# Frustrating!



## afurr (Mar 4, 2009)

I was out last night walking Recon (our usual night walk) and we walked past a group of men sitting at picnic benches. Well, Recon saw them and walked a little towards them, stopped and stared at them (you know, being his curious self). One of the guys says, "easy there" and I said "oh he's fine, he's just a puppy. He's curious." (Mind you, he was no where near these guys, we were on the sidewalk. He was just facing them in his beautiful self stack ). One of the guys says to me, "You have a bad breed there" So naturally I stop walking and say "Excuse me??" He continued about "that dog. they are a bad breed. always attacking"

Oh I was so mad!! I bit my toungue not to say or argue with them, said "lets go" to Recon and of course him being awesome, walked nicely with me.

I hate how people judge!!!


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

Instead of getting mad, try laughing and telling them something like, "yeah you better be careful, he might lick you to death!" There are always going to be idiots in the world - these guys don't know you or your dog, so try not to let people like that get to you.


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## allieg (Nov 4, 2008)

So far I haven't met anyone on the street that has made any comments but I hate some of the looks.We've been complimented quit a bit lately for some reason.


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## afurr (Mar 4, 2009)

Oh i get a ton of compliments on him. But these 3 men, you could tell were just up to no good and wanting an argument.


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## allieg (Nov 4, 2008)

If I were to encounter those types of people I would just keep walking.Like in that kids movie,Just smile and wave boys.....


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Let it go. I was at the Halloween parade with Jax. I got bored so went for a walk. It was funny. Adults looked at her like ohhh... and back away. One guy jumped right out of the crowd to stop me and pet her and kids were coming out of the woodwork to to pet her. One little girl was even sharing the tootsie rolls that were thrown with her. 

That stuff always makes up for the idiots.


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## Riley's Mom (Jun 7, 2007)

If something like that were to happen to me, I'd have to tell the people something like "I'm sorry you feel that way and you're unfortunately for you, VERY misinformed." Suggest that they not spread rumors and learn the truth before they start making comments like that.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

I laughed at the last person that said something like that to me.


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## SunCzarina (Nov 24, 2000)

Oh the stories I could tell from when I had Luther. Just ignore it. It's going to happen. You can't fix stupid.


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## GSD07 (Feb 23, 2007)

> Originally Posted By: MandaBearI was out last night walking Recon (our usual night walk) and we walked past a group of men sitting at picnic benches.


 I would rather had your story happen to me (I like to come up with some borderline rude response to such people once in a while







) than the embarrassment I had to go with Anton when he was probably 4-5 months old. 

We were walking in our tiny neighborhood park and suddenly he took off to the shelter where kids and their moms were eating lunch. I didn't worry because all neighborhood kids knew and loved him already. Well, those were not people who knew Anton. So everyone froze, Anton climbed the picnic table, grabbed a large peanut butter sandwich, carefully got himself back to the ground and happily ran to me with his trophy. 

Only after that people got animated and thankfully just laughed and met Anton and played with him but I was very embarrassed.


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## Jason L (Mar 20, 2009)

"Packen!"

Just kidding ...


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## afurr (Mar 4, 2009)

That story is great!

I know to let it go. But I guess I wonder how people will react when he's full grown? I mean he's got the solid black face and I can already feel that people will judge. Shoot! All he wants to do is be everyone's best friend. I feel sorry for him that he can't tell the people to shut up. So i feel the need to do it for him









I would have said more, but I was alone at night and these were 3 guys who I can't say wouldn't do something. Had Recon been full grown, I would have had NO problem speaking up.


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## sleachy (Aug 10, 2001)

> Originally Posted By: Jason Lin"Packen!"
> 
> Just kidding ...












I probably would have said, "Ohhhh yeah, you better start running NOW."

Strange how people think GSDs are all mean.

There is a local mom-n-pop place we go for breakfast all the time. They know me and they know I usually have a dog in my truck. One summer day, I had the hatch up and Tooz was resting in her crate. She kept an eye on the door of the diner...waiting calmly for us to reappear. I heard the older guy at the table next to us say, "Look at that mean son of a _____, just WAITING to get someone."


