Great dogs, wrong country
No matter how great a job I think I'm doing with Ginger and Pebbles, it's just never enough. This morning we had the misfortune of meeting the dog hater couple on our morning walk. The girls have been walking the same trail daily for more than a year now and we've never come across this couple until maybe 2 or 3 months ago. On our first encounter with them, Pebbles saw the man and followed his feet closely with her ears back, head bowed low and tail wagging, she may have jumped up to reach his hand even, thinking she could get a good scratch behind her ears or a cuddle. This lasted some 10 seconds. The man got upset and yelled at me to "WATCH (MY) DOG!". Okay.
Today Pebbles approached his wife! I'm pretty sure our little Miss Congeniality mistook her for the nice lady who always gives her chicken treats! Again, Pebbles had her ears back, head bowed low and her whole body was shaking with excitment until I swooped in and pulled her away. The woman made some Chinese declaration of disgust ("EEEYER!") which was followed by the "evil eye" from both the man AND woman. They looked really miserable. They glared at me like I was the spawn of Satan. Today's stare down makes it four times now!
I don't know what their issues with dogs are and I can totally understand if some people have a phobia of dogs. I've worked on a program that brings dogs to schools to meet kids that don't own pets; I can be sensitive towards people's fears. Still, even after I'd restrained my dogs, they didn't have to yell at me, they didn't have to stare me down until they were more than 100 metres past me! It was completely unintentional. It's not like I set out to send my dangerous, aggressive dogs loose on this helpless couple!
The man is HUGE and overweight! His wife is a skinny lady but both are over 5 feet 5 inches tall. Pebbles? She's less than a foot tall, about the size of a cat and weighs 6 kilos! In fact both Ginger and Pebbles are considered small dogs. Ginger weighs in at 7 kilos. My dogs DID NOT bite them, lick them or bark at them, they made no noise and just ran around their feet. I really don't see why my tiny dog running around their feet for no more than 10 seconds is such a big deal. I really don't get why they had to be so rude and unfriendly. The trail is FULL of dogs, everday, three times a day at 8-9am, 4.30-5.30pm and 9-10pm! If they really didn't like dogs, it's the worst place to be walking. Surely it would have occurred to them to walk before 8am or take a different trail altogether? Why bring about unecessary stress?
Pebbles doesn't know any better, growing up thinking all humans are good and kind. It really isn't her fault. We are often approached by strangers who fuss over the girls and cuddle them. There are regular hikers out there who absolutely adore them, call them over and shower them with affection. Even bring treats for them in their pockets! And then there are some regulars who don't really know how to handle dogs but don't mind them and aren't afraid of them. Sometimes out of ignorance, they taunt them by making those squeaky noises and snap their fingers to attract their attention. Ginger and Pebbles will happily go over to say hello and sometimes these folks are surprised when the girls actually approach them! I mean, what were Ginger and Pebbles supposed to think? Still, these people are always cheery and polite when it happens! Sometimes Ginger and Pebbles will approach complete strangers unprovoked but these people happily oblige them with a rub on the head. The point of this is: we meet so many people, people who are crazy over them, friendly people and then people who hate dogs. Pebbles can't differentiate between them all. All the world is good in her eyes. When she's out on a walk, she's not looking at humans, thinking "OOoh that person looks like a thief/ racist/ psycho mad person/ devil worshippper/ Democrat/ Republican/ overall bad guy, I'm just going to avoid that person." Dogs don't think that way. Only humans do.
If they were fussed over by one person at the bottom of the trail, it is a guarantee they will approach the next person they meet with glee.
My other theory for dog hater couple's rudeness and behaviour towards me? Racism. Most dogs in our neighbourhood in Hong Kong are walked by foreign domestic helpers from the Philippines and Indonesia. Maybe dog hater couple took one look at my South East Asian skin tone and decided I was probably a maid and they could be rude to me. I'm sure they would be more polite to me if I were billionaire Li Ka Shing's daughter!
I am frustrated and furious. Just about every one of our bad experiences in Hong Kong were with local Hong Kong Chinese. Last year a little girl, no more than 6 or 7, kicked Ginger while we were walking ahead of her on the trail at Lugard Road. I happened to see her do it and asked her why. She spoke to me with an attitude and said the dog was walking too slowly! She was so young and I was shocked! The trail was wide enough for a lorry, she could have walked around us but she chose to kick Ginger instead. Ginger was walking behind me, close to my feet, on a leash. The girl was part of school group charity walk. Even her chaperone (could be mother or teacher) did not apologise or reprimand her for her behaviour.
Sometimes when I meet people like dog hater couple, I feel like crawling into a hole and staying there. The thing is, Ginger and Pebbles probably aren't thinking about it at all! It doesn't affect them at all the way it affects me. Should I feel bad or sorry for raising two friendly and affectionate dogs? Ginger and Pebbles will say "Huh? What? What are you talking about? Who?"
