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Be wary!!! - Al (27th Mar 2023 - 12:34:36) I was just walking down from the station when a foreign woman (sounded Polish) was walking towards me with a big fluffy German Shepard dog on the inside of her, as we crossed the dog went for me and bit me on the thigh, not a deep bite with no blood but it shook me. The woman who was dressed in a dark anorak with a hat covering her head apologised but obviously the dog has a mental problem and should be muzzled, there has been a lot of talk from others about it. I saw the woman again just walking past the living room cinema probably on a round trip around the village, hate to think if she went down to Radford park and let it off the lead, someone could get badly bitten.

Re: Be wary!!! - Re (27th Mar 2023 - 13:34:05) You should report it to EHDC dog warden . It could do a lot of damage to a child.

Re: Be wary!!! - Al (27th Mar 2023 - 19:00:50) Didn't think at the time to take her name or address because the bite wasn't deep, the next person might not be so lucky, others know about her and the dog according to reports, you would think she would be aware and take precautions, obviously not.

Re: Be wary!!! - Re (27th Mar 2023 - 19:22:09) If others know about her then someone must know where she lives and get a name. You will regret it if this dog does some damage to someone.

Re: Be wary!!! - passfield resident (27th Mar 2023 - 22:05:44) Did the dog really bite you or did it just mouth you or snap at you? If a German Shepherd bit you then there would be some damage.Dogs can do a few things short of actually biting.

Re: Be wary!!! - Re (28th Mar 2023 - 10:08:58) Sorry Passfied resident but a dog that even mouths you or snaps at you SHOULD have a muzzle on . German shepherds are very unpredictable and can do a great deal of damage.

Re: Be wary!!! - passfield resident (28th Mar 2023 - 10:29:20) German Shepherds are no more unpredictable than most other dogs.When did you last hear of someone being killed by a German Shepherd? It's owners that are sometimes at fault, not dogs

Re: Be wary!!! - Re (28th Mar 2023 - 10:48:24) Passfied resident I have said all dogs that show any tendencies to bite should be muzzled. But in my experience of dogs which is a lifetime over 80 years a German shepherd is not to be trusted you go to the extreme by saying killing somebody just a bite is bad enough. All dogs can inflict damage.

Re: Be wary!!! - passfield resident (28th Mar 2023 - 11:12:29) What utter rubbish. Why would the police use them if they aren't to be trusted? We have had four German Shepherds and they have been the most gentle, loyal, intelligent dogs you could find.We walk our current dog regularly where there are children ( on a lead, of course) and kids often ask their parents if they can come and stroke her. I'm glad most people don't share your predjudice about them.

Re: Be wary!!! - Re (28th Mar 2023 - 11:47:50) I’m not prejudiced just facts that’s why they are used for guard dogs they have a very good reputation for guarding their owners and property. Used to visit a very good friend who had German shepherds lovely dogs playful but as soon as we had to leave going out the garden gate it would run over and bite our heals just protecting her property that’s what I mean unpredictable as said any dog can inflict damage.

Re: Be wary!!! - passfield resident (28th Mar 2023 - 12:23:46) Because you knew one dog that behaved badly doesn't mean they all do. Generalising about a whole category of things from one example sounds like predjudice to me.

Re: Be wary!!! - Re (28th Mar 2023 - 13:07:23) Having known hundreds of different breeds of dogs in my time they all can cause problems this post was about an incident with a German shepherd which it seems should be muzzled that’s fact so sorry you don’t agree but you have your opinion I have mine so we differ never mind hope it doesn’t end badly.

Re: Be wary!!! - dave (28th Mar 2023 - 13:10:46) What is the relevance of the woman being foreign (sounded Polish)? Would agree about Alsatians though, scary dogs and owners often in denial.

Re: Be wary!!! - Al (29th Mar 2023 - 08:23:19) In reply to comments on here, I gave a description of the woman and what she sounded like so people would be aware, for all I know there might be other walkers with German shepherd dogs. As for biting me, I felt its teeth, not deep and it left a slight mark on examining it at home. As I have also said it could have been a child instead of me and said child might not have been so lucky. I agree you shouldn't tarnish all German shepherd's the same but their reputation precedes them and they are protective. The woman in question obviously knows her dog but in this instance was not in control of it although it was on a lead, I believe this is not the first instance of this so the dog should have been muzzled in my opinion. If anybody comes across this woman in the village just be careful as you might not be so lucky if you get too close to her with the dog.

