Good thing I am not afraid of dogs.... WWYD if this happened to you?

[Papa Deuce]

A girl in my daughter's class has been sick for a week. I went over her house tonight to drop off her homework....

They have a GIANT dog... he is 1/2 Rottie and 1/2 Bloodhound. He goes 145 pounds according to their owner. He's a sweet dog. Very friendly.

Anyway, I was standing in their foyer giving them her homework and petting the dog at the same time... BTW, His "real" name is "Biggie". When they got him he was the largest dog in the litter.

Well, I was talking to the mom, when he just jumped up and put his paws right on my shoulders and started licking me.... Now, I know this dog and was not afraid. And I am large enough that bearing his weight on my shoulders was no big deal ( though, honestly, I was SHOCKED when he did this because I have never seen him do anything even remotely close to this before ).....

Anyway, the owner gave him a head slap and he got right down.

So, this didn't freak me out at all, but I was thinking / wondering about what if this had happened to anybody else. I would imagine it might scare the bejeezus out of a lot of folks....

How about you?

 

[AshleyW]

A girl in my daughter's class has been sick for a week. I went over her house tonight to drop off her homework....

They have a GIANT dog... he is 1/2 Rottie and 1/2 Bloodhound. He goes 145 pounds according to their owner. He's a sweet dog. Very friendly.

Anyway, I was standing in their foyer giving them her homework and petting the dog at the same time... BTW, His "real" name is "Biggie". When they got him he was the largest dog in the litter.

Well, I was talking to the mom, when he just jumped up and put his paws right on my shoulders and started licking me.... Now, I know this dog and was not afraid. And I am large enough that bearing his weight on my shoulders was no big deal ( though, honestly, I was SHOCKED when he did this because I have never seen him do anything even remotely close to this before ).....

Anyway, the owner gave him a head slap and he got right down.

So, this didn't freak me out at all, but I was thinking / wondering about what if this had happened to anybody else. I would imagine it might scare the bejeezus out of a lot of folks....

How about you?

You know.. I love dogs. Almost all dogs. But I DO get scared when they jump up like that.

I'm only 5'0" tall, so that dog probably would have had me pinned on the ground.

 

[Papa Deuce]

You know.. I love dogs. Almost all dogs. But I DO get scared when they jump up like that.

I'm only 5'0" tall, so that dog probably would have had me pinned on the ground.

I'm 5' 6"... and when he was up on my shoulders he was just under looking at me eye to eye.

 

[BLTtinkerbell]

I do like dogs but I don't like it when they do that.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

It's unlikely I'd be scared. Dogs that are angry or threatening behave in a completely different manner (i.e. staring you in the eye, bristling, growling). Biggie was actually giving you a symbol of submission. He licked your face and neck the way he would the alpha of a pack. I love big dogs.

 

[disykat]

I know I would never do them any favors any more! Once my heart started beating again I would be expecting a big apology.

I do enjoy dogs to a point (I love my own dog!) but I'm kind of afraid of big dogs.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

It wouldn't scare me a bit. I love big dogs, the great dane down from me does that all the time, she's such a friendly goofball.

 

[MushyMushy]

The dog would get a knee in the chest. I wouldn't do it hard, but enough to force the dog to back off. If not that, then I'd go ahead and step on the rear paws.

Although my larger dog isn't that big, she's 100 pounds and used to be all muscle... very strong. I didn't put up with that, but there was nothing we could do to get her to quit jumping on people. We finally started the trick with the knee and/or the feet and it worked like a charm.

You want to be careful with smaller dogs though. I did it to the dog in my sig (about 45 pounds) and she flipped over. I swear I didn't knee her hard! I just put my knee between the two of us, but she was coming at me so fast it flipped her over!

ETA: I'm very comfortable and confident around dogs... if I sensed in any way that the dog was being aggressive, I'd probably instead try to turn my back and appeal to the owner for help.

 

[minkydog]

The dog would get a knee in the chest. I wouldn't do it hard, but enough to force the dog to back off. If not that, then I'd go ahead and step on the rear paws.

Although my larger dog isn't that big, she's 100 pounds and used to be all muscle... very strong. I didn't put up with that, but there was nothing we could do to get her to quit jumping on people. We finally started the trick with the knee and/or the feet and it worked like a charm.

You want to be careful with smaller dogs though. I did it to the dog in my sig (about 45 pounds) and she flipped over. I swear I didn't knee her hard! I just put my knee between the two of us, but she was coming at me so fast it flipped her over!

ETA: I'm very comfortable and confident around dogs... if I sensed in any way that the dog was being aggressive, I'd probably instead try to turn my back and appeal to the owner for help.

