I’m A Little Hurt

[FAB dogs]

I’ve started Fenway in a training class. Last week was the first week and within 10 minutes we were behind the partition working out of sight of the other dogs. He gets over excited and starts jumping around, lunging, and making his Tasmanian devil noises. Of the eight or so handlers in class, only one person complained about him - the uptight woman with the yappy corgi - so I took no offense whatsoever.

Tonight was the second week and we actually spent most of the class working in sight of the other dogs. Only had to go behind the partition during the more active exercises where he got over stimulated and I just couldn‘t get him to refocus on me. The class assistant came over to talk to me a couple of times and commented that with his bullet shaped head and barely there stop, Fenway almost look like a bull terrier. Later, we tried doing a recall with him. The assistant was supposed to hold his leash while I called him. Instead, she asked if he was going to bite her and acted all nervous about him jumping on her.

What really hurts is that she’s known me for over a year. She also knows Avery my psycho terrier who acts like a lunatic in class on occasion (okay, more than just occasionally) and she knows I always keep my dogs under control and have no problem with removing them if they get too crazy. It’s not like I’m a total stranger walking in off the street with an unknown, aggressive, dangerous dog. I expect the ignorant (uptight corgi owners) to have a problem with my “bully” type dog when he acts wild. But it really hurts when someone who is more educated in dogs and knows me personally has a problem with him.

[SLS61185]

I don't blame you one bit. I'd be a little offended if it were me... And it takes A LOT to actually offend me.

But, on that note, we just put Patch in classes too... And it's funny, we're in week two, also. Plus, Tuesday was our second class, and we also did the recall thing.

[pitbullmamaliz]

Are you friendly with the main trainer? That's worth mentioning to him/her, IMO. Inara and I have been in classes pretty much non-stop for a long time now, and NEVER has a trainer or trainer-in-training said anything like that. I'd be salty and, quite frankly, appalled. Especially since you know her.

[iluvk9]

I don't know much about dog training, but as a Teacher who has Teacher Assistants and student teachers, I would want to know if anyone working with me handled a situation like "that one" did. And I don't think you should be "hurt", in as much as I think you should be PISSED. You are there for HELP in TRAINING.

[TinaMartin]

I would fall under the PISSED category. I can tell you that when I was working through some of Gators issues he looked terrible in class. My trainer calmly explained to any new students in rotation why he was behaving the way he was and making sure that everyone understood.

[BigDogBuford]

Is she's acting nervous and unsure about a dog that she knows then she shouldn't be assisting at this point. Clearly she doesn't have enough experience to be handling dogs in any way, shape or form yet. The trainers and assistants are there to deal with the 'sleshul' dogs and she's clearly not ready for that.

[SisMorphine]

I know it can hurt when people say stuff like that, but also look at the other side of it:

There are a lot of dogs that when in a position of frustration (such as that type of teaching of recall, which is exactly how I teach recall as well so I'm not saying that it's bad) will nip/bite the person who is holding it back from what it wants. Since she saw in class that your dog can get overexcited, she may have just wanted to know if that was the case ESPECIALLY if she's been in an instance before where a dog did bite her out of frustration.

I've said the same or similar to several of my friends with drivey dogs before. NOT because I was afraid of their dog, but because I wanted to be prepared if he was going to attempt to nail me. Then again I guess biting dogs are what I'm into so it's always at the top of my mind. LOL!

[furever_pit]

I get where Sis is coming from too. I've heard about dogs that will come up at the person restraining them in an exercise like this simply out of frustration. I have also seen it. So it is something to be aware of.

Conversely, if she is nervous/scared of your dog I agree that she probably shouldn't be handling him. I think it would be better if you can find someone to hold onto him who is more comfortable with the situation.

[plebayo]

I know it can hurt when people say stuff like that, but also look at the other side of it:

There are a lot of dogs that when in a position of frustration (such as that type of teaching of recall, which is exactly how I teach recall as well so I'm not saying that it's bad) will nip/bite the person who is holding it back from what it wants. Since she saw in class that your dog can get overexcited, she may have just wanted to know if that was the case ESPECIALLY if she's been in an instance before where a dog did bite her out of frustration.

I've said the same or similar to several of my friends with drivey dogs before. NOT because I was afraid of their dog, but because I wanted to be prepared if he was going to attempt to nail me. Then again I guess biting dogs are what I'm into so it's always at the top of my mind. LOL!

This is kind of what I was thinking. My initial thought was that the dog was acting out/out of control and she wanted to make sure his reaction wasn't going to be to bite out of frustration. I'm also wondering if she was "nervous" that he was jumping on her, or just annoyed. I work with a girl who gets all tense when my dog Seth comes around because she's anticipating him jumping on her and she doesn't like it - quite frankly I don't expect anyone to enjoy it because it can't be a really annoying habit.

I also agree with furever_pit, it might be best to find someone else to handle the dog that is more comfortable with it.

[SisMorphine]

Conversely, if she is nervous/scared of your dog I agree that she probably shouldn't be handling him. I think it would be better if you can find someone to hold onto him who is more comfortable with the situation.

Yup I definitely agree with this.

[BigDogBuford]

Conversely, if she is nervous/scared of your dog I agree that she probably shouldn't be handling him. I think it would be better if you can find someone to hold onto him who is more comfortable with the situation.

Yup I definitely agree with this.

That's what I was trying to say only I sounded way more bitchy.

[TheRedQueen]

We do restrained recalls in flyball, and I don't have any "iffy" people hold dogs...if they're not confident, they shouldn't be putting hands on dogs at all.

But yeah, I feel your pain...I still have friends that are worried about Inara...after many years of knowing her.

[DemoDick]

Is she's acting nervous and unsure about a dog that she knows then she shouldn't be assisting at this point. Clearly she doesn't have enough experience to be handling dogs in any way, shape or form yet. The trainers and assistants are there to deal with the 'sleshul' dogs and she's clearly not ready for that.

I agree 100%. When someone who identifies as a trainer-at any level-has to ask the owner if the dog is "going to bite" them, they have zero ability to read the dog, and not much quality experience with owners either. Anyone who trains for any period of time knows that novice handlers are a poor source of information, often the worst, at predicting the dog's behavior.

How many times have we heard "He's NEVER done that before!" when we saw "it" coming a mile away?

Demo Dick