Aren't some people idiots?!

Walking my dog earlier, a very friendly (in fact too friendly) Dobermann, a girl of about 8 said 'nice dog, very cute, what is he?'

To which I replied 'he's a Doberman'

The girl's mother then piped up 'I thought it was, i'm going to hurry up'

I have encountered this several times before so I gave a p*ss taking laugh and wry smile.

She then said 'well he won't be friendly will he?'

I said 'yes actually, very'

'to you may be' she replied and crossed over!

At the time the girl approached me, I was talking to her neighbour who had her Cocker with her, and Harvey was the picture of calmness.

As he had been as they had followed me from the park - lead very slack etc.

I mean had he been foaming at the mouth and straining at the lead, I could understand it.

I find it a real shame that people have blinkered and often wrong opinions of breeds.

But then in their defence I suppose, they are some idiots who have such breeds for the wrong reasons and therefore give these naive people ammunition!

I'll just step down off my soapbox!

It is so frustrating when people judge a dog on its size/looks/stereotypes. I remember at puppy training the dobe puppy slipped its lead and all panic broke loose from some of the other dog owners even though they had seen what a superb temperament he had throughout the training. My breed doesn't have a stereotype as such but a lot of people avoid them because they are big and automatically assume because they are big they must be vicious!

I know exactly what you mean.

He's a brown Dobe, so have been asked several times what he is and as soon as I say, people change instantly!

I was in the street talking to a neighbour and he was stroking Harvey, making a fuss calling him a nice big boy etc, and asked what he was. When I told him he said 'I don't like dobermans!'

Didn't look that way to me - stroker!

I have 2 labs, but i walk my friends Dobermann on a daily basis, she is a absolute dream to walk, has a fantastic nature.
I have had similar experiences when out walking her, which i have to be honest i haven't experienced with my labs, i just find it a real shame!!

Hayley

This thread is definatlely proving all those stereotypes wrong. Everyones had nothing but positive things to say about dobes.

At the time my friend had Glandular fever her other half was working abroad.

I took her four Dobes out in shifts and yes got negative responses, but as I made a point of taking them out up  the high streets (I live in the junction between three different shopping areas), the amount of people who would come and speak to them, especially older people (I suppose younger ones would have been at work) was really encouraging, and they were always well behaved on their head collars or check chains, so that I could walk two at a time.

I think because it is easier and no-one likes unpleasantness it is easy to become marginalised as dog owners.  I see so few just walked down the street and in the shopping areas compared to when I was a little girl that took ages running errands as I had to speak to all the dogs and their owners.

The more well behaved dogs large and small people get to see the more positive people will feel.

I often take my four to the local covered precinct to get fruit and veg, but it takes ages while everyone comes to talk to the girls and ask about them.

Hi,

It is one of my biggest irritations about owning a Dobe.  Unfortunately my girl isn't keen on people she doesn't know (due to bad experiences) and with those kind of people she senses their discomfort and feels uncomfortable herself and often feels the need to woof at them right in the middle of them telling me Shouldn't Dobes be muzzled or walked on lead in public places :-/  Which unfortunately just confirms their narrow minded views.  She is the sweetest girl once she has met someone a couple of times and once she considers you a friend she's a frind for life whether you want her or not :-D  I always put her on lead if someone is coming but they don't notice her turn on a 6 pence recall of the fact that she comes and sits by my side as soon as asked just the fact that she's a Dobe.  Their loss I say!

I wish you dobe owners lived near me so I could have a stroke! I was owned by one for thirteen years and my oldest daughter grew up with her for the first three years of her life. We still have pictures of her in the house so it is the one breed that if we see we all want to have a cuddle. I do remember the comments when I had her so can sympathise with how annoying it is.

The one thing I did find was that it was very rare any one would want to stop you and have a stroke and at the time it did annoy me but now having 2 newfs I always get stopped and I look back fondly at uninterupted walks.:) I also look back fondly at having a breed that is a little more aloof with people, my dobe though people and dog friendly was quite happy being with us and didn't feel the need to meet and greet everybody we met unlike my 2 newfs whose main aim of a walk is to see everyone. People want to stroke them but I now have to warn them "Of course you can stroke them but they will spit on you" Lots of people change their mind for some reason?

