Patting Animals In Public

[Crouton]

I get really annoyed at people who will try and pat others peoples dogs in public, or "pet" if your from the US. It annoys me especially when the owner isn't there, or if they do it without asking permission. My friend has a very timid/flighty dog who she took for a walk the other day and tied up outside a shop when she went inside quickly. When she came back, there was a woman there letting her small child pat the dog, and the dog was showing signs of being very scared. The child was just slapping it on the head too. Then when my friend said "Please don't let your child pat my dog, you shouldn't pat dogs without their owners around" the Mother got really angry. This woman actually started yelling at my friend and arguing with her.

I hate this mentality that you can just go up to any dog in the street and touch them. Some dogs could be scared, or have fear aggression, or be flighty animals.

I know when my dog was old he has vision problems, and used to get scared if people he didn't know touched him, and often bit our of fear in these cases. I used to take him for walks and I remember several times having children come up and try and pat him. I would always nicely say "Sorry but it's probably better you didn't pat him he can get scared easily". Whenever this happened I would get the worst glares from the parents. I mean, what am I supposed to say? I'm sorry I just saved your child from being bitten?

Has anyone else experienced this?

[sjfaerlind]

I haven't had a dog in many years but I had more of a problem with other dog owners being irresponsible with their dogs around mine. My dog could be an idiot around other dogs. As a result, he was ALWAYS leashed and not on one of those retractable leashes that allow dogs to stray 25 feet away either. I'll never forget that I was walking him down the sidewalk one day and there was this guy working in his backyard. He had a huge German Shepherd with him and the yard wasn't fenced and the dog was just wandering around loose. Of course, he sees my dog and comes tearing out of the yard straight for him. I knew exactly what was going to happen so I jumped in front of my dog and yelled "back off!" at the top of my lungs before the other dog got anywhere near us. The other dog wasn't expecting that so it stopped him dead in his tracks. The owner of the other dog came flying out of the yard and was really offended that I had yelled at his dog. He said, "He wouldn't ever hurt your dog you know, I don't think you should have yelled at him." I had to reply, "Yeah, but my dog is an idiot around other dogs. If your dog comes near him, there's likely going to be a fight. We have as much right to walk down this sidewalk unmolested as anyone else does and my dog is under my control. Can you explain to me why you've been calling your dog and he isn't listening to you? Why isn't he fenced in or leashed if he doesn't listen to you? Are you that eager to take him to the vet for stitches?" Grrr....

I hear you about parents needing to check with people before letting their kids pat/pet dogs though Crouton. A lot of kids get bitten that way.

[Crouton]

That is annoying as well SJ. I'm lucky that type of thing didn't happen to me often because everyone kept their dogs on leads along my walking paths. But yeah it annoys me when people think their dogs can do anything, and that they can touch anyone elses dogs whenever they want (even if an owner isn't nearby).

[Erehsidne]

First of all, I agree with the fact that you shouldn't pet other peoples animals without permission.

However, tying a dog up outside a store is incredible irresponsible and cruel to the animal. Especially if the animal already is very timid and flighty. Why on earth would you put a poor animal through that? Even if it was to just run into a store quickly. There's no way people will respect animals at all time and it is your job as an owner to keep your animal out of those situations. Ugh, it just frustrates me when people tie their dogs up outside of stores or buildings and leave them. Anything could happen.

[Crouton]

I don't personally do it myself, because my dog always got nervous when I left. But it's really common here. You see people tie their dogs up outside shops every single day. I'm not a huge fan of it but I still don't think it gives anyone the right to touch the dog while the owner isn't there.