[nagdu] Petting and catching up

[Julie J]

I'm not getting all the messages in order, so if I'm confused...well, don't 
mind me! *smile*
I agree with Dar, some dogs are beasts.  I've been around a few and even 
owned one when I was younger.  Even the two I have now have their moments.

I do allow petting if the person asks, I have the time and we aren't moving. 
When I grant permission for petting I tell the person they can pet as long 
as the dog remembers his manners.  No manners is the end of it, no 
explanations no apologies.  I never allowed anyone to pet Monty for a long 
while after I first got him.  He was way too excitable and would go insane 
with overenthusiastic greetings.  In the past few months I am letting some 
people pet him, although very few have much of an interest.  Monty is 
remembering his manners very well these days.  It only took forever to get 
there. *smile*

I do not have Monty sit or down everytime I stop.  If I am standing I have 
no issue with him standing, unless it is only for a brief moment and I will 
be returning to sitting.  Anyway I find that if I have him sit or down, it 
signals to people that I am going to be there for a while and I of course 
have plenty of time to answer their questions.  Sometimes I do and I don't 
mind.  Other times I have stuff to do, having Monty standing next to me in a 
ready to guide stance lets people know that we are busy in some capacity.

And the gentle leader...I do have one and use it on Monty sometimes.  I used 
it a lot more when we were working hard on task training, especially 
distraction issues.  I will still take it out and use it on occasion.  I 
think the state fair was the last time I used it.  I do not see it as the 
"bad dog" collar or as a punishment or anything like that.  I use it as a 
preventative measure.  If we are in a situation where I know he is going to 
be prone to distraction I will put it on so that we don't encounter 
difficulties.

You can correct with the gentle leader, but it is not at all like correcting 
with a chain collar.  You should use a steady, fairly slow pull.  If you 
yank you can cause serious damage to the dog's spine.

Welcome to all the new people!  I saw some new names/email addresses.  If 
you have a moment please introduce yourselves.

Julie