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## afurr (Mar 4, 2009)

Ah I would have been so mad!

What does "Packen" mean?


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## aubie (Dec 22, 2008)

Lol...look, people are just stupid! 

I once had a man tell me, in all sincerity, that we needed to keep any eye on my BFFs dog..."cause once those dogs turn...get a taste o' blood, they'll kill ya! You'll have to put em' down once they get the blood thirst!"

It was her French bulldog Lilly.

People are weird.


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## Zisso (Mar 20, 2009)

I have learned, especially at night when I am alone, to let the punks think what they want. I feel safer when the punks that are looking for trouble, think I have a dog that may 'get them'. Perhaps Recon sensed they were up to no good.


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## sleachy (Aug 10, 2001)

> Originally Posted By: aubie...It was her French bulldog Lilly....












Bring it on wittle Frenchie....ima smooch you to death!!!


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## aubie (Dec 22, 2008)

Even funnier, she was only like a 12 week old puppy laying on her back, sleeping and snoring! Like I said, people are weird, often stupid and misinformed!


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## afurr (Mar 4, 2009)

Definently misinformed. Oh well! I can't help it that I own the best breed in the world


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## Doggydog (May 12, 2009)

I haven't heard that yet with my pup, but I got that kind of thing all the time with my Rotti. That dog actually enjoyed that she scared people, it seemed to amuse her. She would puff up with pride.
I frequently get asked, "Do they bite?" This seems fair enough but they'll ask while the dogs are smiling and wagging tails. My usual reply is "That depends on you."
I esp. hate when they scream and rush off the sidewalk while I have the dogs on a leash and they're perfectly heeling. 
People are misinformed and don't like to mind their own business.


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## gbocrafty (Apr 2, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: ZissoI have learned, especially at night when I am alone, to let the punks think what they want. I feel safer when the punks that are looking for trouble, think I have a dog that may 'get them'. Perhaps Recon sensed they were up to no good.


I have written about my encounters with intorelate people who think my 7.5 month old GSD is a "killer". They are usually people with small yappy dogs. In fact when my neighbor around the corner walks her maltese and Sassy and I are outside-she picks up her dog. WT heck! However, I usually don't correct the punks who constantly walk up and down my street. They were also afraid of my late dane, because of his size ( 96 lbs ) and bark. They should worry about my female hound-she is the proctective, quiet one.


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## csaiz (Dec 21, 2006)

This happened 5 years ago when my Kati







was but a 3 month old puppy:
Its Halloween night, I am dressed as a witch (Not a far stretch







), my Kati







, on leash is readdy to help me hand out candy to the trick or treeters:

Doorbell rings, I open door, the 5 year old goblin says:

"Its a Where-wolf - help"


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## Caledon (Nov 10, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: ZissoI have learned, especially at night when I am alone, to let the punks think what they want. I feel safer when the punks that are looking for trouble, think I have a dog that may 'get them'. Perhaps Recon sensed they were up to no good.


I agree.

It's probably a good thing that these three think you have "bad breed". 

I know when a courier comes to my door and I have Dakota in a sit/stay that I have received comments about how well trained she is. At that point I put her in a down, by hand signal. I only do this when I feel uncomfortable with the courier. I'm just telling them that I have a well trained dog. They don't need to know that she will lick them and become their best friend if they pet her.

To the orginal poster. Ignoring the comment is best. Why try to educate people who would be unwilling to change their opinions. You have nothing to gain.


