Post by Kona on Apr 12, 2005 13:35:05 GMT -5
I had a guy sign up for one of my eight-week obedience classes. The first day he spent most of the hour just arguing with me. His main question seemed to be "How can I stick my dog in the back yard, completely ignore him, and still expect him to read my mind and do exactly what I want him to do?"
He has a black lab mix, and the poor thing just seemed lonely and needy. The guy's first question was, "How do I get him to stop scratching at the back door?" to which I replied, "Why is he in the back yard?"
He said, "That's where a dog belongs." It kind of went downhill from there. I pointed out that dogs are social animals with real emotional needs. No response. I tried another tactic and talked about the dog's safety. I pointed out that we live in a desert and the poor guy might just want back inside where it's cool. He said that there's a pool in the backyard.
A pool! Like the dog is going to spend the day swimming to keep cool! I said that not only are dogs not safe unsupervised around pools, but also he was probably going to start drinking out of the pool since to him it's just a big doggy bowl. I reminded him that pools have chlorine and acid in them, and I told him that the chemicals would destroy the dog's kidneys.
He said that he wanted a dog to protect his backyard, and I pointed out that a dog in the backyard really couldn’t do much if someone breaks into the house. What's he going to do, keep someone from stealing the pool?
He said that a dog in the house all day might make a mess. I told him about crate training, and he said that crates are cruel.
I talked about the dog developing bad habits like digging or eating rocks while unsupervised. I talked about the dog barking and maybe bothering the neighbors. I talked about the dog jumping the fence and running away. I talked about the dog getting desperate to get in the house and becoming destructive by scratching and chewing at the door. And on and on and on.
He just kept saying, "Well, that's not the way I was raised." I finally said, "What does the way that you were raised have to do with it? You are an intelligent (ha!) adult, and you can see that it is not in the dog's best interest to be outside all day. It's hot, it's unsafe, and it's just sad for your dog."
So he came back the next day before I got to work and he refunded on the class.
The (sort of) good news is I can now devote the hour to the people who are actually there to learn something. The bad news is obvious. The poor, poor dog.
He has a black lab mix, and the poor thing just seemed lonely and needy. The guy's first question was, "How do I get him to stop scratching at the back door?" to which I replied, "Why is he in the back yard?"
He said, "That's where a dog belongs." It kind of went downhill from there. I pointed out that dogs are social animals with real emotional needs. No response. I tried another tactic and talked about the dog's safety. I pointed out that we live in a desert and the poor guy might just want back inside where it's cool. He said that there's a pool in the backyard.
A pool! Like the dog is going to spend the day swimming to keep cool! I said that not only are dogs not safe unsupervised around pools, but also he was probably going to start drinking out of the pool since to him it's just a big doggy bowl. I reminded him that pools have chlorine and acid in them, and I told him that the chemicals would destroy the dog's kidneys.
He said that he wanted a dog to protect his backyard, and I pointed out that a dog in the backyard really couldn’t do much if someone breaks into the house. What's he going to do, keep someone from stealing the pool?
He said that a dog in the house all day might make a mess. I told him about crate training, and he said that crates are cruel.
I talked about the dog developing bad habits like digging or eating rocks while unsupervised. I talked about the dog barking and maybe bothering the neighbors. I talked about the dog jumping the fence and running away. I talked about the dog getting desperate to get in the house and becoming destructive by scratching and chewing at the door. And on and on and on.
He just kept saying, "Well, that's not the way I was raised." I finally said, "What does the way that you were raised have to do with it? You are an intelligent (ha!) adult, and you can see that it is not in the dog's best interest to be outside all day. It's hot, it's unsafe, and it's just sad for your dog."
So he came back the next day before I got to work and he refunded on the class.
The (sort of) good news is I can now devote the hour to the people who are actually there to learn something. The bad news is obvious. The poor, poor dog.