So I met a neighbor just now. He saw me and my dogs out in the yard and came marching right up to the fence to, ya know, encourage his dogs to be friendly. He had a cheerful little scruffy puppy and--wait for it--one of the prettiest little pit bull girls I've ever seen. She was scared to the point of shut down. He was oblivious.
"I grab her muzzle a lot," he said. "I watch Cesar Milan all the time. I have to yell at her and dominate her. She hides under the bed all the time." And on and on. Meanwhile, this sweet, pretty, gentle little dog is obviously terrified of him and shys away when he reaches for her.
"So how's the dominance stuff working for you?" I ask. "Does she do what you want?"
Long pause. "Well, no," he says reluctantly, then adds quickly, "but I'm not at my mother's house all day to work on it." These are apparently his mother's dogs, and she has not even bothered to housebreak them.
I finally talked him into moving his hand under her chin to pet her. She tensed a bit, then visibly relaxed. He was surprised. I kept smiling. Gritting my teeth, but smiling. "Oh," he said, "she's not scared of me now that we're standing here talking." Right. She's tense as a knot of wood, ears tight to her head, tail clamped, sending every aversion signal she knows, and he thinks she's not scared?
He walks them most days because his mother doesn't bother. His idea of socialization is to pull them up to the fence in yards that have dogs in them. This is supposed to show his dogs that they don't have to hide under the bed all the time. I gently pointed out that many dogs don't like having other dogs come up to their territory and that it probably scares his dog to death. Should have saved my breath; he's one of those that knows things and therefore cannot hear you.
I tried mentioning a bit of training using food rewards. She is such a lovely little thing--did I mention?--and obviously wants to please him. She'd be so EASY to train. But, no, he's not there all day to train, so no training at all can be done. I would never, ever have wasted my breath on him, only---
She's such a sweet, pretty little thing.
"I grab her muzzle a lot," he said. "I watch Cesar Milan all the time. I have to yell at her and dominate her. She hides under the bed all the time." And on and on. Meanwhile, this sweet, pretty, gentle little dog is obviously terrified of him and shys away when he reaches for her.
"So how's the dominance stuff working for you?" I ask. "Does she do what you want?"
Long pause. "Well, no," he says reluctantly, then adds quickly, "but I'm not at my mother's house all day to work on it." These are apparently his mother's dogs, and she has not even bothered to housebreak them.
I finally talked him into moving his hand under her chin to pet her. She tensed a bit, then visibly relaxed. He was surprised. I kept smiling. Gritting my teeth, but smiling. "Oh," he said, "she's not scared of me now that we're standing here talking." Right. She's tense as a knot of wood, ears tight to her head, tail clamped, sending every aversion signal she knows, and he thinks she's not scared?
He walks them most days because his mother doesn't bother. His idea of socialization is to pull them up to the fence in yards that have dogs in them. This is supposed to show his dogs that they don't have to hide under the bed all the time. I gently pointed out that many dogs don't like having other dogs come up to their territory and that it probably scares his dog to death. Should have saved my breath; he's one of those that knows things and therefore cannot hear you.
I tried mentioning a bit of training using food rewards. She is such a lovely little thing--did I mention?--and obviously wants to please him. She'd be so EASY to train. But, no, he's not there all day to train, so no training at all can be done. I would never, ever have wasted my breath on him, only---
She's such a sweet, pretty little thing.
Poor little girl.