Loads of posts on other dog walkers perceptions of GSD's

[hippychickuk]

people have had a go at me while iv walked pappy (and iv reacted back) .. iv had people with handbag rats that have been straining on the lead to try biting pappys face off, growling and snarling, barking etc.. (without any reaction from pappy, i might add ) and they have the b**** to say that its pappy making their dog react like that! and pappy is on lead.. the most problems i get is handbag rat owners.. incidently, my hubby has not had any problems really.. but then, he dont give a s*** who he upsets or what he says back.. and hes got an intimidating 'i dont give a s***' look. and hubbys family are very well known around here. and there are loads of them

[adey]

I've had no great problems when out with my two. I qften walk them seperate for training walks and notice the reaction is slightly better when I've just the one out with me, with the two a few people have crossed the road! I'll echo the comments about the yappy handbag rats. I've had a couple pull towards mine yapping at them. I was out last week when this happened, I had both with me and Ole gave a bark back, I then got the comments for the woman "you should keep dogs like that out of public places and under control"....I managed to keep my cool, told Ole to "stop" which he did, the yappy kept yapping at my boys, Just said to her as we walked away "What's that about control".
I'd say I get more possitive comments about what good looking and well behaved dogs they are.

[smallscreamy]

I am constantly amazed by how many dogs out there have been attacked by alsations - it seems like it is every other dog! I wouldn't say that Willow is particularly well trained - she is most definitely a work in progress - but compared to some dogs I have met, she is an absolute saint. Only today I met a dog and owner who needed some training - the owner more than the dog! The dog jumped all over me, didn't come back when the owner called, even when the owner walked away and was missing for quite a few minutes. The owner didn't even clean up after the dog when it poo'd less than 10 feet away and I had to call Willow away when she was sniffing at the deposit left! The same dog ran off with another dog's ball and I had to explain to the owner that it wasn't in fact my dog and that it's owner had walked off! AAAARRRRGGGGHHH

Another thing that winds me up is that people think its cute if a rat on a rope jumps all over you but they wouldn't be so happy if Willow did it back to them! I always try to hold Willow out of the way and tell her to wait if someone is going to go past and most people don't even acknowledge that we are even there. It's annoying!

That said, there are some amazing dogs and owners out there who make walking the dog a real pleasure if you happen to bump into them. The dogs get to run and play together and even get a bit vocal without their owners grabbing their dogs and leaving before my "alsation" attacks them! I was out one day and Willow was having a great time with another shepherd, running etc and I had a great chat with the owner who informed me that Willow and his dog were not the same breed - mine was a shepherd whereas his was an alsation!! LOL

[Sully Monster]

I mostly got positive comments about how well trained Sully was and how gorgeous he was. We did have the odd moron who froze in fear as they saw this big "wolf" coming along to gobble up their rats and terrorize their children.
Funnily enough I got lots of compliments on him where as hubs got lots of people avoiding him! As you say tho there are fair weather walkers and you get to know the regulars. A lot of the regulars used to watch me train Sull without me even realizing it until they would say something to me about how well he had come along and how good he was. I did notice one day that there were a couple of people who had stopped and were watching up training and having a good old chat about how happy and good Sull was. So yeah all in all more good than bad altho there will always be bad comments from people who dont know what shepherds are really like

[Bob1955]

We don't have much problem where we are, there are several Shepherd owners in the area. We don't live in a large town so the dogs get recognised and a lot of people will come and say hello. We've had people put their dogs on leads as they see us coming, but most say it's because their dog isn't very good with others, if we're out in a field or on a track we'll do the same. That way everyone is watching for a response. One thing we trained ours to do from an early age was to lie down when other dogs approached us on a track. If the other owner said don't worry about it we let them say hello.

[lizzy]

Like Pam I me and mike live in a Pakistani community and they are petrified of Lexi I remember once we were in Wales on the carboot and one asked me to move my dog out of the way so he could pass and she was only a puppy

Mostly people seem scared of Lexi apart from our local doggie friends who we have rarely seen in winter but who she plays with a lot in summer and it amazing how many of them comment on how well behaved and lovely she is for a GSD which makes us happy as I know they have a bad reputation

It does make me feel a bit safe when I am on my own walking wit Lexi off the lead knowing that no one will come near me (not that she hard or anything she would lick them to death if they came close)

She really hasnt got a nsaty bone in her body but all the little rat dogs she has met have all been nasty so she tends to ignore the small dogs now thank god

Liz

[zetstaff]

Lexi is a credit to you both mate xxx

AND she's bluddi gorgeous xxx

[alexgirl73]

On the whole I've had positive experiences when out with Ranger I can't really walk him as he's too strong for me. Although once or twice a week I will take him to a country walk, and there is a big car park (usually empty) with a nice flat path for me to walk along. He gets to be off leash the whole time, it's rare we meet another dog and if we do I just turn back to the car and he follows me. On the occasions we meet other dogs, we usually have a 'is he friendly' chat and then let the dogs go for it lol.

Hubby however takes him on his long walks and he has told me of people crossing the street, picking up their pocket pets in case the scary 'alsation; grrrrrrrr, eats them up.

[lizzy]

Originally Posted by zetstaff

Lexi is a credit to you both mate xxx

AND she's bluddi gorgeous xxx

orh thanx mate xx

[catrionagsdlover]

I have no problems walking mine! I get the Awwwwwww when walking my puppy and the whole park to myself when out with the big fella! lol

catriona Xxx