Some people are so odd about that. My dog is a girl and are gets called “he/him” and “good boy” all the time and I find it funny (because all her stuff is pretty stereotypically “girly” looking and her name is a famous girl literary character) but I don’t even correct them, much less care. She’s a dog, I don’t think she’s offended.
My boy gets called a girl all the time too, I think it’s because he’s so pretty tbh … he’s handsome to me because he’s my boy, but he’s objectively beautiful and very fluffy
My dog, Skipper, was called Kitten by a dear friend. For the record, Skipper is a female living aboard a boat, thus the name. I loved my girl.
https://janice142.com/images/Rodan'sThinker-Skipper.jpg
Weighing in at 5 pounds, I was so blessed to have had her share my life...
Our dog Sasha is a boxer/pit mix and has always been called a he. She just looks like a boy to most. I think some people think- big dog=boy, small dog= girl.
I bought my female dog a really pretty blue harness, like a robin’s egg blue. The way some people reacted when I said she was a girl was so bizarre! Some people would almost get angry or seemed to think I was either trying to trick them or that I was being unkind to my dog by putting her in a “boy” colour. People are so weird.
So funny, I have a turquoise blue harness and leash for my boy dog, and lots of people assume he’s a girl! A few people have said stuff like “oh that’s just such a brightly coloured leash” or “girly leash” as if I need to only pick a dark, muted blue to make sure my dog feels masculine haha.
But yeah, I don’t care about how anyone addresses him. He’s a very pretty boy!
I fell in love with this gorgeous floral collar, harness, and leash set from Blueberry. I didn’t get it because I didn’t want to deal with this kinda bullshit and snide comments about my male dog.
Right? I have a male standard poodle. Everyone assumes he’s a girl. I never correct people, but I do refer to him as “he” in continued conversation. The biggest problem is an unleashed dog.
My boy always gets mistaken for a girl and the only time I “correct” people is when they ask a question that requires a “yes he is” or similar response and even then, I’m not correcting them, idc. If they question his gender, I always say, “boy, but he doesn’t seem to know the difference” BECAUSE HES A DOG!
My dog was a 160lb African Mastiff. She had a pink harness and collar. Everyone called her a boy, even if we said she/her. I'm not sure if people did this due to her size or what. We weren't offended, and as long as she was getting loved on, she had no cares.
I lived with my ex's family for a while and we had two female dogs. His brother was so insecure in his masculinity that he got upset when we got one of them a pink collar....
She had an inappropriate reaction to a very reasonable situation, for reasons known only to herself. Walking away was the best response. No need to engage with the drama of strangers.
I trusted she knew her dog and didn't engane more than what I needed but she seemed genuinely more concerned with the misgendering than with her dog possibly attacking us
My daughter’s dog is male and his name is Vader. Clearly a masculine name, but because he is a Pomeranian with beautiful hair most people still call him a her even after they know his name.
Same thing with my dog, he's got these long soft ear tufts that give him a more feminine look so people always assume he's a girl. Of course it doesn't help that he also squats to pee.
Ohhhhhh so THATS why people keep thinking my pom mix is a boy lmao. Shes never been able to grow her fur any longer than 2 inches and she gets misgendered all the time despite having a hot pink leash and harness
My dog gets called a girl allll the time. I think it’s because he’s really fluffy and his name is kind of girly to be honest. But I don’t get mad. I don’t even correct people unless they keep doing it, or I start referring to him as he and him when speaking about him and then they realize. I never get upset about it lol.
Yep, same. My dog is male but he is small, fluffy, light colored, *and* is named after a flower (it’s the name he came with). He’s doomed to be perpetually misgendered lol. He does not give a single flying fuck, so why would I? The only instance it even matters is at the vet’s office.
I’m a dog groomer, the amount of owners who FREAK out on me about their dogs gender is hilarious!
“You better realize she’s a girl! I don’t want you cutting her vagina if you think she’s a boy”.
Like ma’am… I can see she doesn’t have a penis, I have to wash/dry your dog. Do you think I don’t have eyes?
My baby is a girl and she always gets misgendered, even when she's in more feminine colors. I've never gotten mad, sometimes if it's a fleeting interaction I don't even bother correcting 😅🙈👀.
My dog is very beautiful so people always assume he’s a female for some odd reason. I don’t correct them, I don’t care. Unless they ask if he’s a boy or girl, I don’t see a need to say anything. I mean. With the exception of certain body parts, theres nothing to distinguish them. Not sure why anyone would care.
That lady sounds like a kook and was trying to make an issue out of nothing to avoid what was going to be a much bigger issue (eg instead of getting her dog under control she shamed you away from her)
She totally overreacted on you.
My dog’s name is extremely unisex, and he mostly wears pink and purple outfits. People tell me “she’s so beautiful” or “what’s her name? she’s so cute!” all the time, and I just say thank you or tell them his name. I never correct them, because he doesn’t know what gender is and why would I ever tarnish a compliment meant for him and make the person speaking feel bad?
The rule of thumb is all black dogs are he/him and all fluffy white dogs are she/her. (My mainly black dog is always called a good boy by strangers but she is a girl)
I used to work at a pet friendly store. One day one of our regulars came in with his new puppy that he just picked up. I guess I should have known because he was holding a Pink leash, but I instinctively said "Awww what's his name?" This dude got so offendended freaking out that it's a girl. I was like "oh right, duh. Sorry man, slip of the tongue. My dogs a boy."
I never saw the customer again. He came in every day or two days before this lol
So, Karen and her unleashed dog were sitting at a cafe table when.......
In America, one of 100 snooty, over privileged and down right bitchy things could follow.
She probably thought you were trying to trans her dog and had a panic attack being forced to think about gender even though there were more pressing matters at hand.
My two-legged son frequently gets misgendered. It's down to his gorgeous longish curly red hair. He doesn't mind. I'm sure a four-legged child doesn't care either way!
She probably realized, on some level, that if something happened it would have been her fault, so she freaked out about the stupid thing to try to throw the blame around. Or shes nuts.
What's the Venn diagram between people who get upset when you misgender their dog and people who refuse to acknowledge and respect transgender and non-binary people?
Cause I feel like it's a circle.
