My dog is friendly....

[kingalls]

This evening we went on our evening run. Nahkohe &I were in the lead when we turned the corner and saw an elderly lady with a really nice looking German Shepherd. Not sure if the lady could handle her dog, we crossed the street to avoid the situation. My DH and Shiloh were a bit behind us and met up with the lady & GS at the corner. The lady assured DH that her GS was friendly - "we go to the dog park"...the GS took one sniff of Shiloh, growled and went after our girl - twice!!! Nahkohe and I had stopped a short distance away but a big RV had blocked our view of what was going on. We did see Shiloh off the sidewalk into the street - totally pulling away.
The lady couldn't believe her dear GS was on attack mode. Fortunately, Shiloh was quick enough to pull away from the GS before anything happened. Shiloh is such a sweet girl and would make friends with any dog. We have had to pull her away or interfere with other dogs not liking her. I am a believer that other dogs don't like the Chow Chow smell. Shiloh has a super strong Chow smell that I think other dogs don't like.
We continued our run around the block and did see the lady with her GS on the short block - we could hear her totally telling her GS to behave.
Chow Chows have a distinct smell in addition to their framework (stilted legs, tail not very visable) and many dog owners don't realize that their dogs have a problem with it. I like German Shepherds - grew up with them - but it seems that anytime we have come across a GS on our walks, they have a problem with our Chows - even though they are on the other side of the street!
So...if you come across another dog and the dog owner insists their dog is friendly - be cautious - their dog may not have met a Chow before

[Coco Chow]

Well I don't count how many times I heard the "he's friendly" thing with dogs running after Coco, growling after her, the hair on the spine all up, or trying to hump her or to catch her mane.
Or "he's just playful", right!

[Sirchow]

We meet the same collie every morning - there is nowhere else to walk Bramble without driving 15 mins both way. And this "she quite friendly" collie is kept on a very short lead by her owner who has no control and every single day that dog lunges at Bramble like it wants to take her by the throat. The woman can only just hold her dog. This was the very first dog Bramble ever met on her very first walk. Surprisingly she has got used to this behaviour as she used to be terrified of her. Now she tucks in neatly at my feet and walks by as if the dog doesn't exist. I am proud of her behaviour but the woman really pisses me off because when she meets Alfie and Hubby walking Alfie doesn't like that behaviour and he barks back (small dog syndrom) and she blames my husband for the fact that her dog lurches at Alfie! Unbelievable. I say nothing to her when we pass I just think a LOT!!!

[CHowgal]

We've got a couple of dogs in our neighborhood that despise T & J. Most of them seem to be pit bulls or have some pit in them. But the worst one lives a few houses down from my house. His owners just let him run around (not contained at all). And he's gotten after Tip and Jazz on several occations and ALL the stupid owner did was stand on the front porch saying "come! come!" Didn't attempt to get him or anything. Dogs like him are the reason I've take to carrying a baseball bat with me because I don't want Tippsy or Jasper hurt. I know Tippsy would fight back but with Jasper being the softy that he is would take whatever the other dog put out (the one time he and Tippsy faught, he was put in his place quickly. One split second and Tippsy had him on his back underneath her.) But I know exactly how it feels.

[LEO's mum]

Poor Shiloh! We have an unofficial unleash dog corner and we get that "My dog is friendly" shout alot as the dog comes running towards us. I shout out "MINE'S NOT!!! " Never a good idea to mix leashed and unleashed dogs. We do get alot of "Oh, it's so unlike my dog to act this aggressive. I do not know this dog!" -yeah, sure
We had one boxer owner do a dive tackle on his seemingly aggressive dog. The boxer was quick but, boy, the owner was a PRO!

[GoHokiesGo]

We have the same thing happen to us all the time. Honey was extremely well socialized when we got her, so she's done well with other dogs. When we go on our walks, she's never acted agressive towards another dog and generally just wants to have a few sniffs and continue on her way. For the most part, she just seems indifferent and doesn't care about what's going on around her.

