I just had a large male come to my house for the very first time. Polite enough to me (a friend helping J move things)... but as Bingo (9 pounds) jumped to say "Hi! nice to see you, I'm friendly pet me!" He lifted his knee as in "get the hell off me you stupid little dog" I instantly disliked this person and I'm getting more upset as I think about it.

Am I over reacting?

You could be. Some people just don't like animals and some are highly allergic to them. So long as he didn't hurt the dog and just was keeping the dog a bey then try not to get too upset over it. Not all people love animals like the rest of us.

Remember, your fuse is short right now. Little things by themselves wouldn't bother you, but add a little thing to a big problem and you have a hairline trigger. Calm down.

JD, I would feel the same way. :)

It is overreacting a bit, but it's also a great way to determine if you want to be friends with someone. Not that you want to be friends with this person, but when meeting new people, I always use my dogs as a judge.

The person that comes into my home, greets and pets the dogs, or even better, gives them a belly rub and does the "Who's a cutsie puppy? You are! You are!" voice. That person is a keeper in my book.

The person that comes into my home and knees my dog, yells "get down" or doesn't even attempt to pet them. That person likely won't be invited back, if he's allowed to stay to begin with. ;)

That may just be my quirk though. If you're not a dog person, or at least accepting and loving to my dogs, it's the same as not being nice to my kids. Not worth my time. ;)

Hi, Just Dahlia!

Did he say anything to the dog? Also, did Bingo just suddenly appear or did your friend already see him for a ways before encountering Bingo, please?

Thanks!

The rules at my house are that you don't have to like my dogs, but you have to respect them.

If one of my dogs jumps up I would be fine with someone pushing them down to the ground to get them off, but kicking them or anything like that is a big no-no for me.

I understand not everyone is a dog person, but if I go to someone house and they have a cat that jumps on me I would just gently take it off me... not kick it off or throw it to the floor, and I certainly wouldn't be mean to it.
I am in their house... I follow their rules and respect their animals.

It's all about respect.

My mom has a decorative pillow on the couch that says "never trust anyone who doesn't love dogs."

So far my dogs judgement of people hasn't been wrong.

Real dog lovers don't mind dogs jumping on them..

"Love me, love my dog."

JD, I hope you are feeling better today. Please don't allow someone else's behavior to ruin your day/night. I know it is hard because you love your dog and could not believe someone would react so unfavorably to a sweet little dog saying hello. But, as long as the guy didn't kick or knee your dog in the chest hard, and just used his leg to keep the dog from jumping on him, please don't judge him too harshly and let this whole experience roll off your back. We can't control what other people do. We can only control how we respond to their behavior.

I have fostered and retrained dogs for rehoming for years. Big and small. Most people agree that training a large dog not to jump on people is one of the most important parts of the training process. A big dog can hurt you, tear your clothes, knock you down,. However, I find that not all of us agree that it should be done with small dogs as well. Obviously, small dogs can't knock us over or hurt us the way larger dogs are apt to do, and most dog lovers think it is cute. But, as others have pointed out, there are people who may be allergic, or who don't like dogs. There are also people who are very very fearful of dogs, no matter what their size.

As etiquette goes, it is pretty standard practice that, just as we expect other people to respect our boundaries, we need to respect theirs. And I believe, so should our dogs. I teach both my large and small dogs not to jump up on people. I find when a small dog is not corrected and that jumping behavior is actually being reinforced by positive attention (petting, talking, treat,. ) it is one of the contributing factors to the little dog "ruling the roost" syndrome. When you combine this behavior with allowing other socially unaccepted behavior to be the norm, they become more prone to guarding & overly protective behavior which leads to aggression problems (nipping/biting). I am not saying this happens with all little dogs, but with the ones I encounter, aggression is the #1 reason that small dog found him/her self into my local shelters/pounds. And, the majority of these aggressive dogs initially appear very sweet, always jumping up to "say hello."

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Originally Posted by Clough

Hi, Just Dahlia!

Did he say anything to the dog? Also, did Bingo just suddenly appear or did your friend already see him for a ways before encountering Bingo, please?

Thanks!

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He didn't say anything and he saw both dogs when he came into the house. I think maybe he is scared of dogs and didn't know what to do, but either way he hasn't come back.:)

JD, I would feel the same way. I don't like people who don't like my dogs. I know, judgmental jerks, my dogs are awesome! :D

I am told as long as they don't hit them, I shouldn't dislike them. But I find it hard.

I once dated a guy who was a "dog lover", well he came to my house un announced one day and lady was barking, he raised his fist to her and told her to shut up. Well needless to say, he hasn't darkened my doorways ever again.

But this fellow could have had a bad experience with dogs, or just is afraid of them having little or no contact with them before. Truth be told, I am more fearful of smaller dogs than big dogs. You can lock me in a room with a 140lbs Rottie, and I'm fine. Stick me in a room with a 4 pound poodle and my hands start sweating.