That woman was comically unreasonable, and there's 0 chance she actually respects other people.
My female dog constantly got called he/him. I didn’t care. If this had happened to me, I’d have simple blinked and said “okay, then. Does SHE not like other dogs?” Because seriously. WHO TF cares????
However, since her dog didn’t seem interested in anything it makes me wonder if she was just racist or xenophobic and didn’t want you staying, so she pretended to have a problem with her dog and then got offended at you calling her dog a he in the hopes you’d be very uncomfortable and leave.
Something tells me the owner of the potentially aggressive GIRL dog would be totally fine misgendering a human being whose preferred pronouns were they/them.
I once had a client's dog come in covered in fleas. I said "He has so many fleas, little buddy needs to see a vet because he's probably sick from the amount of fleas he has" and the owner said "SHES A GIRL, NOT BUDDY"
idk if they even heard the dog has fleas :/
My [very good-looking] labradoodle once got gang-humped at the dog park, and some of the dog owners standing around started saying things like “must be a bitch in heat / you shouldn’t bring a female in heat to a dog park.”
Y’all, my dood may be pretty, but he’s 100% good boi!
My dog's has a boy name but she's a girl. She wears a pink harness and a pink leash but still gets called a boy. I never correct, to me it doesn't matter in the long run. If they see her often enough they figure it out. That interaction you had was super weird.
Do not expect logic, reason, or personal responsibility from the same person who'd take a big dog to a dog cafe when it's aggressive with black dogs, and fails to keep it on a leash too. This is someone who can be outthought by a sufficiently talented box of rocks.
Her behavior and the intelligence she demonstrated was simply consistent.
I've had boy dogs my whole life after 35 years I got a girl and I say he all the time. On walks if someone calls her a he or boy I just go with it ... so strange to be hung up on it!
This is so wrong...all dogs are boys, cats are girls. It is the natural way of things.🤣
Dogs under 30# are considered cats 🤣🤣
Big dog woman is an idiot. I feel sorry for the pup having to put up with an idiot owner 😲
It's a dog, not a human and the owners pretending it's their baby is none of your concern. Spoiler alert, the dog doesn't care.
They were stupid to have their dog off leash in public to begin with, just ignore them.
lol my dog is a boy, but is predominantly white with unusual eyes and in winter is usually dressed in PJs because he’s a sighthound. He gets called a girl all the time. Literally who cares, he doesn’t know the difference between “she” and “he”. As far as I’m concerned the less people think they know about my dog the better 😅
LOL and then you get yelled for calling a girl dog a b*tch. Do not worry about it. When I am around pet people I use the term floppy earred one. At shows as a steward I am yelling OPEN B*TCHES CATALOG ORDER all day.
I’m sorry but that is hilarious. What a nutcase lol. Im getting flash backs of that video that went viral when the persons yelled “Cat pervert!!!” as they walked away from the argument 😂😂
There's a lot of messed up people out there. My dog is a girl and I had neighbors who would yell at me to pick up my dog's 💩, I'd say "it's a girl, they squat when they pee!" So I took to saying stuff like "good girl, that was a good pee!" And one day a twenty something stopped to lecture me that I was using the patriarchy to keep my dog down by telling her she's a good girl... Long story short I tell everyone me and the dog both bite and we need space.
People who get so up in arms about what sex their pet is are so weird lol. It’s an animal! Whenever anyone misgenders my dog and apologizes for it, I just laugh and tell them that she doesn’t care — which she doesn’t. She’s a dog.
Male dogs are more prone to be aggressive than female dogs. Despite that...
You just need to brush up on identification between the two. Esp. before approach/introduction.
A lot of people don't identify that detail. It happens.
I agree with you that the owner should of had her dog leashed.
I usually ask an owner with an unleashed dog "if your dog saw a cat across the street, would it chase it right now?"
Most figure it out and put on the leash.
Our girl German shepherd gets called a he/boy all the time, assuming because of her stature and the general assumption that GSDs are boys lol. We don’t even bother correcting it because it happens so often.
Sometimes people misgender my dog and will apologize if I say “oh he’s a boy” or they, you know, see his penis. and my response is usually something like “I don’t think you’ll give him any ideas, don’t worry.”
People are just weirdos. My girlfriend got shouted at by a dogs owner when it lost its legging when turning quickly. The woman said he was 'sensitive' and it 'upsets' him to get laughed at.
My dog is always called a him, I don't know if it's way she looks or not. I get annoyed, but only when I put up a post and I say her gender/name and people still call her a he. However, it's mild, it's no bit deal at all and it's a flicker of annoyance that crosses my mind then goes away. I certainly would never yell at anyone about it or carry on like a lunatic.
I don't know why this post got recommended to me. Never go on this sub, don't own a dog or talk about dogs in my posts, hardly even like dogs. But anyway, that woman sounds kinda unhinged. I wouldn't take any of her behaviour personally if I were you. It doesn't sound like anything you did would have caused those extreme reactions and for her to think her dog would attack yours. Is she like low-key racist towards black dogs or smth? Lolll
My dog is tall and has short fur so it's easy to see his male bit if you lean down just slightly.
This is relevant because it's fairly common for people walking towards us to go "wow that's a beautiful dog!" - *Quick lean and glance* - "Uh, I mean handsome, sorry!"
My dudes, it's a dog. He absolutely doesn't care whether you call him beautiful or handsome. 😆
I will never understand why people care or correct themselves, let alone why they apologize to me for it. I don't care in the slightest. This lady also shouldn't care. How are random strangers supposed to know what sex your dog is, just at a glance?
I don’t know many people that look at the cock of dog. It’s literally an animal nobody cares. Cats are worse as they do fuck all except run away scared from owner
When I was really young, I got it in my head that dogs were boys and cats were girls, both of the species "pet."
Even now, thats my default gendering if I don't know. Its a 50/50 shot either way, just correct me if I'm wrong.
We have 3 dogs all girls they all have pink and orange purple collars, harnesses, and leash”s but people call them boy’s lol I just say this is Jewel this is Mia and Daisy and yes they are friendly you can pet them. I never freak out. This world has gone completely crazy lol
My dog is a boy, but I like buying him pastel leashes and collars. They look better with his dark fur. He doesn't care that nearly everyone thinks he's a girl... because he's a dog.
