Childhood Doggy-Experiences [ Socializing People with Dogs ]
Thought this would be fun! I'd love to hear about how the dogs you've interacted with over the years have left an impression on you now, years later.
We always talk about socializing dogs with people, but I'm curious about the reverse.
Please share about any dog experience that you look back on & say, "Hey! That had a big effect on me!"
This thread was sparked by the "breeds I'd never own" thread, & just from talking to other dog people. [ I've been trying to be more social, & find it's easier when someone's walking their dog lol ]
I've noticed, like anything else, certain dog interactions can effect us even years later, either positively, or negatively, & think it's super interesting lol
Hope you guys will share!
~
We always talk about socializing dogs with people, but I'm curious about the reverse.
Please share about any dog experience that you look back on & say, "Hey! That had a big effect on me!"
This thread was sparked by the "breeds I'd never own" thread, & just from talking to other dog people. [ I've been trying to be more social, & find it's easier when someone's walking their dog lol ]
I've noticed, like anything else, certain dog interactions can effect us even years later, either positively, or negatively, & think it's super interesting lol
Hope you guys will share!
~
Comments
Dalmatian Probably the first dog I remember. I was born in FL, but when I was 4 we went to Syria for a visit. I was playing in the yard & saw a stray Dalmatian resting. I thought, "Oh!!! Doggy!!" I went up to pet it, almost got bit, & the dog chased me up the street :x I didn't like Dalmations because of this until a few years ago, but I've met some nice Dals since then that have changed my opinion lol
Stray Dogs I lived in FL up until I was 7 but had little dog interaction down here. When I moved to Jersey City tho, it was like...dogs galore!!! I'd say it was a regular occurrence to get chased by a stray dog on the way to school at least once a week. If I wasn't getting chased, I was being lunged / snarled / growled / charged at through chainlink fences as I walked 4 or 5 blocks. I think being exposed to so many reactive dogs has given me pretty good nerves about it. There are still times where I second guess myself, [ when there's no fence to protect me! lol ] but for the most part, I've found very few dogs make me nervous. I think, being constantly exposed to dogs trying to bite me kind of desensitized me to it.
Pomeranian
My Uncles & Aunts had several Pomeranians that had been poorly socialized. When we came over, these dogs would chase us, snarl, & snap. I was terrified of one in particular, named Lina, who at the time, was almost bigger than I was. Since then, I've met some really great reps of the Pom Breed, & they don't bother me any more. But I think a lot of it had to do with me just "growing up" & becoming a lot taller than a pom! haha
Dobermans, GSD's, & Rotties
I had tons of neighbors, family, & close friends who kept Rotties, Dobermans, & GSD's. These dogs were GREAT! So as I grew up & people spoke about these breeds being "vicious" I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about! lol I have a special place in my heart for these breeds, since they were such a positive experience for me growing up.
I've had a lot of good experiences, & bad ones with dogs. I've found that the more I socialized with the breeds I was "afraid" of, the less afraid I became of them. I think, sometimes one bad experience can scar you quite a bit, but if you continue on, & continue with good experiences, they'll eventually outweigh the bad
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I noticed a couple years ago my sis was terrified of most dogs, so I started taking her to dog shows to meet dogs who I knew would act nice. Thankfully, now my sis loves dogs & isn't afraid anymore
Now...me dad had a puppy Sheltie bite him once...so...he's kind of afraid of dogs LOL He gets nervous at first, but is usually comfortable around big dogs. Small ones or ones he doesn't know, makes him kind of scared. [ he's not afraid of puppies, but has a fear of getting bit by "adult" dogs, but think small dogs will bite before a big dog will ]
Funnily enough, me dad lays down tile for a living & encounters dogs every time he does a job. Yet, he's still nervous. I guess my dad is "unsocializable" ;p ~
Hokkaido (Taro): he was my dads dog but I always think of him cause he was the scariest dog I have ever seen. I was about 4 years old and Taro was always a kind of "one person dog" he was only attached to my dad and with anyone else he was a mean old dog. I finally was able to warm up to him when I was about 5 years old and about the time I was 6 he passed away from old age (18yrs). He was the start of Taro's for my family dog names.
