Entitled dickhead of the day

[solovsfett]

I didn’t see a thread on this but then again with the changes to the site I can only see about 6 thread titles when I open it so I apologize if this has been duplicated elsewhere.

rant...I have a dog who’s a lab mix with some type of cattle dog. She’s smart and very protective of my wife and I. When we go on walks occasionally joggers, bikers or skateboarders will approach us from behind and generally we hear them coming and move aside. Our dog does not like people approaching us from behind, she gets defensive immediately so we proactively move when we hear people coming up on us.

recently I’ve had a couple of incidents where the biker and/or jogger did not announce their presence biking or running up from behind and not hearing them myself I didn’t pull the dog in close and she lunged at a biker and today at a jogger. No growling, but a bark and lunge saying “get away from me and solo!”

When I saw the jogger today it was when he was passing us just off the path and right as my dog lunged I pulled her (dog) back but told the beefcake jogger “proper etiquette is to announce your presence”

his response? “Excuse me?!!!!!!! I’ll kick your dog in the throat!”

Fuck that. I damn near went defcon 1.

 

[SJHovey]

My wife and I are huge dog lovers. In the last 18 months we've had to put down our last two dogs who were 14 and 15 respectively. We agreed that for the time being we're not going to replace them because we want to do a bit more traveling, and with the kids out of the house it's a lot less hassle without the dogs. But I'm not sure we're going to make it, especially now that the neighbors bought a new puppy.

All that said, I tend to think you were more in the wrong in this scenario. His response wasn't appropriate, but I don't really know to what extent his response was initiated as a result of your comment to him, essentially blaming him for something that probably was a bit startling to him in the first place.

I can't think of a single instance where a jogger or walker or bike rider coming up from behind announced their presence to us while we were walking our dogs, and it never dawned on me to scold them about it. In fact I can't think of an instance where someone approached me from behind and caught me by surprise, except for bike riders moving fairly quickly.

I hear what you are saying about your dog being protective, but I don't think it's a great idea to have a dog that will bark at and lunge at someone who approaches, even from behind. In Minnesota, at least, I don't think that would constitute "provocation" to exonerate the dog owner from injuries caused by the dog.

Just my two cents.

 

[St. Clown]

I can't think of a single instance where a jogger or walker or bike rider coming up from behind announced their presence to us while we were walking our dogs, and it never dawned on me to scold them about it. In fact I can't think of an instance where someone approached me from behind and caught me by surprise, except for bike riders moving fairly quickly.

Not so much the joggers, but the bikers coming up form behind almost all announced themselves with a "passing on the left" callout while my wife and I were walking our baby along a path in Mendota/Mendota Heights area yesterday. Perhaps three of them did not, and we were passed by well over 25 people in all. Come to think of it, I don't think we passed any joggers except one, and he turned from us to another route as we were nearing one another, so there wasn't the chance.

 

[SJHovey]

Not so much the joggers, but the bikers coming up form behind almost all announced themselves with a "passing on the left" callout while my wife and I were walking our baby along a path in Mendota/Mendota Heights area yesterday. Perhaps three of them did not, and we were passed by well over 25 people in all. Come to think of it, I don't think we passed any joggers except one, and he turned from us to another route as we were nearing one another, so there wasn't the chance.

Yeah, I guess I can't say that I've never had a biker announce, but that's because they are moving so fast relative to me. I know that I've never had a walker or jogger announce.

 

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Not so much the joggers, but the bikers coming up form behind almost all announced themselves with a "passing on the left" callout while my wife and I were walking our baby along a path in Mendota/Mendota Heights area yesterday. Perhaps three of them did not, and we were passed by well over 25 people in all. Come to think of it, I don't think we passed any joggers except one, and he turned from us to another route as we were nearing one another, so there wasn't the chance.

Bikers should absolutely do it. While most do, you do get a few speed demons who think the sound of them suddenly barreling up behind you is enough, and I find myself fantasizing about stretching some invisible line across the path ahead of me for those idiots.

 

[solovsfett]

My wife and I are huge dog lovers. In the last 18 months we've had to put down our last two dogs who were 14 and 15 respectively. We agreed that for the time being we're not going to replace them because we want to do a bit more traveling, and with the kids out of the house it's a lot less hassle without the dogs. But I'm not sure we're going to make it, especially now that the neighbors bought a new puppy.

All that said, I tend to think you were more in the wrong in this scenario. His response wasn't appropriate, but I don't really know to what extent his response was initiated as a result of your comment to him, essentially blaming him for something that probably was a bit startling to him in the first place.

I can't think of a single instance where a jogger or walker or bike rider coming up from behind announced their presence to us while we were walking our dogs, and it never dawned on me to scold them about it. In fact I can't think of an instance where someone approached me from behind and caught me by surprise, except for bike riders moving fairly quickly.

I hear what you are saying about your dog being protective, but I don't think it's a great idea to have a dog that will bark at and lunge at someone who approaches, even from behind. In Minnesota, at least, I don't think that would constitute "provocation" to exonerate the dog owner from injuries caused by the dog.

Just my two cents.

Fair enough. When I thought about it yesterday I concluded I should say nothing at all.

 

[cF[Authentic]]

Bikers should absolutely do it. While most do, you do get a few speed demons who think the sound of them suddenly barreling up behind you is enough, and I find myself fantasizing about stretching some invisible line across the path ahead of me for those idiots.

I think bikers should do it if the path is only big enough for 2 people. Any bigger and it shouldn't be necessary, unless people are walking 3 wide. In which case, the walkers should be more considerate of others using the trail.

If you know your dog is aggressive towards things approaching from behind or suddenly, it's your job to have control of your dog and make sure they don't lunge at someone. And I'm a dog owner with a pup that loves to wander all over the path.

 

[burd]

Bikers and runners around here usually announce from behind. I've biked and walked alone and with a dog, and I appreciate it. But I'm a little hard of hearing, so I often don't hear them otherwise.

 

[LynahFan]

;n3605796]If you know your dog is aggressive towards things approaching from behind or suddenly, it's your job to have control of your dog and make sure they don't lunge at someone. And I'm a dog owner with a pup that loves to wander all over the path.

So much this. My wife is a Karen Pryor certified dog trainer, and I guarantee that would be her response. It is always the dog owner's responsibility not to take their dogs into situations where the dog even might feel the need to lash out defensively. That threshold varies dog-to-dog. One of our rescues (chihuahua) is so high strung that he freaks out if he sees people approaching from the *front*, starting at about 100 yards away. My wife has worked with him, and he's better than he used to be, but we still just don't take him into public. Ever. One of our other dogs might as well be Chris Spiccoli on his 4th bong - nothing phases him, so he's the one we take to dog-friendly restaurants, etc.

You know your dog - random jogger guy does not. Random jogger guy may be a cat lover who doesn't even know that it's possible for some dogs to be that protective.

 

[Kepler]

Please also remember some people are deathly afraid of dogs.

Now, the fact that the guy threatened your dog makes him a complete dink. But generally speaking please remember we don't know your dog and it is hard to be trusting of any dog if you've had bad experiences and are also unfamiliar with them.

 

[Stauber1]

Wow.
If there are situations where your dog is going to attack people who are just going about their business, then you shouldn't take your dog into those situations.
Period.
End of story.

This thread title is some next-level projection.