Our Favorite Girls, Hannah & Katie

Sorry to my other customers, but Hannah & Katie have been coming here for five years now to board.   They were my first multi dog in house case for the residency training program.   Hannah put me through heck and back, and I like that in a girl LOL.

Recently we had a visit with our 12 year old lady guests:

Hannah is a sleeping beauty.

Hannah is an awaking beauty.

Katie's close up!

Hannah's close up!!

Hannah makes a really cute spider.

Katie says "I can get this thing off, if I just rub hard enough."

Hey this thing isn't so bad, look I can run in it.

Cute Katie Pumpkin.

Well, I had to torture Leon, didn't I.   Here he is wearing the only part of the spider costume that will fit.  See a "stand" and "look" command really do come in handy sometimes.

Now Leon is wearing the only part of the pumpkin costume that will fit him. 

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Dog Events - Why You Should Go!

If you have prepared your dog at all, a great place to proof around food issues.   Here Boris is uncharacteristically waiting for Robert to make selection, while not making a grab for cookies in easy reach of Boris (trust me on this, he would have no problem grabbing those).

It is seldom that you get dog opportunities where most other people feel comfortable around dogs in general.   Socialization of the human animals with their dogs is also important.

Dogs who get out and about are stimulated mentally.   Dogs need mental stimulation.   We have television, books, and the ability to go out and do things.   Dogs also crave mental stimulation of working and being with their owners on adventures.

You get to brag and show off your dog:)  There is Boris walking with me down the center, while another tells his story of how he came to be with us.

The right kind of mental and physical stimulation can make your dog very content and sleepy LOL.

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York Maine Citizens Work Together to Reunite Beagle and Owner

Chance and a series of coincidences put us on Old Post Road in York Maine late yesterday afternoon. As easily as the yellow Nissan was traveling down that road, the vehicle was meant to be doing other things or parked in a driveway at that hour.

Although that location and sight of Beagle bombing around a busy road almost brought on the onset of heart arrhythmia at that moment, I was glad to be at that location at that time. I witnessed a Beagle racing across busy from Trafton Street across to the busy Old Post Road and headed towards Route 1! The husband looked at me, stopped the truck, and said "go do your thing". Nonchalantly, I exited the car. As the husband said later "he did not look like a comer". My plan of action involved slow maneuvering and hopefully getting the dog interested in me.
A couple of close calls with cars combined with me feeling the need to jump out in front of them, convinced me that a more speedy tact was required. So I flagged down a motorist that was willing to help, and started jogging (okay if felt like running to me, but it was really more like a jog). The young men stopped in the middle of the road, and opened their car door hoping to redirect him in. Instead he went around back, where thankfully a neighbor, witnessing the action, waited and scooped him up. Truly this was a team effort from a bunch of people who had no idea who the others were.

In turn, the Beagle was handed over and deposited into our awaiting Nissan. Luckily, I am familiar with the Animal Control Officer of York Maine, Larry W McAfee. Larry is a great asset to York Maine, patient, reasonable, and willing to help. He is also a great source to go to with questions about what is going on in town regarding possible legislation issues regarding dogs. This dog was without tags of course, or we would have just called and delivered him ourselves to his owners. Time was spent riding around and seeing if there was anyone out calling or looking for a dog. The neighborhoods around the area were all quiet.

So off the very upset Beagle went to be logged in with animal control. One thing about our animal control here is that they are very in touch with how to quickly figure out if this is a resident's dog or not. Larry explained that while it was a shame this guy did not have his tag on, all licensed dogs in York Maine are in a database according to breed and sex et. Plus there is a different fee for un-neutered dogs, so it probably would be pretty quick to narrow dog where this dog was supposed to be. Worse came to worse, they would scan the dog for a microchip.

Sure enough, we bumped into Larry about a half hour later. He was quite happy to report that the dog was reunited with his owner on Rodgers Road. That is a good mile and a mile and a half from where he was found. His owner was calling for him in that area, but obviously we could not hear him from that far away. Also a gate had been left unlatched, and Mr unaltered started out on his adventure. Scary. Be sure to watch out for your dogs, and even one of those collars with the phone number on it can be a big help in the event of an accident or mistake.

