[nagdu] Re Dogs Not Public Property

[Tami Kinney]

Love it! Especially the phrase "loose and unruly people."  Many's the
time I have caught myself starting to settle into back off mode and
realize I was using the same postures and tones as I would for a
possibly dangerous dog.  /grin/

On Fri, 2011-06-10 at 14:16 -0700, Elizabeth Rene wrote:
> I loved that article about the public attitude of entitlement to pet other 
> people's dogs.
> 
> There really does seem to be something primal in people's response to 
> cuteness--the almost irresistible urge to pet a dog, to pinch a toddler's 
> cheek, etc., etc.  I have to admit that I've asked more than once if I could 
> pet someone else's dog.  Sometimes, it's really hard not to.  And isn't it 
> good, after all, and when reasonably and courteously expressed, that people 
> have warm and loving feelings toward us and our animals?
> 
> But down with aggressive petting!
> 
> In fact, I think there aughtta be a law.
> 
> There really are--and haven't we NAGDU's all met one--people who just won't 
> take "no" for an answer.
> 
> And then there are those petters who just zoom in for the attack, screeching 
> "ooooohhhh honey!  You're sooooo cuuuuuute!" or snarling "other people let 
> me pet their dogs!!!!!!"
> 
> You want to issue commands.  "DOWN!  "GET DOWN, NOW!!!  You want to plant 
> your feet, square your shoulders, draw yourself up to your full height, and 
> order, like a drill sergeant, "GO HOME!!!"  That works when loose and unruly 
> dogs invade OUR space, doesn't it?  How about loose and unruly people?
> 
> The only way I can cope with this phenomenon is to remember a story my aunt 
> told me about living in the Yukon territory.  She said that my little 
> cousin, Brenda, was the first blonde child the indigenous people there had 
> ever seen.  They couldn't keep from touching her.  They just couldn't 
> believe their eyes.  It took a long, long time for Brenda to blend into the 
> scenery while her parents forged the relationships so needful to survival in 
> the North.
> 
> So I wonder if there isn't something about this hands-on behavior that isn't 
> somehow basic to being human--the kind of thing that only skillful parenting 
> and the will of the community can modify.
> 
> And I remember my aunt's story as I  fend off the petterazzi and point my 
> dog to the nearest secret passage away from the crowd.
> 
> When that doesn't help, I fantasize about taking their picture, posting it 
> all over U-Tube, and letting their silly mugs go viral!
> 
> Evil grin.
> 
> Elizabeth
> 
> 
> 
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