# Why you should NOT let strangers near your dog



## GSDhistorian (Aug 30, 2014)

Heard a story of a dog who may be put down.. "All depends on a judges decision" because while at a vet's office, a child approached the dog and the dog was fearful and tried getting away, the kid cornered the dog and the dog bit the kid. Because of a state law the dog may be put down. I don't know all the rest of the details but it sounds to me a typical scenario where an unsupervised kid came walking up to a dog cornering it and the dog bit in fear. Now, of course it's not the childs fault, BUT, the parents of the kid should have controlled their kid better. I also do NOT think the dog should be put down just because it was cornered. Bottom line, if a stranger or kid approaches you and your dog, protect yourself and your dog and kindly but firmly tell them do not approach your dog. If they continue to approach i would repeat it again and maybe say loud enough for people to hear, or pull out your cell camera and record yourself asking them not to approach you or your dog.. will it help? Idk, i am not a lawyer, but im sick of seeing pets blamed or being put down because of stupid inconsiderate people who do not respect others space.


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## The Wild Bunch (Jun 17, 2015)

GSDhistorian said:


> *Bottom line, if a stranger or kid approaches you and your dog, protect yourself and your dog and kindly but firmly tell them do not approach your dog.*



^^^^THIS^^^^
And, and not always so kindly.


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## dogma13 (Mar 8, 2014)

Where was the owner while this was going on?Sounds like errors of judgment on both sides


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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

what do you mean kids? ADULTS do this . They start having a conversation with the dog as if the person isn't even there! Want to get all huggy wuggy. 

1) know your dog
2) expect the unexpected
3) be proactive in taking action necessary never mind 
being embarrassed by turning up the volume
4) it might be nice if Vet's had a policy that dogs come in to the clinic
under control , that they keep away from other dogs as well

At my clinic as I am waiting for x ray plates to come out of the solution for a read ,
clients come in , the door opens and automatically the flexi lead is let out so that
the snappy terrier can come "visit" --- my dog on lead -- relaxed laying down , given
a "leave it" regardless , asking the person to keep the dog away and you get the death stare.

another clinic where I went to support a friend who had to put their elderly dog down the vet was handing out cookie treats so that people could go around and socialize with the dogs -- they didn't even ask the owners !!!! 


1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 ---- make temperament a priority !!!


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## Debanneball (Aug 28, 2014)

When ever I took Stella to the vet, she stayed in the car until the vet was ready to see her. Then as I left to get her, I asked people to hold their dogs back, do NOT let them approach. Worked for us!


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## Lobo dog (Sep 19, 2014)

Actually the only issues we have had have been with Adults. One of my dad's friends came over and was asking about what training techniques we use for Lobo then proceeded to bend down to Lobo's level and say " Who's the Alpha? Who's the Alpha?" In a really loud voice all the while making direct eye contact. Thankfully my dad was close enough to grab Lobo's collar before anything happened. The other time our adult cousin was over and didn't think Lobo was very "Tough". We were all on the couch relaxed and Lobo was sleeping on the flour then Billy (the Cousin) started barking like a dog and Lobo reacted to Billy's aggression. Both times the human was at fault and intentionally provoked a reaction but thankfully we are very watchful especially when someone is interacting with our dog, and we were able to avoid conflict. 

The owner of the dog in question must have had the dog on an extension leash and wasn't paying attention or could not get to the child and dog fast enough...that's all I can think of


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## Kyleigh (Oct 16, 2012)

I have had several experiences with people like this and all I can say at the end of the day is you can't fix stupid (and no, I'm not blaming the child).


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## MineAreWorkingline (May 2, 2015)

Is this the story about Padi who bit off part of the child's ear? 

If it is, one side of the story says the child went under the desk after the dog while the other side says the dog came out from under the desk to attack the child.


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## newlie (Feb 12, 2013)

Newlie's vet has several little waiting areas in addition to the examination rooms. The staff really tries to keep everybody separated and do a pretty good job. There will be one animal + family in each exam room and then one or sometimes two in each of the two waiting areas. Depending on how excited or not Newlie is and also who is already waiting, I will either take him in or keep him outside till our turn. There is no problem whatsoever with people, but he can be reactive with other dogs. 

That being said, I watch very carefully if anyone approaches, particularly a child, just because it never hurts to be on the safe side. But I have to say, most people seem to be afraid to let their children too close, not because Newlie is doing anything, but just because they are leery of a big shepherd.


