Quote: Lynne Peck

Everyone has an opinion and just because it differs from yours does not make it wrong. Things are learned thru experience and until you have had to deal with some event personally, you have no idea the repercussions. Take my opinion with a grain of salt, but don't discount it because if your dog does bite someone in the future, you will lose your dog. I had a shepherd who had never shown any tendencies and had high obedience level training. One day out of nowhere, she bit a friend of my son's in the face. The next day she was dead. Thank goodness it was a friend and didn't sue.

I sure hope you gave the dog the benefit of a full vet work-up before you euthanized it.

I don't think anyone is dismissing the serious ramifications of a dog that bites people. But seriously the OP is just out trying to train her stable, working breed pup in OB work without being bothered by a crowd.

Guess I'm wrong and have no right to an opinion so forget I even bothered.

As to the dog being euthanized, dog bites must be reported by the attending doctor. The dog is then confiscated for quarantine and are not treated very fairly and we were not given an option when the dog objected to be handled roughly. Animal control required the dog be put down. Thank you for your unfair judgement about me.

Lynne- I said several times that I respected your opinion so I'm not sure why you are saying that you have no right to an opinion. I'm very sorry for the loss of your dog...I know how hard that is. Like Mara said, my main subject was my frustration with being interrupted when training. I don't think that anyone judged you unfairly, but I apologize if that's how you feel. I do appreciate your input and I think all input is valuable whether we agree or disagree

All this input is good to hear. Ive learned alot and keep rereading it. In my neighborhood just walking my shepherds,,gets rumors started. The people hear want to pet the dogs, but then turn and say they are dangerous. Here german shepherds are determined to be dangerous. They are just scared of them.

I can totally understand your frustration with this! This is why my three year old knows to NEVER approach any dog without asking me, and the owner first. I don't care if it is a 2 pound puppy. Every child should be taught to respect the animal and know that any dog could potentially bite. It bothers me how dumb some parents are. Luckily I have a "big scary pitbull" and most people, especially parents, run the other way lol

 Quote: Lynne Peck

As to the dog being euthanized, dog bites must be reported by the attending doctor.

This is not always the case- If you know the dog, and the vaccine status, many times (depending on the Dr, the circumstances, and the severity of the bite) many won't report it.

Euthanasia for dangerous dogs differ from state to state, and do 'dangerous' breeds.

Olivia, back to your original question.... I agree with all the suggestions of being blunt. If you are going to respond to a strangers request to pet Vader, be blunt and say 'Nope, we're working right now, sorry!' and move away at a beautiful 'Fuss' briskly. (That alone will throw people off!) If that does not work, I just go into avoidance. Our Pointer also wears a 'in training' vest, and it seems to attract more attention then Koenig does w/o a vest. Granted, she's a cute little liver pointer, and just cuddly looking.... but it seems to make people want to know what she's in training for, and just brings on more questions. If you really want to avoid all the interaction you can while training, avoid eye contact. Seems rude, but it'll work!


I train at parks a lot as well, so I know EXACTLY what you are going through. Gooooooooddddd luck!

I think we all need to keep in mind that Vader may be huge, but he is a PUPPY. He's got a bigger potential to get excited, and open his mouth and 'bite' someone when it may actually be just an open mouth, a turning head, and careless teeth brush skin. Or flying paws, because puppies are happy, with sharp little nails. I agree with Olivia (as will many of the 'leerburg' folks) that I want my dogs attention 110% on me while in public, or anytime we're training. This is most easily accomplished by limiting the interactions with strangers. If he does not know to look to them (strangers) for pets and loves, and possibly treats, he does not care what they are up to! I'm the one with the tug, the food, and the praise- therefor I'm the center of his world.

My kids (almost 3, and 6) both know that generally they won't be allowed to say hi to strange dogs we see out and about. If he asks me, and the dog looks approachable, both my kids know to ask the handler if they can say hi. They also understand NOT to make eye contact with a strange dog, and to always pet under the chin, rather then over the head. SO many parents forget to teach kids how to approach animals, and how to treat them. I'm doing everything I can to ensure my kids will be in the minority of children that will never have to experience a dog bite, from my own pets, or others.

"Guess I'm wrong and have no right to an opinion so forget I even bothered. "

Of course you do. So does everyone else. In addition, inaccurate posts (like about PSDs) will be challenged.

It's really not personal. We all get corrected, debated, etc.

Seriously. It isn't personal. This is a dog board, with maybe a little less attention paid to human feelings than some boards. That's all.

 Quote: Lynne Peck

Take my opinion with a grain of salt, but don't discount it because if your dog does bite someone in the future, you will lose your dog. I had a shepherd who had never shown any tendencies and had high obedience level training. One day out of nowhere, she bit a friend of my son's in the face. The next day she was dead. Thank goodness it was a friend and didn't sue.

Which is exactly why you may not want to allow strangers to pet your dog, and certainly not in an unsupervised situation. The dog doesn't have to have any 'tendancies' to bite, to be provoked to bite.

Although you think that this dog bit a child out of the blue, it is very likely that the child did something to trigger the bite. Might have been something as simple as leaning over the dog to pat her.

 Quote: Lynne Barrows

Might have been something as simple as leaning over the dog to pat her.

Exactly as simple as that. Approach strange dogs with respect. If you MUST pet the head, go under the chin.

Everyone has good points here, and as Olivia says - we will agree to disagree.

Here is a side note: Do you all understand how crushing it can be to a newbie to the point it makes them want to get off this forum and tuck their tail when EVERYONE tears apart their reply sentence by sentence and chastises you then goes to another forun section and makes fun of you for "being wrong"? Makes it not ok to give an opinion especially when you're referred to as making stupid remarks and needing to pull their big girl panties up.

I was there when the dog bit and the bite was not provokated. Overall it was a very bad situation and one I don't wish to repeat. I don't need people telling me - Well it's not that way everywhere and the doctor has the option of reporting. It is that way here.

So I will monitor the website and get ideas but will refrain from entering into any more discussions - another topic for you to start a thread about, I'm sure.

Thanks for the wonderful welcome to your board.

1999 AZ State Vet Tech of the Year