[nagdu] Lines in the sand?

[Garry and Joy Relton]

Janine,

I think the thing that comes to mind for me is that we are all experts on
raising the neighbors kids, training our neighbor's dog and driving the
other guy's car. If we can remember that it is human nature for folks to do
that, I take care of our concerns to the best of our ability we'd all be
better. I have to keep reminding myself that it's not what others think
after seeing me for a couple of minutes that matters, it's what goes on
every day in my life and how I feel about it that is important. AS long as
we are willing to take responsibility for our actions and that of our dog,
kids and cars, then we can do no more. 

By the way, (grin) my kids, dog, and car simply couldn't do that! Right! 

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Jenine Stanley
Sent: Monday, June 08, 2009 6:23 PM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Lines in the sand?


Oh Tammy, those were great thoughts. You bring up a good point about how
different people control situations. I know when I was dealing with Molly's
issues, she might growl at another dog and because the person involved
didn't hear me give her a loud leash and/or verbal correction, they thought
I wasn't doing anything about it or didn't care. Nothing could be further
from the truth. 

I was usually either right down by her face giving very low verbal
corrections or I had a high collar or pinch collar employed and had given it
a quick flick. I even tried positive training with hand targeting but by
then our relationship had severed and she wasn't listening or caring about
anything when the growling reflex kicked in.  

Boy, you hit it on the head about our dogs giving us whole new sets of
things to be neurotic about. <grin> that was what finally pushed me to admit
that I'm not the kind of person who can handle a dog with that much
awareness, all the time like that. I won't be breed specific and call it a
GSD tendency or a Poodle tendency either. <grin> I've seen Goldens who can
be just as neurotic and high strung. 

As for saying "My dog shall never do X, Y or Z." Never say never. I'll tell
myself that I will not tolerate some behavior but when it happens, not if,
but when, I have to say to myself, OK, how bad was this? Did anyone die? Is
it something you will need to pay money to fix? Is it something you will be
more aware about in future? What will happen if you just apologize and go
on, appropriately correcting the dog of course? 

Stuff happens. That said, there's a lot to be said for trying to minimize
the stuff. <grin>


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