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## Doubleminttwin (Aug 21, 2009)

Ugh ppl are so sad. The other night we were walking Baya around campus a girl comes running up out of knowhere and wants to pet her, but Baya is terrified of her so we tell her sorry shes still getting used to people maybe another time. We go to leave as a guy walks up to join us and wants to pet her, so we tell him the same. He was really nice about it but the girl was like "I have a pit bull at home, the main difference between pitbulls and GSD's is that a pitbull is born nice and you have to make it mean, A GSD is born mean and you have to make it nice." In all seriousness lol We were like no not at all, no dog is born mean and she glared at us rolled her eyes and procedeed to tell the dumbfounded guy all about nice pitts and mean shepherds. We just laughed and left w/our vicious dog









People are ignorant about dogs, especially any dog that can produce its own body heat and not spend the whole day shaking (sorry chihuahua ppl lol) People have been terrified of Baya since she was 3 months old, it doesn't help that she doesn't like people but what Ive found is that the people rude enough to tell you about how mean your dog is just really don't care about any opinion other than theirs. The truth is irrelevant to them









On a side note, french bulldogs are terrifying especially in puppy stage


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## trudy (Aug 25, 2008)

last night I had my first real prejudice, we are going out of town and I checked online for hotels that take dogs, I phoned, verified it was OK, booked 3 rooms for 3 nights, then asked if I needed any special confirmation for the dogs. She asked what kind of dogs I said a shihtzu and a German Shepherd. Her voice changed and she said she was sorry but only certain rooms allowed dogs and they were all booked so we couldn't stay there.

Needless to say i was shocked and we booked elsewhere, any one else have this problem? I'm sure it was the German Shepherd, and I didn't even say we were bringing three German Shepherds.


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## aubie (Dec 22, 2008)

When we booked our beachtrip and the house took dogs I was ready for the "so, what kind of dogs are they?" question...

I was like "um...a collie mutt and a GSD?" and waited for the "no sorry!" but actually he was completely fine with it. Now we're looking for a winter Smokey mountain trip and trying to find a cabin that takes dogs over 25lbs. Ugh. Much harder.


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## brembo (Jun 30, 2009)

Some cops were messing around in the area and finally one came to my hose about 3 weeks ago. Of course my pack of idiots went bonkers when someone came strolling up to my front door with a radio squawking. My house is fenced 360 by chain-link and you can't get inside my house without gong "through" the dogs. The cop was pretty wary of the GSD that easily put his paws up on the 4' fence and looked him dead square in the chest. I came out and asked what was up (lost kid) and the cop kept asking "can he...uh...jump the fence?" I told the cop that yes the fence was merely a suggestion to a healthy and active GSD, but he would not jump the fence unless he (the cop) did something that warranted Banjo leaping the fence, and I listed the things that would do that (comming at me in a menacing manner). I put Banjo on a sit and finally got the cop to pet him, you could see the tension melt from the cop's stance and face. Told the cop that it's real simple in Banjo's head; "if you are cool with me, the dog is 110% cool with you". They found the kid later on, he had gone over to a friends house or something silly.


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## k950ECHO (Oct 15, 2009)

Its called Ignorance. Only time people really, really have encournter with GSD is through their owns means of misconduct or running from the Police. Most who say that, dont have good intentions to begin with and are ignorant and plain stupid. 

BAD BREED ?? why cause he has teeth? has better instincts than any human being and knows when your (the guys) up to no good?

HA ! than fine, I have a great breed.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: k950Its called Ignorance. Only time people really, really have encournter with GSD is through their owns means of misconduct or running from the Police. Most who say that, dont have good intentions to begin with and are ignorant and plain stupid.
> 
> BAD BREED ?? why cause he has teeth? has better instincts than any human being and knows when your (the guys) up to no good?
> 
> HA ! than fine, I have a great breed.


Or they could be like my brother who, when 5 years old, had his face tore up by a GSD at a public playground, almost lost and eye, and maybe they still carry trauma.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

I am sorry about your brother, but I doubt very much that everyone that holds misconceptions about German Shepherds had serious attacks by one of them. For one thing, that is usually one of the first things out of their mouth's, "Hey, keep that dog away from me, I was attacked by one of them."

More common is the "I know someone who was...."

Our dogs are big, they have good sized fangs, they look intimidating. Lots of bad people have used them for bad image dogs. Lots of them are police dogs that none of us want to mess with. Some people may have had them used against them by opressive governments. 

I would just agree with them, "Yeah, we bad!" and move on.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

I was at the vet the other day having Karlo weighed, and a client said "that dog looks like he could eat small children"
I said "only if they are wearing red hoods". He was wagging his tail happily...then I said he was just a puppy, a happy puppy. Sheesh.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

My drunk person story. 