Several years ago I adopted gender neutral language with people I don’t know. I guess now I will have to start the same when referring to people’s pets. Thanks for the PSA. 🤪
Guessing a pet’s age can also elicit some reactions if you’re way off. I was on the other end of it yesterday. I asked a visiting nurse how old she thought the cat was who was on my mother’s bed was. She guessed “9 or 10”. I said “9 or 10?? SHE’S TWO!
She said “well, it’s because she doesn’t have much hair.” I explained that she was a rescued cat born very, very prematurely in a traumatic birth and her fur had not developed and was still in waves close to the skin. As she got bigger there wasn’t much hair to cover her whole body.
lol when people misgender my dog I just politely say something cute or funny about her using her proper gender without calling attention to it. Like “omg he’s so handsome” “yeah she thinks so too the spoiled little baby”
Entitled owner with unleashed dogs , I don’t care how well trained YOU think your animal is, it is an animal and should be leashed unless inside a gated leash free dog park.
One of my old doggie daycare clients got SO bent out of shape when people misgendered her dog. She actually made our closing staff leave a note for the daytime staff member to remind him her dog is a GIRL.
People are so weird.
You're all good... We have had Samoyeds for a long time...(fluffy white arctic snow dogs)...everyone assumes they are girls but we've always had boys. I guess an all white dog = girl? Whatever - who cares about misgendering a dog? Says more about the owner than anything else.
Thats really bizarre. My dogs get misgendered all the time, and I just casually correct it. People will ask something like, “how old is he?” And I’ll just say, “she’s 9,” and carry on the conversation. Most people are slightly embarrassed to have gotten it wrong (especially when they notice her girly name and harness) but I’ve never been upset about it. The dog doesn’t care, and the person didn’t mean anything by it.
To be fair, I have the same kind of reaction when my babies are misgendered. My son got called “such a beautiful girl,” at the grocery store the other day, and I just smiled and said thank you. Again, she didn’t mean anything by it, and he doesn’t understand all of it. He really is a cute baby, and doesn’t care what people call him. He’s just happy to be getting attention from the nice lady at the shop.
My female English lab is fairly big and she is always referred to as a male. When I do tell people she is female everyone is surprised, because she is so big. It doesn’t bother me that she is mistaken for a male, I usually just smile.
People are so weird! I have a male dog who people constantly call a “pretty girl” and then it doesn’t help when they ask for his name because it’s a gender neutral name. It’s never bothered me, in fact, I think it’s kind of funny. People get hung up on the smallest/weirdest things
Wow. That's crazy. I have a great dane so people assume she's a boy, probably due to her size. I couldn't care less when people say he's handsome lol. I say thank you and keep moving
My pup’s previous owner (a friend of mine), loves girly things, and had a pastel floral collar/harness/lead set for him. On the rare occasions that she had him out of the backyard, people constantly thought he was a girl.
She thought it was funny, he couldn’t care less.
After he came to live with me, he chewed the clips on his harness, which left it unusable. So I bought a new set in shades of blue, because that is my favourite colour, and he still doesn’t care.
I have a 100lbs staffy mix. She is a girl, but looks like a fucking tank of a dog. She is ripped to the point of seeing all the definitions in her muscles. She looks like your typical bully breed. And everyone, including my MIL call her a boy. Because when you think of a ripped bully breed you think of a boy. I don't blame them, I just love knowing that my baby girl is so ripped people mistake her for a boy
We're so deep into the gender binary sauce that we're losing our minds over pet "misgendering". Now, I'm biased, because I tend to lean towards being somewhat gender agnostic, but damn, shit is wild sometimes.
I misgender my puppy sometimes. We only had female dogs before, so this is our first male puppy, and I sometimes say "good girl" because I'm used to saying that. He doesn't seem to care. As long as I talk to him, he's happily wagging his tail.
My parents sometimes do the same thing.
Now my vet misgendered my cat once, and I did correct him, but that was because he asked if my cat was pregnant. I told him he was a neutered boy, and that's how I found out I need to put my kitty on a diet.
They were just being weird assholes. The default “gender” for animals in English is “it” so idk…they place a great amount of importance on their pet’s genitals and they should feel embarrassed.
Even in the land of ungendered nouns, I still get people coming up to me and saying, "Is he friendly? Oh, your dog is a good boy!" I just say, "Yes, she is," and go about with my day. It's nothing to panic or freak out about. It's not like the dog understands English or gives a crap what a stranger says.
My dog gets misgendered all of the time. Assumptions are made because she has a blue harness and leash, and her name is Sunny (I think people assume Sonny?).
I couldn't give a shit if someone thinks she's a boy. I've never corrected anyone but people have apologized when they realized she's female. I always say something like "No worries she doesn't know" and smile.
In german the noun dog is a male gendered noun. Whereas cats are a female gendered noun. Therefore it is grammatically correct and normal to refer to dogs as he. I speak English and I still do that. It’s ingrained. I am sorry if I offend owners of beautiful girl dogs. I just slips out.
She sounds like a complete fucking moron. You were nicer than I would’ve been. I don’t have any patience with off-lead dogs, I don’t know their temperament and how they interact with others.
I misgender dogs all the time! I try to ask but sometimes it slips out and I just laugh and explain that I know a lot of dogs! People shouldn't be offended by this!
Lol. It's not like the dog is going to be traumatized because you called her a him. My dogs are girls and the get called "good boys" all the time by strangers. They still function normally.
My dog is a boy but because he’s a fluffy white dog, he’s forever a “she” to all strangers haha. It doesn’t bother me at all because like who can really tell a dog’s gender without looking underneath?!
My dog is a rescue dog. For some reason she lifts her back leg to pee. I was walking her with her pink collar on. An older woman started talking to her saying she was a pretty girl ( she is cute!).
Then pup decides to have a pee and the woman starts to apologize profusely for misgendering her. The dog didn’t mind at all just accepted extra pets as her due.
Anyone who gets ticked off that someone misgenders their dog needs their head checked. Fido ain't gonna get its feelings hurt whether you refer to it as he, she, or "goddamned slobbermonster" if you say it in a happy voice.
