"Is your dog friendly?"

[Dom12]

Is it just me or is this a question most Dane owners get when going/walking anywhere? I'm constantly having to reassure other dog owners that "yes he's very friendly, he just wants to play with your dog". No matter where I go, parks, petsmart, petco, just walking outside, people walking by my car when he's in it I always get asked if he's aggressive.. Is this a common thing? Parros has never once acted anything less than a goofy teenage dog when other dogs are around. I never was offended by it until today. We were in petsmart and a woman snatched up her poodleish looking dog right when she saw Parros and then asked "is your dog aggressive he has a muzzle on" I explained that it was a gentle leader and that it promotes better walking. She then proceeded to tell me that I shouldn't put it on him because it will confuse people into thinking he's aggressive. I told her that I'm not going to not use a great training tool just so other owners think he's not friendly. I then showed her how it doesn't look like a muzzle at at it's completely open. She then huffed and asked me to scoot over so she could walk by with her dog in her arms. I'm actually insulted by this. Maybe I'm just being sensitive.

Just because I have a big dog doesn't mean he's unfriendly or aggressive, I've seen more little dogs snap/bite then I've ever seen a Great Dane. Annoying petsmart people lol

[GraciesMama]

Just as a caution, I always completely distrust the statement "they just want to play with everyone!" I'm sure your dog is sweet and your statement is true, but usually it means: "My dog is a pushy a-hole and I'm just too clueless to tell the difference between play and being a terrorist".

Ha-- you have a point! Gracie is actually really good-- she DOES want to play with everyone, but she has become really good at taking cues from the other dog. If the dog wants to play, she goes for it, but somehow she knows if the other guy's not into it, and she totally leaves them alone. Often the little dogs do initiate the play, but because Gracie is so big, the owners get terrified that she's going to eat their dog or something.

[Krypto]

I had someone skitter away from me once...I just put an alarmed look on my face and looked behind me like I was looking for whatever scared her . Poor lady got all red in the face . I get that some people are scared of bigger dogs, but if so...is Petsmart really a good decision?

LOL! Too true!

[mnmouse]

I truly think it's their size that intimidates people! Every once in awhile we'll meet a new person and their (small) dog at the dog park and I'll see the look of absolute fear strike the owner's face-- and I immediately bust out the "she's really friendly, she just wants to play with everyone!" as the dogs start running and chasing each other. Gracie has never been aggressive with any dog or person, ever (and honestly, so many people with small dogs are debilitatingly overprotective!)

Just as a caution, I always completely distrust the statement "they just want to play with everyone!" I'm sure your dog is sweet and your statement is true, but usually it means: "My dog is a pushy a-hole and I'm just too clueless to tell the difference between play and being a terrorist".

[LunaBunaa]

I do get questions about this. But I also have a spiked collar on him so I don't know if that attributes to people asking me that? I don't mind, I also would of told that lady I know my dog is friendly and I couldn't care less about anyone else's opinion as he is benefiting from the device. Go ahead, think he's aggressive. Stay away lol

[GraciesMama]

I truly think it's their size that intimidates people! Every once in awhile we'll meet a new person and their (small) dog at the dog park and I'll see the look of absolute fear strike the owner's face-- and I immediately bust out the "she's really friendly, she just wants to play with everyone!" as the dogs start running and chasing each other. Gracie has never been aggressive with any dog or person, ever (and honestly, so many people with small dogs are debilitatingly overprotective!)

[Paradis]

I'm always and forever asked if my dogs are friendly. It even happened when I had my 40 pound boxer people would ask if she was friendly.

I remember in school being taught to ask if a dog was friendly then asking if you could pet them before approaching. It is something that I think has started to be engrained into society of people asking if a dog is friendly before they start asking additional questions.

I for one am happy when people ask first, especially at times like now when I'm going through a fear stage with Ginnie and I don't want people approaching her before she is prepared for pets. I also appreciate it because Festus can at times have a case of the old mans where he doesn't want affection from others so I use it as a segway for yes, he is friendly but he isn't feeling well and doesn't want pets right now/or yes and would you like to come and say hello to pet him. I like to use the whole is he/she/it friendly as a segway to nicely turn away attention or to welcome it if they want. I'd rather them ask than for them to just come and approach. I know that Festus doens't appreciate other dogs coming up to him when he's on his walks and I've been teaching Ginnie to ignore other dogs while she is on leash, so in those instances when is he friendly, I can just say yes, but they're not too keen on other dogs approaching them on leash and keep walking.

[Almsah]

I get that too, especially people hiding, I was walking Parros one day and a woman literally hid behind the stroller she was pushing😂 I love meeting dane people randomly, your just walking along and someone says "wow what a beautiful Dane puppy" and then asks to pet him and we chit chat danes for about 10 minutes it's so much fun

It's like an instant bond with Dane people we've met and especially great when they have their dane with them. Si just loves meeting them.

