Quote: kristel smart

I get that one all the time, and I have a Dobe not a Dane. It's very old, and can only imagine what it's like to hear it as frequently as a Dane owner must.

Me too! And we've also been told Oscar needs a saddle...

And then there was that one guy that told me I needed to gain some weight if I wanted to be able to control my dog... HUH?! Okay, I may be on the lean side, but this comment came as Oscar was walking calmly next to me giving no impression whatsoever that he needed a "heavier hand"... I guess canine handling IS all about overpowering the dog with brute force after all!

~Natalya

 Quote: Natalya Zahn

And then there was that one guy that told me I needed to gain some weight if I wanted to be able to control my dog... HUH?!

Wow! That probably didn't come out as he intended it. LOL

I had a man run(like sprinting!) up to the front desk to warn them that I was walking these dogs because he was so worried. It was two great danes who would get into disagreements with dogs on the other side of the glass in the play room. Poor guy saw me grabbing them to go back to their kennels and freaked because they'd been charging and barking at the glass. Fortunately they both came up to my hips just about perfectly so I was more than capable of controlling them. I just put the leads right up behind their ears, locked my fists on my hips and walked. With less than 2 inches of slack to move their heads those two weren't going anywhere I didn't want them to. Luckily my manager was able to explain that I handled them all the time.

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Edited by Melissa Thom (03/15/2010 01:33 AM)
Edit reason: Sorry... hit the wrong button

The only really amusing comments I get are "wow, he looks like Bolt".

The best stupid comment was from a guy in front of WalMart who told me that AC was going to come take my dog because he was playfully mouthing my hand.

EVERYONE feels the need to tell me how "small" my GSD is. Usually within the first 2 sentences of meeting me. Then they tell me how much BIGGER their dog is. I try to patiently explain that he's a czech dog and only 8 months and therefore matures slowly but I usually can't get the whole sentence out before they give me a sarcastic "hhmmff.." And then repeat that their dogs weighs 144,000 more pounds than mine. Is that supposed to impress me?

Is the size of your dog suddenly equally linked to your social status or something? Am I the only one that thinks 65 pounds for an 8 month old is fine?? Argh...

 Quote: jessica pedicord

EVERYONE feels the need to tell me how "small" my GSD is. Usually within the first 2 sentences of meeting me. Then they tell me how much BIGGER their dog is. I try to patiently explain that he's a czech dog and only 8 months and therefore matures slowly but I usually can't get the whole sentence out before they give me a sarcastic "hhmmff.." And then repeat that their dogs weighs 144,000 more pounds than mine. Is that supposed to impress me?

Is the size of your dog suddenly equally linked to your social status or something? Am I the only one that thinks 65 pounds for an 8 month old is fine?? Argh...

Nope, you're not alone in that even though in the US we seem to have the weird idea that if a little is good, more MUST be much better. *BLEH*

I ofter hear "Wow your dog is gorgeous" when I reply with a thank you I get "What kind is it?" When I
say a white german shepherd they look at my like I'm lying.

I made the big mistake of taking LJ with me to baseball practice last week. He was wonderful, sitting at my feet quietly observing all that was going on. Until a 7 yo girl shows up with a big stick - TOY! - and starts shaking it in his face, squealing at him to play!!! LJ hits the end of the leash, rearing on hind legs, whining and barking, while this girl teases him relentlessly. I yelled at her to drop the stick and get away from us and tried to calm him, but she would not stop! Her mother was sitting a few feet from us, completely ignorant of what was going on. I demanded she put the stick down and finally had to get up and take it from her hands. She then went straight to LJ's face, grabbing at him to play. I turned and walked away, she continued to follow. I finally had LJ sit, and turned to her and said very plainly GET AWAY FROM US NOW OR YOU'RE IN BIG TROUBLE. She went on off to play somewhere else. Her mom never looked at us, so I went over to her and told her what had happened, that her daughter should be more careful. Her mom just said, we have a dog at home, and she plays rough with him all the time, so she just wanted to play with yours. I told her mind doesn't play, and walked away. Geez!

 Quote: natalya zahn

And then there was that one guy that told me I needed to gain some weight if I wanted to be able to control my dog... HUH?! Okay, I may be on the lean side, but this comment came as Oscar was walking calmly next to me giving no impression whatsoever that he needed a "heavier hand"... I guess canine handling IS all about overpowering the dog with brute force after all!

~Natalya

Last week I had a woman yell from across the street "What a beautiful dog!"

I said thank you.

She goes "Looks like he's walking you!"

Tasha was two steps in front of me on a completely loose lead!

I just said "Ummm.. Not really."

It must be one of her favorite lines.

This is one of my favorites. A friend and I were walking my lab and her Standard Poodle at a park. A girl looks over at the poodle and says to her friend, "I love labradoodles but that one looks like it is mixed with something."

Uh, yeah. That would be the mix of Poodle and POODLE!

I also go walking with a friend who has a Dane and a corgi. I'll let you imagine the comments we get.