[nagdu] the public and dog breeds

[Danielle Sykora]

It seems like the public's reaction to dogs is based on breed, color,
behavior, and age. Breed and color have more to do with people's past
experiences than anything. If people have had a negative experience
with a certain breed/color they are most likely going to avoid that
type of dog in the future. If people have a positive experience on the
other hand, they will feel drawn to similar dogs. The general
reputation of the breed also obviously plays a role as well.

When I was out in public with another service dog user, I found that a
lot more people focused on my Lab/Golden than on her Collie. When I go
out with my sister and her puppy, most people pay more attention to
Bonnie than Thai. This is perfect since my dog doesn't need the
distraction and the puppy needs to socialize. It is true that
attention seeking behaviors often result in attention. People usually
react to my dog if he tries to sniff them, but on the other hand, he
has received just as much or more attention when he deliberately looks
away. Why people feel offended when Thai intentionally avoids them
because he is trying to do his job I will never know. I've had a few
kids who have run away from Thai, but never any adults. I have a
friendly yellow Lab/Golden who is too adorable for his own good, so I
have pretty much resigned myself to the fact that we will attract
attention where ever we go.

Danielle, Thai, and Bonnie (GDF puppy in training)

On 6/23/15, The Pawpower Pack via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Debby,
> actually many of my clients for whom I have trained dogs have met me in this
> way.  If you see someone doing something with more success than you are
> doing it, I think it's only natural to ask about more information.
> I never thought much about them being sighted or me being Deafblind, just
> people wanting to do better. :)
>
>  Rox and the kitchen Bitches:
> Mill'E, Laveau, Soleil
> Pawpower4me at gmail.com
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>> On Jun 23, 2015, at 8:28 AM, Debby Phillips via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>> wrote:
>>
>> I had an interesting conversation with a lady today.  I was sitting on a
>> bench waiting for my bus to arrive.  She commented that I had a beautiful
>> dog.  I said thank you.  Then she said, "I want a service dog, but the
>> money for training is quite a lot".  I asked her what her disability was.
>> (Probably not politically correct).  Anyway, she said, "Oh, I mean, I want
>> a companion dog." She said that her German Shepherd was 8 months.  I told
>> her that it wasn't too early to work on basics, like sit, heel, down, etc.
>>  She said that he pulled her out the door and down the steps of her
>> apartment, and she almost fell down.  I told her that she needed to work
>> on heeling the dog.  Her bus came then and she left, but she did thank me.
>>  Here I am, not a trainer at all, telling this lady the things she could
>> teach her German Shepherd.  Lol.    Debby and Nova
>>
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