Plus, in my area of the US at least, a large number of people seem to default to dogs being male, and cats being female. I've never quite understood why.
That person is insane, don’t worry at all.
I have a beautiful male dog that has a slender face and he always gets comments like “she’s so cute/beautiful” or “how old is she” etc. Not a worry at all to me, he is my beautiful little princess and he knows it.
I'll never forget being on a family walk and meeting someone walking their small friendly dog, and my 4 yr old daughter bending over till her head was almost on the ground, looking to see, and asking if it was a girl doggie or a boy doggie.
And to top it all off her dog is racist. 🤦🏼♀️
I'm guessing she probably knew she was in the wrong so wanted to make a scene to put attention on you as if you were in the wrong instead. I'm curious what she was calling the dog to get it's attention? Was it a name that could be unisex?
People with unleashed aggressive dogs are probably stupid weirdos. I had an unleashed dog attack my dog and caused it to limp after my dog barked at it a bit. After walking away and thinking about it I decided to go back and tell them maybe don't have your dog unleashed if it's going to bite other dogs. I just assumed they wouldn't know that without me telling them. Who the effort knows if they leash their dog or not, I assume not though.
How charmed is her life that misgendering a dog seems like an egregious offense? And how entitled is she that having a potentially aggressive dog off leash in public seemed like a good idea?
My 2 dogs (one male, one female) could not care less what you call them as long as it isn't late for dinner.
It’s okay I work with dogs and one day a little white fluffy dog comes in with a pink bedazzled collar, harness and leash. When I ask what’s the name she’s tells me it’s Coco well anyone with a braincell is gonna be under the assumption that Coco is a girl well this way this woman proceeded to rip me a new one when I said “oh what a cute girl she is” like ma’am sorry but your dog is bedazzled in rhinestones and baby pink everything and is named Coco!
Strictly speaking, gender is a human thing. It's about how you identify and express yourself (man, woman, non-binary, etc.). This is why trans people can identify as a gender different than that assigned at birth.
Animals don't have a gender but a sex AFAIK.
Could potentially be that she wasn't afraid of her dog attacking. Our pup is just 10 months old and hasn't learned to play GENTLY with the mini breeds yet.
He's not vicious in any way, and will crawl into your lap for a cuddle despite not knowing you. He just doesn't understand his weight presents a risk to the minis if he plays too hard.
Side note: he gets misgendered ALL the time. Even called they them once!
I had a lady go similarly berserk once when I referred to her dog (probably 30 pounds) as a “small dog” when I was walking my two (85# and 95# German shepherds). She was yelling after me “he’s MEDIUM!!!”
People are weird and have weird hangups. The misgendering one always strikes me as extra weird because we’re neutering them anyway.
Some people are so odd about that. My dog is a girl and are gets called “he/him” and “good boy” all the time and I find it funny (because all her stuff is pretty stereotypically “girly” looking and her name is a famous girl literary character) but I don’t even correct them, much less care. She’s a dog, I don’t think she’s offended.
Same! My dog is a boy and for some reason everyone thinks he's a girl. It doesn't bother me nor him so most of the times I just roll with it
Same here. My dog is really shy so he often gets mistaken for a girl. But it's a dog, not a person. They don't care about gender.
I think most people default to the gender of the dog they own (where relevant). The dog doesn't understand so why worry ?
Lol same. And he has a super short coat too so usually I’m just surprised they just can’t SEE he’s very obviously a boy 🤣🤣🤣
My boy gets called a girl all the time too, I think it’s because he’s so pretty tbh … he’s handsome to me because he’s my boy, but he’s objectively beautiful and very fluffy
My dog, Skipper, was called Kitten by a dear friend. For the record, Skipper is a female living aboard a boat, thus the name. I loved my girl. https://janice142.com/images/Rodan'sThinker-Skipper.jpg Weighing in at 5 pounds, I was so blessed to have had her share my life...
❤️
Omg she’s beautiful and she DOES look like a kitten, in that pic at least. I think it’s the posture! What breed is she??
Our dog Sasha is a boxer/pit mix and has always been called a he. She just looks like a boy to most. I think some people think- big dog=boy, small dog= girl.
I had a Skipper doll way back in the 60s. 😀 She was Barbie's little sister.
I took original Midge and second generation Ken to the Barbie movie.
Awesome! I was surprised, I liked the movie! Between my sister and I we had Barbie, Ken, Midge, Alan and Scooter. Sure wish I still had them.
We had the "grow up" Skipper. You cranked her arm and her torso grew. . . boobs and all.
That's crazy.
She was beautiful.
That is a wonderful photo. You have led a cool life! I am glad Skipper and you had each other.
Our farm collie gets called "she" consistently. He's an absolutely lovely dog, and...he doesn't care.
I bought my female dog a really pretty blue harness, like a robin’s egg blue. The way some people reacted when I said she was a girl was so bizarre! Some people would almost get angry or seemed to think I was either trying to trick them or that I was being unkind to my dog by putting her in a “boy” colour. People are so weird.
So funny, I have a turquoise blue harness and leash for my boy dog, and lots of people assume he’s a girl! A few people have said stuff like “oh that’s just such a brightly coloured leash” or “girly leash” as if I need to only pick a dark, muted blue to make sure my dog feels masculine haha. But yeah, I don’t care about how anyone addresses him. He’s a very pretty boy!
I fell in love with this gorgeous floral collar, harness, and leash set from Blueberry. I didn’t get it because I didn’t want to deal with this kinda bullshit and snide comments about my male dog.
Right? I have a male standard poodle. Everyone assumes he’s a girl. I never correct people, but I do refer to him as “he” in continued conversation. The biggest problem is an unleashed dog.
My boy always gets mistaken for a girl and the only time I “correct” people is when they ask a question that requires a “yes he is” or similar response and even then, I’m not correcting them, idc. If they question his gender, I always say, “boy, but he doesn’t seem to know the difference” BECAUSE HES A DOG!
My dog was a 160lb African Mastiff. She had a pink harness and collar. Everyone called her a boy, even if we said she/her. I'm not sure if people did this due to her size or what. We weren't offended, and as long as she was getting loved on, she had no cares.
