[Liam]

So yesterday I take Toby for his evening walk. We take our usual 3 mile route and this lady comes out of her house and starts walking towards me. I check Tobes and he's alert but chillin. I can tell she's walking towards us and she has got something to say, and it's directed at me or my dog. So instinctively I do a mental rewind from leaving my house to where I am standing. Nope no issues, so I prepare for the dog fighting and stereo typical rhetoric that ensues with that conversation.

I stopped when she was just beyond the length of my leash. Soon as I stopped Toby snapped into a sit and sat perfect and calm waiting for my instruction. I was really proud of that.

The lady looks at me, smiles, and just gets all ga ga goo goo goooood puppy whuppy with my dog and showers him with accolades and tells me how beautiful and well behaved he is. Toby keeps looking at me like " yo, pops this chics crazy". She goes on to say she comes out in the evening to admire Toby and his manners.

So then she asks me where Coco has been and that she hasn't seen her in a couple weeks, and how did I get them so polite and well mannered.

I didn't want to lie to her but I didn't want to change her opinion of my dog and the breed as a whole by telling her about what I went through in the last month and the events that lead to crate n rotate and eventually rehoming Coco. So I deflected by saying there were some personality issues and I felt it was better for both dogs to not be in the same house.

Then I finally figured it out. She is an animal planet, discovery channel channel commando because everything she said beyond that point was cliche' or Tia says or dog whisperer this n that. All in all what I thought was goin to be a brief encounter it turned into almost an hour long training session for this lady. Toby even laid down and went to sleep in the grass. Love my dog lol!

Not once though did she ever try to touch Toby nor did she ask to.

So, what I realized later when I thought about it.

1. People watch me and my dog more than I realize. I have above average situational awareness and never noticed her before.

2. When I thought about changing my route I realized I know every house in 5 mile radius of my house that has potential for problems. Loose dogs big, med, and snack size. Where all the DA dogs that are loose behind low fences etc. I even know what time of day the 3 tea cup terrors are goin to escape and tear
through the block.

3. I love my big wrecking ball. He never ceases to amaze me.

4. I've come to stereo typing people and expect the worse from people in the presence of my dog.

I was happy with the praise Toby received, he has worked very hard to be a polite boy.

 

[American_Pit13]

Really glad to hear you had a nice encounter. I have had similar and it is kinda funny sometimes when you think about all the people that see YOUR dog and base an opinion of the breed off of it, or admire something as simple as proper manners.

I didn't want to lie to her but I didn't want to change her opinion of my dog and the breed as a whole by telling her about what I went through in the last month and the events that lead to crate n rotate and eventually rehoming Coco. So I deflected by saying there were some personality issues and I felt it was better for both dogs to not be in the same house.

I do have something to say about this, however it is not directly at you. You chose in your conversation to avoid an issue you didn't want to explain and that is perfectly fine...

..but with talks like this when it comes to people who are interested in getting a dog of this breed ( not just a person your conversating with like in your situation) but people who actually need to know the truth about this breed things like this really mess them up. Even I have been in the situation of not wanting to tell people about DA because of not wanting to put them off of the breed, but it is what the breed is.

So like I said your situation it doesn't really matter, but when people get into a educating type talk they need to be truthful about the breed and not sugar coat it, but truly explain why this breed is the way it is and what it takes to own them. So like I said this doesn't make much difference in this instance, but for those reading just kinda think about this when you start having "talks" of your own.

 

[Liam]

I am quite sure i'll run into her again. My deflection was two part. First one i stated above, the second is i'm still decompressing after a hellish month and a half and i really didn't feel like reliving everything.

It didn't help any, it just steered her right into the DA issues and questions. I just didn't post it up because that was way too long of a post imho and i didn't want to drone on and on

 

[zohawn]

So yesterday I take Toby for his evening walk. We take our usual 3 mile route and this lady comes out of her house and starts walking towards me. I check Tobes and he's alert but chillin. I can tell she's walking towards us and she has got something to say, and it's directed at me or my dog. So instinctively I do a mental rewind from leaving my house to where I am standing. Nope no issues, so I prepare for the dog fighting and stereo typical rhetoric that ensues with that conversation.

