Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Fuming doesn't even come close | |
Posted by: | Dan Murphy | |
Date/Time: | 19/08/15 09:52:00 |
Colin, it's different worlds I'm afraid. Your are right about the anthropomorphism - as soon as someone refers to a dog as their baby, or their "little man", you know there's no point (it also raises interesting questions about the psychology, but that's another topic). I was talking to a dog owner recently, and they were explaining that the problem with many people is that they haven't been trained properly in how to approach / interact with dogs when out in public. Some children and adults think they can simply walk up to a strange dog and stroke it, and then get upset if that dog suddenly bites them. For her, the problem was that everyone out there should get proper training in how to interact with dogs, NOT that some dog owners had potentially dangerous dogs out in public that might just bite a child if they suddenly felt like it. This is the difference that can never be breached. Some dog owners think that their dogs are due the same level of consideration and care that we afford small children. This is why they call them their "babies" and "little boys", they do indeed equate the two. And oh, woe betide you if you challenge them on this and say no, your dog is an animal and should be kept under strict control when in a public place. If it is likely to jump up at people, uninvited, then it should be on a lead or you should have it trained NOT to do that. If it is likely to bite some innocent adult or child who strokes it, or simply gets too close, then it should be muzzled to protect the public. We recently had a chap on here who cheerfully complained about some cyclist who happened to walk too close to his dog which ("understandably") reacted and bit the cyclist. In his view, the cyclist was an aggressive idiot who should have known better than to get anywhere near his dog. In my view, that dog should have been taken away and put down immediately. But there's no talking to these people. Their dogs are their babies, and that's it. We are all supposed to work around it, even to the point earlier today where if we don't want to be approached by strange dogs in Chiswick House we should stay away from the areas where dog owners go. |