Aren't people interesting....

[OzGirl]

I took the girls to the park yesterday, we were on the far side away from the road/houses when I saw a man I recognised (kids used to go to school together) with his doberman. He stood at the edge of the park reading the paper while his dog raced around crazily and unsupervised. The dog came over to us (I wasn't worried cos I thought it was the same dog he had before and she was fine) but it turned out to be a new male and he did the usual sniff and greet business with the girls but they weren't too keen. Anyway for some reason Susie let out a loud "yelp" he hadn't done anything I think she was just scared. I looked across the park and the owner had heard it too, I continued walking in his direction, just cos that's where I wanted to go, not to yell at him or anything. But as soon as his dog got back to him he walked off the park, they had only been there about 5mins. It seemed to me he didn't want to chance speaking to me in case his dog had done something to Susie. I had to wonder what he would have done if if his dog did bite one of them... oh well at least I know were he lives.

[SparkyJonesMom]

It always annoys me when people don't supervise their dogs. I stick to my two like white on rice. I'm glad to hear that the doberman didn't hurt your pups.

[Malcolm's Dad]

Some people are nice and some are not. At month ago I met a man walking two Cairns. Or rather I should say the Cairns were walking him. I mentioned I have a Cairn and we talked about the dogs for about 1/2 hour.

Last week I saw a lady walking two Westies. I looked and said "aww, a couple of Westies". She said yes and hurried by. Seemed like she couldn't walk past me fast enough. Most people like to stop and talk about their dogs, and the dogs like to stop and say hello too. Not her, she seemed offended I dared to talk to her. Oh well, if she doesn't want to be social that is her business.

[josie&holly]

Holly always likes to say hello to dogs and people we meet on walks. Most people respond by saying hello to her and allowing their dogs to also say hello......... but I have been walking when someone has come along with a lovely black spaniel and Holly has tried to say hello and the woman just walked past as if we weren't there. The spaniel obviously also wanted to say hello to Holly and Holly just looked after them and then looked at me as if to say "how rude!"

Even if you are in a hurry I think it is nice to acknowledge other dogs and owners.

[cairnsby3]

I have to say, when I am walking mine, I usually don't allow them to say hi unless someone specifically asks. I really don't think they need to say hi to strange dogs, they are very well socialized and are around alot of dogs at shows and trials. I think it's a habit I got into with my first male, who was intact and while he never attacked first, he didn't back down if the other dog gave him the wrong look, so I was always very careful with him. My female now, does not like to be touched by strange dogs, so while she may like to sniff them, she will growl if they do it back. Shiner my younger male is so overly friendly and exuberant, that sometimes he actually scares the dog he is meeting. I have worked hard to teach them to not react to other dogs walking and they just look and keep going. They are much more interested in all the smells than meeting. So people that see me probably think I'm rude too. There are always two sides.

[Autumn & Lola]

Molly wants to say "HI!" to every dog and person she meets. We walk her in our local park and usually everyone with a dog (and some people without one) are very friendly and stop to say "Hi" as well. I am very glad for this, as she doesn't see other dogs/people outside of these walks and our trips to the pet store. There has been the occassional person who couldn't be bothered and direct their dogs away from Molly for whatever reason. Once in the pet store, I heard a woman whisper "scruffy terrier" to her companion as they guided their dog in the other direction! I guess they didn't think Molly looked good enough to play with their dog.

[Zekey's Mom]

You never know. While hiking, I met a woman with a beautiful German shepherd. I asked if Zekey could say hello, and her answer surprised me. She said no, the shepherd was afraid of little dogs because he had been bitten by one! Another time at the park, a woman had a Saluki (sp?), but since she was in heat, she discouraged the meeting.

I like Zekey to meet and greet dogs and people. Sometimes its obvious that the other dog is not under control, and the owners guide it away from us. Most of the time, the dogs do their mutual sniff, and we're on our way.

[hheldorfer]

Molly wants to say "HI!" to every dog and person she meets. We walk her in our local park and usually everyone with a dog (and some people without one) are very friendly and stop to say "Hi" as well. I am very glad for this, as she doesn't see other dogs/people outside of these walks and our trips to the pet store. There has been the occassional person who couldn't be bothered and direct their dogs away from Molly for whatever reason. Once in the pet store, I heard a woman whisper "scruffy terrier" to her companion as they guided their dog in the other direction! I guess they didn't think Molly looked good enough to play with their dog.

How dare she call your Molly a "scruffy terrier"!! She obviously is a woman with no sense of taste!

[lubowiem]

Molly wants to say "HI!" to every dog and person she meets. We walk her in our local park and usually everyone with a dog (and some people without one) are very friendly and stop to say "Hi" as well. I am very glad for this, as she doesn't see other dogs/people outside of these walks and our trips to the pet store. There has been the occassional person who couldn't be bothered and direct their dogs away from Molly for whatever reason. Once in the pet store, I heard a woman whisper "scruffy terrier" to her companion as they guided their dog in the other direction! I guess they didn't think Molly looked good enough to play with their dog.

