Woman scared to death of my GSD! - Page 1

Hi ,
Just wondering what others would have done in this situation.

My male German Shepherd (4 years in October) Kaiser loves children!

I have socialized him to the max with children-when I would see a child going down the street I would grab the puppy and some treats and run out the door-and of course all the little children ( my neighbors) would come running to see the fuzz-bucket puppy!
I have had kids in my yard playing with him and sitting and giving paw for treats all through his adolesence etc.
Always wanted a good association with children. Ok, so he loves children.

Kaiser had a long ball and play day and we ended it with our usual early evening structured leash walk around the local park where dogs are allowed. They have a playground and soccer field -tennis courts- and it is also conservation area of trails through the woods with a kettle pond.
I was walking in our area and a mothers two young children were learning to ride bikes ( 3 wheels) and as I walked by the trail area one little girl came riding her bike closer and closer towards us smiling and saying hi doggie hi doggie -and her mother started screaming at the top of her lungs!
Heather OMG Heather get away from that dog ! Those dogs will hurt you!!
I calmly said-better go with mommy honey- Kaiser was just calmly sniffing along and ignoring the woman and the child. The child was ignoring her mother so I turned about face and headed back towards where I came in.
The woman was obviously really frightened of dogs ( German Shepherds maybe) and was positive that Kaiser (who showed no signs whatsoever of even looking their way-I mean was totally ignoring her) was going to suddenly break loose and eat them both!!!.
I always let children pet him after he sits and who ask their parents if they can pet him and I encourage it because he is fine with them.
My question is did I do the right thing by turning and going the other way?
Or did it look like an admission of -yes you are right my dog is BAD!
The woman was almost too afraid to come get her daughter-that is why I walked away.

Maybe stupid question here-but I feel I should have maybe continued to walk by her and let her know that my dog was fine.

I ended up going back around the other way and she was watching me walk the perimeters while her girls kept riding far away.
I guess I would have liked to help her not be so afraid.
What would anyone have said or done in my situation?? Should I have said he likes kids and see if that helped?
Just wondering:)

Thanks,
Katrina

PS Hope I am on the right board!!

Often people have a reason they are really scared of dogs. All the talking you do is not going to erase that fear.

I think you did the right thing; unfortunately a parent has a right to instill her own fears into her children. You just hope that the child will somehow get a dose of reality growing up.   If she frequents the park I would continue to go there, maybe she can see your dog interacting with the other children and it will pique her curiousity........slowly challenge her mindset.

When we got our first GSD, my parents said - the dog will turn on you, shepherds to that. 5 Shepherds and 2 kids and 2 grandkids later they kind of developed a liking to them. Actually our first Shepherd got them over the hump when they saw my then 3 year old fall on him and he just licked her.

Some folks are just plain old scared due to "something" that happened or just that their parents instilled the fear into them.  Don't think little Avery over here is going to have any fear, as she was just assaulted by doggie kisses in her swing by not just one GSD.  LOL   I keep waiting for the barking to really bother her, but only a little jump every so often.   Hope that continues....

I've just always loved dogs even though my parents weren't particularly animal lovers.  They always had pets, but I was definitely different about it.  I remember even getting bit by a poodle mix thing we had, was annoying him to no end.  That was back when a parent would say, what did you do to the dog to make it bite you?   But even after getting bit, I didn't have a fear.  

My best friend growing up was Max a sable GSD that was my aunt and uncles.  So it was inevitable that eventually I would have GSD's.   My husband too grew up with a couple of GSD's.  

Rezcat,

That's true, some people just might be scared for many reasons. I have to remember I love the breed-I respect them and am not afraid of them- to me they are the most beautiful creatures on earth!
I have had them all my life-my mom was upset that I visited a junk yard dog that was starving every day-he was tied to a heavy chain on a bumper  and lunged and barked at anything ( poor thing) so at 8 years old I would visit the dog daily and push food to him with a long stick  or toss it-after school every day I would raid my Grandfathers pantry and fridge and finally got so he would not bark at anyone anymore. I hope I didn't get him killed:(

Better than a parent that lets her kid run to a strange dog, no? Although it might be a good idea to tell her next time *not* to scream, as it can trigger some dogs to actually attack.

 "That was back when a parent would say, what did you do to the dog to make it bite you?"

LOL Rezcat!  My ex-neighbors have a border collie named Katie.  I know Katie, and I know my kids.  When Katie nipped one of my kids (tiny nip, no bandaid required) that's *exactly* what I said: "What were you doing to Katie?"  I think he had just been careless about where he put his fingers on the frisbee he was throwing for her.

How to not get bit: Don't put parts of your body where the teeth are going to be!  Simple!

I would have platzed my dog, told him to stay, and then said forcefully that he loves children* and was under my control and if she wanted to use the opportunity to teach her child good manners with dogs, you were ready and willing.

It sounds as if your dog is really up to it.

The woman had her own agenda or real anxiety, but you might have helped the kid not grow up so screwed up!

___
*OT Did you ever see Hepburn and Grant in BRINGING UP BABY?  Remember this line of Hepburn's?  "My brother says Baby {who is a leopard} loves dogs.  I wonder if he loves to play with them or loves to eat them?  My brother is so vague sometimes!"

We had a prime example of people being afraid of GSD's last year. We had been to a small fun show in Godstone, on the way home we stopped to get some dinner, Hannah was talking to a little girl and her mum about the dogs and what we had won that day. The woman started to hyperventilate and cry in a matter of seconds, eventually we calmed her down and she explained she had been attacked as a child and the mere words German Shepherd put her into this state. We spent a good 15 mins explaining the good side of the breed and eventually, after lots and lots of persuasion we ended up with this

http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n77/crazimum/?action=view&current=aug08027.jpg

She cuddled Usha for a good 10 mins, but with tears of elation that she had overcome her fears, she couldn't thank us enough for helping her do this, even her daughter cried for her mum for being so brave.