Re: Be wary!!! - Penny Williamson (29th Mar 2023 - 09:33:19) Dave In answer to your question "What is the relevance of the woman being foreign (sounded Polish)?" I think Al was just mentioning that the lady sounded as though she might be Polish as a means of description and identification. You seemed to be implying that he was being derogatory or, dare I say the word, racist. You may not have been implying this and if that is that case I apologise. Too much "Wokeness" around - people are beginning to be wary of saying anything which could be mis-construed, however innocent. All Al was trying to do was to make people aware that this dog might be a potential danger to others, particularly children.

Re: Be wary!!! - Al (29th Mar 2023 - 11:27:02) Thank you Penny, exactly right. I could have said nothing but then what would happen if the dog bit somebody else or for that matter a child, I would have been mortified.

Re: Be wary!!! - Pete (29th Mar 2023 - 13:34:49) Domestic dogs have been bred over the years for specific purposes and traits. The German shepherd has been bred predominantly as a guard dog which entails showing aggression and in the past to follow that aggression with attack. That is not to say that all Alsatians are aggressive but it is an inherited trait that needs to be controlled with good training and a stable environment.

Re: Be wary!!! - dave (29th Mar 2023 - 14:07:51) Certainly in this instance not calling anyone a racist although I am puzzled at the use of (sounded Polish) which I still think is completely irrelevant to the post. Could the OP tell the difference between a Polish, Ukrainian or Lithuanian accent or was it just a stereotypical assumption? Perhaps Eastern European or Slavic would have been more appropriate if the OP felt that ethnicity was helpful relevance to the post. Without being Woke (lovely expression Penny! Is becoming a bit of a cliche) and not attaching to this particular instance but talking generally, we do need to be sensitive to racism as it does seem to have increased dramatically since Brexit

Re: Be wary!!! - passfield resident (29th Mar 2023 - 15:10:26) Pete-agree entirely

Re: Be wary!!! - PR (29th Mar 2023 - 16:00:30) German Shepherds are herding dogs ~ as the name suggests

Re: Be wary!!! - Re (29th Mar 2023 - 16:02:47) Hasn’t this thread thrown up a variety of comments. Passfied resident telling me I’m wrong then agreeing with Pete saying the same thing. Dave sort of saying could be racism because of the way op described the woman and saying it’s got worse since brexit ?? Load of tosh . All because of a dog that obviously needs to be muzzled and possibly go to training classes. It’s not rocket science ANY DOG that shows signs of aggression should be muzzled.

Re: Be wary!!! - passfield resident (29th Mar 2023 - 16:35:25) Pete didn't say the same thing as you-also his tone is reasonable and considered, in contrast to yours.

Re: Be wary!!! - Penny Williamson (29th Mar 2023 - 17:28:24) Agree with Re who was saying the same thing as Pete did in his post, albeit couched in different terms ie Re said "I’m not prejudiced just facts that’s why they are used for guard dogs they have a very good reputation for guarding their owners and property." However I think we are all agreed that dogs that are unpredictable should either be muzzled when out among people or kept on a very short lease by a knowledgeable and competent handler. With regard to Dave’s rather nitpicking post, sorry Dave but you were splitting hairs, I think racism will increase as long as we have people (not directed at you Dave) who either behave in an extreme way or speak it. The Right feeds off the Left and Vice Versa. If there was no right or left just middle of the road sensible, tolerant people who do not take offence when none is intended the world would be a much better place otherwise it's like treading on eggshells for fear of upsetting someone. Brexit has nothing to do with it. Al was not being racist he was sensibly warning people and describing the incident as best he could.

Re: Be wary!!! - Al (31st Mar 2023 - 12:12:07) Dave, in reply to your question about the woman sounding Polish, I was just making an assumption, she might have been of another nationality. Also the main reason I described her was to make people aware, she may not have been the owner just walking the dog for somebody, if that was the case she had a duty to inform the owner that the dog was unruly approaching people and it should be muzzled. I walk around the village every day for exercise and haven't seen her since so perhaps she has decided not to walk the dog so close to people anymore.

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