy salon and forcing people to squeeze by them... which means there was no way to avoid the dog in case somebody was allergic or phobic.

My other pet peeve (literally...hehe) happens ALL the time in the park outside of my building. People often go there to eat lunch on benches or picnic blankets, and I am constantly seeing people let their dogs walk right up to strangers innocently enjoying their meal, and stick their noses right into the food. Sometimes the owners will apologize, sometimes they''ll laugh it off, but either way it''s gross!!