I stopped when she was just beyond the length of my leash. Soon as I stopped Toby snapped into a sit and sat perfect and calm waiting for my instruction. I was really proud of that.

The lady looks at me, smiles, and just gets all ga ga goo goo goooood puppy whuppy with my dog and showers him with accolades and tells me how beautiful and well behaved he is. Toby keeps looking at me like " yo, pops this chics crazy". She goes on to say she comes out in the evening to admire Toby and his manners.

So then she asks me where Coco has been and that she hasn't seen her in a couple weeks, and how did I get them so polite and well mannered.

I didn't want to lie to her but I didn't want to change her opinion of my dog and the breed as a whole by telling her about what I went through in the last month and the events that lead to crate n rotate and eventually rehoming Coco. So I deflected by saying there were some personality issues and I felt it was better for both dogs to not be in the same house.

Then I finally figured it out. She is an animal planet, discovery channel channel commando because everything she said beyond that point was cliche' or Tia says or dog whisperer this n that. All in all what I thought was goin to be a brief encounter it turned into almost an hour long training session for this lady. Toby even laid down and went to sleep in the grass. Love my dog lol!

Not once though did she ever try to touch Toby nor did she ask to.

So, what I realized later when I thought about it.

1. People watch me and my dog more than I realize. I have above average situational awareness and never noticed her before.

2. When I thought about changing my route I realized I know every house in 5 mile radius of my house that has potential for problems. Loose dogs big, med, and snack size. Where all the DA dogs that are loose behind low fences etc. I even know what time of day the 3 tea cup terrors are goin to escape and tear
through the block.

3. I love my big wrecking ball. He never ceases to amaze me.

4. I've come to stereo typing people and expect the worse from people in the presence of my dog.

I was happy with the praise Toby received, he has worked very hard to be a polite boy.

i get this too and to be honest, this person probably was looking for trouble and she didnt find any. thats why she didnt touch your dog. people are touchy-feely, especially with things they like or admire so, the fact she didnt pet him or ask to is a red flag to me.

i see this in AP/natgeo commandos. if they ask to pet my dog they look him all over. its very obvious to me what theyre doing but i just smile. i dont think they realise how absolutely disrespectful that is. when i see some one with a child i dont look for bruses or scars...

 

[<Steph>]

i get this too and to be honest, this person probably was looking for trouble and she didnt find any. thats why she didnt touch your dog. people are touchy-feely, especially with things they like or admire so, the fact she didnt pet him or ask to is a red flag to me.

i see this in AP/natgeo commandos. if they ask to pet my dog they look him all over. its very obvious to me what theyre doing but i just smile. i dont think they realise how absolutely disrespectful that is. when i see some one with a child i dont look for bruses or scars...

I hope people don't do this with my dogs because if they did, they'd see scabs and bruised on my dogs faces. They play. Hard. They mouth each others faces and roll around in the yard. It's not noticeable from far away, but when you look closely, you can see it. I obviously know when they are playing or fighting because I've seen dogs fight before when I used to frequent the dog park (before I owned either of my dogs). So, if someone were to investigate my dogs, they'd probably think I was guilty of fighting. Good thing I took my spring pole down or I'd really be in trouble.
People need to start doing their own damn research before becoming rogue ASPCA detectives.

 

[ames]

good story, and I agree, so many people watch you more than you realize. I also found more people know my dog in my neighborhood than know me, lol. My sister used to walk him once a day before my schedule changed and thats how, but it would freak me out, like how they know my dog??? lol

I also know every house and potential prey for my pup and depending on the day when I should go out. I have had to change my 3pm walk cause since school started a little girl walks her HUGE Lab on a retractable leash while she scooters around the neighborhood. he trails or leads depending on his mood and I have seen her get pulled and he listens for crap. Terrible situation waiting to happen, but that's why I changed my schedule, better to be safe than sorry.

I agree, when you are ready to answer questions, be honest about your situation, especially to people who feel like they would listen and learn and not just judge.