Crap. Think I did something terrible.

[BullMastiffMama]

In agility class last night, Capone exited the tunnel and went directly to insert his nose into Shorty's butt. (Shorty is a young Afghan Hound, and Capone is quite infatuated with her.) After a 'HEY!' and being ignored, I yanked his ear.

*GASP!*

Yep, that's right. I did. It surprised him, and he yelped. Our trainer asked "Did *that* really hurt him?" (She's seen him take dives off the dogwalk and not give a crap.) To which I replied, "Yeah, I hurt his feelings is what I hurt." I'm socially retarded and don't really pay attention to people's reactions and such, but was later informed that I got a 'look.' (Not sure if this was from trainer, class-mate veterinarian, or other spectators.)

This got me to thinking. If I had been a spectator, what would I have thought?? I mean, these people don't know that Capone's ears aren't particularly sensitive - that I didn't hurt him. They have no way of knowing that ear yanking, tail tugging, toe fur tickling, and rump pinching are ways to incite play with him. Not to say that I was attempting to play with him, but I yanked about half as hard as I would have if we had been playing. It got his attention when the sharp vocalization did not.

I was approaching from his right side. Truthfully, if I'd have approached from his rear, I would have pinched his rump or where his belly tucks up and really spooked him.


Also, I was unaware of this as well, but I got a 'look' when I faux-spanked him. (Brought his traffic lead around swiftly, stopped short, and either barely touched his butt or didn't touch at all - I couldn't tell.)

So.... I'm posting this for a couple reasons:

Do you think they think I'm abusive?

Do you?

Do you think I made a bad choice or maybe have a suggestion for what I should've done?

Should I give two poops about what they think?

Should I address it or let the rumor mill go?



My, how horrified everyone would be if they saw us rough-housing! I faux kick and punch, bodyslam, face-chew, tease, etc. It's not how I interact with all dogs, and not with Cassius (new puppy) - but it's what works for me with Capone. Who cares? I don't think he'd continue to play if he disliked it or it hurt him.

How ridiculous would it be if I'm worried about little to nothing and these 'looks' weren't what they were trumped up to be... blah. Oh well.

On the plus side, Capone decided he would weave last night. We tried three or four times, and he really just wasn't getting it well, so we moved on to something else. He became quite tired later on in class and after exiting a tunnel, followed on my left and just as I turned, I looked to see where he was and he was going through the weave poles!!! I took him through them another five or six times at the end of class, just to reinforce how very awesome it was. I guess I just had to wait for him to get good and ready to do it.














Okay - Ready???? DISCUSS.

Oh, and a small note: Be honest- I do genuinely appreciate an objective view on things. You'd really have a hard time hurting my feelings, anyway.

[therottweiler]

That sounds pretty reasonable. Everyone has a different way of handling their dogs based on how they have been brought up. You should continue doing it as long as you know he is not being hurt, doesn't matter to me what a spectator thinks.

[Zoom]

I think if I was a casual by-stander, I probably would have been shooting you looks as well. Ear yanks and leash spanks are not something I would tolerate out of someone in my obedience class. Even if you do rough-house when at home and playing, class is not the time to do those things.

Why couldn't you have just led him away from the Afghan by his collar instead of yanking on his ear? Why did you feel the need to "spank" him in class? If you were in my class, I would have pulled you aside at the end and had a discussion.

I know bullmastiff's can be hard-headed but I've never found that spooking or smacking did much to change that, other than to make them even more "deaf" to certain things.

[BullMastiffMama]

Originally Posted by Zoom

Why couldn't you have just led him away from the Afghan by his collar instead of yanking on his ear? Why did you feel the need to "spank" him in class? If you were in my class, I would have pulled you aside at the end and had a discussion.

Thanks, Zoom. I really appreciate the feedback.

Not in attempt to excuse my actions, but for explanation:

His head was actually kind of inbetween Shorty's legs. I really did not want to go for his collar. I didn't have a clear line of sight to it and didn't want to inadvertently pull Shorty's hair. I didn't get it on the first grab, I'm fairly certain he would have began the keep away game.
It was impulsive. I felt that he was exhibiting pre-mount behavior (I've seen a bit of this from him lately, with Cassius at home).

Also, about the spanking in class. It was not a reprimand - I was trying to keep him engaged with me and 'pepped up' (he tires a bit quickly in agility... it's an hour long and he's a big boy) without doing our parlor trick routine. Short games are an attempt to maintain his focus. It is a game for us, as tug is for others. Shorty was headed for the tunnel bit of her sequence, and I wanted him fully engaged with me and what we were doing as opposed to the sounds of the tunnel, which are super-stimulating for him.

[BullMastiffMama]

Thought I'd add - thinking back on it, it was quite impulsive, and it went pretty quickly. I know I really wanted him exiting Shorty's butt, and very quickly dismissed the idea of going for his collar. Trying to remember why now.... I know I couldn't see it, didn't want to grab blindly, and now I wonder now if I would have been able to move him if I'd been able to grab his collar without bumping Shorty and her owner around. I would have had to pull straight back, as his head was buried in Shorty.

Probably should have done something different.

[bubbatd]

President Johnson sure got his flack from lifting his beagle by the ears !! Not sure if it was Him or Her !

[Zoom]

I guess I'm confused...you could see his ears well enough to grab on to those, but not his collar, which I'm assuming would have been closer to being hair free than his ears? I'm not trying to rag on you, just how I'm picturing things.

[wcladymacbeth]

Capone sounds like my Caesar He *likes* to be whacked about and knocked around, and it gets him wanting to play too. That's how I got him to want to play fetch - I had to hit him with the frisbee and then toss it LOL. But I don't go to classes with him... not sure if I would do that stuff in a class, but it would probably be hard to break certain habits with him just because we were in a different environment

[BullMastiffMama]

Oh -- no. I'm sorry, I looked back on the initial post and see now that it's clear as mud. I think his head was a bit further than how the description reads.

His head was between her rear legs.
I give him a 'HEY' - usually gets the job done.
He ignores it and moves further up underneath Shorty,(He has 'slunk down' in order to plant his head this low) his head turned a bit to sniff 'girl stuff' more to the left. (tilt your head to your right shoulder - see what I mean?)
I am looking at this from the right side of the dogs and can see his right ear hanging exposed from just in front of Shorty's right rear leg.

Sorry, I'm not terribly articulate today, it would seem.

[Zoom]

LOL it's ok, join the club!

yeah, I get Sawyer riled up by grabbing onto his ruff and stuff, but I don't usually do it in a class, because then he gets stupidly loud and we get looks from that.