Thanks to the whole team, and especially York Animal Control Officer Larry for making this happy ending possible.

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Our Latest Victim, er Model, Minny Manny

These dogs all seem to be laughing, but at what?   Roxy, Harley, Magoo and Boris are finding something very amusing.

Oh come on!!  Isn't it bad enough that I am the smallest one here?

This is ver undignified.

Does this pitful look gain me ANY sympathy?

I give up, do what you will and be quick about it.

Alright, everyone thinks I am a fluffy now.

I'm outta here.

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Boris and Evie at Doberman Picnic 2010

We found Boris's sister and littermate, Evie.

Who is this vision of loveliness?

Boris thinking sneaky thoughts.

Look, I bark just like you, see?

That treat should be meant for me.

Now that is more like it.

Evie and Boris meet again.

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Do you think I get a little excited about Halloween?

He is literally a Pumpkin.  My sweet Boris.

Ollie and Alyssa help model some Halloween costumes.

My favorite Halloween wreath.   Sparkly!!

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Why For No Blogging Mannerly Mutts?

First of all, apparently I am "over the hill" according to my loving family as I turned "a certain age" this August.

Question:  OMG, how busy have we been?  

Answer (see below also for details):  Got two board and train cases unexpectedly on the same busiest weeks for boarding, as they were both emergency cases.   Historically, August has been a crazy month.   Each week is a months worth of work in August.   Summer is not for the faint of heart here at Mannerly Mutts, and I see now more than ever that I will need an assistant next year, and possibly this fall if I start the group classes (the announcement will be coming for my former students).

I have not been busy training competition dogs, Magoo (client dog training for Open AKC), and Boris (my three legged dog training for Novice UKC).  In fact all the maintaining of training on current dogs goes out the window during the month of August.  So here is what we HAVE BEEN doing:

Computer Crashed and Down During Busy Time:  Granted, I really needed a new computer anyway.  I wanted a laptop with all the ports and attachments to do my work quickly and where ever the dogs are.   My computer was painfully slow even hooked up directly to the DSL line.   Still have not transferred everything that I need to my new Toshiba Satellite (love it).   Perhaps today will be the day to figure out how to plug my camera card and camcorder in.

Jake (a mix of mystery):  Did not take a picture of my new buddY yet:(   Jake came here to train in order to move with his owner to an assisted living situation.   Jake was never properly house trained, and his owner is loosing some memory functions.   Obviously, it's important that the facility remain clean from accidents.   So Jake came here to do house training, a little obedience training, and training to ring the bell to alert the owner.   The owner has remembered (a little too much) to let Jake out, so I may need to visit to reinforce the bell training, so when the memory does not work ---  Jake will.   So far so good as far as the house training has gone for his new home.  

This has been a wonderful case to work on.   His owner and the sons have been so supportive and helpful of being a team in this process.   It's been a very heartwarming case.   Jake is a wonderful dog by the way.   He is very playful and young, but has been a great companion to his less young owner.   So happy that they will be able to stay together.  

Huntington Commons is a retirement community that does allow their residents to keep dogs (and so I am assuming other pets as well) given the residents are able to follow some guidelines.   That is a happy thing especially for my future old age, though I hope to still be training well into my eighties.

Rocko (Maltese and Shih Tzu):  This two year old is a dynamo.   He came here after a second incident with a child.   Interestingly enough, this is more of an inappropriate play thing, it would seem, than an aggression thing.   I did not see the incident, but the parents report it's much like what they see when Rocko is playing with the dogs.   Dogs have fur though, where human beings do not.   Rocko being a small mite of a thing with uber confidence and not that much socialization, has trouble seeing the difference between any human who is playing with him and a dog.   His teeth are still young, white, and sharp, so catching something in the air at the right angle on the way down can cause a mark or bite wound.   Rocko is just needing work on self control around humans who play with him, and also more socialization and real world experiences.   Though a small dog, this is a dog that gets bored easily and needs a lot of activity.  He needs this activity in more of an outlet than just play.

