Friday, July 20, 2012

"That's the devil's dog."

Some days, Elka and I seem to sow terror wherever we go.

A bunch of people got off a bus stop as we walked past, and they stared at her, whale-eyed, turned sideways, rigid.


I didn't pick a Doberman to scare people, mind you. And I also must emphasize that she was perfectly behaved. At heel, paying attention to me, and calm.





Clearly a menace


The first people terrified by my Doberman were a pair of teenage boys, one perhaps fifteen, the other thirteen. Ballpark, anyway. They were going the opposite way on the park road, and the taller one said, Will Smith style, "Oh, hell no! That's the devil's dog." Elka and I were already off to the side, and I had stopped to let them pass. Rather than keep going, they stopped and stared. What is it with humans and staring at the objects of our terror? Every other animal takes staring as a threat or a challenge. "That's the devil's dog!" Elka had given them a cursory assessment and was to my side, sniffing at the ground. 


I couldn't resist. "Yeah, she can smell your fear." They looked at me, and looked at her, and I laughed. Maybe they relaxed a little? "What do you mean, the devil's dog?"


"In the movie the Omen? The new one? That's the dogs in the graveyard. The devil uses them."


"Oh." I must have looked mystified. The older boy made kind of a disappointed noise about how I hadn't seen the Omen. Today's youth is strange indeed. They're terrified of my dog, but will stop inches away to talk about her, and denigrate my movie watching. They also don't want to hear about breed purpose, and temperament, and training. They don't know about Breed Specific Legislation, or the Dobermans in Conklin NY or the boy that ADAPT in Texas pulled out of a kill shelter at the eleventh hour. They don't want to hear about Marines and Devil Dogs. So instead of trying that, I said "They're the Resident Evil dogs too. You might not have noticed, because she has skin. It was science in Resident Evil, though, not the devil."






They considered this. Elka looked at them. The younger one held out his hand and she went to sniff, and they both pet her. "I'm so scared right now," the older one said. "That's the devil's dog." Was that admiration I detected? Elka came back to my side and looked up at me. 



"Thanks for petting her." I gave a wave and kept walking. "Come on, pup."


"The devil's dog!"


Indeed.




36 comments:

  1. Okay Devil Dog you are going to get a name for being a soppy pup. Never heard a Doberman described that way before , funny! Have a happy Friday.
    Best wishes Molly

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    1. I've heard of "devil dogs", per the Marines, but not as a "the devil created or owns them" kind of way. It was interesting, to say in the least.

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  2. LOL!!! love it! that was a wicked story :) some people are so funny arent they. by the way i love resident evil, them dogs scare me to death :D

    my first dog deefa had gold eyes and some people use to get scared by that too. once on the beach a lady saw him walking up to her and she actually did a little scream and said "my god his eyes!" so funny, me and Dar laughed our heads off all the way down the beach. deefa hadnt even noticed her he was just sniffing around and enjoying the walk.

    xxx

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    1. Hah, sometimes those gold-eyed dogs look like they can see the future!

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  3. Good for you for keeping nonchalant. I mostly feel pity for ignorant people, glad you gave those boys a little tutorial though.

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    1. I think I was more amused than anything else. It was just far too absurd; I was looking for the camera man!

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  4. I think you handled that very well! I burst out laughing at the Resident Evil reference.

    I previously had a big black dog and experienced this kind of treatment too - he was a gorgeous lovable dog, very intelligent, well behaved and quite noble - a german shepherd shar pei cross. When I walked him past a group of young teenagers because he was big and black they asked me "Does you dog bite?".

    They assumed he would be aggressive purely because he was big and black! I can't remember what I told them.. I hope I lied and said yes haha.

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    1. Yes, clearly big black dogs are coiled springs, ready to burst into action biting and snapping the first chance they get. They're a menace, I say!

      German shepherd + shar pei sounds like gorgeous potential.

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  5. Kids these days! You have to make sure you are up on pop culture to figure them out. lol

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    1. I know, right? I was lucky I'd seen some of the resident evils movies/games played.

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  6. What a great story! Glad that you stuck around and the kids got a pet in on Elka! I wonder if they had nightmares about her:))

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    1. Maybe I'll see them again, who knows! I didn't recognize them, certainly.

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  7. Sweet Elka! What a good sport--to both of you! Since we have a German shepherd, I too get tired of people basing their opinions of her on what they once saw in some B-list movie. Sad times, but Elka is such a good girl, and a beauty, too!

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    1. Oh, people think your sweet Pyrrha is going to savage them? That's such a shame.

      I am so consistently happy with Elka's comportment, especially since she does love little kids so!

