Are People Really THAT Dumb?
Sep 30, 2025
Sometimes you’ve gotta just wonder what people are thinking. While I’m a firm believer that there are no stupid questions, in honor of Ask a Stupid Question Day, I asked my friends to share the dumb questions they’ve been asked about their dogs. Enjoy!
Deborah Mary – Doberman Pinschers – “Your dog can be a service dog and a show dog?”
Cheryl French – Siberian Huskies – “My first Siberian was a black and white, bi eyed dog. I was sitting in the vet's office, and someone asked me if he had a glass eye.”
Kathryn A Kudron – Great Danes – “When you have a Great Dane, I think everyone's most feared question is: Do you have a saddle for that thing? 😂 I've been asked that more than I can count. And also: Do you use a backhoe to clean up after them?”
Tina Mack – Akitas, a breed with a very profuse double coat – “Do they shed?”
Patti Pulkowski – Akitas – “My Akita was blowing coat and someone asked me if she had mange.”
Fran Feuerstein Marro – Siberian Huskies – “That is not a Siberian because all Siberians must have blue eyes so it's a mixed breed.”
Susan Daffron – Samoyeds, a breed with a very profuse, long double coat – “Dumbest question: Do they shed?”
April Fingerlos – Collies – “(Looking at my blue merle collie) That can’t be a collie—Lassie was brown!”
Angélica Jiménez – Poodles – “I had a standard poodle in a continental clip. I was in a dog show and after fully grooming my dog, people asked me if those dogs were born clipped that way.”
Kelly Boyd – Siberian Huskies – “Are those wolves??”
Grace Knickerbocker Carter – Corgi – “Little girl to her mom. ‘Look mommy, a giant guinea pig’! It was my Pembroke Welsh Corgi.”
Birgit von Pelser – Siberian Huskies – “I had a copper red Siberian with blue eyes and was asked if she was a timber wolf. I was asked at the pet store if my grey and white Siberian was a coyote. People ask me all the time if my Siberians shed.”
Amy Schlundt – a Siberian Husky and a Shiba Inu, two DISTINCTLY different breeds – “Is that your dog’s puppy?”
Laini Leal – multiple breeds – “Your dogs are so well trained! Were they born that way?”
Susan Smith – Labrador Retrievers – “When looking at my Grand Champion Lab: What kind of dog is that? No, it can't be a Lab, maybe a Rottweiler. I've never seen one like that!!”
Debbie Zachary Stith – Mastiffs – “People will actually say ‘Do You Know How Big That Dog Is???’”
Nannette Uselton Clark – Alaskan Malamutes – “While admiring my AKC CH Malamute, someone said ‘Man, your wolf is well trained!’”
Lisa McClay Nawrocki – Yorkshire Terriers and Papillons – “I walk my pack together. Many people stop me to ask if they are all mine or am I a professional dog walker.”
Amy Samida – Leonbergers – “I was walking 3 of them and they always get a lot of attention because of their size. Someone asked if they were Aussies.” [Note: average Leonberger weight is 100-150 pounds. Average Australian Shepherd weight is 40-60 pounds.]
Geanna Whittam – German Shepherd – “Gas station attendant: "Is he friendly?" As he is barking in his crate so violently that it is shaking the entire van. Me: "No, not really." Attendant: "Can I see/pet him?" Me: "Now is not a good time". Eye roll and whispering "WTHeck!?”
Aj Sora Floyd - Shikoku ken and Shiba Inu - “A man asked, ‘Wow Do you have a sled for those guys?! Do they love the snow?’ This is to assume that any dog that is fluffy and has a curly tail is automatically a husky and thus a sled dog. My response: ‘Sir, these are HUNTING dogs. They are Hounds. From the Southern regions of Japan where it’s hot and humid. You wouldn’t go to a pack of beagles and ask the same thing?’”
Karuna Maze – Norwegian Lundehunds - “I was outside Madison Square Garden for the Westminster Kennel Club dog show and fielded these questions and comments: ‘What is your dog mixed with?’ Me: ‘Excuse me? Why would I bring a mixed breed dog to a conformation show?’ Reply: ‘Lots of people do.’ Me: ‘Really?” (Looking around) “Where?’ Also, on two separate occasions, women — one right outside MSG — wrinkled their noses and asked me, in a disgusted voice, ‘Is that a rat?!’”
Sarah Trumpfheller – “Why do you buy yourself a dog? He will be dead in 10 years anyway. You should get a child instead.”
Debbie Deyak Celedonia – “When talking about what dogs people own, I say I have a miniature poodle. They invariably say ‘oh I have a doodle, they are cousins with poodles, aren't doodles just wonderful?’ To which I reply with a smile, “My excellently bred miniature poodle is not a cousin to your doodle and yes a purebred poodle is wonderful.”
Juliette Rosano Biondi – Saluki – “Is that a Great Dane puppy?!?!” [note: Salukis look NOTHING like a Great Dane]
Pamela Gail Weed – Alaskan Malamute – “Dancer is a big dog. I was not surprised to be asked if he was a wolf. But I was once asked if he was a Werewolf and twice if he was a Direwolf. In case you’re not aware, both are not exactly real beings!”
Layla Dee – Siberian Huskies – “I've had a number of very black Sibes with only a little white, all from excellent long time breeders. Yet at a training class, a woman vehemently insisted that my girl was an Alaskan and that my breeders had ‘pulled a fast one. She was certain of this because she and her husband once watched a sled dog race.”
Iva Kimmelman – Whippets – “I owned a pet supply store in Stow, Massachusetts. I had two of my brindle whippets curled up on a bed behind the counter. A customer came up to make her purchase, saw the dogs and stepped back abruptly. ‘Are those snakes????.”
A few people preferred not to have their names used. 😉
“I petsit Newfoundlands and when I had one of them out for a walk a car stopped and a guy asked if he was a bear.”
“For my shelties, Not necessarily dumb but a good education opportunity...’Look, it's a little Lassie’”
“If I had a dollar for every time some asked me if my Siberians were wolves, I’d have a nice chunk of change.”
The breed is Cirneco, a slender, leggy, smooth-coated tan or chestnut brown dog – “Is that a deer?”
The breed is West Highland White Terrier – “People comment ‘oh there’s a Scottie’ and ‘Do Westies come in white?’”
“Judge filling in for the Owner Handler Hound Group judge: ‘Does the Hound Group need a table?’ Me: [blinks in mini dachshund].”
The dog was a Bouvier puppy – “Is that a bear cub?”
“I had a guy ask me in hotel what kind of animal my Irish Setter was. I replied he is a dog.”
“Had someone ask if my grizzle Saluki was a Dalmatian…” [note: Grizzle Salukis look NOTHING like a Dalmatian.]
Next time you wonder about asking a question because it might be perceived as dumb, remember these comments. There’s no such thing as a dumb question, but there are some pretty goofy ones!
