Reply to PSA: please do not approach dogs and try to pet them without consulting their owners

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Animals (all animals) have a degree of unpredictability and are capable of biting under the right circumstances. How many of cases of "the dog has never bitten anyone" then suddenly gets startled feels threatened and bites?

It's really important both for the sake of the person and sake of the dog that people do not approach strange dogs without permission and advance warning.

Some of these answers surprise me. When I am on walks, even four year old children do not run up to my dog without permission. They ask and I always say "no" and compliment them on how smart and well mannered they are for asking. [/quote]

Kids usually ask before petting our dog.  But I do think the problem is on the dog owner's end. People seem to have forgotten why we have pets.  I see no reason to have or keep a problematic dog that after years of love will bite a stranger or anyone badly enough to break the skin, let alone require significant medical attention.

Why do people want these crazy dangerous pets?  [/quote]

pp here- most dogs aren't crazy/dangerous, and I agree with you there. A dangerous, aggressive dog is not appropriate to have as a pet....but I think *people* anthropomorphize dogs and forget that they are animals, with animal instincts, and will respond as such under the right circumstances. [/quote]
I am the owner of a “crazy” dog. I keep him because when I took him home I made a commitment to give him a good life. He has gotten significantly better over time, but is not perfect. All these posters saying people should dump their dogs - have you ever trained a dog? It is not an instantaneous process. It takes months and sometimes years, and training a dog to be desensitized to strangers cannot he accomplished if their owner does not take them outside in the general vicinity of people. When I take my dog out, I stay well off the sidewalk to signal that we do not want to interact with you. I have my eyes trained on him constantly and he wears a “do not pet” harness. If people try to talk to us, I tell them he is not formerly. What else do you want? Because he hasn’t healed overnight, you think I should kill him?[/quote]

No (although as soon as he bites a child he will be killed, so, on one hand... why wait for that to happen, some will argue).  I do think that if he is so bad that he has to wear a giant sign saying he is dangerous and you have to walk him in the middle of the road to avoid him attacking people... that maybe you should just stop bringing him out of the house. [/quote]

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