Comments on: Women feel safer in the company of a dog

By: Allison

Allison — Mon, 04 Feb 2019 07:42:55 +0000

In reply to Kim.

😂😂Ha😇Ha😂😂 !!

Far too Cute & Funny. Blessings to your Sweet and Special Little Belly Rub Needy Scoundrel – Love It ! LOL

By: Joni Freshman

Joni Freshman — Sun, 03 Feb 2019 04:11:24 +0000

I HAVE been attacked on trails and in parks when I was with my dog (Belgian Tervuren). She is the reason I’m am still here, decades later, walking with her great-great grandpuppies. And I always will.

By: Raina

Raina — Sat, 02 Feb 2019 21:34:03 +0000

My service dog is a giant breed. He’s not allowed to be aggressive, or even act it. One of the reasons I selected a giant breed is as a deterrent. He’s an odd breed that very few know, so that removes the “safety” factor people feel around a lab or golden. That dong even know what he is, let alone the breed’s general behavior proclivities, so we mostly get left alone.

It is sad that one of the determining factors of which breed I would use to help me with my disabilities was “What breed is safe for everyone in public to be around but is kind of questionably borderline scary looking?” But it was.

He’s huge, he’s strong, he’s brave, but he’s a huge social butterfly and sweetheart. But I don’t have to tell everyone he’s harmless as a fluffy dice lol. He’s big enough to deter most negative contact.

By: Kim

Kim — Sat, 02 Feb 2019 16:48:27 +0000

I wish my English Yellow Lab didnt drop to her back for every stranger that could be a potential belly rub. Shes a greedy tramp with no intimidation skills. Sigh.

By: Cindy Haines

Cindy Haines — Sat, 02 Feb 2019 15:26:44 +0000

In reply to Hannah15. Can we safely assume you’ve never owned a reactive dog?

By: Janine

Janine — Sat, 02 Feb 2019 14:49:09 +0000

Excellent article. Very well said. I have taught my service dog, who is already an intimidating look breed, to bark on a whispered cue for this exact reason. The person (male) she is barking at doesn’t know she is really friendly. The point is those times that the person is behaving in a way to give off a creepy vibe mean I want them to back away, allow me to pass, allow me to get away from them.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Sat, 02 Feb 2019 13:45:06 +0000

I have lived in areas where there were drug deals happening often (very urban)– and yeah, you just ignored it. I have also lived in neighborhoods where there was violence, theft, and assault (including sexual) on my street and neighboring streets. In the first, I was fairly relaxed about going about my way. In the later areas, I was grateful for a noisy lab of a roommate to deter break-ins and damage to cars by the house. I was also happy to have large dogs with me for walks. Very rarely was I ever approached by anyone who made me or the dogs nervous, but they were automatic deterrents. Indeed, my large dogs have almost always tended to very quiet about people (until loss of sensory acuity/dementia set in for one).

By: Dale Ward

Dale Ward — Sat, 02 Feb 2019 11:09:43 +0000

Great article. It’s a really sad state of affairs, that’s for sure. I don’t walk my dog. She’s my service dog. She’s a 55 pound black lab, not too big, but big enough. I have to take her out late at night when I travel. Walking around outside a hotel at 11 pm is not fun. I encounter a lot of men with questionable intentions. I feel safer with my black dog. Of course, if I didn’t have her with me, I would never be wandering around out there at night by myself.

By: EBD

EBD — Sat, 02 Feb 2019 03:33:22 +0000

I think most women would lunge and bark (and bite) if they could get away with it.

By: I was

I was — Sat, 02 Feb 2019 00:17:49 +0000

I was walking a trail with a man and woman and my dog, a Cairn Terrier.. the dog and i had lagged behind by quite abit, when a man came down a slope on the side of the trail…. He said nothing, Neither the dog nor I heard any sound of his approach, It was fall and the treed area by the trail was crisp with leaves….He appeared so quickly and walked toward me.. I am not a panicky person but I was mighty afraid… I am so grateful that the others were there.. Not as close as I would have liked but there… I have not walked the trail since… and it has been almost 25 years.. I am,I hate to admit, afraid.