Hi,
Yesterday we went to a very large car boot at Lea Marston. We take our big boy with us he loves it, he has a packet of mints walking round a bit if a hot dig and his ice cream at the end. He is very well behaved and friendly.
On walking round we had Asian children screaming at the sight of him. A mother with a child screaming in a pushchair because his mother would not buy him a toy, she said to him, be quiet or that big dog will bit you!!!
I also admit there was also loads of people who ask if they could give him some love. There is loads of diffrent breeds of dogs that go there most are very well behaved.
But!! there are nothink so weired as people,

Denese

I think you have to respect different cultures. Muslims see dogs as dirty or impure. Children copy the way their parents act. A lot of muslims will not want a dog touching them so would avoid them, children see this and can take it a step further into genuine fear of dogs. Respect their views and keep your dog away form anyone, of any culture, who looks uncomfortable around him.

If you find it hard to understand why everyone doesn't love your dog as you do then substitute your dog for something you're afraid of in your mind. When I was a teenager I couldn't understand my friends fear of dogs at all and was always trying to get her to pat my dogs, after all I knew there was nothing to be afraid of. She then said to me, imagine I was holding a spider, a common house spider that couldn't possibly hurt you - would you pat it? I'm terrified of spiders, since then I've had a greater respect for anyones fears or phobias :-)

I read a similar post on another(non dog) forum recently and someone posted this article in response..

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/sathnam_sanghera/article4606422.ece

I know it seems wierd to us that there are people who don't like or are afraid of dogs but there are just as many who think we are wierd for sharing our lives with them ;)

Lol at the article.  I know, it's sometimes difficult to understand how anyone could possibily be afraid, repulsed or just plain ambivalent towards our dogs.  I kind of agree with the last paragraph where the writer talks about dog dependance compared with needy asian family life and how a dogs it would be the last thing they needed.  I only said to my two dogs the other day that they only love me for food & walkies and that also went for the daddy (although he isn't too bothered about the walkies). :D

"It seems to me that the essential appeal of dogs is that they are relentlessly loyal and proffer extremes of emotion: they are either extremely pleased that you are taking them for a walk, or hugely disappointed that you are not. And frankly, given the neediness and emotional hysteria of the average Asian extended family, that's the last thing we need. "

I thought that was very funny :-)

Hi,
My boy never goes by anyone, to busy enjoying his mints. But! when you see people 10yards away screaming as if they are being killed, it amazes me!!
What do you think of them giving a blind Asian boy a guide dog then!! The boy that now has a dog for sight, he has to go into the mosque with him.
It is great for the boy! but! if this is there reaction is it cruel for the dog?

Denese  

> But! when you see people 10yards away screaming as if they are being killed, it amazes me!!

It would amaze me too.  Living in the North West, Asians are very much part of the community here and this is not something I have ever seen.  I have seen people move out of the way to avoid close contact with dogs but never screaming. 
I'm not sure that this boy has to take his dog into the mosque but I would imagine if they accept him doing that it is highly unlikely they will then start screaming and if they did I would expect a well trained guide dog to be able to cope without getting too stressed.

>What do you think of them giving a blind Asian boy a guide dog then!

Not all Asians are Muslims. There are Christians, Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists among many others.

> Not all Asians are Muslims

Well said JG in fact there are probably more Muslims that are African or Middle eastern......... apparently several million Americans too.
If you count China, an asian country, relatively few asians are muslims.

I've had silly reactions in the past from all sorts, Anglo Saxons in the main.

Hi,
Yes! he is a muslim, it has been all over the news, have you not seen it?
I feel for the boy as we have a friend of the family that is asian and is nearly blind through genetics. He can't see at all some days.
I think! the blind boy with the dog is trying to get permision to take the dog in to the Mosque.
I just wonder if it is fair on the dog if it gets treated badly by the others that will not except him.

(I had a muslim brother-in-law for years but! we wont go there, They are now divorced.
Jeanginie, our faimly have lived it first hand. He was very cruel to animals).
Denese

> I just wonder if it is fair on the dog if it gets treated badly by the others that will not except him.

I'm sure the boys family will be sensitive to the wishes of other worshipers after all there will be plenty of people there to step into the role of guide if the dog is required to remain outside but if permission is granted I doubt very much anyone will treat him badly, why should they?  The dog will be trained to leave them alone.

>our faimly have lived it first hand. He was very cruel to animals

That is one individual.  There are plenty of people in this world cruel to animals from all faiths and not having a liking for animals in the way that we do is not the same as wishing them any cruelty.

>he is a muslim, it has been all over the news, have you not seen it?

No, not on the TV nor in the newspaper.

It looks like he's been given permission and they've even set aside an area for the dog :)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leicestershire/7633623.stm

> Muslims see dogs as dirty or impure.

I have read that the only dog breed not considered "unclean" is the saluki, but can't remember where I read it. :-)

Ive never expieranced it but to be honest I see soooo many OTT parents who scream and permantly damage their children for no good reason other then their own irrational fears or some other reason they see fit, in this day and age children should be allowed to make up their own minds about whether they like dogs or not and their first expierance of a dog is their mother screaming and running away isnt going to do anyone any good!
Just my opinion tho of course ;)

> I have read that the only dog breed not considered "unclean" is the saluki, but can't remember where I read it. :-)

It says that in my book of dog breeds written by Dr. Bruce Fogle.

