Korean Job Discussion Forums

ucfvgirl · Joined: 28 Sep 2005 Location: Bundang

I have a beef I need to get off of my chest. I have a Jindo/Akita that I adopted off of Dave's about 2 months ago and he is medium sized. Most of the time, people are in awe over him because his type of dog is not usually seen in my neighbourhood.

Everyday, we go for a walk either on the Tancheon or in the school yard behind my apartment. He is off leash in the school yard and when we get to the Tancheon I take him off leash. He is getting really good about coming when he is called, however, it is his nature to chase things. I have been training him to stop chasing things, but it's going to take time.

My beef is: Children screaming and running away from him. Everytime this happens, he runs after them as he thinks they are trying to play. I try to explain to the kids, "STOP RUNNING" but most of the time, they don't listen and they end up crying. This very thing happened today. The parents treated Indy as if he was a MONSTER and actually tried to hit him. I was standing right there, trying to show them using my body language that the kids can't run away from a dog. The father yelled and yelled at me. So of course, I yelled back.

What really picks my a** is that Korean toy dogs are much more aggressive than Indy would ever be. When we are walking, Indy will try to sniff the other dogs, as a dog does, and those little MONSTERS growl and show their teeth and try to attack him. Because he is bigger, people see him as a threat, which is really not the truth.

Even when Indy is on a lead, people, especially women, jump away from him, scared as hell. I just laugh when this happens because he's on a FREAKIN lead. What could he possibly do to them?

Just wondering if anyone else has had these types of experiences with their dogs.

Tell me: Is this the face of a MONSTER?http://ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/ucfvgirl/detail?.dir=cab6scd&.dnm=683ascd.jpg&.src=ph

riley · Joined: 08 Feb 2003 Location: where creditors can find me

I have a small dog and people jump and run away from him too. It's pretty stupid in that case. My wife says that Koreans are scared of dogs. I think that the kids (and adults) like to overact.

antoniothegreat · Joined: 28 Aug 2005 Location: Yangpyeong

I have some similar problems, and it just amazes me. i have a yorkshire terrier, he is tiny, just about 15 months old. and he is one of the gentlest dogs i have ever seen. if anything, maybe he is too shy, as he likes to run up to people, but then gets shy and doesnt want actual contact. he does not bark, or do anything aggressive, he is just like a moving teddy bear.
my middle school students will see him, and half of them will cry out "엄마!" and avoid him, like he is a monster. and all he is doing is wagging his tail with his head down and rear down because he is excited. they will literally jump off the sidewalk to avoid him. really, what is a 5 pound yorkshire terrier going to do to them? i could understand if i had a german shepard, or a husky, or a large dog, but geeze, he is tiny, i could eat him for breakfast...
then of course, some students want to play, and I will have two or three petting him, and another student, after they have been playing for two minutes, will work up the courage to play, but first ask me if he bites. hmmm, you have been watching your friends play for two minutes, and all he has done is licked them, and you wonder if he will bite you...
but with all the fear of this little furball, if i see a delivery guy on a scooter go flying by in a small alley, and misses these same students by less than a foot, the show now reaction. i dont get that one.

quilter · Joined: 11 Feb 2006

We have a medium sized boxer mix and I have never seen more people jump out of their skin at the sight of a dog. She is totally submissive, but everyone freaks out thinking she is a pit bull. At first I was a bit sensitive and apologetic to the people, but it gets old after it happens 5 or 6 times a day. And like antoniothegreat said, people are even freaked by little lap dogs. Now it almost amuses me, because I am waiting for their freaked-out expressions, especially the ones walking along looking at the ground, completely oblivious to their surroundings.

What is with the dog culture here?

Corporal · Joined: 25 Jan 2003

Homer · Guest

Well my niece says some Koreans are scared of dogs and some are not so there! Laughing

To the OP..how about putting Indy on a leash when you walk him? Perhaps that would make others feel more secure?

ucfvgirl · Joined: 28 Sep 2005 Location: Bundang

I have put him on a leash and they still freak out. I am trying to train him to answer to my voice commands. Most of the time, especially on the tancheon, he only chases other dogs or the ducks. I try to put him back on the leash if I see the dogs before he does. He's afraid of bicycles now because a cyclist crashed into him. It wasn't Indy's fault: It was the cyclists. Since that episode, he stays much closer to me. I like to have him off the leash so he can run and get some exercise. When we are in the school yard, he is usually alone, so there are no problems with him running off lead.

