# encounter with crazy person and our puppy



## JPF (Feb 5, 2011)

Not sure how to describe this encounter because it was so bizarre. But ill do my best. First you should know that Enzo is only 4.5 months old and loves everyone at this point. So we are at an off leash beach walking along throwing the ball every so often. Next thing I know I hear a shrill (literally) screaming and turned around to see a woman with her hands on her cheeks screaming her head off nonstop. It really looks like something out of a cheesy horror movie. I couldn't understand what she was screaming about at first until i noticed that our little Enzo was trotting about 15 feet away from her. Mind you at this point he was even headed towards her, just following our other dog. Of course the screaming got his attention but he didn't even get more than 5 feet from her. By this time I was more than a bit amused but I calmly called him back to me (and he came right away). I tried to explain he is friendly and only a puppy. The hysterical woman told me that he didn't "look" friendly. :headbang: 

It was literally one of the most bizarre moments I have experienced. It felt like a movie.


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## 1sttimeforgsd (Jul 29, 2010)

Wow, that was some beach encounter. Maybe she has heard about our landsharks!


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

some people overreact but as a responsible owner
we need to contain our dogs in this situation. calling your dog to you
was the right thing to do maybe putting on his leash
if necessary.


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## Lucy Dog (Aug 10, 2008)

Are you sure she wasn't... how do I say this without offending anyone... mentally challenged?


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## JPF (Feb 5, 2011)

doggiedad said:


> some people overreact but as a responsible owner
> we need to contain our dogs in this situation. calling your dog to you
> was the right thing to do maybe putting on his leash
> if necessary.


totally agree. However this was not simply an overreaction since there was literally nothing to react to. It was bizarre to say the least. Especially given that we were on an off leash beach with 50 or so other dogs running around.


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## JPF (Feb 5, 2011)

Lucy Dog said:


> Are you sure she wasn't... how do I say this without offending anyone... mentally challenged?


no, she was normal except for I would assume is an extreme fear of dogs. Which is weird because she was on a beach with lots of dogs running off leash. I guess though you can never know by just a couple second interaction with someone whether they are mentally challenged but she didn't seem so.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

what do you mean there was nothing to react to?? she was reacting to he dog and you know it.



JPF said:


> totally agree. However this was not simply an overreaction since there was literally nothing to react to. It was bizarre to say the least. Especially given that we were on an off leash beach with 50 or so other dogs running around.


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## Lucy Dog (Aug 10, 2008)

doggiedad said:


> what do you mean there was nothing to react to?? she was reacting to he dog and you know it.


I think she just meant that there was nothing to react to from a practical stand point. 

She knows the woman was reacting to the dog, she's just saying there was no reason for that type of reaction to such a young puppy at an off leash beach.


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## CassandGunnar (Jan 3, 2011)

Glad your dog came back to you and there was no problem between the lady and your dog.
You never can tell who you'll run into at a dog park. We once ran into a lady who was there with her pocket dog and would pick up her dog every time a bigger dog would come around. She said that she was "afraid of big dogs". (The owner was afraid, her dog seemed to be fine)


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## JPF (Feb 5, 2011)

Lucy Dog said:


> I think she just meant that there was nothing to react to from a practical stand point.
> 
> She knows the woman was reacting to the dog, she's just saying there was no reason for that type of reaction to such a young puppy at an off leash beach.


Thank you Lucy Dog...that is exactly what I meant. I don't understand why you go to a dog park if you have an extreme fear of dogs? 

DoggieDad---If you were there, you would have seen how bizarre it was. I have seen all sorts of rational responses to dogs at various places but this one was just out of the ordinary.


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## SuperNova (May 1, 2011)

I agree, if you are that fearful/overeactive to dogs the LAST place to go would be an offleash dog area!
JPF, perhaps for next time, keep a close eye on Enzo and make sure that he is near you and not out of reach, as he is just a puppy and would probably IMO benefit from learning first on leash and then switching to off leash.
It is a great thing that he came back though, especially as a pup! A lot of people have dogs that cannot be recalled as adults! :headbang:


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## CarrieJ (Feb 22, 2011)

> Are you sure she wasn't... how do I say this without offending anyone... mentally challenged?


That's what I thought. Possibly phobic about GSDs, there are those people out there. I live in an area of CA that has so many different cultures someplaces they eat dogs and use the fur, someplaces the military uses them on civilians. I just don't know what that other person has been through.
I've had people freak out about my last dog. Usually Middle Eastern or Palestinians and people from the former Yugoslavic republic. (Is that Croatia or Bosnia or both now?)



