[daasayse]

So the other day I take my pitbull Bamboo to the park, not the dog park, just a park where leashed and vaccinated dogs are allowed. I had her on a short leash, away from the childrens play areas walking along the track. Suddenly before I even realize the kid is there, this little boy who can't be more than two or three tops, runs up behind my dog and grabs her and starts petting her and yelling "puppy." I kinda panicked and got a hold on Bamboo as fast as I could. The truth is I had no idea how she would react. She is wonderful with kids in general and loves little boys but I had never seen her around one this young and the kid really snuck up on her. Turns out she jumped a little bit and was obviously startled but calmed down quickly and didn't do anything inappropriate. So then I'm telling the little boy look this is how you approach dogs and you always ask the dog owner permission and let the dog sniff you first and never come up behind them etc. I'm half way through this little lesson and actually teaching the boy how to pet the dog before mom finally comes up behind this kid, who is literally just a toddler! This pisses me off so much because that wouldn't be safe with any dog you don't know. You don't just let you kid run loose and approach strange dogs. And you know that even though my dog was leashed and an unsupervised kid snuck up on her, if she had bitten that kid my "vicious pitbull" would have been put down. I just don't know what some people are thinking and it makes you afraid to take your dog anywhere!

[lrtoinbert]

yep. My biggest fear is Amy getting startled and snapping at someone. People just don't think. I've had a big problem with bikes that come whizzing by a few inches away from her with no warning.

[ovH9wfSJ]

No lie, the EXACT same thing happened to me with Romeo! The girl ran up and hugged him from behind, Romeo startled but calmed down and licked her and I told her the proper way to act around strange dogs. I doubt my lesson really stuck. And the mother just looked on as it happened, she didn't come up to us at all. I had to send the girl back to her.

And you're right, if either of our dogs would have nipped those kids we would have been blamed, and our dogs pts, and pitbulls in general villainized because those parents didn't teach their kids not to run up and hug/pet strange dogs.

[PharmaDrMan]

That's why it's so important to handle/socialize pups before they get too old. I did, a long time ago, puppy classes. Under supervision the trainers would "happy grab" a pup. We knew the personality of each pup and would base training on that. But it would go like: pup is watching something in the class room that we set up on purpose
( person playing with a toy at the other end of the training facility) We would walk up behind the pup and pet or hug it, squealing in a general public way "Oh what a cute pup!!! Wheeee Wheee" etc... As we did this we also fed some high end treats, then engaged in toy play. This way the owner could stay calm and un-freaked out, the pups all got used to surprises(they were food and fun) and learned that even idiot people could be ok.
We also played dog doctor too

[Aaron757]

Dang MsAcer, I wish we had classes like that down here! I really should do little training things like that for Sam!

Back on topic, if a child ran up to my dog I wouldnt just talk to the child. Maybe Im just a bitch but I would go talk to the parent. Id try to stay polite and just let them know, ¨hey its really dangerous to let your kid run up on a strange dog. You wouldnt want them to accidentaly get bit, you need to take better care please!¨

---------- Post added at 12:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:48 PM ----------

Or when the kid came up Id whirl around and give the mom the world most evil stare and just say ¨woah, tell your kid to stay away from my dog or put your kid on a leash¨

(fyi, I actually AM a HUGE bitch lol)

[ovH9wfSJ]

Dang MsAcer, I wish we had classes like that down here! I really should do little training things like that for Sam!

Back on topic, if a child ran up to my dog I wouldnt just talk to the child. Maybe Im just a bitch but I would go talk to the parent. Id try to stay polite and just let them know, ¨hey its really dangerous to let your kid run up on a strange dog. You wouldnt want them to accidentaly get bit, you need to take better care please!¨

---------- Post added at 12:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:48 PM ----------

Or when the kid came up Id whirl around and give the mom the world most evil stare and just say ¨woah, tell your kid to stay away from my dog or put your kid on a leash¨

(fyi, I actually AM a HUGE bitch lol)

The mother of the little girl in my post isn't exactly mother of the year...

[PharmaDrMan]

You can do the same thing with your own non-pup dog I do lots of happy grabbing get's you a treat
I work with all my rescues this way!

[lrtoinbert]

I do lots of happy grabbing get's you a treat

Does not work at bars, FYI.

[Figelac]

Thanks MsAcer you answered the question I was about to ask. I have an adult dog that I will start happy grabbing

[Aaron757]

Does not work at bars, FYI.

HA!

[StivRichardOff]

You can do the same thing with your own non-pup dog I do lots of happy grabbing get's you a treat
I work with all my rescues this way!

I do as well, Dakota was fearful of strangers and everyone seemed to think you should grab a dog with two hands and smoosh their face. So he got treats everytime someone handled him roughly. And since moving their face in on them is stressful I turned that into a cue for "kiss" (nose bump)

Turned reaching their hand out into a cue for shake/high five.

[PerfectCreditForYou]

Just a heads up, the dog doesn't have to bite. Mouth, knock down or scratch and the child screams bloody murder is more than enough for some people to over react.

[Ornamiviant]

SamThePitbull- What concerns me about that "polite" reaction to a stranger like that is, them thinking you know your dog bites etc. However the put your kid on a leash comment would come out of my life too LOL

[daasayse]

I just chose not to get into with the mom. I really don't every want to cause trouble or attract attention to my dog. Plus at that point, she is letting a toddler loose with God knows how many people and dogs and equipment etc in a huge park. This isn't a parenting issue, like maybe she doesn't know she shouldn't let the child run wild and approach strange dogs. This is a lazy parent issue, and I really don't have the power to fix that. Bamboo and I start class tonight actually. I will ask the trainer if we can do some stuff to get used to happy grabbing. This instance it didn't go badly but she was definitely startled and I think it possibly could have so I want her to be prepared in the future.

[esdfsdflast]

We had to force Slayer and Prince to be like that as well, from the time we had Slayer as a pup we let our friends man-handle her and pet and praise her for it so she is aloof as heck if someone grabs her. Prince seemed to come already ok with it but we still surprise him here and there and make sure he reacts well. We cannot take any chances as my brother in law has downs and is 4 now.

[medio]

Happy grabbing?

[tsovimnpb]

That was the biggest thing I worked with diesel on since day one. I could drag him around the room by his tongue if I wanted to and I'm extremely confident he won't bite. I have had other random people mess with him too. It's a good thing I did too, he had a toddler run up and poke him in the eye and start pulling his ears while out on a walk. Her mom looked horrified until he got in her face and covered it in tongue haha. She then bent down and gave him some lovin too

---------- Post added at 08:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:22 PM ----------

Happy grabbing?

Leads to baby making