Since this is a place I can share this little story, I will. Its long ticked
me off, because I know there are way to many people out there like this guy,
and wonder what it is I should have said to him.

Here is the tale....several years ago, I was house sitting for my mother,
who has 2 lovely rotties, Sophie and Simon. Simon is a massive rottie, well
bigger than a male of the breed should be, he is a giant of a dog, and the
biggest dork dog you have ever met, he is dopey as all get out, sweet as a
kitten, and thinks his 200lbs is meant to be cuddled in your lap. When I say
he is a giant, I really mean it, his sister is normal sized, so he is a bit
of an oddball from his litter, but lets just say, he could put my head in
his mouth, and still have room for a 10lb steak. I am only 4'11 and weight
about 98lbs (small women in my family, so its a genetic thing)
So I figure, lets take the dogs, one at a time over to the dog park for a
run and some fun in a new place. Plus, I liked to show off Simon, he was my
fav out of the two. While he is was huge, he was perfectly formed for his
size, and cars would come to a stop in the middle of the road just so the
folks inside could stare at him. I load him into the car just fine, pack a
few toys for him to carry around (as he didn't seem to understand the "fetch
game" he would watch you throw with great interest, go over to where you
threw whatever it was, then come running back with this look, like "hey,
great throw you got there!" leaving the object behind him, still on the
ground. However, he was very polite and would go get you something else to
throw, and praise you muchly for a fine effort.).
I get to the park, take out the toys first, buckle on my fanny pack of
doggie bags for pooh and a collapsable water dish, grab the leash, make sure
there aren't any other really big dogs running free that seem to be too
excited or aggressive near by, and let Simon out of the car with leash
attached. We get about 20 feet near the park fence, then BAM! Simon rushes
forward, knocks me right off of my feet and "almost" drags me along.

Here we stop with the story from my side of things. Now, what the guy who
ran over to me said what he saw, was a dog too big for me to handle, and
could have hurt not only me but others. He said that I was irresponsible for
having him in public, and I should use a prong and/or shock collar on a
dangerous dog. I just said he was fine, I was sorry and mumbled a few more
sorrys, then went over to the other side of the park.

Now we start again. I fall over, the leash goes taunt, Simon stops, whirls
around, sees me on the ground, rushes over to me, and starts licking me
frantically until I grab at his neck to haul myself up, telling him I am ok,
pat him muchly, then we brush me off and go forward, with Simon sticking
close by, looking at me constantly, to make sure I am right next to him. He
was horribly embarassed that I fell over, seemed to know he had done that,
and was quite upset over it. Even to the point of not leaving to run when I
unleashed him and told him to "go play", but still sniffing and licking at
me. I ended up having to do a jog to get him going and giving him his pully
toy to carry in his mouth as he pranced around. At this point, while I am
laughing at Simon and telling him what a silly boy he is, the guy comes over
and tells me his opinion.

Well, for one thing, I was confused as to what he was saying. I had never
heard of a shock collar before, but understood right away what it was. If he
really thought that the dog was dangerous, why was he standing less than 5
feet from it? Why on earth would anyone use pain to calm a dog down,
especially a massive dog, who could go through a plate glass window like it
was paper? And how the heck did he think that any dog would then understand
that you were not his enemy if he figured out that YOU were the one hurting
him? Would he have said the same thing if I had been standing there with a
Neo Mastiff, also know as the Sherman Tanks of the dog world?

What was funny to me about all this, at the time, was that while he was
telling this to me, Simon was laying on the ground, wiggling his butt in the
air, while a yorkie puppy, who had rushed over to Simon, "attacked" him and
the puppies owner was cracking up over it, as Simon rolled over on his back
and "submitted" to the puppy for a few moments and "died", than stood up,
the puppy fell on its butt, looked really confused about it, then pounced
again, while Simon pranced about it, egging it on. It was cute as all get
out, and was showing just how undangerous Simon's personality was. As he was
clearly demonstrating that he was engaging in proper puppy playing manners,
that any well balanced dog would do instinctively to a puppy that was about
as big as his ear!

The Yorkie lady and I wandered away from him after that, with her telling me
to ignore him, that Simon was great and it was great that he was so good
with puppies. I told her about how he had been raised with cats, who ruled
the house over him and would make him wait to eat from his dish, while they
checked it to see if they might want some first, (the cat who does this the
most, is about 5lbs of orange fluff and no claws. Simon just sighs and steps
back.) and I thought that it had helped him to pay closer attention to his
size and strength, since he was very gentle by nature. The dogs then shared
the water dish, found a few goldens to play with, then we went home.

I still think I should have come up with a really good comeback to that guy
though, something along the lines of using a prong collar on him and seeing
how he would like it, or asking to use a shock collar on him, so I could
practise torturing my dog before I was allowed out of the house...or, that I
had just told him to sit on a stick and spin! I don't even want to think
about his poor dogs........

Megan