[NAGDU] Cricket can growl?

[Cindy Ray]

I do correct; I tr not to, but I would in a situation like that. But what
has already been said, if the dogs greeted her first. Eacj pm ;eash, so they
could ssniff one another, Cricket may have been able to get used to the
others. This was one thing I knew to be true of Fisher. If he is confronted
by a new dog, he has issues, growling, barking, and lunging. If the dogs
present together on leash, with all involved being very calm, then he
usually is finished unless the dog gets in his face in a way that he seems
to regard as threatening.
I believe you didn't do anything wrong; I'm glad you didn't put the dog in
the car. That's a really bad idea. But I think you handled it in the best
way you could at the time. Don't fret over it and think on how you will want
to handle that in another such situation should it arise again.
Cindy Lou Ray
cindyray at gmail.com


-----Original Message-----
From: NAGDU [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Abby Bolling via
NAGDU
Sent: Sunday, December 27, 2015 2:21 AM
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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