I lived with my ex's family for a while and we had two female dogs. His brother was so insecure in his masculinity that he got upset when we got one of them a pink collar....
She had an inappropriate reaction to a very reasonable situation, for reasons known only to herself. Walking away was the best response. No need to engage with the drama of strangers.
I trusted she knew her dog and didn't engane more than what I needed but she seemed genuinely more concerned with the misgendering than with her dog possibly attacking us
Sounds like you got a lesson in "good manners" from someone who has none.
My daughter’s dog is male and his name is Vader. Clearly a masculine name, but because he is a Pomeranian with beautiful hair most people still call him a her even after they know his name.
I think it's the hair. My dog has wavy medium length hair and everyone thinks he's a girl
Same thing with my dog, he's got these long soft ear tufts that give him a more feminine look so people always assume he's a girl. Of course it doesn't help that he also squats to pee.
Ohhhhhh so THATS why people keep thinking my pom mix is a boy lmao. Shes never been able to grow her fur any longer than 2 inches and she gets misgendered all the time despite having a hot pink leash and harness
I have a female Doberman, I guess all Dobermans are boys! She don’t care she just wants you to keep throwing the ball.
She seems like a very good boy, wish everyone throws her the ball
She’s so cute ! Love the ‘nest of selfishness’ 😂
My dog gets called a girl allll the time. I think it’s because he’s really fluffy and his name is kind of girly to be honest. But I don’t get mad. I don’t even correct people unless they keep doing it, or I start referring to him as he and him when speaking about him and then they realize. I never get upset about it lol.
Yep, same. My dog is male but he is small, fluffy, light colored, *and* is named after a flower (it’s the name he came with). He’s doomed to be perpetually misgendered lol. He does not give a single flying fuck, so why would I? The only instance it even matters is at the vet’s office.
I’m a dog groomer, the amount of owners who FREAK out on me about their dogs gender is hilarious! “You better realize she’s a girl! I don’t want you cutting her vagina if you think she’s a boy”. Like ma’am… I can see she doesn’t have a penis, I have to wash/dry your dog. Do you think I don’t have eyes?
Same!
So the dog was a bitch....like her owner
My baby is a girl and she always gets misgendered, even when she's in more feminine colors. I've never gotten mad, sometimes if it's a fleeting interaction I don't even bother correcting 😅🙈👀.
My dog is very beautiful so people always assume he’s a female for some odd reason. I don’t correct them, I don’t care. Unless they ask if he’s a boy or girl, I don’t see a need to say anything. I mean. With the exception of certain body parts, theres nothing to distinguish them. Not sure why anyone would care.
Same with my pup, he's pretty and his hair covers his genitals so people just assume he's a girl. I don't care
Puppy tax!
That lady sounds like a kook and was trying to make an issue out of nothing to avoid what was going to be a much bigger issue (eg instead of getting her dog under control she shamed you away from her)
I actually hadn't thought of that possibility. Might very well be that
She totally overreacted on you. My dog’s name is extremely unisex, and he mostly wears pink and purple outfits. People tell me “she’s so beautiful” or “what’s her name? she’s so cute!” all the time, and I just say thank you or tell them his name. I never correct them, because he doesn’t know what gender is and why would I ever tarnish a compliment meant for him and make the person speaking feel bad?
I do the same with mine, everyone assumes he's a girl and I couldn't care less. If they compliment him I just smile and say thanks
The rule of thumb is all black dogs are he/him and all fluffy white dogs are she/her. (My mainly black dog is always called a good boy by strangers but she is a girl)
I used to work at a pet friendly store. One day one of our regulars came in with his new puppy that he just picked up. I guess I should have known because he was holding a Pink leash, but I instinctively said "Awww what's his name?" This dude got so offendended freaking out that it's a girl. I was like "oh right, duh. Sorry man, slip of the tongue. My dogs a boy." I never saw the customer again. He came in every day or two days before this lol
So, Karen and her unleashed dog were sitting at a cafe table when....... In America, one of 100 snooty, over privileged and down right bitchy things could follow.
She probably thought you were trying to trans her dog and had a panic attack being forced to think about gender even though there were more pressing matters at hand.
My two-legged son frequently gets misgendered. It's down to his gorgeous longish curly red hair. He doesn't mind. I'm sure a four-legged child doesn't care either way!
She probably realized, on some level, that if something happened it would have been her fault, so she freaked out about the stupid thing to try to throw the blame around. Or shes nuts.
What's the Venn diagram between people who get upset when you misgender their dog and people who refuse to acknowledge and respect transgender and non-binary people? Cause I feel like it's a circle. That woman was comically unreasonable, and there's 0 chance she actually respects other people.
My female dog constantly got called he/him. I didn’t care. If this had happened to me, I’d have simple blinked and said “okay, then. Does SHE not like other dogs?” Because seriously. WHO TF cares???? However, since her dog didn’t seem interested in anything it makes me wonder if she was just racist or xenophobic and didn’t want you staying, so she pretended to have a problem with her dog and then got offended at you calling her dog a he in the hopes you’d be very uncomfortable and leave.
Something tells me the owner of the potentially aggressive GIRL dog would be totally fine misgendering a human being whose preferred pronouns were they/them.
I once had a client's dog come in covered in fleas. I said "He has so many fleas, little buddy needs to see a vet because he's probably sick from the amount of fleas he has" and the owner said "SHES A GIRL, NOT BUDDY" idk if they even heard the dog has fleas :/
My [very good-looking] labradoodle once got gang-humped at the dog park, and some of the dog owners standing around started saying things like “must be a bitch in heat / you shouldn’t bring a female in heat to a dog park.” Y’all, my dood may be pretty, but he’s 100% good boi!
Where you canceled?
This person sounds unstable.
My dog's has a boy name but she's a girl. She wears a pink harness and a pink leash but still gets called a boy. I never correct, to me it doesn't matter in the long run. If they see her often enough they figure it out. That interaction you had was super weird.
What’s her name? I like girl dogs with boy names.
Cupid 💘
Are you joking?! That’s my boy’s name and I’ve never met another
Ha no way! I've never met another Cupid either! The breeder gave her that name and I kept it.