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## pyratemom (Jan 10, 2011)

You can stop a child if the parent isn't anywhere around. Most kids will stop with a warning, others, not so much. Being a mother I would tell the kid to not approach, the dog is scared. If the kid continued to approach I would remove my dog from the situation and let the vet's assistants know they need to find the parents of that kid. When we go to the vet, I leave Raina in the car, run inside to let them know we are there and check out the waiting room situation. We usually just walk around outside where they can call us in when it is safe. I don't take chances as I don't trust other people's dogs or kids to not get too close.


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## WateryTart (Sep 25, 2013)

I'm not always necessarily kind about it. I'll start politely but I'll get short if I have to. My dog is sweet and tolerant and social, but it's still my job to protect her.

I usually don't have too many issues with kids, though. I attribute this to: 1) kids are sometimes scared of shepherds (or big dogs); 2) parents are afraid to have their kids near a shepherd (or big dog); and 3) I'm not at all a kid person and to them, _I_ might look scary.

And in this case, I absolutely blame the parents. I do wonder where the dog owner was, but this is mostly on the parents.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

The bottom line is have control of your dog. You can't control the general surroundings so have control of your dog. If that means yelling at someone to back off. Yell. If that includes keeping a short leash around people. Do it. If that includes having a freaking muzzle on your dog so it can't bite anyone. Then Muzzle it.

I'm starting my 3rd round of abx tomorrow because someone did not have control of their dog and it charged my dog from behind me. So my tolerance on excuses is at ZERO. It's the dog owners responsibility to control their dog and the immediate personal space.


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## My2shepherds (Jun 10, 2014)

I believe that what my dogs do in public is ALWAYS my responsibility regardless of the behavior of anyone else... I control them as well as protect them in all situations and if they were to bite it is my fault whether they have a history of it or not.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

:thumbup: Kimberly


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## amburger16 (May 22, 2015)

I'm also curious as to where the owner was, but also curious as to where this child's parent was. This could have be prevented in so many ways, and its sad that the dogs life is now at risk. It's my job to protect Bear and if I need to be belligerent, or use force to do so, whether against child, adult or other animal. Whatever consequences come of my actions will be lesser to me then the possibility of losing my dog.


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## familydag5 (Jan 24, 2015)

This poor child, I have also been bitten by a dog while jogging and feel pretty strongly that if you walk out into public with an aggressive dog that you can't control or trust than you are putting everyone including that dog in danger.


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

My dog, my responsibility. I have a dog who is a social butterfly. When I don't have my eyeballs on him (in a social environment) he's crated. Even though he's friendly. Every thing has a limit and I don't want to find out what is my dog's limit.


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## CaliGSD3 (Apr 23, 2015)

Just the fact that it was a vets office makes the situation different from a normal dog bite situation imo. The vets office for most dogs is an abnormally stressful and uncomfortable situation for even a healthy dog, let alone dogs that are in for an injury or illness. So for one, I think that should excuse this dog from being put down for defensively biting a child who cornered it, it's not like he mauled the kid or anything.

And the second thing... As a parent with a child in a vets office, you should be WAY the heck more attentive and strict about your child's behavior if you must bring him/her. Seriously! This parent has no right to be upset In my opinion. 

I would say the owner is at fault as well... Although I've been in a crowded waiting room that was long and narrow shaped like a hall. So if a child was sitting across from me, he could take three quick steps and be right in front of my dog, who was laying in front of my chair. It would be difficult to maneuver out of my chair and physically stop the kid in time if my voice didn't work. And I basically had only one seating choice because of snarling lunging dogs that I had to keep some distance from. It was an emergency vet on a busy night so a little more hectic than usual probably. 
(Luckily my dog is pretty bombproof when it comes to kids and strangers, so while I would ask them to keep their distance, it would make his day if a random kid came up and hugged him. So I don't have to worry much)

So without reading the article I don't know how harshly I would judge the owner of the dog. I feel like this is a situation where both sides should be apologetic and just move on... The dog should not be punished.


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## Gretchen (Jan 20, 2011)

Debanneball said:


> When ever I took Stella to the vet, she stayed in the car until the vet was ready to see her. Then as I left to get her, I asked people to hold their dogs back, do NOT let them approach. Worked for us!