I understand that not everyone likes dogs. What I don't understand is the fear. I guess coming from Canada, we are so used to dogs of all sizes and we teach our children how to behave around dogs, that it's no big deal there. I just get angry over the way the move towards the dogs as if they are going to hit them.

I am so happy that others feel the way I do. I am a responsible pet owner: I clean up after dog in public, I treat other dogs with respect, and I try to educate others about Indy. I guess some people will just never get it.

patchy · Joined: 26 Apr 2005

Not all people are like that in Korea, ucfvgirl. If you watch the Animal Show on RealTV (on weekends), you will see many people in Korea like dogs, all sorts of dogs.

animalbirdfish · Joined: 04 Feb 2004

pet lover · Joined: 02 Jan 2004 Location: not in Seoul

Dev · Joined: 18 Apr 2006

I had a strange thought recently which is how I rarely see Koreans even walk their dogs. My city has a high population density as most Korean cities do, but I see maybe 2 Koreans a week walking their dogs. 95% of the dogs I see in a week are stuck in a backyard or a house. Not a good country for dogs (dog soup issue aside).

Homer · Guest

As a side note I never cared much for dogs back home either. Just don't like em...

My wife loves them and wants us to buy one...it just won't happen.

Her brother has a dog too, a bigger breed than what is usually found here...to me the pooch is annoying and smelly.

patchy · Joined: 26 Apr 2005

mindmetoo · Joined: 02 Feb 2004

JongnoGuru · Joined: 25 May 2004 Location: peeing on your doorstep

ucfvgirl, the concept of dogs as pets and even (gasp!) house pets is still a relatively new one in Korea. And while some Koreans had pet dogs and even cats when I first got here, all the pet-related industries (pet food, pet supplies, pet hospitals, pet TV shows, etc.) essentially sprang out of nowhere before my very eyes. They've come a long way in a very short time. So when we're talking about Canadian parents teaching their children how to behave around dogs of all sizes, remember that most parents of school-age Korean kids today won't have grown up with house pets. And with relatively few Korean dogowners owning large dogs, it's not so simple a thing to teach a child _by explaining_ that they shouldn't run when a dog that's (seemingly) as big as their own body comes charging at them.

But pets have become enormously popular in Korea. Many Korean kids in my neighbourhood are very understanding and knowledgable about dogs, they have their own at home, and when I'm out walking with one of my dogs, the kids will ask where the other one is (they know their names). But other kids (and women) will sometimes just about sh*t themselves if the bigger one suddenly rears up and wants to be friendly. I see that as somewhat natural.

And really, I think a lot of the reactions you mentioned are no more than human nature. You see a big dog coming after you, you don't know if it's friendly or mean, and it doesn't really matter what language that foreign lady is shouting ("DON'T RUN! HE WON'T BITE YOU!") -- you're going to run or pick up a rock or snarl and shake your fist, or do whatever you can think of to avoid getting bit. And kids anywhere will typically do the first thing that comes to mind -- run their asses off. Oh yeah, and scream & cry.

Personally, I grew up in a dog-loving home that has kept large dogs as pets literally for centuries. So I was as accustomed to being around dogs as any 5-yr-old possibly could be, but when one decided to sink its fangs into my face (baaaaaarely missing an eye), leaving a bite-wound that didn't heal properly and which fairly f**ked up my self-esteem for a decade, made me terrified of dogs till my late teens, etc, etc., well .... despite getting over my cynophobia (yep, doggy fear) and now being very dog-friendly and dog-helpful (I've rescued a few of them) I'm not overly sympathetic to the "why don't they stop acting like fools and just stop running, he won't bite" argument. I understand it, and I know that standing still is the smartest thing to do when you don't know if a dog is vicious or friendly. But even so...

I think it's up to the dogowner to keep their dog leashed unless there's no chance the dog will chase someone (either because he's that well-trained, or there's nobody else around).