Of course going to an off leash dog beach seems a bit strange. Especially if you are afraid of dogs especially GSDs. I'm glad your dog didn't react to the screaming...Alice would have at that age.


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## JPF (Feb 5, 2011)

CarrieJ said:


> That's what I thought. Possibly phobic about GSDs, there are those people out there. I live in an area of CA that has so many different cultures someplaces they eat dogs and use the fur, someplaces the military uses them on civilians. I just don't know what that other person has been through.
> I've had people freak out about my last dog. Usually Middle Eastern or Palestinians and people from the former Yugoslavic republic. (Is that Croatia or Bosnia or both now?)
> 
> 
> ...


i was extremely happy with his non reaction as well as him coming when called. Ive put a lot work into him and it is paying off now. The off leash beach is in carmel (one of the most dog friendly areas in the country). I think the reaction was due to the breed ( as well as the persons own issues with dogs).


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## CarrieJ (Feb 22, 2011)

Wow, Carmel...????? You're right...that is probably the most dog friendly place I've ever heard of.

Probably the breed, I've had people step off a sidewalk into a busy street to avoid Alice. (on heel)
I guess if you had a cute (albeit mentally challenged) puggle you woudn't have had the same reaction.

I just make allowances that although my dog is not aggressive, she's not people friendly. They don't bother her, but she won't just come right up to you with wiggle butt unless "you're on the list" I also make allowances for other people's fear of German Shepherds and just try by lifestyle to break the stereotype of "vicious shih-tzus, GSDs and Pitbulls" But, she's not a gregarious lab or golden that's for sure.

*See homedepot nose biting thread for the S/A shih-tzu comment*


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## Remo (Sep 8, 2004)

Our neighbor across the street is like that. One time a four month old, fat, happy puppy started walking toward him, wagging his tail and looking so happy, and the neighbor's reaction was to thrust a big metal trash can in front of him, screaming "call him off" "call him off". It looked hilarious, but his fear is real. His whole family is that way, including his grown kids. I think is is really sad and he is to be pitied. He'll never know what he is missing.


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## starrluvsjackson (Feb 24, 2011)

JPF said:


> Not sure how to describe this encounter because it was so bizarre. But ill do my best. First you should know that Enzo is only 4.5 months old and loves everyone at this point. So we are at an off leash beach walking along throwing the ball every so often. Next thing I know I hear a shrill (literally) screaming and turned around to see a woman with her hands on her cheeks screaming her head off nonstop. It really looks like something out of a cheesy horror movie. I couldn't understand what she was screaming about at first until i noticed that our little Enzo was trotting about 15 feet away from her. Mind you at this point he was even headed towards her, just following our other dog. Of course the screaming got his attention but he didn't even get more than 5 feet from her. By this time I was more than a bit amused but I calmly called him back to me (and he came right away). I tried to explain he is friendly and only a puppy. The hysterical woman told me that he didn't "look" friendly. :headbang:
> 
> It was literally one of the most bizarre moments I have experienced. It felt like a movie.


:rofl: :hammer: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA oh god what was she even doing on a beach surrounded by dogs then? XD the word "special" definately comes to mind!


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## krystyne73 (Oct 13, 2010)

I've seen people react like that to a Black cat lol it's weird and sorta funny but to each their own.
At least your pup had been exposed to the crazies and responded well!


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## holland (Jan 11, 2009)

So if the person had a negetive experience with a GSD maybe they were bitten or saw someone else bitten and now they are fearful-they are crazy -and we laugh and ridicule them


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## 4dognight (Aug 14, 2006)

then why be at an off leash dog park??? I have a black GSD pup about the same age I was walking him down the street and people acted like I was walking a hugh bucking bull!! He loves everyone. I do find this story very strange indeed. Who knows where her mind was............


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## CarrieJ (Feb 22, 2011)

> "call him off" "call him off". It looked hilarious, but his fear is real. His whole family is that way, including his grown kids. I think is is really sad and he is to be pitied. He'll never know what he is missing.


Absolutely, I'll never understand dog phobics.

And, "call him off!" for a four month old puppy...jeez! Most four month old puppies; just wait for a bright shiney object to blow by and they will find that more interesting.


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## angierose (Apr 20, 2009)

Part of overcoming fears, in many cases, is confronting the fears. The lady may have thought she was ready to be at a dog beach and discovered that she was not. If this is the case, hopefully the pup responding well to commands will at least make a positive impression on her.