Drunk guy walks up to Babs, Jenna and I. They were 8 months old. Jenna pulled away and went to the end of her leash. He laughed and said she was afraid of him. I was ABOUT to say they were only puppies, when he lunged at ME. 

Both Jenna and Babs turned into their baby eating counterparts, and if he was glad they were both on four foot leashes, I never knew. He made a bee line back to the bar, possibly to clean his drawers. 

That was the last time I felt compelled to tell ANYONE that one of my dogs was just a puppy. 

Neither of my girls connected with him, but they were both up on two legs going for him. I did not know what to do, I chose not to praise or correct, and just turned and went on my way.


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## DSudd (Sep 22, 2006)

I dont think the misconception is about big dogs only. My sister was attacked and bitten by a small dog and she is pretty much afraid of all dogs, especially small ones. She was 3 or 4 when it happened


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## TxRider (Apr 15, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: selzerI am sorry about your brother, but I doubt very much that everyone that holds misconceptions about German Shepherds had serious attacks by one of them. For one thing, that is usually one of the first things out of their mouth's, "Hey, keep that dog away from me, I was attacked by one of them."
> 
> More common is the "I know someone who was...."
> 
> ...


I have been bitten by two large GSDs, wouldn't exactly call them attacks though. Now I own two..







I credit both to their owners. not the dogs though.

One was my friends dog as a kid, kept chained his whole life, the other was my bosses dog when I was in my 20's.

I have been bitten by more little dogs less than 20lbs though. Funny thing, their owners didn't even seem to care or think anything of it.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: selzerI am sorry about your brother, but I doubt very much that everyone that holds misconceptions about German Shepherds had serious attacks by one of them.


I never said 


> Quote:everyone that holds misconceptions about German Shepherds had serious attacks by one of them


Nor did I say my brother is scared of large dogs. I believe he has a rottie now.

I simply gave a different scenario, with my brothers incident as an example, that some ppl may have trauma associated with their feelings and not everyone is going to share with you that they had a bad experience but could just make a comment like that and move on. 

Personally, I don't get all offended if someone says something like that about Jax or any large dog. Everyone has their right to an opinion and their own feelings. Just shrug your shoulder and say "ok...whatever"


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

My BIL's parents' white crappy dog has bitten several people, but he is afraid of our German Shepherd Dogs. "They can EAT me."


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Fears are usually irrational, some based on actual trauma and some based on imagination.


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## Toffifay (Feb 10, 2007)

I have to admit...I used to be afraid of dogs when I was a child...I am not sure why?? I must have outgrown my irrational fear, because I have been a professional pet groomer for 18 years! In all these years I have NEVER been bitten by a GSD, Rottweiler, Pitbull, Labrador or other common large dog...however, I have been bitten numerous times by dogs all weighing less than 30 lbs. I speak from experience...I worry less when dealing with a nervous GSD than a nervous chihuahua!


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Do you think that is the dog or do you think it's the person? Are we more cautious with a nervous large dog and take for granted the small dog until they have their little shark teeth buried in our hands? 

I'll take a big dog over a small one any day of the week.


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## Raziel (Sep 29, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: Jax08Do you think that is the dog or do you think it's the person? Are we more cautious with a nervous large dog and take for granted the small dog until they have their little shark teeth buried in our hands?
> 
> I'll take a big dog over a small one any day of the week.


I agree, a seemly friendly female dog (under 50 pounds) was in out yard (people seem to think its ok to let their dogs out on OUR YARD property and let them potty(?) without cleaning it....UNLEASHED.???)
And obviously my dog is there...I live there....and the guy said she was ok....so I said "Hi girl..." bent down and let her sniff my hand.....heard her make a low growl and I immedialy moved my hand...she almost took a chunk out of my arm!!
Dogs fault? No. Owners? YES.
Do not let your dog onto other peoples property when you CLEARLY see another dog on the property.
UGH it made me SOO MAD!
People are so stupid.


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