I don't know what it is about Si that suddenly has them hiding. Maybe his dark color or the fact he's wearing a halti head harness. He still seems so small to me lol.

[SuzanneRM82]

I wish more people asked me before jumping into Ferg's space. It seems dog shows are the absolute worst, too. This morning we were warming up before our ring time, and some lady in the class ahead of us decided to heel her weiner dog RIGHT UP AGAINST Fergus. Uh, hello. Space invasion much? Would've served her right if Ferg had been in the mood to have a hot dog for breakfast. A few minutes later I had to shoo two older ladies off of him. After our last trial, I was making an effort to keep everybody but me away from him before we went in the ring. This lady didn't ask, didn't say anything until she was getting all ready to lean over the top of him. I'm just glad he was actually watching me and I could get him up and away quickly.

[Angel7292]

Phin's a big boy and I've never had an adult scared of him either. He draws people in like a moth to a flame.

I have had a handful of children over the years scared of him. I always take the time to speak to them and encourage them to pet him. Perhaps a good experience with Phin will allow them not to be so scared in the future. I just have Phin put his butt to them and let them reach out and touch his back half instead of the face half. I can usually coax them into touching him really quick. LOL He wags his tail and loves a good butt scratching. He often backs up more like, "hey.. don't stop!" Of course I wouldn't force a child, but I think with coaxing and reassurance, most come around and really do want to touch him.

My future daughter-in-law is scared of big dogs because she was bitten as a child. She KNOWS Phin isn't going to bite her, but she is still weary of his face near hers. Phin pile drives his head into her stomach for an ear scratch and just looveees her. He gets his front loved on and always turns around and sits on her lap for an ass scratch. He has decided she is going to love him if she wants to or not. It's been funny watching her warm up to him over the last couple years. The wedding is in four months and I keep telling her that I'm getting him a tux too and I promise he'll behave. She knows I'm joking, but I think in the back of her head, she is a little worried I'm being serious. HAHA

[jrturk]

I can't remember having an adult act really scared of Lola, just a couple little kids. I actually seem to encounter the opposite problem, we've had people come right up and hug her and stick their face in her face. I think maybe because she looks like Marmaduke, people assume she's great (thankfully she loves people and attention).

[Dom12]

It all started with people coming up loving him when he was "little" but we noticed a massive change between the 5-6 month mark. We've had plenty, "can we pet him" and "is he friendly" which I completely respect. Most of the time they come and love on him after they've realized and even a happy nod works. But we have had a couple over reactions I guess lol. People jumping across the isle or jumping back when he's got his nose out of the car in a parking lot (never alone there's always someone in there with him) but most of the time after the initial shock he gets pets and love from the originally scared people when they learn he's still a puppy.

We have had one when he was only 3 months old where a woman hid behind her man in fear; considering his size then it was kind of ridiculous lol. But we had the exact same thing happen again last week. Makes me wonder about the future considering he's got a lot of growing to go. It kind of makes me snicker because in reality he's really a whimp. It's kind of refreshing when a dane knowledgable person pops up and just gets it in public; knowing exactly how to react with him.

I get that too, especially people hiding, I was walking Parros one day and a woman literally hid behind the stroller she was pushing😂 I love meeting dane people randomly, your just walking along and someone says "wow what a beautiful Dane puppy" and then asks to pet him and we chit chat danes for about 10 minutes it's so much fun

[Almsah]

It all started with people coming up loving him when he was "little" but we noticed a massive change between the 5-6 month mark. We've had plenty, "can we pet him" and "is he friendly" which I completely respect. Most of the time they come and love on him after they've realized and even a happy nod works. But we have had a couple over reactions I guess lol. People jumping across the isle or jumping back when he's got his nose out of the car in a parking lot (never alone there's always someone in there with him) but most of the time after the initial shock he gets pets and love from the originally scared people when they learn he's still a puppy.

We have had one when he was only 3 months old where a woman hid behind her man in fear; considering his size then it was kind of ridiculous lol. But we had the exact same thing happen again last week. Makes me wonder about the future considering he's got a lot of growing to go. It kind of makes me snicker because in reality he's really a whimp. It's kind of refreshing when a dane knowledgable person pops up and just gets it in public; knowing exactly how to react with him.

[Tiva]

I'd rather people promote asking something like "Can I pet him?" or "Can I say hi?" rather than "Is he/she friendly?". It just has a better tone. There might be a lot of reasons I don't want a stranger near my dog that have nothing to do with the dog.

[NMDane]

I always get asked if Zia is friendly, which I'm glad because she's a spaz! I would rather they ask then rush us! But as far as the freak outs go..those irritate the heck out of me. We used to live by this neighbor who had an obnoxious little Shih Tzu that was always yapping his head off. Her dog would be going crazy and she would pick it up, shelter it with her body, cross the street and glare at us. Gotta just brush that kind of stuff off...but it certainly bugs!