Good for you!
I used to be shy about things like this before I got my GSD, but now I have no problem speaking up, especially with children involved, when kids approach I use the"stop" hand signal too.

I feel terrible about all parties involved at the vet, both the owner and the child's family. Difficult lessons for all. Thinking about it, I very seldom see children at the vet.


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## Ceez201 (Jul 3, 2015)

I don't let anyone touch my 5 month old pup. She's reactive right now in one on one interactions, but fine in a group setting. My pup is a beautiful very dark sable and everyone wants to touch her. Coming from a Husky this has been a learning experience as far as how I should let strangers interact with my pup. I have had kids literally walked right up behind us to touch her and even adults walk up to her baby talking her before I have to ask them to give her space. I no longer let anyone she isn't comfortable with interact with her.


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## GSDhistorian (Aug 30, 2014)

Many of you with such great input on this! This is why i really don't take my dog out anymore... she used to love going to petsmart and tractor supply, but you always have the kid.. or adult that unwelcomely walks up and tries to hug or pet your dog without asking.. angers me! I dont even walk my dog anymore because last timne i did, my neighbors let their little 20lb semi lap dogs come up and try to start with my dog. My German shepherd as you can imagine is very strong and could have hurt these dogs badly, but i did not want that to happen so i had to hold her back while these annoying yapping little dogs circled us.. I have a privacy fence and a big back yard so i just play with her there now


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

That is really sad that you don't allow her to experience the world. If she's stable, there is no reason for you to isolate her. Just find better places to go. And get better at blocking.


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## WateryTart (Sep 25, 2013)

My2shepherds said:


> I believe that what my dogs do in public is ALWAYS my responsibility regardless of the behavior of anyone else... I control them as well as protect them in all situations and if they were to bite it is my fault whether they have a history of it or not.


This is true.

I'd have been ON that kid in a hot second if they'd been bugging my dog, because I'm on top of her whenever we are out. I've body blocked people, dogs, and children from my dog before.

Bottom line, she's more important to me than you (general you) are, so I'm going to care more about her wellbeing than your hurt feelings. The bonus is that she won't be biting you if I can possibly help it. Not that I think she would, but as was stated by another poster, every dog has a limit.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Some people get second chances and breaks. I don't believe I would be one of those people. So I expect my dog to be given no leeway, if the judge can say PTS, my dog would be PTS. 

In believing this, I know that my dog's life is my responsibility. And yet, I don't prevent them from seeing anyone, interacting with people.

But, you have to know your dog in every situation. 
You have to pick and chose who gets to interact with your dog. If kids do not act politely, they get a NO. And I do not give them the opportunity to get there before me. If there is too much going on -- a hoard of kids, or a kid and hyped up dogs all over, No, Sorry, there is too much going on.

When we believe that if our dog gets loose, he will be shot, there are a lot fewer accidents where the dog is running loose. When we believe that a dog will be euthanized if it bites someone, well, there will be a lot fewer instances where that is likely. 

Parents should be more careful, BUT dog bites happen in an instant. And, when people own breeds that have little human aggression, sometimes it just doesn't enter their minds that someone will have a dog that is likely to bite their kid. If we want to continue to own this marvelous breed of dog, we have to be better about managing them. Every incident like this one is bad for dog owners, and particularly bad for owners of formidable dogs.

I feel bad for the kid too.


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## MamaofLEO (Aug 8, 2014)

My2shepherds said:


> I believe that what my dogs do in public is ALWAYS my responsibility regardless of the behavior of anyone else... I control them as well as protect them in all situations and if they were to bite it is my fault whether they have a history of it or not.


100% agree!! I can only control myself and my pups and if the best way to avoid a bad situation (with a child or other pup at the vet) is to wait outside or be firm in saying he is a nervous dog and do not approach him. When Leo was little (and now with Shane being a cantankerous 14 year old), we used this-->



 harness







in the wait room (more for Shane as he likes to be "vocal" and has a very deep bark). We were given a broad breadth at the vet (when we weren't put straight into a room).


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## Chip18 (Jan 11, 2014)

Hmm well, pretty much all the logical arguments have been made? If you have a dog with "known" issues it's your responsibility to *"Keep People out of your dogs face and control your dog!!!"*

If you have no idea how your dog behaves in public.... *"Keep People out of your dogs face and control your dog!!!"
*

To that end I do this with every dog I am in charge of:
Leerburg | Who Pets Your Puppy or Dog and I'll add my usual only the walking part of the article is critical.

