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Illogical fear of German Shepherds

10K views 77 replies 31 participants last post by  snakeybird 
#1 ·
Does anyone else experience people displaying completely outrageous fear of their dogs?

Example 1: Before we had General and we just had Arrow. We took her to our oldest daughter's softball game. She was laying on a blanket next to my lawn chair. On leash, with me holding the leash. A woman with a dachshund walks by and Arrow let out a playful puppy bark as if she was saying hi. Her tail was wagging 100 mph, clearly not being aggressive. All while lying down. The lady yanked that weenie dog up so fast by the leash, I don't know how she didn't pop it's head off, and walked briskly away. 5 minutes later a man was walking by and stopped dead in his tracks and said "Oh, that's a big dog! I'm just gonna go over here!" Turned around and walked off.

Example 2: last night we have both General and Arrow at the park. We are watching our youngest play. She wanted to move over to the other playground that had 2 other kids playing on it. She runs ahead of us and starts to play. My wife and I are walking with both dogs calm and on leash. The mother of the two kids sees us while we are about 20 feet away and hollers at her kids to get off the playground. She made her kids sit down until we left. Now, I understand training your kids not to approach strange dogs, and especially not to touch them...I work on that all the time with both my girls. But to make your kids quit playing because someone in the vicinity has a dog? That's a bit extreme.

So does anyone else have any stories that relate to people being completely and illogically afraid of their dogs?
 
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#2 ·
All the time. I do a lot of training in this outlet mall thats right by my mouse. Lots of distractions, all sorts of people. Some kids love him and he gets plenty of compliments but others will run behind a pole or latch on to their parents. Some eve think he's a service dog.
 
#5 ·
Same with Arrow. She weighs around 42 lbs and she's the type of dog that wants EVERYONE to rub her belly. Pretty much the most non-threatening dog I've ever met. But she's black and has pointy ears...so I guess that makes her scary.
 
#7 ·
Not the only one.

I kind of walk the line with this one. It makes my life easier in some ways if my dog isn't branded as evil, and it can be annoying that my dog would always be the one blamed for something going wrong in a dog-to-dog altercation. But at the same time, it is nice to know that most people aren't going to mess with the woman walking next to a large GSD. I'm totally cool with knowing she can and will scare people away from my front door if I want her to. (The time she scared the little kid was the funniest, but time she scared the two women I suspect were casing was the most useful.)
 
#9 ·
I tend to agree: Fear resulting from a bad experience is entirely understandable and reasonable.

I do also agree that it ventures into "outrageous" territory when the reaction is so over the top that you want to laugh but know that it would be mean to do so. If someone just looks nervous or simply says, "I was bitten by a shepherd, so I'm a little afraid of your dog" then that's understandable and we give them a respectful distance. When someone gives you a death glare and practically snatches their child off the sidewalk while muttering about the GSD and then gives you additional death glares when you show up at the same park to walk your (LEASHED) puppy around, then I'm going to classify that as utterly ridiculous and illogical no matter how reasonable the root cause.
 
#10 ·
All the time with my she-pup. She is smaller and looks cute but if she barks just once, I get the stink eye. It isn't even an aggressive bark but it still triggers some primal response of danger and parents gather up children and people back away.

Another woman I've met will cross a parking lot even though everyone else around tells her how safe our dogs are. She goes back to a time long ago, bad experience with a large dog. Those things go deep into the back of the brain and is hard to deny.
 
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#13 ·
I was at my vet, checking out and had both my GSD and Aussie with me... I heard this woman behind a corner say "I'm staying away from that German Shepherd.... I'm staying away from that German Shepherd" really loud over and over. Lol. It makes sense that we don't know that persons experience.... but that's why breed bias sticks around.

On the opposite end of that, it's nice when I'm downtown and beggars and mooches are going around bumming, but no one is coming over to me because of my dogs :) I'm tired of trying to discern the ones that need it or not.... I figure if they really need it, they'll come over! Lol
 
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#14 · (Edited)
Once upon a time, I had a little 4 month old puppy, he was mostly black, black sire, black and tan dam, so he was a blanket back that looked almost like a bi-color.

Yes that is relevant, because at the time I had two black and tan girls who didn't really care to have strangers go ga-ga over them, but the boy was just a lover. And people generally stayed away. So sad, I posted here a post about how no one seems to like Rush.

But when he was about 4-5 months old, I was outside of the mall, and some big man, got out of his car, and started walking, we were across the parking lot and he yelled over, "Does that dog BITE?!?" I was flipping out, he was on a lead, and across the parking lot twice as far from the door than the man was, but I said, "He's a puppy!" The man said, "You keep him over there!" Whatever. I came on here and groused about it, and was read the riot act, some people have phobias, I should be more understanding, whatever.

Ok.

I didn't turn Rushie loose and tell him to go get the guy. But whatever.

That was close to 11 years ago. Ah well.