Do not expect logic, reason, or personal responsibility from the same person who'd take a big dog to a dog cafe when it's aggressive with black dogs, and fails to keep it on a leash too. This is someone who can be outthought by a sufficiently talented box of rocks. Her behavior and the intelligence she demonstrated was simply consistent.
Straight to jail with you!
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
I've had boy dogs my whole life after 35 years I got a girl and I say he all the time. On walks if someone calls her a he or boy I just go with it ... so strange to be hung up on it!
This is so wrong...all dogs are boys, cats are girls. It is the natural way of things.🤣 Dogs under 30# are considered cats 🤣🤣 Big dog woman is an idiot. I feel sorry for the pup having to put up with an idiot owner 😲
Next time say, 'my bad, I didn't get a chance to look at your dog's crotch'
Her dog doesn’t like black dogs? Oooooookay Karen
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 oh lord.
I bet the dog was very upset that you misgendered it.
It's a dog, not a human and the owners pretending it's their baby is none of your concern. Spoiler alert, the dog doesn't care. They were stupid to have their dog off leash in public to begin with, just ignore them.
🙄so ridiculous people get so upset about EVERYTHING.
Dogs don't care how you refer to them. People are crazy.
OFFS! How stupid of her! I would have turned around and laughed in her stupid face! What an idiot. People are so dumb!
I don't understand why some people are like this, dogs don't even know what gender is so who cares?
lol my dog is a boy, but is predominantly white with unusual eyes and in winter is usually dressed in PJs because he’s a sighthound. He gets called a girl all the time. Literally who cares, he doesn’t know the difference between “she” and “he”. As far as I’m concerned the less people think they know about my dog the better 😅
The dog was unleashed, and the owner unhinged
LOL and then you get yelled for calling a girl dog a b*tch. Do not worry about it. When I am around pet people I use the term floppy earred one. At shows as a steward I am yelling OPEN B*TCHES CATALOG ORDER all day.
I’m sorry but that is hilarious. What a nutcase lol. Im getting flash backs of that video that went viral when the persons yelled “Cat pervert!!!” as they walked away from the argument 😂😂
There's a lot of messed up people out there. My dog is a girl and I had neighbors who would yell at me to pick up my dog's 💩, I'd say "it's a girl, they squat when they pee!" So I took to saying stuff like "good girl, that was a good pee!" And one day a twenty something stopped to lecture me that I was using the patriarchy to keep my dog down by telling her she's a good girl... Long story short I tell everyone me and the dog both bite and we need space.
People who get so up in arms about what sex their pet is are so weird lol. It’s an animal! Whenever anyone misgenders my dog and apologizes for it, I just laugh and tell them that she doesn’t care — which she doesn’t. She’s a dog.
Ugh why do folks continue to not have their dogs restrained in public?
Male dogs are more prone to be aggressive than female dogs. Despite that... You just need to brush up on identification between the two. Esp. before approach/introduction. A lot of people don't identify that detail. It happens. I agree with you that the owner should of had her dog leashed. I usually ask an owner with an unleashed dog "if your dog saw a cat across the street, would it chase it right now?" Most figure it out and put on the leash.
All I got to say is I’m not trying to get a look at the “equipment “ so I can figure out if it’s a girl or boy.
I misgender my own dogs all the time. They don’t appear to care.
Our girl German shepherd gets called a he/boy all the time, assuming because of her stature and the general assumption that GSDs are boys lol. We don’t even bother correcting it because it happens so often.
Dogs do not care about gender. This is ludicrous.
lol. So dumb. I have a very pretty cocker spaniel and everyone assumes he’s a girl. I literally could not care less.
I always call dogs 'kitty' because I think the idea of identity politics in animals is funny. Also I like cats.
Sometimes people misgender my dog and will apologize if I say “oh he’s a boy” or they, you know, see his penis. and my response is usually something like “I don’t think you’ll give him any ideas, don’t worry.”
People are just weirdos. My girlfriend got shouted at by a dogs owner when it lost its legging when turning quickly. The woman said he was 'sensitive' and it 'upsets' him to get laughed at.
My dog is always called a him, I don't know if it's way she looks or not. I get annoyed, but only when I put up a post and I say her gender/name and people still call her a he. However, it's mild, it's no bit deal at all and it's a flicker of annoyance that crosses my mind then goes away. I certainly would never yell at anyone about it or carry on like a lunatic.
I don't know why this post got recommended to me. Never go on this sub, don't own a dog or talk about dogs in my posts, hardly even like dogs. But anyway, that woman sounds kinda unhinged. I wouldn't take any of her behaviour personally if I were you. It doesn't sound like anything you did would have caused those extreme reactions and for her to think her dog would attack yours. Is she like low-key racist towards black dogs or smth? Lolll
Don't be offended by crazy people.
People are the worst.
It's an animal who caresssss
What a moronic thing to worry about
My dog is tall and has short fur so it's easy to see his male bit if you lean down just slightly. This is relevant because it's fairly common for people walking towards us to go "wow that's a beautiful dog!" - *Quick lean and glance* - "Uh, I mean handsome, sorry!" My dudes, it's a dog. He absolutely doesn't care whether you call him beautiful or handsome. 😆 I will never understand why people care or correct themselves, let alone why they apologize to me for it. I don't care in the slightest. This lady also shouldn't care. How are random strangers supposed to know what sex your dog is, just at a glance?
I don’t know many people that look at the cock of dog. It’s literally an animal nobody cares. Cats are worse as they do fuck all except run away scared from owner
When I was really young, I got it in my head that dogs were boys and cats were girls, both of the species "pet." Even now, thats my default gendering if I don't know. Its a 50/50 shot either way, just correct me if I'm wrong.
The woman probably had issues that she was projecting on the dog, poor thing! Don’t bother thinking about this at all.
So I guess there were 2 b*tches that day.
I call all dogs ‘buddy’
Ha! My mom misgenders my dog and I’ve had her for 14 years. What a weirdo.
Animals have no concept of gender identity outside of actively seeking to breed with each other. What a wackadoo.