I have no problem telling someone I don't know and will never see again, that "No" you can't pet my dog! Actually that becomes pretty clear because they have to get through me first in any case. (And I will add for Jax08) not talking "ambush predators" here, sorry that happened! 

Sometimes people (dog owners) need to suck it up and do their job! Keep people and your dog safe! Be like "Homie" as it were and:










Brife concise and to the point I trust?


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## gsdlover91 (Jul 21, 2012)

I'm glad my dogs are basically bombproof to children and random people coming up up them and touching them. 

Sure, Berlin likes his personal space but he is SO tolerant wth kids... Because of how I socialized him as a puppy.

Kids can do whatever they want to him. Not that I allow that, but I sure would hate to not let my dog go anywhere because of me worrying about people approaching them. Berlin is mostly just aloof and tolerant of random people/most dogs. Of course, I consider it MY responsibility to make sure MY dog doesn't do anything to harm a child or stranger, so I am always very careful and watchful when people approach us, especially kids. 

I don't like random kids running up to my dogs, but I've come to realize it's the norm for people to just let their kids run up to strange dogs, and took it upon myself to train/socialize/expose my dogs to that as much as possible to reduce the risk of incidents.


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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

sounds like Berlin has good temperament . Excellent .

1) know your dog
2) expect the unexpected
3) be proactive in taking action necessary never mind 
being embarrassed by turning up the volume
4) it might be nice if Vet's had a policy that dogs come in to the clinic
under control , that they keep away from other dogs as well
1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 ---- make temperament a priority !!! 

know your dog -- don't make excuses .
if the dog is shaky , has low thresholds , insecure , reactive KNOW it , recognize it , don't make excuses , deal with it , change it , and manage the dog and buffer his exposure , which is not to isolate him. Protect the dog , protect those that may come in to contact with him.

expect the unexpected -- when you are out with your dog you should be actively engaged , like driving a car, like riding a horse . Things can and do go wrong in the blink of an eye .


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## MineAreWorkingline (May 2, 2015)

Dog that bit boy's ear at Bradenton clinic may be euthanized


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

Dogperks has a few very affordable bandannas and leash sleeves. 

CAUTION bandana:
*BANDANA - CAUTION! I don't play well with others. | The Dog Perk Corporation

I NEED SPACE leash sleeve:
LEASH SLEEVE - I Need Space (GOLD) | The Dog Perk Corporation


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## Steve Strom (Oct 26, 2013)

MineAreWorkingline said:


> Dog that bit boy's ear at Bradenton clinic may be euthanized


A babysitter took a 4yr old boy to a vet clinic where he was allowed to play with a strange dog ??? What genius came up with this plan? Crawling under a desk with him??


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## Augustine (Nov 22, 2014)

Blame the dog instead of the babysitter who let all of this happen under their watch. SMH.


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## CaliGSD3 (Apr 23, 2015)

Wow.. Should've posted the news article in the first place... That is absolutely ridiculous. They weren't even there for any good reason. ("To look at the kittens") and the babysitter just watches while the 4 year old terrorizes the dog. Even allows the child to follows the dog into the vets office and under his desk! Smh...
Yes, keeping the dog under the owners supervision could have prevented this, and having a dog hanging around a vet clinic all day obviously comes with risks.... but that is just incredibly irresponsible and idiotic on the part of the babysitter who should really be the one to blame. I feel sorry for the dog and the kid


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## pyratemom (Jan 10, 2011)

This is so not fair. That babysitter is the one who should have been watching the child and keeping it out of trouble. Who lets their kids run around the vet's office and even into his private office to hide under his desk. I have to wonder how old the babysitter was if they didn't have enough common sense to use manners and not let the child go into the vet's office. Manners would keep the normal person from allowing that. Now the dog may have to die because of it. Another example of people now having less respect and less manners for others. It really is a shame the dog has to pay. Not to minimize the damage done to the child psychologically.


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

I'm disturbed that the animal control people are suggesting in the news report that Florida supposedly has an automatic (mandatory) death sentence for a dog for any bite, _regardless of the circumstances. _People really need to be working with legislators to get some sanity injected into that law so that hearing officers can examine the circumstances. I'm not familiar with Florida's law, but if that's the case...wow.


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