How dare she call your Molly a "scruffy terrier"!! She obviously is a woman with no sense of taste!

Oh, I don't know about that. Max takes it as a compliment to be called scruffy. In fact that is one of my favorite things about him.

[hheldorfer]

Molly wants to say "HI!" to every dog and person she meets. We walk her in our local park and usually everyone with a dog (and some people without one) are very friendly and stop to say "Hi" as well. I am very glad for this, as she doesn't see other dogs/people outside of these walks and our trips to the pet store. There has been the occassional person who couldn't be bothered and direct their dogs away from Molly for whatever reason. Once in the pet store, I heard a woman whisper "scruffy terrier" to her companion as they guided their dog in the other direction! I guess they didn't think Molly looked good enough to play with their dog.

How dare she call your Molly a "scruffy terrier"!! She obviously is a woman with no sense of taste!

Oh, I don't know about that. Max takes it as a compliment to be called scruffy. In fact that is one of my favorite things about him.

I agree! I meant that "scruffiness" in a Cairn is a good quality, not something to turn up your nose at.

[JimS]

Molly wants to say "HI!" to every dog and person she meets. We walk her in our local park and usually everyone with a dog (and some people without one) are very friendly and stop to say "Hi" as well. I am very glad for this, as she doesn't see other dogs/people outside of these walks and our trips to the pet store. There has been the occassional person who couldn't be bothered and direct their dogs away from Molly for whatever reason. Once in the pet store, I heard a woman whisper "scruffy terrier" to her companion as they guided their dog in the other direction! I guess they didn't think Molly looked good enough to play with their dog.

How dare she call your Molly a "scruffy terrier"!! She obviously is a woman with no sense of taste!

Oh, I don't know about that. Max takes it as a compliment to be called scruffy. In fact that is one of my favorite things about him.

I agree! I meant that "scruffiness" in a Cairn is a good quality, not something to turn up your nose at.

If Scruffy wasn't such a common name (I know two Scruffy's) I'd have been tempted to name Ring3 Scruffy. I love "scruffy". My groomer likes to put a bow or something on the dogs when she finishes makeing the pretty. I get rid of it immediately. I like scruffy.

Scruffy is hip. Scruffy is cool!

[Murphy's Mom]

Molly wants to say "HI!" to every dog and person she meets. We walk her in our local park and usually everyone with a dog (and some people without one) are very friendly and stop to say "Hi" as well. I am very glad for this, as she doesn't see other dogs/people outside of these walks and our trips to the pet store. There has been the occassional person who couldn't be bothered and direct their dogs away from Molly for whatever reason. Once in the pet store, I heard a woman whisper "scruffy terrier" to her companion as they guided their dog in the other direction! I guess they didn't think Molly looked good enough to play with their dog.

How dare she call your Molly a "scruffy terrier"!! She obviously is a woman with no sense of taste!

Oh, I don't know about that. Max takes it as a compliment to be called scruffy. In fact that is one of my favorite things about him.

I agree! I meant that "scruffiness" in a Cairn is a good quality, not something to turn up your nose at.

If Scruffy wasn't such a common name (I know two Scruffy's) I'd have been tempted to name Ring3 Scruffy. I love "scruffy". My groomer likes to put a bow or something on the dogs when she finishes makeing the pretty. I get rid of it immediately. I like scruffy.

Scruffy is hip. Scruffy is cool!

I agree. Scruffy is good and it's a cool name. Someone caled Miss Murphy a scrappy little girl and I thought YES, she is scrappy and I could have named her that. When I see her next to a dog her height and length she is just so......well....scrappy....she's solid with that bigger ribcage and those short legs and large front paws and solid little round head....they are scrappy little dogs aren't they? I'm glad she got those Cairn qualities. Scrappy, Scruffy, all good.

Oh, and same here with the bow. Our groomer always puts a little flower or bow in her hair.....I take it out immediately...she is Scrappy lil' girl, no prissy bows for her.

[Zekey's Mom]

Scruffiness... that's what attracted me to Zekey at the SPCA. He has this wild-man look about him, and I love it!

[Autumn & Lola]

I am cracking up at these "scruffy" follow up comments.

I prefer to call Molly, "fashionably disheveled".

[hheldorfer]

Scruffy ROCKS!

[jimnconnie]

I like "Scruffy", Connie likes "Tidy". I'm in charge of grooming, but they look more "Tidy" than "Scruffy"!! I know if she were the groomer, they would look more "Scruffy" than "Tidy". Now why is that????

Jim

[JimS]

I am cracking up at these "scruffy" follow up comments.

I prefer to call Molly, "fashionably disheveled".

Disheveled is... well ... it's ummmm... well it's scruffy! I loves'm disheveled.

To wit: He has no shame