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It's A Burden Being Different...


kelpiecuddles
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At the risk of sounding like one of those supermodels who has a massive whinge because it's such a burden being beautiful because they can't go anywhere, blah, blah, blah...

Gosh I wish we could take Josie out for the day without literally every second person stopping us to pat her or take photos! I have learnt to not make eye contact anymore with the people who comment as you are walking past, that's an open invitation for cuddles. She loves going places with us and just chilling out. I took her with me today to watch a local triathlon and she'll happily just lean against my side for hours while I watch but I don't think I saw any of the triathlon due to everyone stopping to ask for a pat, or ask about the breed or the twelve! sets of photos that were taken of her...

Anywho, that's my white whine for the night :laugh: Anyone else suffer from the burden of an interesting/particularly gorgeous dog?

Oh and off topic but today Josie got to meet a Petite Basset Griffon Vendeen, I was thrilled to meet one in the flesh. poor Josie didn't know what to make of her shaggy cousin though :laugh:

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We get stopped at last twice every time we take the dogs out. It's our Anatolian x. People want to know what he is and everyone wants to pat him, which he loves.

The best was out walking one night and a police car went past and did a u turn, put their spotlight on us and asked what kind of dog he was :laugh: by the time they drove on they were holding up traffic!

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Everyone wants to say hi to my little lion man tibbie x, however he is naturally aloof with strangers so I end up being a 'bodyguard' for him. On the other hand my JRT x girl adores meeting new people and getting belly rubs but hardly any one ever wants to pet her (apart from fellow and former jack owners) :(

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Willow when she was little and very puppy cute. She still gets some attention, but not as much...massive flailing puppy feet while getting her to sit still for pats puts most people off. :laugh: It's soooooooo much easier when you're around dog orientated people and they know how to greet a young, silly, boofhead. She's getting the idea much much better these days...but we still aren't perfect.

Dory...a LOT...which is a pain, because while she's fairly sociable, she isn't really THAT interested, unless food is involved.

I remember going to a market with her (Dory) when I hadn't had her for very long, this 'oldish' couple followed us around stalking her for pats. Despite her not being very comfortable with the idea, and me telling them she wasn't. (Oh, we understand, but she so adorable :mad). I left in the end, because it made the whole thing really traumatic for both Dory and I.

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I left in the end, because it made the whole thing really traumatic for both Dory and I

I'm almost at the point of not taking her anymore. Not that Josie finds it traumatic but I just want to walk without literally every second person stopping us or commenting to each other as we walk past, for some reason it makes me uncomfortable having people talking about her behind my back. I also had one girl argue with me and say is that a beagle? No, she's a basset hound. Ih no, she looks like a beagle to me, we were going to get a beagle but then we moved on to land and there were too many fleas and ticks you know? Yes, but she's a basset hound. Oh well they must look the same, they have the same long ears... head--->wall

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Guest hankodie

I just wrote about this in the puppy thread! I've had to order Hank a "Do Not Pat" patch for his harness because he gets SO much attention on our walks and he's starting to get a big head :laugh:

I understand that he's very cute and people love puppies but it interferes quite a bit with our training sessions. The other day a girl and her mother stopped their car on the street and the girl jumped out just to pat him! And he absolutely loves it, of course. It's a hard life being handsome :laugh:

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I love it the first few times but we were there for about four hours and I would have had about 50 conversations about her in that time, 12 sets of photos plus about 30 kids that wanted to pat her. It's like taking a side show for a walk!

I turned around at one stage and there was a couple standing behind us taking photos of her and I had a momentary urge to give them a serve about not taking photos without permission, and then I realised she was a dog not a child and that would have sounded a bit ridiculous :rofl:

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I love it, Cleo as a Dalmatian gets a lot of attention. I hear a lot of people commenting, but rarely am I approached - that said I don't make eye contact and don't particularly invite conversation when I'm out walking - i'm on a mission!!

But yes, it's every time we go out in public. Getting a liver dally soon, I expect more questions then! Some people find liver dals an anomaly I've heard.

