[nagdu] some advice

[Tami Kinney]

Bibi,

As dog owners, guide dog or otherwise, we are responsible for our dogs'
manners and ensuring that they can go out and about without being a
danger to themselves and others. Or not take them out, which is how we
deal with Daisy's fear aggression. Of course, when it comes to the
decision to take her somewhere and get out to let her have a nice sniff
and potty break and a walk around, it's not really her we're worried
about. Well, she wears a soft muzzle and a Halti. But... The reason
we've decided that I can never be the one to just take her out for a
walk is not because I can't handle her in a halti; in fact, she remains
very trainable. It's because of people! Those, I can't control, and I
can't see them coming to stick their faces in hers until maybe they've
done it. Or there are the kids who will make an unsafe approach while
their parents just stand around gabbing or ... Then there's the park
manager, who likes to come up make,ming loud aggressive movements and
noises because he's afraid of her. Apparently, in his view, stimulating
a dog to attack is the key to not being attacked... There is no
accounting for some people. Honestly, If I didn't have to stay calm for
Daisy and calm down her response before she red lines because of it, I'
d bite him! 

So, anyway, it goes both ways. I'm fortunate in Mitzi, because while she
is an obnoxious little snot monster with an attitude and still does that
fearsome snarking thing at play with other dogs and with her sister, she
is not aggressive. Which I worried about a bit, and of course, I had to
get rid of that when she's in harness or in public, since it's just not
cool. But once I went ahead and let her play her little game with other
dogs, thinking that she was going to get the snot beat out of her by a
pack of rough and tough young males who were just going around looking
all gansta and bad, I was shocked to discover that they all became
buddies after she did her possessive guardy snarky thing over her ball.
Which she then took to them and tossed under their noses, encouraging
them to play with it.  She was very pleased with herself. The humans who
had been watching this interplay were as shocked as I was, but we
finally decided "go figure" and I was able to then work with her on it
in harness and at work. She and Daisy still play snark and bark
regularly over their bones, and this seems to be the key to their
getting along as step-sisters. Go figure. /lol/

But, outside the house, in public, the snarking is not okay, not in
public, so she's learned better. Whew! And she's learned not to hide
behind me when ids come running up with high squeaking and tiny hands
outstretched to grab the curls. /lol/ Or adults! Good grief! I use every
opportunity to work with her by reinforcing her calm bravery in the face
of such adversity while maintaining a calm, level, in-charge voice and
demeanor in discussing a thing or two with the human involved. And
wonder why I didn't have the good sense to get myself and ugly, vicious
beast for a guide dog. /lol/ Or at least a scary one! People!

On Sun, 2011-09-11 at 21:51 -0600, Criminal Justice Major Extraordinaire
wrote: 
> Hi, Cindy,
> I can understand someone's fears, but I don't appreciate when people just 
> beat around the bush and play games with me.
> That part I will not tolerate.
> If a person doesn't feel ready to talk about it yet, then I'd rather them 
> say that and I let my case rest.
> Otherwise, I will tell individuals that if they're going to make bigger 
> problems out of the whole thing, I will then ask them to just stay clar away 
> from my son and I all together.
> I had an incident one time in my apartment complex where a resident's 
> visitor threatened Odie by swinging a body part at him, poising him to 
> attack.
> I had to really holler at Odie to scare him upon distracting him and he did 
> stop.
> Visitor then tried to tell me not to punish Odie and I litterally let her 
> have it then.
> I flat out told her if she would have just stayed still and not move around 
> or start swinging at him, there would not have been a problem and she would 
> not have almost been attacked right on the spot.
> That person was banned from our apartment complex and never allowed back in.
> One of our service cordinators here in the complex has a fear of dogs, more 
> because she had to witness kids torturing a dog back when she was growing 
> up.
> Luckily, she's told me that she's able to handle Odie some since my husband 
> Dale and I are continuously on his case to behave himself.
> Sadly, humans are the blame for when dog attacks happen and that could be 
> prevented just by teaching the dog manners and helping them to understand 
> respect.
> I have watched It's Me or the Dog, Good Dog You and many other dog obedience 
> programs upon seeing how badly misbehaved dogs were because the owners 
> allowed that to happen.
> They were told that problems wouldn't have gotten out of hand if they just 
> took the time to work with the dog and train them from the beginning.
> I still tell people that dog obedience and training will never end, despite 
> that the dog graduated from guide dog training or other service dog programs 
> out there.
> It may seem that I sound rough, harsh or strict with Odie, but I always want 
> him to have good reputation for himself along with me.
> He gets bathed twice monthly on top of the continuous brushing as he stays 
> happy and I like him to be clean.
> Although I know many here will not agree with me, that's all right with me 
> as each and every one of us has a right or is entitled to stay how we feel 
> about something in general.
> Bibi and Odie
> the happy spirited bounty labra wolf 
> 
> 
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