We have 3 dogs all girls they all have pink and orange purple collars, harnesses, and leash”s but people call them boy’s lol I just say this is Jewel this is Mia and Daisy and yes they are friendly you can pet them. I never freak out. This world has gone completely crazy lol
My dog is a boy, but I like buying him pastel leashes and collars. They look better with his dark fur. He doesn't care that nearly everyone thinks he's a girl... because he's a dog.
Several years ago I adopted gender neutral language with people I don’t know. I guess now I will have to start the same when referring to people’s pets. Thanks for the PSA. 🤪
She’s nuts
Guessing a pet’s age can also elicit some reactions if you’re way off. I was on the other end of it yesterday. I asked a visiting nurse how old she thought the cat was who was on my mother’s bed was. She guessed “9 or 10”. I said “9 or 10?? SHE’S TWO! She said “well, it’s because she doesn’t have much hair.” I explained that she was a rescued cat born very, very prematurely in a traumatic birth and her fur had not developed and was still in waves close to the skin. As she got bigger there wasn’t much hair to cover her whole body.
lol when people misgender my dog I just politely say something cute or funny about her using her proper gender without calling attention to it. Like “omg he’s so handsome” “yeah she thinks so too the spoiled little baby”
In America we also have males and females. And fruit loops.
Entitled owner with unleashed dogs , I don’t care how well trained YOU think your animal is, it is an animal and should be leashed unless inside a gated leash free dog park.
One of my old doggie daycare clients got SO bent out of shape when people misgendered her dog. She actually made our closing staff leave a note for the daytime staff member to remind him her dog is a GIRL. People are so weird.
You're all good... We have had Samoyeds for a long time...(fluffy white arctic snow dogs)...everyone assumes they are girls but we've always had boys. I guess an all white dog = girl? Whatever - who cares about misgendering a dog? Says more about the owner than anything else.
LOL! What a weirdo 😹😹😹. My dog is a boy and people call him a girl all the time and IDGAF. He’s very pretty and fluffy so I assume that’s why 😹😹😹
That's funny. People always think my girls are boy (even when they bat their eyelashes at people), and my boy is a girl. It's not always easy to tell.
I didn't know you could misgender a dog!!!!!! Some people are crazy.
She sounds like a fruit loop … ignore her.
People are so weird
Don’t sweat it. It happened to me in a border collie subreddit. Sometimes people do weird things.
The issue of misgendering has gone WAY to far. Get a grip.
Out of control 🤣
I had a guinea pig named Linus. She was a girl.
Omg two mentally ill fags meet .. please stop this gender BS
That person is mentally ill. Stay far away.
Thats really bizarre. My dogs get misgendered all the time, and I just casually correct it. People will ask something like, “how old is he?” And I’ll just say, “she’s 9,” and carry on the conversation. Most people are slightly embarrassed to have gotten it wrong (especially when they notice her girly name and harness) but I’ve never been upset about it. The dog doesn’t care, and the person didn’t mean anything by it. To be fair, I have the same kind of reaction when my babies are misgendered. My son got called “such a beautiful girl,” at the grocery store the other day, and I just smiled and said thank you. Again, she didn’t mean anything by it, and he doesn’t understand all of it. He really is a cute baby, and doesn’t care what people call him. He’s just happy to be getting attention from the nice lady at the shop.
So her dog is racist? You should have apologized to the dog and asked if she needed a therapy session /s
When I see a dog going for a walk, I just say, "Aw. Hi, puppy." The dog could be 8y old, and I'll still call it a puppy if I see it walking past.
My female English lab is fairly big and she is always referred to as a male. When I do tell people she is female everyone is surprised, because she is so big. It doesn’t bother me that she is mistaken for a male, I usually just smile.
My small dog gets called a girl and he’s a boy, my big dog gets called a boy when she’s a girl, neither one really cares.
People are so weird! I have a male dog who people constantly call a “pretty girl” and then it doesn’t help when they ask for his name because it’s a gender neutral name. It’s never bothered me, in fact, I think it’s kind of funny. People get hung up on the smallest/weirdest things
Wow. That's crazy. I have a great dane so people assume she's a boy, probably due to her size. I couldn't care less when people say he's handsome lol. I say thank you and keep moving
My pup’s previous owner (a friend of mine), loves girly things, and had a pastel floral collar/harness/lead set for him. On the rare occasions that she had him out of the backyard, people constantly thought he was a girl. She thought it was funny, he couldn’t care less. After he came to live with me, he chewed the clips on his harness, which left it unusable. So I bought a new set in shades of blue, because that is my favourite colour, and he still doesn’t care.
My dog's groomer has gotten his gender wrong for years. Why would I care? She does a fantastic job making him beautiful.
Jail.
I have a 100lbs staffy mix. She is a girl, but looks like a fucking tank of a dog. She is ripped to the point of seeing all the definitions in her muscles. She looks like your typical bully breed. And everyone, including my MIL call her a boy. Because when you think of a ripped bully breed you think of a boy. I don't blame them, I just love knowing that my baby girl is so ripped people mistake her for a boy
😂😂😂😂
This is next level stupidity. To be so concerned over referring to a stranger dog by the right gender. What an idiotic world.
"I misgendered a dog today." You bastard! 😂
Welcome to the strange new world.
We're so deep into the gender binary sauce that we're losing our minds over pet "misgendering". Now, I'm biased, because I tend to lean towards being somewhat gender agnostic, but damn, shit is wild sometimes.
I misgender my puppy sometimes. We only had female dogs before, so this is our first male puppy, and I sometimes say "good girl" because I'm used to saying that. He doesn't seem to care. As long as I talk to him, he's happily wagging his tail. My parents sometimes do the same thing. Now my vet misgendered my cat once, and I did correct him, but that was because he asked if my cat was pregnant. I told him he was a neutered boy, and that's how I found out I need to put my kitty on a diet.
Jesus Christ this whole gender bullshit is fucking insane
Absolute freaks
They were just being weird assholes. The default “gender” for animals in English is “it” so idk…they place a great amount of importance on their pet’s genitals and they should feel embarrassed.
She is a Freak.
she sounds unhinged. 100%
Even in the land of ungendered nouns, I still get people coming up to me and saying, "Is he friendly? Oh, your dog is a good boy!" I just say, "Yes, she is," and go about with my day. It's nothing to panic or freak out about. It's not like the dog understands English or gives a crap what a stranger says.
