[nagdu] Haunted Houses, Concerts, Etc

[Nimer Jaber]

Howdy all,

I have been keeping up with list traffic, and have decided to write my 
thoughts into a single e-mail instead of responding to a billion messages.

I have been to the Seeing Eye three times, and each time the message was 
essentially the same.  Think about your dog before going anywhere loud, 
or a place that may not be suitable for a dog.  With my experience with 
various dogs in mind, I have developed my own rules:

1.  Each dog is different, thereby requiring different things and having 
different tolerances.
2.  What one dog will find acceptable, another will find torturous.
3.  If I am comfortable with a situation and I have a calm demeanor and 
am able to convey that in my actions, my dog will most likely remain calm.

Pretty much, here's the deal.  Some dogs will do fine at concerts and 
haunted houses.  Other dogs will not.  Part of working your dog is 
making allowances for one another as a team and respecting one another 
in your partnership.  I have grown to show respect and love, as this 
really is the only way in life.  And this love and respect extends to my 
dog.  If I know that my dog is apprehensive by loud noises, I probably 
will not attend a loud, crowded concert or a scary haunted house with 
people screaming and things jumping out at me.  On the other hand, if I 
am an individual with a calm demeanor and I have a dog that can handle 
these situations without any issues, you had better believe that my dog 
will go with me if it is safe for him/her to do so.  Above any of my 
wants and desires, my first responsibility is to my dog's needs.  If I 
can guarantee his/her safety and comfort, I will bring him/her.  If not, 
I won't.  But this is situational, and depends on me and my individual 
dog.  I can't tell Raven that she should not bring her dog to a haunted 
house because my particular dog might hate them.  I also can't tell 
Debbie to bring her dog just because my dog does well and therefore hers 
should as well.

Finally, one thing I would say is that things like this always present a 
little bit of a risk.  Get to know your dog and his/her needs and wants 
before attending things like this.  Bringing a dog into a situation 
where he/she is stressed out when the partnership is new might not be a 
great idea.

Thanks.