Great article....too bad I didn't read it about 10 years ago

When my husband & I began dating, he kept his two dogs outside - chained up. I soon changed that scenario - got them inside all the time & had to teach them how to play. Poor things - 8 & 9 years old & didn't know how to play. Fortunately, they got to live out the rest of their lives on our sofa. Subsequent pets have always lived in the house.

However, the husband still has the outside-chained up attitude - no longer towards the dogs - but what an a--hole!!!! I should have paid more attention.....

What, local ordinances wouldn't let you keep husband tied up outside?

I notice that women worry about dogs more than men do. I daily walked my 70 pound pooch to the supermarket where he sat outside tied up for one to ten minutes while I shopped. He was a relaxed, friendly mix. Over the years ten to fifteen women asked me two things -- 1) aren't you afraid someone will steal him? 2) Isn't he cold?

I said no, not worried that someone would steal a big dog. He was known by all the store employees, and since he was
a rescue dog he did not like to be out of my sight for long. I had to explain to a bunch of people (who did not go over and look at his coat) that 20 or 25F was not cold for him. His 2.5" coat was extremely dense; probably he would have been ok down to -20 or -30F.

Never had a man ask either of those questions. But the worst encounter at the store we ever had was with a man. He bought his wolf mix over (without a leash!) because he thought his dog needed socializing! Ahhhhhh! I felt like a woman I saw thirty minutes ago at the mall, staring at a 20 year old male wearing a red shirt labeled 'Dump her before Valentines Day'.

Just because your dog is a big dog doesn't preclude him from being stolen and may, in fact, make him more appealing for just that reason. A lot of dogs are stolen by scum-of-the-earth dog fighters to be bait dogs or to fight. See attached story. And this isn't limited to "poor" neighborhoods either. Also, when I lived in the country, a teenager stole a neighborhood dog and, to hide it from his parents, tied it to a dock where it died, dehydrated, in the sun.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lucy's Story

Kitas and Robert, what great stories! You both had me laughing. Even if the hubby didn't work out, Kitas, you changed the life of a string of dogs for the better! Robert, I've always had double coated dogs, collies and shelties, and they are weatherproof down to the minus zero digits. I used to walk my old collie to the neighborhood stores and he would wait for me patiently too.

cute article

This post was edited by jomuir on Fri, Feb 15, 13 at 14:34

Robert, I think that's the protective instinct in women. we wouldn't leave a child outside a store in case they were taken, so we probably have the same concern for our dogs.

This post was edited by trancegemini_wa on Fri, Feb 15, 13 at 1:19

Robert......am gonna have to check out those local ordinances - just to protect myself. This is the South...is probably ok to chain out the dog & the wife.

I used to date a guy that like insects and snakes. His entire room was filled with cases of specimens. I was about to scream when went to his place the first time.

Funny thread! My fav guys of all time (and a former SO) had cats and were gentle with them, and what I liked/loved about them is they were OK with me being my own person and thinking my own thoughts and being independent. I dated a dog owner once and would probably do so again, assuming they were kind and gentle with their pets.

The person male or female whose every interaction with the dog is to yell or speak loudly/sternly at it I avoid like the plague.

Times have changed in animal care and ownership, maybe more than people have.

I might add a subtitle to this thread: 'what a persons comment reveal about them'

When I was a kid, people kept dogs in the yard. If dogs barked during a storm, some folks ignored them, some put them in the basement or garage, and some wacked them with a newspaper. We've learned quite a bit since then.

Today, people keep dogs inside, part of the time at least. Very few owners keep dogs outside all year, in my area of the 'burbs. In the 60's, hardly anyone would comment on another owners treatment of a dog or cat. One thing that I find ironic, a few people who keep dogs in their house or yard, but never take them for a walk to socialize them, feel free to admonish me when I tie up my dog in some area.

One example, once a week I take the dog to a nearby sandwich shop. The dog is secured to a DIY tie, and is precisely three feet from me (thru the window) at my table. He has never gotten loose in five years, and is often fed scraps by one of the employees. But last year a woman glowered at me the whole thirty minutes I was eating. I guess she thought the dog was cold. The fact that temp was maybe 20 or 25F must have obscured the more important fact that the dog's coat most closely resembles a husky/chow/malamute type coat. Maybe that was beyond her powers of observation.

But while I say society has learned a lot about animal treatment in the last fifty years; we've got a lot to learn. I think only about 1/4 of people who want to pet my dog actually have been trained or have learned properly to pet dogs. I explained to a number of folks that the dog was old, and would bark once if he did not like way he was petted. One woman asked why he barked (once) at her when she tried to pet him. I said when dogs are old their sight and hearing usually is often poor. Asked her if she would like to have a very tall creature of another species reach down to pet her head or back, or perhaps she might like the creature to squat down and extend a hand under her head to pet her. Extending a hand out, but letting the dog come to you the last six inches seems like a good idea.

I'd like to see schools teach dog safety, and the Girl and Boy Scouts as well.

I have really tried not saying anything in response to a over simplified exaggerated old wives tale.

See, that remark was as sexist as the subject statement.

I owned dogs way before I worried about female humans. My treatment of dogs(horses/fish/birds/cats/white rats/lizards/snakes---all of which have been in my care over the years) has very little to do with how I treat humans of any gender.

In fact, I have a lot more compassion for most animals than I do for a fair number of humans---again, of whichever gender.

In other words, I treat dogs like dogs should be treated. And humans like they deserve to be treated.

In fact, I had one dog who used to 'interview' prospective girlfriends. I would make a point of taking the girl somewhere the dog could go along. There were two girls I ceased dating because of their reaction to my dog. And married the one who basically ignored the dog.

The dog is long gone, we are on year 45 now.

Hi
Wouldn't an even more interesting aspect of the psychology, be the interaction with the pet and the owner.
Such as dressing the animal up, carrying snakes around in public ,keeping only venomous animals .Way more pets than be cared for"hoarding" Obviously the animal has become WAY more than a "PET" lol Would seem far more revealing than the choice of a type of pet??
gary

hm, you're reminding me of a fellow I used to date. he had a GSD and that dog didn't like me. She used to give me the stinkeye, and whenever he left the room, she'd glare at me! I didn't pass her test, and the relationship didn't last either, lol. Not sure if it had much to do with her, but I know she was glad when it ended!