Very odd scaling in this page, I admit. I always find it funny when pet owners think the mental well-being of their animal is the most immediate concern, y'know, to everyone.
I've walked this bike-laden path before. I've been to more than one party where there were enough bikes that they could just be chained to each other in complete safety, just a tangle of bicycles, no post needed.
Until your commentary I assumed the guy was saying 'he's okay' as in 'he's harmless' which I always thought was funny as 1, the dogs name is Hannibal and 2, that was a very scary looking bark haha
honestly I think that's how most dog owners mean it – certainly when our dog bounds towards people uninvited, I shout "sorry, she's okay, just friendly!" and if I don't say it then people will ask me, or tell me/her (if they are also dog people). I had an apartment neighbor who was so scared of dogs that I started apologizing immediately if I saw her when I was taking my pup out for a walk.
Well, the problem of course is when people say "he's ok!" after their dog lets out a bark barrage or tramples a picnic. The owner MIGHT mean well, but that's not what "OK" means, haha. Better off just apologizing at that point. I say this as a dog owner in a town with a lot of dogs!
caramellos
For sure, I don't think there's much that can be done though – you're already apologizing, the "she's okay" is broken reassurance your brain is trying to throw out in panic mode while the rest of you is trying to manage your (likely large and energetic) canine charge.
It certainly isn't to excuse the ridiculousness of saying "(dog) is ok" when your dog is losing their shit near a person, just that it is still being attempted to reassure the innocent bystander that they aren't about to be mauled to death, not to encourage that it is the dog's comfort you're worried about.
When I lived in France, most people in our area did not like dogs at all, the ones that did tended to prefer very small dogs. Our dog wasn't massive, she's smaller than a doberman, but she's still bigger than a corgi, maybe comparative to a border collie. We now assume whenever another person is involved that we'll need to pull her around, but now we're elsewhere and everyone here loves dogs – delivery people and door to door sellers always take 5 extra minutes to pet her and let her lick them, and there's been one incident in the last year where she ran up to a dog and their owner in the wild and the owner cautioned against it – because their dog had recently hurt their leg.
I think certain environments and cultures suit dog ownership, and apartment living in the middle of new york probably is going to be more of a mixed bag and if anything, suit smaller dog ownership better.
You captured the "I am scared out of my life but I don't want to share it to the owner" expression perfectly here.
Not forgetting the blank look to the additional bicycles, that's just great. The amount of weird lines bikes have must have taken some time to draw overlaying each other
7 thoughts on “#661 – raf raf raf”
Matt Bixler
I've walked this bike-laden path before. I've been to more than one party where there were enough bikes that they could just be chained to each other in complete safety, just a tangle of bicycles, no post needed.
Danielle
Until your commentary I assumed the guy was saying 'he's okay' as in 'he's harmless' which I always thought was funny as 1, the dogs name is Hannibal and 2, that was a very scary looking bark haha
caramellos
honestly I think that's how most dog owners mean it – certainly when our dog bounds towards people uninvited, I shout "sorry, she's okay, just friendly!" and if I don't say it then people will ask me, or tell me/her (if they are also dog people). I had an apartment neighbor who was so scared of dogs that I started apologizing immediately if I saw her when I was taking my pup out for a walk.
jeybork
Well, the problem of course is when people say "he's ok!" after their dog lets out a bark barrage or tramples a picnic. The owner MIGHT mean well, but that's not what "OK" means, haha. Better off just apologizing at that point. I say this as a dog owner in a town with a lot of dogs!
caramellos
For sure, I don't think there's much that can be done though – you're already apologizing, the "she's okay" is broken reassurance your brain is trying to throw out in panic mode while the rest of you is trying to manage your (likely large and energetic) canine charge.
It certainly isn't to excuse the ridiculousness of saying "(dog) is ok" when your dog is losing their shit near a person, just that it is still being attempted to reassure the innocent bystander that they aren't about to be mauled to death, not to encourage that it is the dog's comfort you're worried about.
When I lived in France, most people in our area did not like dogs at all, the ones that did tended to prefer very small dogs. Our dog wasn't massive, she's smaller than a doberman, but she's still bigger than a corgi, maybe comparative to a border collie. We now assume whenever another person is involved that we'll need to pull her around, but now we're elsewhere and everyone here loves dogs – delivery people and door to door sellers always take 5 extra minutes to pet her and let her lick them, and there's been one incident in the last year where she ran up to a dog and their owner in the wild and the owner cautioned against it – because their dog had recently hurt their leg.
I think certain environments and cultures suit dog ownership, and apartment living in the middle of new york probably is going to be more of a mixed bag and if anything, suit smaller dog ownership better.
Kath
You captured the "I am scared out of my life but I don't want to share it to the owner" expression perfectly here.
Not forgetting the blank look to the additional bicycles, that's just great. The amount of weird lines bikes have must have taken some time to draw overlaying each other
sarusa
And now this would be a pile of rusty rideshare scooters.