[NAGDU] Cricket can growl?
Julie J.
julielj at neb.rr.com
Sun Dec 27 21:01:04 UTC 2015
I have no idea what I would have done. I'd like to think I'd have been
brilliant and my dog would have behaved and the other dogs would have
magically gone about their business, but the reality is that I don't do so
well thinking on the fly like that. So I would have reacted by instinct or
what I've done before or whatever.
Things I have done when encountering friendly dogs...
*kept on going about my business
*let my dog greet the other dog
*stood in between the two dogs and shooed the other dog away
*yelled at the owner to get their dog
*had my dog wait in a down until the other dog leaves or the owner comes to
get him
Things I've done to unfriendly dogs...
*turned around and gone another way
*stood between the two dogs and shooed the other dog away
*moved menacingly toward the other dog
*gave the owner what for in colorful language
*recently I kicked a dog who was lunging toward Jetta
Things I've thought about doing but never have:
*taking pictures
*pepper spray
*air horn
*spring loaded umbrella
I have corrected my dogs for acting like a ninny around other dogs. I've
also had them sit at a reasonable distance to reinforce calm and appropriate
behavior. I've moved across the street and expected them to continue to
guide. I've given treats for calm and appropriate behavior. And yes,
sometimes I let my dogs growl at other dogs, especially if I know my dog is
growling as a correction for socially inappropriate behavior. Many, many
years ago, I taught obedience classes. I had Tia then and she was a
wonderful example dog. A lot of the dogs I worked with didn't have very
good dog to dog social skills and Tia was very, very good at being patient,
but also growling when they crossed the line. The other dogs weren't
aggressive, just rude and she would communicate to them that they were being
rude. It helped the other dogs to learn what was okay and what wasn't.
It's how dogs communicate and I don't have a problem with it. That said,
there is growling and then there is growling and not all growls are created
equally. A mama dog might growl at her puppies when they are being wild.
She isn't aggressive and she isn't going to hurt the pups, but they need to
know that what they are doing is inappropriate. Then there is the
food/toy/territory aggressive dog who growls at dogs or people when they get
too close to his food/toy/kennel. This is not okay and will probably
require a skilled trainer to help.
I think it's good to look back and think about what you could have done
better. It helps you to process the whole thing and hopefully to do better
next time. However there comes a point when you just have to let go and
move on.
Julie
Courage to Dare: A Blind Woman's Quest to Train her Own Guide Dog is now
available! Get the book here:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QXZSMOC
-----Original Message-----
From: Cindy Ray via NAGDU
Sent: Sunday, December 27, 2015 2:03 PM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
Cc: Cindy Ray
Subject: Re: [NAGDU] Cricket can growl?
I don't see a thing wrong with doing corrections. If it gets the results you
are looking for, you praise. You cannot always assess the whole situation
until much later. Much later might well be too late. If you know your dog,
you know what kind of corrections are appropriate for it. If someone is
petting my dog and the dog is distracted and not doing what I want, I
correct it even if it is not the dog's fault. It needs to understand the
fact that it is not behaving in a way I would expect it to. It also corrects
the person who was messing with the dog. Same goes here. If someone's dog is
in my dog's face, my dog is growling, I am going to correct it. Then the
person to whom other dog belongs can feel badly maybe because my dog had to
be corrected, and they might think twice before they allow the situation to
come up again. My dog isn't going to have some kind of lasting traumatic
effect afterwards unless I've abused it. I wouldn't ever abuse my dog. And
people may think I am abusing the dog sometimes because dogs aren't ever
corrected if they are "civilian" dogs. So I would make no apologies to
anyone if I have corrected my dog.
Cindy Lou Ray
cindyray at gmail.com
-----Original Message-----
From: NAGDU [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Wayne And Harley
via NAGDU
Sent: Sunday, December 27, 2015 1:06 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Wayne And Harley <k9dad at k9di.org>
Subject: Re: [NAGDU] Cricket can growl?
Hi Abby,Being that it was a situation you hadn't prepped for I think you did
well.However, a firm "No, Leave It" is what I would have done. Given that a
growl was her only way of letting the other dogs know she didn't appreciate
them being in her face. Better to have her growl a bit then learn she can't
growl and instead go straight into a silent attack.
Yours, Very Sincerely And Respectfully,
Wayne M. Scace
-------- Original message --------
From: Abby Bolling via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Date: 12/27/2015 02:21 (GMT-06:00)
To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Abby Bolling <violingirl30794 at gmail.com>
Subject: [NAGDU] Cricket can growl?
Hi all!
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!
I went to my uncles house for our annual family get together. My aunt and
uncle have two black labs and they said that of course, cricket was welcome,
that Stella and Lulu would love to play with another dog. Well, that didn't
go as planned.
I was working Cricket into the house because we don't go there very often,
so the layout is very unfamiliar to me.
So Cricket and I are walking up the steps and she is doing really really
good. She steps up and is on the landing and all of a sudden I hear puppy
paws on the wood floor. Crickets harness handle is 20inches long because she
is super short, but this means, when we go up steps, I am usually two steps
behind her. So I wasn't on the landing yet. But all of a sudden, I feel
Crickets head jerk around a little bit, then she turns to the right to body
block me. at this point, I can feel Stella and Lulu like dancing around
Cricket and getting in her face and jumping at her.
I could tell they were playing, but i have no idea what was going through
Crickets head. I was very surprised when I heard my little 48 pound tiny
black lab let out one of the most terrifying growls I have ever heard. I'm
serious, I was taken-aback for a split second.
I corrected her so hard that she actually did a 180 degree turn, but Stella
got back in her face and she growled again. At this point I was able to get
on the landing and correct her hard again, but even through the fact that
the collar was tight around her throat, she was still trying to growl. At
this point, my cousin was able to grab Stella and then Lulu and put them in
a separate room, but Cricket was still wound up and was jumping in the air.
I literally had to almost tackle her to get her to lay down and calm down.
My family doesn't understand dog corrections, and they cringe and squawked
because they thought I was hurting Cricket. I told them that I wasn't
"hurting her," sure it wasn't comfortable, but I wasn't debilitating her.
Now the question! In your guys' opinion, did I handle the situation
correctly? Should I not take cricket over there? And what would yall have
done in that situation?
My Boyfriend asked why I didn't take Cricket out to the car, as it is really
warm here, so temperature wise she would have been safe, but I didn't do
that because she has really bad separation anxiety and will cry and whine
and howl if she is left alone very much.
And since I have only had her home for 4 months, I don't want to make her
mad too early in the game.
So anyway, thoughts? Opinions? Suggestions? All are appreciated!
Thanks,
Abby and the currently snuggly peaceful sleepy cricket.
--
Abigail M. Bolling
Wright State University-2018: Rehabilitation Services
Phone: (513) 512-3456
Email: bolling.8 at wright.edu
Abilities United: Secretary
Ohio Association of Guide Dog Users, a chapter of the National Federation of
the Blind of Ohio: Secretary "keep a smile on your face and a song in your
heart, and just let the music play." (Julie Anderson-Diamond) "Dance like no
one is watching, love like you'll never be hurt, sing like no one is
listening, and live like it's Heaven on earth." (William Purkey) The
National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the
expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles
between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want;
blindness is not what holds you back.
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