I can see both ends of the scale here. A big dog would cause more damage and lots have had a bad press so people are unsure. It is about media hype. Personally I adore dobes, it was on my list of breeds. It isn't just big dogs though, a woman crossed the street and another picked up her child when I was walking my beagles this week. It is probably more frustraiting to you as your dog was on a lead but I am always telling my friend off because her big boxer bounds up to people off lead. We know she is freindly but others don't. Then she gets annoyed when they get annoyed with her or pass comment. Lots of people have stupid fears, personally I would cross the road if I saw a big spider. It is uneccessary and annoying but let them get on with it. It may come in useful one day.

oh bez, what an idiot this person sounds. i'm sorry, i hate this closed mindedness as well. as others have said-their loss. sad thing is this foolish mother will probably indoctrinate her (apparently open minded) child that big dogs want to eat her. grr to some people...

Saying that my BMD when I take him out people stop and talk, but my son 23 took him the other day and people were crossing the road to avoid him he was very dissapointed about it because I'm always saying about that people stop me! and he is not some hoodie wearing yob (no offence meant but dont know how to discribe him)the son that is!

A few years ago whilst my youngest was at a local primary school I used to walk the 2 old goldies round with him. They were perfectly well behaved but we saw a few near accidents where a certain religious group would walk out into the road infront of on-coming cars with their children to avoid the dogs. It was such a shame as the parents were instilling terror into the children. I did ask one parent once if they would like to introduce the children to the dogs, to no avail.
I often meet a guy with the most affectionate Rottie when out walking and when talking he often tells me about the abuse he suffers when walking her. He is most sensible, puts her on a lead when ever someone approaches etc but still gets shouted at by not only dogless people but dog owners too. It is such a shame that certain types of dogs are tarred because of the actions of others.

I love Dobes personally, espicially brown ones, they are sinply stunning with their stance they have as well.

I think its tar one and tar all sadly with people nowadays, even worse is when people who have dogs act the same way as those who dont, you would think they would know about discrimination in breeds!
People cross the road when they see Mitz coming!! The most unthreatening looking dog you can gety for a SBT and I simply laugh and say something to Mitz like '' Dont be offended girl'' or ''dont worry girl they dont know nothing about dogs do they!'' Had some priceless looks because of it! :-P

Maybe its because the Dobe looks so much like the rottie as well, and we all know how they are regarded by joe bloggs :(

The Dobe's i have come across have been very well mannered on and off the lead. They are such a great breed.
I have a BMD and when he was little he would stop people in his tracks, well he still does sometimes.
What i have sometimes is people saying that he is too large for their little dog, which does annoy me somewhat..

I am livid though as my friend has a GSD who is impeccably behaved and is so good with dogs and people alike.. She has so many comments about her dog being evil and told to stay away from them. He has never shown any sign of aggression and wags his tail when people come near him as he wants to say hello. Then you get people with little terriers(i have 2 of these myself) that yap and bark at him and their owners tell my friend off for their behaviour...
Its a shame that such lovely breeds out there have had their reputation ruined from ignorant owners and other people alike.. To add i have also never met an aggressive Rotti either...
People need educating - something needs to change soon...

Water off a duck's back as far as i'm concerned, they should come and see him with my 20 month old son - bomb proof.

And whilst he has his floors else where - barks, excitable, eats everything in sight (food or not) he has the most amazing temp.

The above are all Dobe traits, which we accept, but his temprement is the main thing and as I say - amazing.

Never off his lead when others are around, always under control etc.

One question - what is a BMD?

Bernese Mountain Dog :)
Beautiful breed and big as well!!

My mother is usually one for thinking the same as every one else in her news paper. I was biting my lip when we both went to the vet & a couple sat there with their Dobe. My mum just chuckled, she thought it was funny that such a big dog of such notable fame was hiding under the chair & behind legs because it was the vets - my mum usually speaks before thinking & I was relieved that when she found out what he was (I knew before she asked) that she said "aww, he's adorable - I bet a lot of people cross the road from this softy, eh?". Wish more people would take the time to question stereotypes instead of accepting them to be true ALL the time.

BMD - thank you, very nice dogs.

To be fair, on the flip side, he does often attract compliments such as 'handsome' etc, to which I always reply 'me or the dog!?'

An old ladies seem to take an interest in him which is nice.