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## GSDolch (May 15, 2006)

holland said:


> So if the person had a negetive experience with a GSD maybe they were bitten or saw someone else bitten and now they are fearful-they are crazy -and we laugh and ridicule them



Phobias and fears are irrational, while I try not to laugh or ridicule, if someone wont seek help for a fear of phobia that effects their life (screaming and having a meltdown out in public at the sight of something) then I do not feel sorry for them. Sometimes its hard not to laugh out of amazement though. 

I have a huge, and I mean HUGE fear of spiders. Like fall over backwards break my neck trying to get away...this does not mean it gives me a reason or right to act like a raving lunatic if I _*KNOWINGLY*_ go somewhere where there are going to be spiders. (my son loves the spiders and snakes at the zoo)


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## pets4life (Feb 22, 2011)

she probably has a serious dog phobia she went to a off leash dog park because she is trying to get over it probably her shrink told her to do it i bet but when a dog got close to her even a really small dog like yours (baby) she lost control and shrieked and went into full blown panic mode

'
i really liked this this story though is the op a male or female just curious? lol what was other peoples reaction to it ?


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## pets4life (Feb 22, 2011)

CarrieJ said:


> That's what I thought. Possibly phobic about GSDs, there are those people out there. I live in an area of CA that has so many different cultures someplaces they eat dogs and use the fur, someplaces the military uses them on civilians. I just don't know what that other person has been through.
> I've had people freak out about my last dog. Usually Middle Eastern or Palestinians and people from the former Yugoslavic republic. (Is that Croatia or Bosnia or both now?)
> 
> 
> ...


i have had other nationality also freak out and show extreme terror over my dog i did not know in their country that maybe military uses dogs on them, one guy was so terrified he couldnt even walk when he saw her but this same guy is in prison for assaulting a women.


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## Rott-n-GSDs (Jul 7, 2010)

I think I know the sound of the scream you're talking about. I worked at a horseback riding facility and we were out on a trail ride with some kids when one of them suddenly began to scream at the top of her lungs. Over and over... this horror-movie type, I'm-getting-murdered type scream. 

Luckily the horse didn't freak out, just kept plodding along. We stopped, dismounted our own horses, and ran back to the girl. It took us a REALLY long time to discover the problem: there were flies buzzing around and she didn't like them. She hadn't been bitten... just really didn't like bugs.

People amaze me sometimes.


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## Courtney (Feb 12, 2010)

To the OP, what you described sounds odd to me. You were at a off leash dog park/beach. So having your dog off leash is ok, it's to be expected by anyone visiting.

You saw that the women was upset, you called your dog back, he listened-good boy.

I will say that I will never visit places like this for this reason. You just never know, it always seems to go bad.

At first I thought she was screaming at delight of seeing a beautiful GSD


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## suzzyq01 (Feb 15, 2011)

This is not Shepherd related but my Siberian Husky is a therapy dog. While we were in the process of training our trainer advised that we visit as many public places as we could with lots of noise and people and smells. So we frequented the mall often (in Florida). He had a vest which said he was working and not to touch without asking he was in training. 

We were walking though the mall one day and a group of people were walking towards us on the other side of the mall. All of the sudden I heard someone let out a blood curdling scream and yells WOLF!!! She then hugged the wall and walked as fast she could past me and Onyx. Now, I was on the other side of the mall, traffic walks on one side one way and the other side walks the other (kinda). So we were NO WHERE near her. It was really strange.


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## pets4life (Feb 22, 2011)

there are a lot of people who also like to cry wolf they do it for attention


any youtube videos we can find of these horror sceams rofl as long as no one is getting hurt and there is no threat and no danger to the person, if someoone screams because of a real threat like being menaced/brutalized/assaulted by a man or something, amusement turns into real terror just like in the movies and i know all of us in this thread would horrified. But this is kinda funny and amusing. If seen people act that way towards mice and cats and small birds you name it.


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## pets4life (Feb 22, 2011)

OMG suzzy story lighten my my crappy down day today it actually made me smile ahahahah "WOLF!!" lmaoooooo in a shopping mall with a vest on escaped from the to woods eat shoppers while someone is trying to control it wth a leash. 

id love to hear more storys


was the lady who cried wolf french or did she seem french? a lot of french go back to la bete du gevaudan , which is where a lot of werewolf folklore started


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## Sleeperhatch91 (Apr 23, 2011)

*a*

Haha! this reminds me of an incident I had about seven years ago with my old shepherd Sierra. She was such a well behaved dog, and very people friendly. I took her with me to a 4th of July parade they were holding in our town and afterwards they had a little festival with a carnival. She was walking next to me in a perfect heel and we happened upon a family with two children one maybe 7 and one in his early teens. The older child screamed and turned and jumped back like you would do if you happened upon a rattle snake. The whole family wasn't much better. Sierra just tilted her head like she was confused. The kid was maybe 10 feet away from us at the closest. They went and told a police officer walking around that a blonde guy with a blue t shirt had a german shepherd that was trying to attack people and how he should make me take my viscous animal home. The cop happened to be my neighbor whose kids used to come over and climb all over sierra all the time. He said thats no viscous animal thats just Sierra! 