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Whenever I take my two out in a non-dog area (ie: in the city or somewhere that isn't a park) I get a lot of random "squee" noises mixed in with people laughing at their stalker sounding loud breathing if we are walking behind someone. It usually strikes a brief convo and I love it, as do the pugs.

I do notice different suburbs or areas tend to attract different attention, when we were in Newcastle a few months back I felt almost uncomfortable because everyone stared as we walked down the street, or came up to talk to ask what they were etc. And while I love talking about them, sometimes the "look at me" it brings really arcs up my anxiety levels to a level where I just want to hide or else I'll break into panic attack mode.

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My two are the same, everyone wants to stop and chat, call them Roley, sing me the song from the toilet paper ad, because I have never heard it of course. Take photos of the dogs with, and then without them in it. Tell me they are aggressive, (usually as their child is hanging off Alf's neck much to his delight). I don't mind if we are walking, but when you are sitting at a cafe it does make it hard to eat! LOL. I always try to chat though because I find so many people have so many misconceptions about Shar Pei that I want them to see they can be calm, gentle, dogs, and to dispel some of the myths they usually can't wait to tell me.

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Oh yes you'll definitely be quizzed then DDD! We are planning more bassets down the track and in the back of my mind I just keep thinking that if it's bad now imagine how much worse it will be when I have two or three in hand!

I do agree with you cassie that it is nice to educate people about the breed, a lot of people think they are full of health problems so I explain why I chose my breeder and the benefits we have had of having no real health issues because I was so careful about what I wanted in my pup. I find a lot of people preconceptions about bassets come from the negative press of some of the overseas ones with masses of excess skin, they never realised it didn't have to be that way.

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I have no issues with talking to people who stop me and want to ask about Danes. It gives me the opportunity to stress the importance of buying from a registered breeder, doing your research and the availability of rescue. Despite not being raised around kids, he loves them and I love getting the opportunity to show that big dogs aren't scary and how to properly approach a dog.

It is just one of those things you have to deal with if you have an uncommon breed.

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When I used to take Shabby to the dog park every day, lots of the people there always asked me what she was. I haven't come across anyone in the area that I live in that knows what a PBGV is - but they all comment on how gorgeous and how long she is. I've taken her to the local markets a few times but she's not really comfortable in large crowds with everyone wanting to touch her. She's really not that interested in most people although sometimes she meets someone, usually kids, that she will show more than a normal interest in - Her last owners had little ones so maybe she still misses them. I must admit though that if you were to walk past me with your Basset, I would be one of those people who would ask if I could say hello - I love them - My parents had them when I was growing up.

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And while I love talking about them, sometimes the "look at me" it brings really arcs up my anxiety levels to a level where I just want to hide or else I'll break into panic attack mode.

Actually minimax I think you've hit the nail on the head there for where my feelings stem from, I'm quite an introverted person and the feeling of everyone staring at us really gives me the heebie jeebies LOL.

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I personally love it, and think what better way to advertise our beautiful purebreds.

Yep I'm the same. Try walking a few Fauves, a breed that no-one recognises but most non dog-show people find very endearing. We can go to a Royal and spend the entire 8 plus hours standing talking to people about our dogs.

Look at it like this - you and Josie are representatives of a number of things, your breed first and foremost, the quality of registered dogs secondly AND registered dog people as being normal, sane human beings thirdly.

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yep recognise that :) Our longhaired GSD is now 10 and since we got him as a pup it has been like that. We now have a pup as well but the longhair still wins. Pup is cute but the longhaired is beautiful and soft and gorgeous etc etc. I always say "thanks" and actually dont mind it. He is very friendly to all people and animals and he loves all attention.

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Amber gets a lot of attention as a sable border collie. I don't mind talking about her colour. I do find it painful when people ask if she is a puppy and I have to explain she is sick and that is why she is little. I never really know what to say then.

My friend has 2 Belgian Shepherds and the amount of people that interrupt us to ask what they are is very annoying.

We took the dogs to a local flower show and the amount of people wanting to take photos of them was hilarious. We had Poppy posed for one photo and I reckon there were about 30 people lined up behind my friend taking photos. Poppy looked a bit 'wtf' about it but handled the paparazzi well :rofl:

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