Yes, some people grab their children out of Harm's way. I generally feel it is just as well.

One day, I had Babs, who practically raised my older sister's girls:




Well, anyway, I had my nieces and Babsy over my little sister's house, and suggested we all go for a walk. I had the older girls, and her girls were a couple of years younger. We went for a long walk, where all the girls were along side and walking Babsy, and had just gotten back, and I had trained her to GoToMyCar. I unhooked her and said, "Go To My Car!" And she dashed off to the back of the Explorer.

My little sister's littlest, went running after her, and then a blood curdling scream went up behind me, "DON'T TOUCH THAT DOG!!!" I was like, OMG, what happened!?! I said, "Do you want them to be afraid of dogs?" She said, "Yes."

I was flabbergasted. Babsy had just been perfect all along a walk with all four little girls and my sister and I, and she was still terrified of her around the little kids. It is not just unrealistic, but dangerous to teach kids to be afraid of dogs.

This week I took Kojak to her house, to meet her girls. I am determined that her girls are NOT terrified of dogs.
 
#17 ·
I was dog sitting a husky and GSD, Princess the husky was 10 yrs and Rocky the GSD was 11, so they are old and slow, very non-threatening, doesnt really care kinda dogs. The owners had flexi leashes for them but Rocky chose to walk by my side and Princess when about 10 meters in front.

On one of our walks a lady was passing the street infront of us with her little poodle mix type dog, saw princess first, was doing the whole "oh hi pretty puppy, going for a nice walk" thing. She looked up at me about 16 feet away with the shep walking nicely on leash right beside me and he hadn't even seen her dog yet. I can't even stress to you guys how fast her whole demeanour changed after that lol, she immediately yelled "HOLD ONTO THAT DOG" and started RUNNING and i mean basically sprinting away from me dragging her little dog with her, looking back every few steps to make sure he wasn't chasing her down or something i assume.

that was one of my first major reactions when walking around with a GSD, makes me laugh every time because the dogs are always super friendly lol
 
#18 ·
Well I do have some observations from the other side. But first even though my particular Black OS GSD 112 lb, and not found of people, is pretty much outstanding in public ... zero reaction to strangers, whom he is not found off! That took work on my part but strangers can't tell! He has "zero" reaction to people in public but even still ... strangers keep a respectful distance from him ... that works out just fine for me. :)

But ... I was on the other side of the GSD thing with a Clients Westie and a White GSD encounter and I was fairly uh ... uncomfortable. My personnel smallest dog was my White Boxer at 65 lbs and she always had protection, me first and foremost my Band Dawg at 85 lbs and Rocky at 116! No dog was getting to her!

But that's my dogs ... on a walk with a clients dogs a Westie a very small dog by my standards ... he was off leash, well trained well behaved ... apparently E-Collar trained dog. And we were in a field at a distance when another owner with a on leash White GSD came into the same field?? But of course I took quick notice of that dog and owner and the GSD was on leash and clearly under control ... but you know what?? The GSD was not pulling, was clearly not out of control but he was also "Staring" a bit to hard at my clients dog! And that made me ... extremely uncomfortable??

I quickly said Val "Close" and we got the Heck of Dodge! That was a new experience for me! If crap every went down with my dogs it would be a battle but if you have a little dog and crap goes wrong ... it's gonna be slaughter! I was extremely uncomfortable in that situational so I kinda get the little dog v bigger dog reaction.
 
#19 ·
raise your hand if this is you, too. I am sometimes on the other side of this issue. When I am out and about without my dogs and I see someone with a German Shepherd Dog, I have to over come the urge to go over and say hi and greet their dog.

The other day my family was out and about with our dogs in a city that is dog friendly and packed with pooches. Across the street I saw a woman walking a good looking GSD and I waved. I was hoping for a wave back "hello fellow lover shepherds" but no, she kept here eyes straight ahead. To be honest she was probably scanning the crowded sidewalk ahead of her and anyone across the street was merely a distraction. The point is that I am not repelled by GSDs drawn to them. I also know to keep a respectable distance, unless invited otherwise.
 
#21 · (Edited)
Doesn't bother me at all. I'd rather people not come rushing up to me to pet my dog. One of the reasons I own Shepherds is because I wanted dogs that looked a bit intimidating. Also, like someone else here said, maybe those people have had a bad experience with a Shepherd, who knows. There are breeds I tend to avoid. It's a lot safer for someone to avoid a strange dog than bother it.

All of this said, my 4 month old pup is a longhair GSD which apparently is a people magnet. We can't go anywhere without drawing a crowd.
 
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#23 ·
Me and my neighbor both have GSD pups, his being 5 months and mine 4 months. Occasionally we walk them together, or I'll take hold and walk both of them together alone, and I get so many people to stop in their tracks and walk across the street. I just think to myself they are scared and these are just pups, I can't wait to see how they react a year from now when they are just about done growing. It doesn't really bother me, I think it's funny how they freeze up as soon as they see these guys. I think it just makes my walks that much easier, rather then if I decided to get another breed which looks less menacing and get stopped for all the pets. I can't wait for next year when I get my 2nd breed and it's come down to either a working line Doberman, or Rottweiler. Those will be some good reactions.
 