So the answer is: No. I would rather have two affectionate dogs who trust humans wholeheartedly than aggressive, fearful ones any day. Dog hater couple is just going have to get used to us.
Today Pebbles approached his wife! I'm pretty sure our little Miss Congeniality mistook her for the nice lady who always gives her chicken treats! Again, Pebbles had her ears back, head bowed low and her whole body was shaking with excitment until I swooped in and pulled her away. The woman made some Chinese declaration of disgust ("EEEYER!") which was followed by the "evil eye" from both the man AND woman. They looked really miserable. They glared at me like I was the spawn of Satan. Today's stare down makes it four times now!
I don't know what their issues with dogs are and I can totally understand if some people have a phobia of dogs. I've worked on a program that brings dogs to schools to meet kids that don't own pets; I can be sensitive towards people's fears. Still, even after I'd restrained my dogs, they didn't have to yell at me, they didn't have to stare me down until they were more than 100 metres past me! It was completely unintentional. It's not like I set out to send my dangerous, aggressive dogs loose on this helpless couple!
The man is HUGE and overweight! His wife is a skinny lady but both are over 5 feet 5 inches tall. Pebbles? She's less than a foot tall, about the size of a cat and weighs 6 kilos! In fact both Ginger and Pebbles are considered small dogs. Ginger weighs in at 7 kilos. My dogs DID NOT bite them, lick them or bark at them, they made no noise and just ran around their feet. I really don't see why my tiny dog running around their feet for no more than 10 seconds is such a big deal. I really don't get why they had to be so rude and unfriendly. The trail is FULL of dogs, everday, three times a day at 8-9am, 4.30-5.30pm and 9-10pm! If they really didn't like dogs, it's the worst place to be walking. Surely it would have occurred to them to walk before 8am or take a different trail altogether? Why bring about unecessary stress?
Pebbles doesn't know any better, growing up thinking all humans are good and kind. It really isn't her fault. We are often approached by strangers who fuss over the girls and cuddle them. There are regular hikers out there who absolutely adore them, call them over and shower them with affection. Even bring treats for them in their pockets! And then there are some regulars who don't really know how to handle dogs but don't mind them and aren't afraid of them. Sometimes out of ignorance, they taunt them by making those squeaky noises and snap their fingers to attract their attention. Ginger and Pebbles will happily go over to say hello and sometimes these folks are surprised when the girls actually approach them! I mean, what were Ginger and Pebbles supposed to think? Still, these people are always cheery and polite when it happens! Sometimes Ginger and Pebbles will approach complete strangers unprovoked but these people happily oblige them with a rub on the head. The point of this is: we meet so many people, people who are crazy over them, friendly people and then people who hate dogs. Pebbles can't differentiate between them all. All the world is good in her eyes. When she's out on a walk, she's not looking at humans, thinking "OOoh that person looks like a thief/ racist/ psycho mad person/ devil worshippper/ Democrat/ Republican/ overall bad guy, I'm just going to avoid that person." Dogs don't think that way. Only humans do.
If they were fussed over by one person at the bottom of the trail, it is a guarantee they will approach the next person they meet with glee.
My other theory for dog hater couple's rudeness and behaviour towards me? Racism. Most dogs in our neighbourhood in Hong Kong are walked by foreign domestic helpers from the Philippines and Indonesia. Maybe dog hater couple took one look at my South East Asian skin tone and decided I was probably a maid and they could be rude to me. I'm sure they would be more polite to me if I were billionaire Li Ka Shing's daughter!
I am frustrated and furious. Just about every one of our bad experiences in Hong Kong were with local Hong Kong Chinese. Last year a little girl, no more than 6 or 7, kicked Ginger while we were walking ahead of her on the trail at Lugard Road. I happened to see her do it and asked her why. She spoke to me with an attitude and said the dog was walking too slowly! She was so young and I was shocked! The trail was wide enough for a lorry, she could have walked around us but she chose to kick Ginger instead. Ginger was walking behind me, close to my feet, on a leash. The girl was part of school group charity walk. Even her chaperone (could be mother or teacher) did not apologise or reprimand her for her behaviour.
Sometimes when I meet people like dog hater couple, I feel like crawling into a hole and staying there. The thing is, Ginger and Pebbles probably aren't thinking about it at all! It doesn't affect them at all the way it affects me. Should I feel bad or sorry for raising two friendly and affectionate dogs? Ginger and Pebbles will say "Huh? What? What are you talking about? Who?"
So the answer is: No. I would rather have two affectionate dogs who trust humans wholeheartedly than aggressive, fearful ones any day. Dog hater couple is just going have to get used to us.
posted by geraldine at 5:01 PM
1 Comments:
I'm sorry that those people treat your babies so poorly! Luckily where I live, most people enjoy dogs. You'll get the occassional people who don't like them, but for the most part people think my pups are cute.
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