To those out there wanting to talk to me about my dog: Please stop asking me if he is pure bred. It doesen’t matter to me why does it matter to you? I am just walking him trying to get him house trained and I have to stop every five minutes to have a conversation with perfect strangers who want to touch and baby talk him. He is afraid of you! He is 10 weeks old, leave him and me the fuck alone.
—Nai Blanc
This article appears in Apr 2-8, 2009.
You’re walking with a puppy, aka people magnet. Stop walking where there’s people/stay in the yard, or learn to deal, dude.
And wtf you’re walking a 10 week old puppy around in public. Really, wait for all his shots to be finished before you start exposing him to God knows what.
I hate that. I got a puppy about 4 months ago and everyones eyes were popping out of their heads and mouths were drooling like fountains. I kinda wished a giant furball would erupt from its throat and catapult into their schmaltzy faces.
Try a quieter neighbourhood, preferably with residents over 80 who never come out of their houses – West End Halifax.
Actually you are supposed to walk your puppy, for excercise, to train him not to pee and poo in the house, to leash train him, socialize him etc. You obviously don’t have a dog or you would have done the research necessary before bringing him home. If you do not do the aforementioned things your dog turns into anti-social, angry beast. This is a fact. My problem is not with people petting him, but the massive amounts of people who distract him form his training on a constant basis just to find out if he is a pure bred dog, which is meaningless to everyone except for dog show crazies. Fuck You!
haha its people like me who stop you, i dont have a dog although i want one
i will think twice next time
A 10-16 week old puppy has the attention span of a classroom full of 1st grades or sugar and caffeine. IF someone doesn’t distract them; they will do it themselves.
I understand your frustration; Just enjoy your walks, and like you said let him get socialized and used to being on the leash
I heart puppies!
Note To self: “Stop being friendly to people walking dogs”
I love dogs, but usually I just walk past them when they’re being walked, unless they are really persistent in getting my attention. I’ve never really thought too much about it but I just figure, you know, I don’t know this person, maybe they have x amount of time to walk the dog and then they have to do all their other chores when they get home. So how is it my prerogative to delay them, just because I find their dog cute. I suppose it’s something you have to get used to as a dog owner though…on the rare occasions when I do stop, the owners are pretty patient, and I don’t linger.
Welcome to dog ownership. People stop me all the time when I’m walking my dog, sometimes they just want to pet him, sometimes they have a few questions about him. Children love him, just seeing him is enough to make them squeal with delight. Stopping for a minute and talking with people who show an interest is not a major inconvenience, in fact I find that it’s a good way to meet people in my neighbourhood. As a bonus it makes my dog really happy, he’s thrilled when people stop and show him a little love. If you’re in a rush and don’t have a single moment to spare for being friendly/social, just stay in or around your yard.
nai: I didn’t say not walk him, I said walk him elsewhere or exercise at home if *gasp* people are unbelievably interested in a puppy. You can socialize him with friends, family, people YOU invite to help take part into turning him into a good dog and avoid those nasty strangers. Also, whoever had him before you should have done quite a bit of socializing in the first place, since he couldn’t leave mom until 8 weeks at the very least.
Nice how you ignored the vaccinations comment, since dogs can easily get parvo(survives for months on the ground!) before their vaccinations are finished, which you’d find out if you did research. Go fuck yourself.
I had a dog for 10 years who always got alot of positive attention. He was huge and a little goofy-looking so we got stopped all the time. But you know, looking back it was actually nice; it might’ve taken longer to get places sometimes, but overall, I appreciated it. Dogs often seem bring out the nicest in people. And because of his sweet personality and interesting appearance, mine was also welcome practically everywhere I took him- be it the bank, Kinkos, or some patio downtown, which was very convenient.
if it annoys you to the point of wanting to tell people to go fuck themselves, Nai Balnc, maybe you should’ve gotten some fish
SwampDonkey, I ignored the vaccination issue, because it is a non-issue. He has had his first vaccination and his scheduled second and third is coming up. The only way dogs can contract parvo is through direct contact with feces, which is avoided at all cost when walking my dog, however if you have a dog you would know that complete avoidance is near impossible. I live in the city, so walking him at home isn’t exactly an option. So here is the deal: I don’t think it’s a problem for people to pet or talk to him, I have a problem with being stopped almost every single time someone is walking by. Scooby Doo, I love my dog, with all due respect you read way too much into what I posted.
Hahahaha…
“I hate when people are friendly to my dog.”
Yep, Nova Scotians are some friendly people. Especially the puppy-owners, apparently. Lame.
FTR, like Scooby Doo, my dog got stopped and petted a lot whenever we’d walk him and he (and I) loved it. I got to know my neighbours better, he was well socialised, all good things. Mind, this wasn’t in Halifax, where a lot of people seem to act like their shit don’t stink.
I have a small purebred pomeranian and get this all the time. It’s especially annoying if you’re in a rush and they stop to talk to you and your dog
but I usually don’t mind, unless they’re creepy old men…then I pick up my dog and walk briskly the other way lol
Nai: Funny, my vets didn’t think it was a non-issue, and recommended waiting until his vaccination cycle was over for mine(keep telling me I haven’t had a dog though). Parvo can remain long after the feces has deteriorated, possibly up to a year, and this is only one virus. Your dog is barely off the tit and isn’t fully protected yet.
You could also join a puppy training class, get him socialized with tons of other dogs, and not have to worry since any good one will require proof of their boosters.
I agree it can be annoying but like they said, puppies are a people magnet. We had that problem all the time and people asked us if she was pure bread. Most people asking are probably inquiring about breeding.
Why not move to a desolate road where there are no people. It’s called being a hermit.