When I was growing up, there were a lot of latchkey dogs in the village.  The most famous was a huge Dobe named Ben...everyone knew him and he would stop for a bit of fuss off anyone and everyone.  The whole village mourned when he passed away aged about 12.  Dobes have always been a popular breed in the village and I think a lot of that is down to Ben's fantastic temperament.

And I know all about the sudden change in attitude...you should see how quickly some people move away when they find out the big 'cuddly teddy bear' they were admiring seconds before is actually a Rottweiler X.

well hopefully lovely dogs like yours will help change the attitudes of the uninformed  

Dobermans are great, love the breed.  Had a red male, well my mom did, when we were younger.  My aunt has always had dobes, so I have been round them all my life. 

Part of the problem is media hype.  Every movie with a guard dog somewhere in it, is one of three breeds:
Most of the time a Doberman, sometimes a boxer, and sometimes a german shephard. 

These dogs are protrayed as mean dogs, and unfortunately this false rep stuck with them.

I hate it though, that people think certain breeds are perfect (on the other side of the scale).  I must admit I have seen some nasty Chihuahua's, but no one even asks if they can stroke one of them! 

parents will even encourage their children to run up and pet dogs.  All over, when we took Joy for walks, they would send their kids up to pet her, since springers arent "mean" dogs, but not listen when you politely say no, because she is blind. 

People all round are foolish when it comes to dogs.  Hate it really!!!!

> An old ladies seem to take an interest in him which is nice

Now I found that too, it was always retired ladies who would coem over to have a  pet with the dobes.

Either that or they have a soft spot for me!

A couple of years ago me, hubby, kids and our gorgeous bernese boy at the time went for a day trip to Brighton....
It was a gorgeous day ~ not too hot though and we walked our boy along the promenade.  Everyone made a huge fuss of him, people wanted their pics with him etc which was lovely, and you could see he was loving every minute of it.

However, we then went just a short way up to the shops to grab a sandwich.  As we were standing chatting about what we were getting etc, this man came up to us and said "its far too hot for that dog out today, look at him, he needs a drink"... i said "he's ok, he's had a drink"...
"but look at how thick that fur is and he's panting"....
I said "with respect, i know my dog, and he is fine" then i turned away.  I could hear him mumbling something about being muzzled in a town centre.
He then came around in my face again and said "so he must bite then?!"
I said "WHAT"!!???
and he said "well he's wearing a muzzle"
by this time i was seeing red, the interfering so and so.......
I said "My dog is very very placid, he is NOT wearing a muzzle, it is in fact a HALTI leash, something he is used to wearing, he is a big dog yes, but he doesnt bite, it is to control him.  I would appreciate it if you got your facts correct before you criticise or make comments. So would there be anything else you would like to say before we depart company?"
he just muttered again and walked off...

i was absolutely furious!
Has anyone else had remarks about a halti???

My dog didnt mind wearing it at all.  I just found it so much easier to pull him quickly away from soemthing...

namely old men in Brighton....lol
;0)

I hope I don't offend anyone here but there are two sides to this.

When I just had my big dogs I wasn't too cautious if I was passed by a bigger dog, if they got snapped at I knew no real harm would be done. I now also have two toy dogs and I have to say I would keep them out of the path of a bigger dog.  Don't get me wrong, I love Dobes, my father-in-law has one and she is the sweetest thing. But she weighs 52kgs(overweight I know) and is very boistrous and clumsy. If she accidently trod on my little guys she could break something.

I guess what I'm saying is imagine if you were that other person and you'd never had any experience with dogs and you'd only heard negative information about them. Would you not bother about a big dog you don't know coming towards you or would you think that your child was far too precious for you to take the risk.

I live in Brighton and at the moment my Berner is going through a phase of pulling on his lead. I currently use a Halti and yes i have had some comments about him biting.. I am like what?? This is nothing like a muzzle... But i do agree with you walking on the prom does mean you get a lot of attention from passers by.. we are starting to spend more time down there now and its great fun for my Berner to play with other dogs and hav fun frolicking in the sea.

Yes, I only have my Yankee on his halti at pet training, I got so tired of comments about whether he bit!! Your bloke reminds me of someone at a companion show once, came up while Ellie was snoozing in her crate and had a go at me saying he would call the RSPCA about dogs living in cages. I just laughed and said 'yeah right' and he walked off still muttering. People are mad! :-)

Harvey wears a halti and i've had a few comments about him wearing a muzzle!