People are afraid of my dog!!

[muddypaw]

I was walking my 9 month old GSD (on leash) the other day and two teen girls are walking towards me. I taught Shadow a command "pass" that she will go off the sidewalk onto the grass to let another person pass. So we did that....The girls start jogging when they get about 15' away from us, and I am not paying attention to their conversation until I hear "yeah, and it's probably trained to KIll!"...

Then my hubby is walking Shadow off leash on a greenbelt when a woman with a small breed looks up from the ground, sees them coming towards them, and FREEZES! Jack calmly calls Shadow over, clips the leash back on and walks past this woman who seems terrified of our dog.
She's only 65 pounds and not even a BIG dog compared to some.

Have you guys had stuff like this when you go out with yor dog and what's the best way to deal with it? Shadow is NOT aggressive towards people OR dogs, is trained and pretty well behaved ( for the most part).

[idahospud49]

ALL the time with Amadeus when I lived in the valley. People just have an inherent fear of GSD's a lot of the times. I remember one time walking home from the park where little kids had been petting Amadeus and walking towards this house. There were several children playing outside, the mom sees us 100+ft away, and starts FREAKING out. She calls all of the kids to her and makes them stay right by the door until we pass. All we were doing was walking. He wasn't pulling, growling, barking, or anything, just walking calmly on the leash.

[Stosh]

I understand that some people and dogs are afraid of Stosh too, he's big furry and dark. I do just what you and your husband did- just keep walking and let Shadow's actions and behavior speak for her...and you for training her so well!

[CookieTN]

Yup, I got comments like that once in a while. People would say things like they'd never own a GSD because they heard they turn on their owners, and such. Once someone said I ought to have Cookie put down just for being a GSD...I was perfectly livid, but I didn't tell them that...I printed out a bunch of cute pictures of Cookie being sweet and shared those with them.
Lots of visiting people were afraid of Cookie, but we respected that and put her up in a small room during their visit.

IMO, the best reaction is to respect their fear, and try your best to make sure your dog is a great example of the breed. You're probably not going to change many minds by meeting fire with fire.

[Whiteshepherds]

Originally Posted by CookieTN

IMO, the best reaction is to respect their fear, and try your best to make sure your dog is a great example of the breed. You're probably not going to change many minds by meeting fire with fire.

[KZoppa]

with Riley, yes people make it a point to go AROUND us. He's a large black dog and he's good with people. Other dogs he's iffy on.

with Shasta, people flock to her. She started showing me today she'll tolerate their touch but is far more interested in everything else BUT them. Definitely a first. She watches people but moves on. Though it does also seem to vary by location the reactions we get.

[doggiedad]

ignore peoples behaviour because they're afraid of your dog.
be a good dog/breed ambassador. speak kindly and give them
plenty of room. i like the "pass" command you taught your dog.
i say "other side" and my dog switches sides whether he's
leashed or off leash and it doesn't matter which side he's on.

[Germanshepherdlova]

When I am walking my dogs and another pedestrian sees us coming and doesn't cross the street-that is what surprises me. I guess the first time I was walking Brutus and a person crossed the street when they saw us coming, it sort of stung. But then after that it seemed that most people were crossing to the the side of the street when they'd see us coming-that was when I realized that he'd lost his puppy look that used to have people flocking to him and had become the big and scary GSD. He is almost three now so I have gotten used to it. No big deal-I don't really care what people think anyhow.

[Miss Molly May]

I was walking the foot path at the local beach with Molly and we did our usual thing move off the path with Molly when people pass by to give them there space. One lady walked by and said "those things should be muzzled" I was mad for a second then I just smiled at her and told her "have a good day"

[brembo]

I have never heard that "GSDs will turn on their owner". Knowing my dog the way I do, it's inconceivable to me.