[nagdu] an interesting conversation I just had

[Aleeha Dudley]

Hello all,
  My main point of this message is to see what you all thought of a
situation that just came up.
  I was walking with someone, on my way from my genetics class to
statistics. The minute we walked out the door of the biological
sciences building, I knew Dallas was not at all focused. He was
pulling left, nearly ran me into a pole, and being very sniffy. I gave
a verbal correction, a "hup-up" and we made it to the mid-block
crossing I had to use, which wasn't very far from  the building, We
got across the street OK. Dallas veered a bit, but the "straight"
command had him positioned beautifully for the up curb.
  After going up the curb, Dallas seemed very distracted, so I
stopped, gave a sharp correction, and tried to move on. The individual
walking with me said "Hey, don't do that! I'm right here!" I promptly
and rather sharply said: "If you weren't here, he's got to focus. I
could've just gotten hit by a car because he was not focused at all."
I got a grudging "OK" and we moved on.
  Not ten feet later, Dallas pulled off like he had to park. He didn't
have a regular stool this morning, so I let him go. Unfortunately, I
dropped the leash accidentally and my walking companion grabbed it and
would not give it back. All Dallas did was sniff, eat leaves, and chew
on nuts, so, when I heard he had a nut in his mouth, I took the leash,
grabbed the nut out of Dallas's mouth, and threw it away. Dallas never
did park, so I tried to move on. My companion asked me if I had fed
Dallas this morning, then went on to suggest that Dallas had
intestinal issues because he was trying to eat grass and leaves. I
told him that Dallas was just being stubborn and that he needed to
understand that I would not take this garbage from him. This person
said: "Well, right where you're correcting him is right on his
jugular, and you don't want to mess that up." I attempted to explain
the strength of the neck muscles, but this person just wouldn't stop.
Meanwhile, Dallas wouldn't go anywhere, so I chose to take the
person's arm and walk with Dallas at heel because I didn't have much
time and it was evident that all Dallas wanted to do was eat. I tried
to explain to this person that Dallas is a hard-headed dog and needs a
good "tail-kicking." This person said "well, don't hurt him!" I cannot
believe the ignorance of this individual. But was I right in what I
did? Shis person left me with a nasty comment of "well take care of
him." Like I don't love and deeply care for my dog. Oh, what a mess!
Aleeha and the insolent Dallas