Kishu (Shiro): he was my first Kishu and he was one of two born to my dads dogs. He was an awsome dog. By about this time I was hooked on Nagareboshi Gin and shiro and I would almost on a daily basis go up to the mountains together and pretend we were pig hunting. About the time Shiro was a year old he passed after getting really sick, I did not know what he got but I remember he was so sick he couldn't move.
Flat Coated Ret. (Monk) Monk was my first bird dog. He was the first dog I trained on my own although we never really got to hunt alot, he was a great dog. He was a shelter dog and about a year later he was stolen out of the yard. We still think it was the riched neighbor two houses down but could never really figure it out.............Sucks.
B&T coon hound(Little Anne)& Kishu (Riki) Anne and Riki was my first biggame dog. Anne was a super awsome bobcat and coon dogand Riki learned from Anne. Picked Anne up as a pup from some one giving them away when I was about 15 and got Riki from Japan. Tarined both really well up to when I was 16. After I got my drivers license we were hunting every weekend of the season. When I was about 17 I began looking for hogs and during a hunt we got our first bear! It was the most memorable hunt ever and the scariest. I had no idea what to do.........Once I caught up to the dogs, I lined my 12 gauge shot gun up to the bears vitals and pulled the trigger.......down comes a big bear nearly crashing on top of me.
I had some of the best hunting with these two and if I can have any combination of two dogs this would be it.
Kishu (Yuki) Well Anne passed away when I was about 20 and a few months later my Dad surprised me with a female kishu pup. I wish I could have spent more time with training and thats probably why she never really hunted much. Nice thing is she is with some one who really loves her (my brother) and she gets to have a place all to her self. I will always remeber her cause Riki and Yuki were always there for me during some hard times.
Blk Lab (Hana) Hana well what can I say, she is my super bird dog. She will dive down 10 feet and catch winged birds. During her first day of hunting in 2006, we were hunting a local lake during really ducky weather (horrible weather). It was snowing, raining, and gale force winds. The temperature was at 24 degrees all day. My buddy shot a nice gadwall and winged it. The bird flopped down about 120yards out n the middle of the lake. I marked her to the spot and boom she was on. she swamm all the way out and came all the way back.
During a duck hunt in 2007 I shot my first bluewing teal drak. The bird was still alive and was diving down trying to get away from Hana. Well Hana got to an area where the water was prbably 10 ffet deep. The bird dove down and Hana dove right after it. All I saw was a tail sticking out of the water and up come Hana with the bird in her mouth.
Kishu (Taro) Well he is my little rocket. He is still in the training phase but he is doing really well. Time will only tell on how good he will get but I dont think he has any issues. He is a loving pup and is just always really happy. I am lookign forward to all the great years of ups and downs!
Ever since I was younger, Huskies have always been one of my favorite breeds and I had always had good experiences meeting them. I remember thinking that if a dog looked like a husky, then they had to be nice. And I had always had good experiences with small dogs(besides those evil chihuahuas), so basically up until recently anything that looked like those two breeds I was pretty scared of.
hmm...wait I lied. There was one dog we had when I was a kid who I had a bad experience with, luckily I wasn't the one who got hurt. I took her for a walk once which was a mistake since a lot of other kids were outside playing that day and another kid wouldn't stop following me on their scooter. Eventully they got too close and my dog whose aggressive towards strangers, especially males without a proper introduction bit him where it hurts. She was lucky not to get put down as the parents were more than angry as were the other people in the neighborhood. After that I wasn't able to walk a dog for a long time, I was afraid it would happen again.
There is one dog that left a really positive mark on me though. I remember taking a walk around my neighborhood a few years ago and a golden retreiver running out of a yard to me. That was a shocking experience since I didn't know where the dog had come from until I saw what looked like a doggy door on the side of the house I was in front of. The dog ran to me and started jumping on me, which scared me for a second. It turned out to be a friendly dog though and so I played with it for a few minuets before going on my way since I wasn't sure whose dog it was. At first dog tried to follow me but luckilly, eventually it went back home. That dog gave me a really positive view of golden retrievers since it was so nice and seemd overjoyed to have me pet it and rub behind it's ears. I've never met a dog that liked to be pet so much.