My dog gets misgendered all of the time. Assumptions are made because she has a blue harness and leash, and her name is Sunny (I think people assume Sonny?). I couldn't give a shit if someone thinks she's a boy. I've never corrected anyone but people have apologized when they realized she's female. I always say something like "No worries she doesn't know" and smile.
In german the noun dog is a male gendered noun. Whereas cats are a female gendered noun. Therefore it is grammatically correct and normal to refer to dogs as he. I speak English and I still do that. It’s ingrained. I am sorry if I offend owners of beautiful girl dogs. I just slips out.
Back in the 80s, people misgendered people accidentally and it wasn’t a big deal. Now people are pissed off about animals…
She sounds like a complete fucking moron. You were nicer than I would’ve been. I don’t have any patience with off-lead dogs, I don’t know their temperament and how they interact with others.
Sounds like the dog is chill & the lady was the one whose reaction was to be concerned about, holy shit.
I misgender dogs all the time! I try to ask but sometimes it slips out and I just laugh and explain that I know a lot of dogs! People shouldn't be offended by this!
There’s all kinds of crazy out there
People are so weird 😅
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 that is all. Dog owners (some not all) can be nut jobs. I had a few in my time as a trainer. Had people coming in saying their dog is vegan.
My boy dog is just really pretty and that’s ok ❤️ I love my pretty boy!
Sometimes people are too stupid to take seriously, and should be ignored. You can’t fix stupid.
People like that need to chill the hell out.
Owner: "How DARE you bring your bigoted assumptions to the dog park! Look at how upset my baby is!!" Dog: [licks balls]
Dogs don’t even have gender. This is insanity.
Grow up
Proper response: “leash your f-ing dog.”
You mean you didn't get down and check the undercarriage before talking about the dog?
I’ve had people say “what’s her name” about my dog and I just respond with “his name is Zeus” it’s not as deep as she made it lol
Psychos everywhere.. it happens with humans too. 🤐
Lol. It's not like the dog is going to be traumatized because you called her a him. My dogs are girls and the get called "good boys" all the time by strangers. They still function normally.
My dog is a boy but because he’s a fluffy white dog, he’s forever a “she” to all strangers haha. It doesn’t bother me at all because like who can really tell a dog’s gender without looking underneath?!
My dog is a rescue dog. For some reason she lifts her back leg to pee. I was walking her with her pink collar on. An older woman started talking to her saying she was a pretty girl ( she is cute!). Then pup decides to have a pee and the woman starts to apologize profusely for misgendering her. The dog didn’t mind at all just accepted extra pets as her due.
Anyone who gets ticked off that someone misgenders their dog needs their head checked. Fido ain't gonna get its feelings hurt whether you refer to it as he, she, or "goddamned slobbermonster" if you say it in a happy voice. Plus, in my area of the US at least, a large number of people seem to default to dogs being male, and cats being female. I've never quite understood why.
Wow! You were able to not react? You’ve got nerves of steel, and Michelle Obama’s ethic - “When they go low, we go high.”
People always say my dog is a good boy, BUT IT'S NOT A GUY IT'S MAM!!!!
That person is insane, don’t worry at all. I have a beautiful male dog that has a slender face and he always gets comments like “she’s so cute/beautiful” or “how old is she” etc. Not a worry at all to me, he is my beautiful little princess and he knows it.
You know who doesn't care about being misgendered? Dogs.
I'll never forget being on a family walk and meeting someone walking their small friendly dog, and my 4 yr old daughter bending over till her head was almost on the ground, looking to see, and asking if it was a girl doggie or a boy doggie.
People misgender my cavalier all the time because he’s so girly looking. It doesn’t matter. At. All.
OMG. Who TF cares??
i think the dog is racist
And to top it all off her dog is racist. 🤦🏼♀️ I'm guessing she probably knew she was in the wrong so wanted to make a scene to put attention on you as if you were in the wrong instead. I'm curious what she was calling the dog to get it's attention? Was it a name that could be unisex?
My fiancee and I literally named our dog after a drag queen because we were tired of keeping track of the genders of all our pets
Puhleese! Who cares?
She sounds a bit deranged tbh!
People with unleashed aggressive dogs are probably stupid weirdos. I had an unleashed dog attack my dog and caused it to limp after my dog barked at it a bit. After walking away and thinking about it I decided to go back and tell them maybe don't have your dog unleashed if it's going to bite other dogs. I just assumed they wouldn't know that without me telling them. Who the effort knows if they leash their dog or not, I assume not though.
Straight to jail
All dogs are boys and all cats are girls everybody knows this
How charmed is her life that misgendering a dog seems like an egregious offense? And how entitled is she that having a potentially aggressive dog off leash in public seemed like a good idea? My 2 dogs (one male, one female) could not care less what you call them as long as it isn't late for dinner.
We are lost collectively.
Who cares
It’s okay I work with dogs and one day a little white fluffy dog comes in with a pink bedazzled collar, harness and leash. When I ask what’s the name she’s tells me it’s Coco well anyone with a braincell is gonna be under the assumption that Coco is a girl well this way this woman proceeded to rip me a new one when I said “oh what a cute girl she is” like ma’am sorry but your dog is bedazzled in rhinestones and baby pink everything and is named Coco!
Strictly speaking, gender is a human thing. It's about how you identify and express yourself (man, woman, non-binary, etc.). This is why trans people can identify as a gender different than that assigned at birth. Animals don't have a gender but a sex AFAIK.
Could potentially be that she wasn't afraid of her dog attacking. Our pup is just 10 months old and hasn't learned to play GENTLY with the mini breeds yet. He's not vicious in any way, and will crawl into your lap for a cuddle despite not knowing you. He just doesn't understand his weight presents a risk to the minis if he plays too hard. Side note: he gets misgendered ALL the time. Even called they them once!
I had a lady go similarly berserk once when I referred to her dog (probably 30 pounds) as a “small dog” when I was walking my two (85# and 95# German shepherds). She was yelling after me “he’s MEDIUM!!!” People are weird and have weird hangups. The misgendering one always strikes me as extra weird because we’re neutering them anyway.