On the same token there was an older lady that lived in my grandparents condo complex (which is primarily seniors) who had been in a concentration camp as a child and witnessed the guards siccing german shepherds on innocent people. Obviously she had a pretty legit reason to be afraid of GSD's. She was slightly skittish at first but before long would wait for us to walk by at our normal daily time and rush out to bring sierra out a milkbone.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

ooooohhhhhh!!



doggiedad said:


> what do you mean there was nothing to react to?? she was reacting to he dog and you know it.





Lucy Dog said:


> I think she just meant that there was nothing to react to from a practical stand point.
> 
> She knows the woman was reacting to the dog, she's just saying there was no reason for that type of reaction to such a young puppy at an off leash beach.


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## JPF (Feb 5, 2011)

I am a male (to answer the question of another poster) and was there with my wife. 

I think the woman may have been Indian. But I am not sure why that would make any difference. Maybe different perceptions of GSD's? Anyways, just bizarre because the beach was full of dogs and not to mention Enzo wasn't even paying her any notice till she screamed her head off. My wife and I are still laughing in bewilderment at the weirdness of the whole event. It was one of those things where you wish you could have recorded it on video.


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## DougGeneration (Apr 28, 2011)

You were Punk'd!

But seriously though, I'd probably went WTF when I was in your place. How weird is that?


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## jnealy (May 4, 2011)

Something similar happened to us recently. We were on vacation with our GSD and our Aussie Shepherd. We rented a house on the beach that shared a deck/stairs to the beach with another unit. We were returning from a walk on the beach and we were hosing both dogs off. I got distracted while trying to hold Nikki (GSD) still for my husband to hose her off, and I accidentally let go of Jake's (the Aussie) leash. Being the super friendly and well behaved guy that he is, he decided to go ahead and go back up the stairs to the house. Problem is he took a left at the top of the stairs and walked right into the other people's house, wagging his tail and fully expecting to be warmly received. Unfortunately one of the women was terrified of dogs. I realized he was gone at the same moment he walked in - I went running up the stairs and found the other lady escorting Jake out and needless to say they were NOT HAPPY. It was totally my fault! Apparently she witnessed a friend get attacked by a dog as a child. Needless to say they avoided us like the plague the rest of the trip. :crazy:


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## JPF (Feb 5, 2011)

jnealy said:


> Something similar happened to us recently. We were on vacation with our GSD and our Aussie Shepherd. We rented a house on the beach that shared a deck/stairs to the beach with another unit. We were returning from a walk on the beach and we were hosing both dogs off. I got distracted while trying to hold Nikki (GSD) still for my husband to hose her off, and I accidentally let go of Jake's (the Aussie) leash. Being the super friendly and well behaved guy that he is, he decided to go ahead and go back up the stairs to the house. Problem is he took a left at the top of the stairs and walked right into the other people's house, wagging his tail and fully expecting to be warmly received. Unfortunately one of the women was terrified of dogs. I realized he was gone at the same moment he walked in - I went running up the stairs and found the other lady escorting Jake out and needless to say they were NOT HAPPY. It was totally my fault! Apparently she witnessed a friend get attacked by a dog as a child. Needless to say they avoided us like the plague the rest of the trip. :crazy:


crazy people. this person though didn't even have the right to be surprised by an off leash dog. I cant describe how weird this was... i don't think it will ever be possible to describe and only my wife and I will understand how bizarre this interaction was.


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## bornfreenowexpensive (Mar 27, 2011)

While I agree this woman should not have been at an off-leash dog beach, she probably was either a) not there intentionally or b) afraid of GSDs. Her reaction was out of line, but hey, some people are just weird.

Your story reminds me of when we put our townhouse on the market several years ago. A couple came by in the evening to take a look at the house with their realtor. We went for a long walk with our dog (a non-GSD marshmallow mutt) and since the house was dark we assumed the showing was over. I opened the door, and came face to face with the buyer, who proceeded to let out a scream reminiscent of Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone (hands on face and everything!) 

He screamed, I screamed, the dog was completely bewildered, and I lost THAT sale!


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