Kids and Dogs

Ugh! Today on Tallulah's walk, we were about a block away from a front
yard full of kids. No big deal, Tallulah will usually monitor any
playing that is going on while we walk by and whine that she'd like to
be a part of it, but no tugging or towing me into the yard.

TODAY, two of the kids in the yard run down the sidewalk, screaming, "I
WANNA PET THE DOOO-OOOG!" They are running right at Tallulah and
yelling. The other 3 kids follow. So now, I have an exicted and
scared dog being surrounded by 5 yelling kids. She is wiggling all
over and trying to jump off her leash. So, I tell them all in my Adult
Voice, "Please stop yelling, you're scaring her." They all look a bit
scared of me, and go back to their yard.

Once we get down to the house where the kids are playing, I see a mom
sitting on the porch, and she yells out, "Your dog probably didn't know
what to do with herself when she saw all those kids comin' at her,
huh?"

*speechless*

They are so lucky that I'm more people-aggressive than my dog is.

diddy...

What is the story behind your dog that causes her to be so fearful and
unsocialised?

Jodi...

Are you seriously asking me that question?

I really hope you're being sarcastic and I just can't read the tone.

Because:

A) I would be fearful and unsocial if I had 5 people that were bigger
than me run up to me, get in my face, start yelling and trying to touch
me.

B) My dog is well socialized, loves people, and would have loved to be
off lead, running around with a yard full of kids.

C) She is only afraid of cats that jump out of garbage cans at night.

D) Where did I say my dog was unsocialized and fearful?

You obviously don't think that watching your kids run up to a strange
dog, yell at it, and try to touch it is wrong. I do. I think it's

Rocky...

I don't see the problem in that - offending people, that is,
when the first priority is my dogs. Heck, given equal balance,

shelly...

i would definitely do what i had to, in the moment, to protect
my dog from the kids. i'd draw the line at approaching the
parents to tell them how to train up their children, though.

I'll take the dog's side most times because humans, even
young'uns, are purported to have more perspicacity than canines.

On that note, I offended a human on alt.pets.dogs.aussies -
perhaps some kind soul can steer him towards rpd.health or
alt.med.veterinary for advice.

very dangerous. They were lucky they came upon Tallulah and not a dog
that was unsocialized.