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  8. Elka is not frightening at all! That's pretty funny. I know one time when I was walking Blueberry, someone actually stopped and looked at her with wide eyes and asked - "Oh my goodness, is she part pit bull"? I just laughed. I was like, um, no. Even if she was - pit bulls are also a really sweet breed and Blueberry has befriended many pit bulls out on our walks. I am always amazed at the rampant ignorance about dogs and certain breeds.

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    1. People think Blueberry is a pit? That never crossed my mind. Even so, you have to love the general public's clear belief that dog owners are willing to walk human aggressive dogs down the street with no precautions. I'm sure it's happened, unfortunately, but still....

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  9. Perception is not always reality. My little Poodles are a little jealous.

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    1. Human perception especially is tricky, clouded both by opinion and what our funny brains do to us!

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  10. What a fantastic way to teach them. As a former teacher, I learned quickly how much easier it was to reach kids when you are able to cloak the lesson in something they understand and can relate to.

    When we talk about the dangers of BSL, it's so important to recognize how far-reaching, and long-lasting, the damage is. Dobies haven't been in the direct line of fire of the media witch-hunts in a long time and yet the base fear created by the spread of that misinformation still persist. It's so sad.

    But you and Elka are such wonderful ambassadors for the breed. Great job. :)

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    1. I was *cough* pretty recently still a kid, and I recall a distinct resistance to people telling me what I ought to think, and telling me that I was wrong about something I'd formed an opinion on. Oh wait, I still resist those sorts of things being imposed on me!

      But yeah, seriously. Dobermans in recent years have had much, much better press than in prior times, and those kids still had that visceral reaction. Or made a show of having that reaction. As I said, they did still pet her!

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  11. We get that stuff all the time with the pits

    Stop on by for a visit
    Kari
    http://www.dogisgodinreverse.com

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    1. It is both funny and sad, depending on how the encounter pans out.

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  12. It was Rottweilers they used in The Omen. Ironically that's how, as a child, I fell in love with that breed. ;-) I got the same stuff for yrs when I would venture out with my Rotties, who were also very well behaved, well trained, therapy and working dogs. People can be so ignorant. I now have Rama, who is a breed that most people do not yet recognize, but we still get our fair share of dummies. >:-/

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    1. Was it Rottweilers? I do wish I'd seen it (old version and new!) so that I would have that information. That, and it's the kind of movie I do like, I just haven't gotten there yet. My best friends in high school had a Rottweiler, Jessie, and she was a good, sweet dog that listened to her family, and to me. She's the reason I wanted a Rottweiler originally, when my fiance and I started our "what kind of dog to get?" conversation.

      Rama, I imagine, gets "pit bull" style comments. Unfortunately :(

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  13. Ella lets face it, some humans are nutty
    Benny & Lily

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  14. I know what you mean. I used to walk with my friend and her sweet, well behaved Rottweilers and people used to literally scoop their kids up of the sidewalk. It's sad really.

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    1. People do that with Elka as well. If nothing else, they could be a little smarter with their lack of knowledge. If you react quickly to something in that manner, and pick up what is clearly a treasured object, you're far more likely to get the dogs' attention than if you'd just stayed still. Be a tree!

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  15. You handled that well! When I had my (perfectly behaved, CGC) mastiffs people would crossed the street to avoid me or flat out tell me my dogs don't belong in society :( There were quite a few times I couldn't keep my mouth shut
    Nola's Mom

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    1. People had the nerve to tell you that? That's just lovely. I wouldn't have been able to keep my mouth shut either!

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  16. We need more people and dogs like you and Elka to help people learn since most of the time dog problems aren't caused by the dogs but by the people that own them. Some people are even afraid of me. Can you believe it?

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    1. I guess some people are afraid. Maybe they only think that they're afraid of dogs and things, but really the fear just lives inside of them?

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  17. People are crazy, but I think you knew that already ;-) Loved this post. Wonderful dogs like Elka and dog owners like you are breaking the stereotypes. Bravo!

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    1. I do what I can. It drives me nuts that people can be so sure about something that is entirely incorrect.

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  18. In my old Philadelphia neighborhood, most dogs were kept for protection. It meant we ran into many people people who were frightened of dogs there than anyplace I've ever been.

    When we adopted Agatha and Christie, they were the first "pet" dogs in the entire neighborhood. I wonder if the boys you were talking to come from a similar situation.

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    1. That is entirely possible! A lot of people who live her now are not from here (which seems like a dumb thing to say, but there it is). There is also a local program to have city kids come and spend the summer with families here, to learn about the podunk life I guess, and it could be that these kids were from a city somewhere, and their host family trusted them to walk to/from the park.

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