Define Menacing Behaviour

[Evilhorde]

Originally Posted by SonnyRott

Did I read that right.....160 lbs?

yup.
So you can see, just his standing there can appear menacing. My friends rottweiler, is a small dog that likes to 'smile' whenever she sees someone she knows. If my boy picks up on this, we're doomed.

[TrishB]

Originally Posted by StephanieandToby

MENACE :1.) something that seems likely to bring harm or danger; a threatening quality. 2.)an annoying or troublesome person or thing. (OXFORD DICTIONARY) .......I can't imagaine my dog being impounded for being "annoying."...If this thing goes through, it will be chaos..

That's the concern. Menacing is the just the perception of potential harm or danger. Heck, *I'M* menacing in the mornings before my coffee.

This very broad and vague term is SO dangerous. I'd be DEVESTATED if my dog was taken away from me. I'm doing all of the training I can, he's never off leash, he's training to be a SAR dog!! But if someone who looks at him and is afraid of a big dark coloured dog - what is my recourse? There's NOTHING in this bill to guarantee that I'll have any.

[SonnyRott]

Originally Posted by Evilhorde

yup.
So you can see, just his standing there can appear menacing. My friends rottweiler, is a small dog that likes to 'smile' whenever she sees someone she knows. If my boy picks up on this, we're doomed.

My Alaskan Malamute used to show her teeth and smile whenever she saw someone. She was simply happy. She looked really MENACING though.

[Diane Heller-Vaccaro]

My Rottie puppy is extremely friendly. I've had to make a decision and what I'm teaching him is when I say "Say Hello" he can greet that person otherwise I should be able to put a piece of paper between me and a person walking down the street and he should continue on. Of course at 60# people are already crossing the street, which to me is better yet. He is a highly social puppy that can have all his fun on the Schutzhund field with like-minded individuals. It's not my dog that I don't trust its the people. Here in the US everyone is lawsuite crazy.

I found the following hanging in the laundry area where I washed my comforter.

Dog Bite Victim Gets Thousands of $$$$

Attention dog bite victims and parents. If your child has been bitten by a dog in the last few years you could be missing out on money. You may be entitled to get money for damages. If the owner of the dog had insurance or the landlord of the owner you may be entitled to a claim. If it happened in within the last 2 years or Washington state in the last 3 years. We have recovered thousands of dollars for dog bite victims.

I do believe if your dog cause injury to a person or another animal you are liable, but give me a break.

[2rotties2luv]

Another true story as to how perfectly normal behavior can be misinterpreted as menacing by a person with limited experience of dog behavior:

Jazz is a 9 1/2 year old male rottie with a calm mellow disposition. He is well trained and obedient and has impeccable manners. He has worked as a Delta Society Pet Partner therapy dog for more than 5 years and has passed their temperment evaluations 3 times with flying colors (they require re-evaluation every two years). We have visited at a particular nursing home weekly for the last 3 1/2 years where he is much loved and is often referred to as "Gentleman Jazz". When I first started visiting there, one of the nurses wanted to meet him, so I told Jazz to "Sit for petting" which he promptly did. Just as she reached over to pet him, he let out a loud belch. The nurse jumped back in fright, yelling "That dog just growled at me!" Needless to say that did not go over well with the staff and I had a lot of explaining to do. I had to file an incident report and for the next month one of the staff had to accompany me on my rounds to visit the residents. They eventually admitted that the nurse had misinterpreted Jazz's ill-timed belch as a growl.

[SonnyRott]

Originally Posted by 2rotties2luv

.....I had to file an incident report and for the next month one of the staff had to accompany me on my rounds to visit the residents. They eventually admitted that the nurse had misinterpreted Jazz's ill-timed belch as a growl.

Oh my goodness! Talk about misinterpretation. This is one of those rare times when a huge FART would have been much more welcomed than the belch.

Sorry to hear you had to go through this.