Well, what the guy said wasn’t very nice, he needs manners! Usually people should say “Sorry about that!” or make up an excuse for the dog lol. Like.. “Sorry, he likes to bark at strangers” or something like that.

It’s lack of training on the part of the owners. Dogs should be trained to know when it’s acceptable to bark. Someone simply walking by is not a good reason. But it’s not the dog’s fault as he was just acting on instinct. People should leave their dogs home if they are not going to be trained properly.

No; there is no correlation between the two. Dogs bark for various reasons, it’s their method of communication.

Yes, you should be more tolerant of all animals, as they cannot be avoided; it makes more sense to become accustomed to them then to try and hide from them, since it is likely you will pass more dogs being walked on the street for the rest of your life. This does not mean that it is in any way appropriate for someone to allow their animal to be aggressive toward you or frighten you, or even come NEAR you if you do not wish to be close to it – that is just wrong on their part. In fact you would have been in your right to tell that idiot to keep his rude comments to himself, because not everyone is “used to” animals. I wouldn’t phrase it that you don’t LIKE them, as this can make the owners aggressive too

It also doesn’t mean you need to go out and get a pet. It just means that its important to try and get a better understanding of the world around you so that you can have a happier coexistence with ALL the different people/things/creatures you share this life with.

(btw, I really do think that man was an idiot – please do not hesitate to stand up for yourself the next time a stranger thinks they can behave that way toward you.)

Well, what do you expect them to do? Lock it up? It isn’t really the owner’s fault if their dog is noisy. They still need to walk it. Although they should apologise if their dog scares somebody, you can’t just expect them not to take their dog out in public, because that’s most likely the only way the dog will get better.

if they are walking the dog and trying to get it socialized – that’s one thing. if they tie the dog up in front of a store and it starts barking – that’s another thing all together.
sometimes it takes a while to get the dog socialized. don’t leave it outside alone while you are teaching social skills – some people don’t like dogs and some are allergic; besides, it’s confusing for the dog!

if you are scared of dogs they can smell it. have you heard the saying that dogs smell fear? it’s more than true.

i see both sides. i am a dog lover and i’m also allergic to them. i’m not scared because i figure i don’t have a problem taking care of the situation if i was being attacked by one. had to do it before (when one bit my stepdaughter on the neck)- don’t have a problem with it at all.