We have a few other well behaved dogs in the neighborhood that love to do the same, take a few sniffs to say hello and keep walking. But there are tons of people who's dogs are instantly aggressive when they see our chow. I think the majority of people know about their dogs and will restrain them off to the side of the trail, but I hate those people that think it's funny and that the dogs are playing.

We had one neighbor a few weeks ago who had their dog out front without a leash. It came flying across the street at us barking and growling, all the while the owner was at their mailbox not moving and saying that "he's friendly, it's ok". Yeah right, teeth glaring is not a friendly approach! It probably took a good minute of me trying to push him away before the owner finally walked over to get him. Then she still kept saying he was friendly and tried to follow us with a growling dog to make them meet again as I quickly walked away from the situation. If it ever happens again, I'll definitely be having a word with her about keeping her "friendly" dog without a leash outside. Although in her defense, I've seen her walking without the dog a few times, and she continually apologizes, yet still pushes that she wants the dogs to meet again - yeah, I dont think so.

So yeah, we get the same thing all the time in our neighborhood.

[Judy Fox]

What a good, good girl Shiloh is.

I hate it when other dog owners come over for their dog "to make friends"!!!

Makes me mad.

However, when out with M & M other dogs either ignore them completely or growl and snarl at them. If they growled Milly would kick off and bark at them - youknow - "shut the f*** up or we will carve you up" bark but Mabel just stands and stares whilst the other dog makes an absolute fool of itself and Fred just stand still with her which makes the other owner more uncomfortable - so mean!!

[Mia]

Owners can say whatever they want - but you never know.
My two have never had an issue at a dog park or on a leash and yet, I always stay on top of the situation and make sure that I can restrain them if need be. And, no matter how friendly my dog was - I wouldn't let him run off leash in a neighborhood.

Just not smart!

[nean007]

This story comes from my husband: he took Denny (not a chow) and Dargo (the chow) to the dog park a few months ago. My boys do very well off leash at the park (unless another dog wants to rumble with Denny then all hell breaks loose -- he won't start a fight be he won't walk away from one either) Anyway, we've also noticed that a lot of the dogs try to hump Dargo or get aggressive with him. He just tries to ignore them or get away. Well, one intact Doberman wouldn't leave Dargo alone so Denny went running up to them and stood between Dargo and the dobbie. The dobbie wouldn't give up until Denny finally chased him off. What makes this funny is that after the dobbie started running off, Denny chased him (growl/barking) until he got in front of him to make him stop, then proceeded to bark at him for a good five seconds. Every time the dog tried to turn away Denny would move around (he's quick) until he was nose to nose and bark some more. Finally the owner came over and took the dobbie away.

Nean

[Tsunami22]

Dogs are like kids!! Every parent wants to think their kid is perfect and even when they're the school bullies, they want to deny it, say it was the other kids fault.

I've only visited an off-leash dog park once because I know EVERYONE thinks their dog is nice and well trained and wonderful whether or not it is. As for barkers on-leash on walks? You should have said, "sure, he SOUNDS real friendly."

Poor chows and their funny legs, strange smell, and sweet curly tail that often times makes other dogs dislike them. Good thing those are the reasons we LOVE them!

[Auddymay]

Lily will start it sometimes while on lead, usually as we first get to the Dog Beach. She once kicked off at a St. Bernard, and another time at a Mastiff. So funny to see. It is all show, and like an anxiety release. I think it is because she knows she will be accosted by tag teams once we get to the actual shore. And without fail, I have to help her get past obnoxious dogs. Pip is very stealth, she quickly glides along like a ghost til we reach our spot at the beach.

[JasonandNat]

Its rarely the dogs you come across being problematic, it is the owners. Anytime a dogs acts aggressive I get the owner to stop yanking on the leash and let go or take the dog from them for a few minutes so the poor thing can learn to socialize. Both our Chows are as friendly as can be, and can usually get the other dog happy. Sometimes not, in the park once and awhile a dog gets a little pushy and ours always show unbelievable patience until its time not to. A shame when it comes to that, as the owners then act like its our fault. Ha! Darwinism we say!