#25 ·
I have two German Shepherds both on the small side even being almost a year. We and female they both end on the smallest lengths and heights of standard and are black and tan saddle backs. My Luna is far more reactive than Wyatt. Wyatt only wants to love everyone and anyone. However my fiancee and I walk our dogs together meaning one of us with one dog. We live in Chicago so there are many people around as well as distractions from the buses and trains. Every SINGLE time we're out someone has to say something about our dogs biting/killing them or moving away from us completely. We keep our dogs right next to us when were near anyone at all. They don't bark at people or anything. (With other dogs that's a different story....usually the dog has to bark at mine before anything happens and were working on that) but when we are walking they mind their own business. Its sad really....i don't like people talking about my dogs like that.
 
#27 ·
Here is a perspective from the other side of the street, so to speak. I grew up with an irrational fear of dogs, any size, any breed. My mother was afraid of dogs, and so was I.


My grandparents lived at the top of our street, maybe 100, 200 meters away, and in between our homes there lived a smallish dog (actually across the street). I don't know the breed, just that it was black and white and liked to run up to us. He wasn't aggressive, but to my mind he was a monster! My heart would beat in my throat when I got near his home, praying that he wasn't outside. If I saw that he outside from my house, I would either not go to my grandparents, or walk around the block.


Fortunately I got over that fear, but I can empathize. Now when someone removes a little dog from my girls' vicinity, or makes a comment like "she could eat you for lunch" I try to laugh it off and say that little dogs have been known to kill bigger dogs. When they look puzzled I continue with "they can get stuck in their throat and choke them, don't you know?" And then I'll go on my way.
 
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#30 ·
I had to go by the pharmacy to get some eye stuff for Ranger. The pharmacist mentioned that the script was for a dog? I said yes and he followed up asking which breed. I answered German shepherd and his tone changed and asked if I had children in the home? Seeing where this conversation might be going I said yup, they are home playing with Ranger on the trampoline. He didn't say anything else and finished ringing me up.
 
#31 ·
I used to be terrified of dogs as a child. My uncle used to own a massive husky(well probably just looked massive because I was probably 7 years old) I was so scared of him that one day he was sitting on the front porch and I stayed outside for hours until he moved away to go inside. I've also been chased by a dog who i think wanted to play....anyways somehow I forgot about all of this and grew up to love GSD's
 
#32 ·
I just watched a marvelous video today from a member of a dog club trying to help a woman get over her fear of large dogs. A couple came to visit the club. The husband wanted a GSD someday but the wife was afraid of all large dogs. They compromised and got a retriever pup. Over time the club has been working to help this lady. They would walk over to her, dogs quiet on leash, and have a conversation..with the dogs just near her comfort zone. This is just like trying to rehab a reactive pup. Today the video showed her, still a bit unsure of herself, actually walking a big fluffy white GSD on a leash. The dog was calm and slow. When they came to a stop, the dog did not go into a sit. The trainer told her to give the dog a quick pop of the leash and touch his rear. The pop did nothing. The dog stood there. The lady touched his rear and the dog went into a sit. It was a short quick touch. Obviously the lady was still a bit nervous, but her smile, when the dog sat, was gorgeous.
 
#33 ·
Fears are NOT logical. My first GSD was the best-tempered dog you could ever ask for. She didn't seem to have an aggressive bone in her body.

One day, she was lying sprawled on the rug, while my niece, Shannon, played nearby on the couch. Something had happened with a dog that belonged to another member of the family, which had caused Shannon to be afraid of large dogs.

Shannon managed to fall off the couch, and landed ontop of Lili. Lili raised her head up and gave Shannon a hurt look. No lips pulled back, no teeth showing, just looked at her. Shannon ran up the stairs, screaming...
 
#34 ·
#45 ·
We GSD owners have to realize there is this public perception of our breed and not to ridicule individuals who are fearful. This from dogsbite.org These statistics are from news accounts.
2016 U.S. Dog Bite Fatalities - Dog Bite Statistics - DogsBite.org View attachment 429754
Ah how can I ridicule people who are afraid of dogs when I will hit the deck if a hornet or wasp comes my way. I've gotten better over the years, and I am not allergic, but there are no statistics for me to prove that I have a good reason for fearing the flying stinging varieties.
 
#36 ·
Yet there are not many apartment buildings, towns or states with breed restriction laws against Wiener Dogs.
 
#41 ·
My parents have a dachshund that sneaked out of the fence and but the mail man's ankle. He was home quarantined for a week, and when animal control came by one of the times the officer said that dachshund is the #1 dog bite in our town.
 
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