[Rgeurts]

Originally Posted by Bailey_

I agree that common sense is a huge factor here. Sadly, not everyone displays it, even I have been at fault for that.
(I have huge ugly scars on my right hand due to riding an inner tube made for water down a gravel hill. Yeah. I know.)


Lord knows I have done my fair share of "not so smart" things. We all lack common sense on occassion. But... if you do have one of those moments, then I think you need to take responsibility for your own actions.[/B]


Who is responsible? IMO it's *us* as the dog owner. If someone does not know how to approach a dog properly, I always tell the parent or the adult what to do with my dogs and how to do it, especially as an owner of two rather large protective male breeds. I cannot count how many times people have attempted to pet Vali (half deaf) without asking me first. Sure, he looks cute and friendly with his floppy ears; but if startled? Watch out.


I agree completely that owners are responsible, for the most part. But I still fully and 100% believe that the "victim" needs to take some responsibility as well, for his/her own actions. Ignorance is no excuse when it comes to the law, and it shouldn't be when it comes to our pets either. If he/she was just walking down a street, minding their own business and were attacked, I would say the vicitm has no blame whatsoever. But in the case of walking up to a strange animal to pet it, that's completely different. Even if an animal has never shown aggression, it doesn't mean it won't. It's an animal
I, like you, struggle when walking Thorin. He's a beautiful boy, and everyone wants to "love" him. But he's timid and over-protective of me. I have to stop kids all the time, even with the parents standing right there saying nothing to them. It irritates me to no end. If I do something stupid, and get hurt, I'm sure not going to blame anyone but myself.




Basically we can't expect that someone is going to understand the rules of approaching our dogs. And if they don't, we have the responsibility to educate them, right there on the spot - to avoid any incidents like this.

No, we can't expect them to know. So what it comes down to is they need to educate themselves before approaching. Again, it's common sense. An animal is an animal is an animal... and therefore, unpredictable. Again, JMO