Taiger Lilly wrote:Imzadi83 wrote:
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Honestly I'd be one of those people giving you a dirty look as you passed too. Your dog is showing rude behavior to both dogs and humans and would terrify my dog and upset me having my 11lbs dog pulling and trying to get away and doing everything she can to tell the other dog that she's not a threat/not interested.
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Ok but , glaring and giving dirty looks to people is a rude and aggressive behavior too. I find it very hypocritical that you would display that kind of of body language to someone. Positive reinforcement works for humans too! Why punish someone when they are obviously working to fix the situation? I just don't get it, especially when you are so adamant that others use only purely positive methods, which probably the most effective in the long run, also take quite a bit of time.
I'm not saying I don't get annoyed or that I don't cross the street to avoid dogs I see pulling. But unless the owner is letting their dog run right up onto you or not doing anything at all then I just don't see the need to be so rude? Just because they are at a different stage in their training than you are?
I try not to be nasty or rude, usually if they have control of their dog and pull it away right away I will still smile when they pass and tell them they have a pretty dog. Sometimes though when they don't have control of their dog, are letting it get closer, are ignoring my dog with her tail tucked between her legs trying to escape in fear, and are acting like it's okay because their dog is "friendly" that is really upsetting and I'm sure it shows on my face.
Is it hypocritical? I don't know. I guess I thought of it more as a defense, I want to make it clear that me and my dog do not want to be approached. The other dog is not understanding/respecting Chloe's 'please don't approach' body language so sometimes I feel I have to do the same because I'm worried about Chloe's safety at that moment, not teaching. I have had people mistake a smile before as an invitation to let their dog approach in the past and I don't want that to happen again either.
You're right that positive-reinforcement works on humans too, and I do try and respect people who are actively trying to control their dog. I didn't mean to be rude or upset anyone. I personally don't think my body language or a brief dirty look is all that rude, I just get frustrated in that kind of a situation and it shows on my face is what I mean. Once I realize they are actively controlling their dog I will usually smile.
I can understand both sides of the coin because I've been at the other end of the leash trying to control a pulling, aggressive, dog. I only added that part to illustrate what it feels like for those other people they are passing. I didn't mean to make anyone feel attacked, I'm very sorry I did. I just wanted to show that what the owner interprets as "friendly" can be very frightening to other dogs or cause them to become anxious/aggressive in the moment and having had bad encounters in the past can cause people to react with a dirty look in a similar situation.
