Comment by dheera | Hacker News Reader

Comment by dheera | Hacker News Reader

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> Almost always it’s for play.

No, fuck that. Being chased on a mountain road is life-threatening and it's the dog's fault, not mine. Literally no other animal does this, they are nuisances.

> If a dog has its ears and tail up, it’s looking to play with you, not tear you to pieces. Dogs have clear signals and behaviours that need to be understood.

No, fuck that. In MY language:

    mellow purring = friendly
    barking = threat

Period. If it barks, I will bark back and assert my dominance, followed by pepper spray and rocks if it continues to approach and threaten.

If I move away or yell at an animal, that means NO and do NOT follow me. Almost all other animals including cats usually understand CONSENT and what "NO" means very well.

> If you experience a poorly behaved dog, it’s the owner at fault.

Well, 90% of dogs I've encountered don't have owners and many of them threatened me. Often in packs. The few dogs I've met that have owners, at least half of them were very badly behaved.

100% of bears and coyotes I've encountered don't have owners either, and to this date every single one I encountered has left me alone.

> You can learn how to make friends with any dog.

I really just do not want to. Like most cats and porcupines, I really just want to be left alone by dogs. That's my choice, and I want to be respected and dogs to respect that I do not wish to be approached, sniffed, barked at, or chased.

I'm more than happy making friends with other animals, and do not need dogs in my life at all.

> If I move away or yell at an animal, that means NO and do NOT follow me. Almost all other animals including cats usually understand CONSENT and what "NO" means very well.

Are you seriously…expecting “packs of wild dogs without owners” to understand “consent” and “no”? I mean I get in your experience your not going to be trustworthy of the animals, but if you are encountering wild dogs, they by definition are not domesticated and likely not to be all that familiar with commands and human behaviors. They know 3 things…eat, procreate, and protect the pack. If you are barking at wild dogs and asserting your dominance in their territory, you are a threat…and it’s no wonder they would act aggressively.

> Are you seriously…expecting “packs of wild dogs without owners” to understand “consent” and “no”?

Yes. Almost EVERY other animal understands that if you stomp, roar, hiss, and yell at them that you don't consent to be approached. This is common instinctive language across all animals. Most wild animals will just leave you (and anything unknown) alone in the first place. Even the most fierce predators don't go around attacking random shit for the hell of it unless they are actually hungry.

Dogs aren't a natural species, they were bred by humans and bred to be something that evolution would have never naturally created.

> Even the most fierce predators don't go around attacking random shit for the hell of it unless they are actually hungry.

That is incorrect. Some predators do. You do, and you are not random. You are a threat on their territory and by your own admission, an aggressive threat with no respect for them as a pack or their territory.

It seems many people build their identity on liking dogs. So if you say anything remotely negative about dogs, these people feel personally attacked and act accordingly. One who does not like dogs is at least weird to them, if not outright evil. I hear it is the worst in the US, but it gets increasingly common here as well. Some of them will try everything to get more dogs involved, including: classroom pets, pets in offices, fake emotional support animals. I wonder if they also manipulate studies like in TFA...

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