> Ive never expieranced it but to be honest I see soooo many OTT parents who scream and permantly damage their children for no good reason

How can you never experience it and yet see sooooo many at the same time?   I have seen mothers hold their children out of the path of a dog but have never seen any adult scream and run away.

> I have seen mothers hold their children out of the path of a dog but have never seen any adult scream and run away.

One por woman was walking towards us and as she saw Buster, who was sat down & behaving, she shrieked, grabbed her husband & positioned him between her & us and scutttled away nearly dragging her husband over, she managed to shout out "sorry, I'm terrified if dogs" before she disapeared. I have never seen an adult so frightened by a dog and it really opened my eyes up some people are genuinely terrified :(

imagine I was holding a spider, a common house spider that couldn't possibly hurt you - would you pat it? I'm terrified of spiders, since then I've had a greater respect for anyones fears or phobias 

What a very good explanation, I shall remember that the next time my nieces little boy (only 2) screams his head off when he sees one of our dogs, poor kid will have to get used to them, every family member bar this neice has a dog or two, or three............ :-D He was even afraid of his grandads new pup, so funny, but I guess very rational to the child, after all he may have been licked to death, or had to give his icecream up to those puppy eyes.  :-D

> It says that in my book of dog breeds written by Dr. Bruce Fogle.

Ah, well, must be right then ;-)

My regular cab driver,(when he backed off from my boys),  pointed out that in other countries Rabies is a real threat. The children are taught to keep away from dogs.He said he remembered being bitten as a child and the fear he mother showed is still with him.

That's interesting bilbo, cos when I asked my aunt why she doesn't like dogs she said because they all have rabies and because they shouldn't be kept indoors. Regardless of the rights or wrongs of her views in others' opinions (including mine ;-) ) - when she was young the family lived in West Africa.... which would explain the rabies bit anyway. :-)

I believe India has a big problem with rabies.

A few years ago I walked past a indian family with my little shih tzu.......well they went crazy! screaming and running everywhere, it was mad, the mother grabbed the two kids and held them up as high as she could, the father was even worse, he stood flat against the wall.

>> It says that in my book of dog breeds written by Dr. Bruce Fogle.
> Ah, well, must be right then ;-)

Was just suggesting where munrogirl might have read it as she couldn't remember - I'm not making any claims about whether or not it's true :-)

Although I have to say....anything the Fogle family has to say MUST be true! ;-)

Isabel in reply to your previous post...

> Ive never expieranced it but to be honest I see soooo many OTT parents who scream and permantly damage their children for no good reason

How can you never experience it and yet see sooooo many at the same time?   I have seen mothers hold their children out of the path of a dog but have never seen any adult scream and run away.

I simply meant that I have had no expierance of anyone picking up their child and/or running away from MY dogs, but I have seen it happen to other people too many times and the children end up scared and upset at a dog which wasnt actully doing anything wrong but being very well behaved, but on the flip side of the coin,  I HAVE expieranced and seen parents let their children go up to dogs and my dogs and stroke them without asking permissionfirst, so it swings both ways.

I think all these adults screaming and running away must end up exhausted at the end of day in a country where dogs are such a common sight :-)  I'm still surprised I have never seen one.

> I think all these adults screaming and running away must end up exhausted at the end of day

No need to take words so litrally Isabel, Im not saying all scream and run away but even making a child nervous round dogs when there are so many around surely isnt a good thing? I respect peoples phobias 100% but Im not really a fan of parents passing on fears to their children.

> No need to take words so litrally Isabel

This is how people reactions have been described.  I agree parents should avoid passing on phobias but if people just do not like dogs and do not wish their children to have contact with them they are perfectly entitled to that view and to move them away.  As a dog owner I don't feel I have any right to dictate to other people and would prefer to go even further and try to respect their views and do what I can to minimise contact too.

> As a dog owner I don't feel I have any right to dictate to other people

No one has mentioned dictating? and of course you would minimise damage to peoples children and/or people who have fears that goes without saying doesnt it as it goes in line with being a good dog owner?
But that still doesnt mean that moving their child away from their phobia should inflict on the child and if its screaming/running away/ being hostile etc then its all bad for the child to see and they will react to it in a negative way.

> I agree parents should avoid passing on phobias

At least thats one thing we do agree on lol ;)

>No need to take words so litrally Isabel

On a written forum that's all we can do! It's very important that people write what they actually mean; it's not fair to expect readers to guess - that's the quickest route to misunderstanding. ;)

> On a written forum that's all we can do! It's very important that people write what they actually mean; it's not fair to expect readers to guess - that's the quickest route to misunderstanding. ;-)

Totally agree JG :)
Just sometime speople nit pick on certain words so much we lose what we are actully speaking about lol :)

> But that still doesnt mean that moving their child away from their phobia

By and large this thread has not been about parents with phobias but people with a dislike for dogs due to religious or cultural reasons.  Let's not lose what we are speaking about ;-)

> No one has mentioned dictating?

Now you are being literal :-)  I mean if people feel that way what right have we to say it should be different.

> Was just suggesting where munrogirl might have read it

Oh right - well it definitely wasn't there as haven't read that, so still none the wiser where it was. :-D

To answer the OP I would think that all it takes is a little respect for others, a little give and take, and a normal amount of common sense by all parties.