"Who's walking who?"

[Thoenix]

I'm so sick of that question. SO SICK. I'm a small person. I wear children's clothing, I'm so small. I'm stick thin. My dog outweighs me, significantly.

Normally, Castiel has no more than 3 feet of leash when he's with me. That said, when I'm trying to get him to eliminate because I'm COLD and in my pyjamas and it's COLD OUTSIDE, I give him a little more head room and follow him around while he sniffs out the perfect spot.

This inevitably brings along some idiot who goes "Ha ha he's walking you!"

Which is why I need to vent.

Dear sir,

Yes, I weigh less than my dog. No, he is not walking me. Me giving him the ability to direct our movement because he is sniffing around to select a place to eliminate is not the same as him walking me. Even if I stumble, it's still not the same thing. I stumbled because I was clumsy and caught my toe in a brick, not because he was pulling me in any way.

If a dog who weighs more than I do is walking me? You'll know it. I'll be the one looking roughly like a flag in the wind flapping on the end of my dog's leash as he gallops away.

This has been a public service announcement from your friendly neighbourhood great dane owner.

[Keeps]

I get this a lot too. I just reply "He actually walks very nice on a leash." And the person usually agrees and says "I can see that." Yeah, it's annoying and I feel your pain.

[Angel7292]

Oh I knooooow! I can have Phineas walking in a heel position and we STILL get that really stupid comment. I'm 5'0 tall and Phineas is huge next to me, but still, if that dog wanted to walk me.. you'd know it. He easily could drag me down the road if he wanted. When we take our casual walks around, I don't insist Phineas stay beside me, I let him sniff his way down the road. It's fun for him... and besides, it keeps him at a slower pace so I don't feel like I have to jog to keep up with his normal pace. Even with him sniffing around, we have a loose leash. I won't be pulled by a dog, we will turn around and go home.

The other one that really has grated on my last nerve is pony and horse comments or even that stupid saddle one. For the love of God, do they think they are being original? I normally just smile and nod, thinking 'you moron!' Lately I've been responding with, "wow, that's the first time I've heard that one". C'mon... it's so old.

[oubball14]

I'm with you...and I'm completely over the rude comments that just don't need to be said. Last night we were walking and a group of about 10-15 young men all started screaming "that's abig f*ing dog, can I ride on his back, that dog is f*ing huge", etc...there are families with kids walking around this area, etc...if they hadn't had a dog with a rope cinched around it's neck that was freaking out I would have stopped and let them know what I was really thinking, but if I had stopped my forward moomentum, my boys would have decided they needed to try to intervene as well and I knew that would not have ended well. Ugh, why do people have to be so stupid, do they think they are the first person to ever have had that thought???

[Thoenix]

I've started telling people, when I get the "Oh wow, is that a horse?" comment "No, actually, he's half giraffe, half chihuahua" in a very serious tone of voice. They don't know what to make of it and walk away.

It's seriously the 'who's walking who?' that gets me most. Because we DO occasionally have incidents where Cas sees something and takes off. And it's annoying and painful and oh, did I mention annoying? We use either a prong or a front-attach no-pull harness to be safe for these incidents, not because he walks us all the time. Just because his impulse control is kind of .

If a person my size is being walked by the dog, YOU WILL KNOW IT.

[Lacey]

I got a who's walking who comment before. Funny thing was andross was trailing behind me very slowly after an hour at the park. It was obvious I was walking him. Duh!

[crdane]

I got a who's walking who comment before. Funny thing was andross was trailing behind me very slowly after an hour at the park. It was obvious I was walking him. Duh!

Lacey, Reilly is almost always walking behind us, and we get it about him too. Duh, obvious answer. We get it for Ayla too, and that girl walks perfectly on a leash. You just can't fix dumb.

[IwannaDane]

Yup! Hate it! Boils down to they think they're the smartest thing on Earth and the most original. I'm about 5'2" and I get that comment quite often...I usually just ignore them LOL

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[Michkendo]

Well - I'm 5'9 and Peter is 6'2 and we get the 'who's walking who?' line also.
Usually we just smile and continue on - though sometimes one of us will say "Oh, what day is it? Hmmm I think it's our turn to be the walker instead of the walkie" Also 'where's the saddle' - we just say, we've heard that one before and continue on our merry way.
I think people say these things because they think they are being clever or original (NOT) - but also because we have a magnificent animal that demands some kind of comment.

[LibsDW]

This is my biggest frustration too! Dakota walks perfect in heel position and we still have people yell out "Who's walkin' who?"! I try to ignore them...I would rather have the saddle question any day over this question!

[Cas]

I was walking Cas the other day and I told someone the "Half giraffe" thing and they were like "What? how does that even work?" *headdesk*

[kwhit]

Different perspective here...

I miss those comments.

[Loki Love]

I used to be bothered by the comments, but I take them in stride now - it's all part of owning a Great Dane. If I didn't want those kinds of comments, I would have chosen a dog that is more common perhaps, blends in a bit more, etc.

I also try to remember (as many have pointed out here before) - while it may be the millionith time we hear the comment, chances are it's the first time that person has said it. Yes, annoying and redundant to us - but funny and clever to them.

I will admit though, I expected after moving to a small town that the comments would have increased, etc but in fact, they've gone down and no one really pays us much attention at all during our walks

[6danes]

I see it a little different then most here I guess.
We have an older retired couple a few blocks over from us. They are always setting in their lawn chairs in front of their home when it is nice weather. As we walked by the gentleman would yell out "who's walking who" I would just smile and/or nod and go on my way. This happened every day for about a week. I didn't think much about it except I did wonder why it was the same comment day after day. I really thought maybe he didn't remember that he had said it the day before and the day before that. So one day I just stopped and talked to them. They were a really nice couple and just friendly with everyone that walked by. He said all he meant by it was that it was such a big dog and that was all he could think of to say. He actually looked forward to seeing us walk by everyday. They were retired and didn't have a lot going on in their lives and looked for simple things in life that would bring them a smile. Now we always stop by for a few just to say hi and they even bought some milkbones just for when we stop. One case of a dumb comment not meaning anything negative and a friendship resulting from it.
I don't get bent out of shape by people's comments. Sure some are just stupid and many think they are being funny but I do think some people just want to say something and the first thing that pops out of their mouths maybe isn't the greatest thing to say.
We are almost always friendly to anyone that makes any comment and have had some great conversations with many people that have had a dumb comment.
Great Danes draw attention and I don't go anywhere expecting that someone somewhere isn't gonna say something not so original or not so clever. I feel a lot of these comments are just someone curious about the breed and not with enough time to think through what they are about to say. I see it as no harm and an icebreaker or a way to start a conversation. I do not mind the "who's walking who" the horse and/or saddle comments, or even the "danes don't live long" comments.
I love Great Danes and these comments come with the territory. I have a lot of other things to worry about in life then someones not so bright comments. I think it is silly to get bent out of shape about what others say even if they are stupid people saying stupid things

[sctigergirl81]

I too am 5 foot tall and Rachel weighs more than I do. They always seem to think they are the first person to have ever said that to me. horse comments, pony, who's walking who, can i ride it? and the list goes on. Ive stopped doing a fake laugh and now just do a fake smile. Too obnoxious to acknowledge anymore.