I do the same. There's nothing that irks me more than a dog of any size jumpin on me. I will not tolerate it. I have a huge 80-lb poodle and I was raised with 200-lb Saint Bernards, so I'm pretty comfortable with big dogs. But if a 145-lb dog of any breed suddenly pounced on my shoulders with his nose in my face it was scare the daylights out of me.

 

[Disney Doll]

Wouldn't bother me. I had a childhood friend who had an Irish Setter who used to do that when I went into her house...jump up, put his paws on my shoulders (I was about 5'6" at the time) and lick my face.

That being said, a dog that big should be trained not to jump on people unless invited to do so.

 

[worm761]

One of our dogs is a big dog. Half bull mastiff, half rot. Boyfriend is 5'8" and he looks him in the eye when on his back paws. He didn't start jumping until last year (he is 4 now) when Boyfriends brother taught him to. We have been trying to teach him not to. He is getting better about it. I am only 5'0" and 8 months pregnant. I can handle him jumping on me IF I am prepared for it. I am getting better at dodging him. He only jumps when he is super excited now though.

I guess a persons reaction would be different based on their experience with dogs.

 

[MM27]

I love dogs, but if I didn't know the dog well enough to know if it was just trying to be friendly or bite me, I would prefer the owners keep it back. I was at my best friend's house when I was about 5 or 6 and they had a huge great dane. The thing looked like a horse. We were running around in their living room and the dog jumped up on me from behind and knocked me right over. I think I was more shocked because I didn't see it coming.

My brother has a huge Golden Retriever that I'm sure is ADHD. The dog loves to be on human level and will jump up whenever he gets the chance.

 

[Mickey's Minion]

A girl in my daughter's class has been sick for a week. I went over her house tonight to drop off her homework....

They have a GIANT dog... he is 1/2 Rottie and 1/2 Bloodhound. He goes 145 pounds according to their owner. He's a sweet dog. Very friendly.

Anyway, I was standing in their foyer giving them her homework and petting the dog at the same time... BTW, His "real" name is "Biggie". When they got him he was the largest dog in the litter.

Well, I was talking to the mom, when he just jumped up and put his paws right on my shoulders and started licking me.... Now, I know this dog and was not afraid. And I am large enough that bearing his weight on my shoulders was no big deal ( though, honestly, I was SHOCKED when he did this because I have never seen him do anything even remotely close to this before ).....

Anyway, the owner gave him a head slap and he got right down.

So, this didn't freak me out at all, but I was thinking / wondering about what if this had happened to anybody else. I would imagine it might scare the bejeezus out of a lot of folks....

How about you?

If I was standing in their house and I knew the dog like you did, I would laugh, scratch his ears and then knee him down.

 

[maelstrom]

I'd probably have a panic attack and pee myself.

 

[stacy347]

I would have put my arms around his neck and given him a big hug, LOL. BUT, I am very comfortable around big dogs (and would be in the scenario you describe) ~ I definitely understand that not all people feel the same though and I immediately correct my 80 something pound dog if he goes to jump on a guest.

 

[3DisneyBuggs]

I would have had an allergy attack. The bigger a dog the worse the allergies for me. Add in the doggie saliva and my face would have been itchy with red spots. I don't let my bischon lick me and she does try.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

I would laugh as I recovered from being tackled. I have no doubt that if that dog were to do that to me, I would end up on the floor (I'm 4'10"). That dog is probably taller than me when it is on its hind legs.

 

[Mrs.Toad]

I had a friend in college whose roommate had a couple of dobermans who did that to me when I went over there. They were taller than I was! It freaked me out each and every time.

 

[bumbershoot]

I grew up with malamutes. Our last was too heavy, and gained when I went to college since I was the one who jogged with him. We both gained the freshman 15.

So when I got back for my first college break, we weighed around the same. And he was SO happy to see me that he stood up and put his paws on my shoulders and, basically, gave me a hug (best memory of him that I have). We were the exact same height.


Later, I met a really sweet Rottweiler who also weighed around the same as I did (a bit heavier than in college). One day I arrived at his owner's house, he let his dog out, and the dog bounded across the yard, across the street (country driveway, not really a street), to where my car was parked, and...just as I was getting concerned...he came to a full stop and politely greeted me. If I didn't know how sweet he was I would have been scared from the beginning!


So I guess if I knew the dog, or at least knew and trusted the owner (and the owner was there), I'd be OK. Random dog doing it to me on the street....auuuuugggggggghhhhhhhhhh.

 

[Danauk]

Seen as I am scared of dogs to start with I wouldn't even have been stood in the house with the dog to begin with!! That would have scared me a lot and I certainly wouldn't be going back to their house again!!