Rocko is the classic case of the cycle that can go on in dog ownership.   First as a puppy, his barking, charging, was cute (well still is truth to be told, but...).   However, as human owners we need to look into the future and realize there are things coming down the pike that we must prepare our dogs for.   Like that children have soft skin without fur, and if we want our dogs to play with children (or be controllable around children) then we need to prepare them.

So then when Rocko was barking (a previous cute behavior that was inadvertently rewarded) in public or in the yard, the owners started to avoid those activities that would make Rocko bark.   Rocko goes out less, but still needs mental and physical activity so the now unwanted behaviors increase instead of being channelled correctly.

Rocko is a really good guy and very fun loving.   His owners have a hard time believing what an incredible obedience or agility guy this munchkin would be.   However, it's true:)  Rocko loves to work, and he loves to go on adventures.  Now it's about pushing his owners out there with him.  It's also about training the owners to control the environment for Rocko to learn how to be self controlled and calm.

Lola (thought to be Pit bull X Female and Housemate of Buddy):  Lola came here after an incident with he owner's niece.   However, she had always been hard to handle on lead in public around dogs.  Lola is a sweetheart with those that she knows.   She can show a bit of resource guarding with her other canine housemate.   She does like dogs, but her lack of socialization seems to have made her very wary, and she likes to go on the defensive first to be sure the other dog doesn't get to her first.   It matters little what the other dog is doing at the time.

Lola also was taken in at a much younger age than is advised.   So she missed out on much of the nurturing and sibling interactions that a dog should have.  

Buddy Cocker Spaniel Male (and Housemate of Lola):  Buddy and Lola adore each other.   Buddy is now taking private coaching lessons with his owners, so that they can learn how to train him as well.  It does make life much easier when all dogs in the household are trained on basic obedience and manners.

Alyssa (Husky):  OMG, such a cute Husky puppy.  Alyssa is here for daycare and training.   The training is limited as her knees are fluctuating improperly.   Surgery may be necessary to correct this for her.   She is coming into just one years old now.

Jake German Shepherd 10 Month Old Male (Sibling to Roxy):  Most breeders will not adopt out two siblings.   This pairing happened in a sort of accident.   One of the human siblings was holding the other puppy for a surprise later for the other family.   However, the holder fell in love with that puppy too.   (as well as the one that they totally planned to purchase for themselves)   Hence, at 10 months, the classic problems that arise out of this are rearing their head.

Jake is the more confident and larger of the two siblings.   He came up and sniffed me right away at his first lesson.   He gets reactive to sudden and movements from a distance.

Both siblings get anxious when they can not get to each other.

Roxy German Shepherd 10 Month Old Female (Sibling to Jake):  Roxy is more fearful and timid than Jake.  She did not elect to sniff or greet me the whole first lesson .  

Both siblings get anxious when they can not get to each other.

Salty (German Short haired Pointer Female):  Salty had an incident related to her invisible fence.   She also has not been trained to be confident and calm around her boundaries, and so we have started the coaching with her owners to get her back to enjoying the freedom of her yard:)

Daycare and walking:  Alyssa (the Husky female puppy mentioned above) is our most recent daycare client.  Ollie (a hound mix of some sort, I assume) has been my walking client since late this winter or early spring, and is now a daycare client here.

Boarding, boarding, and more boarding:  Boarding during August has been historically busy and crazy for the month.  We easily do every other month's work in a week.   We did have a few new guests this year Carlus (beagle and housemate to Bachus), Bachus (Great Pyrenes),  Polly (Chocolate Lab), and Lucey (Golden Lab and housemate to Fenway, Standard Poodle).   We also had regular guests Petey (Giant Schnauzer who recently passed away due to some health difficulties), Magoo CD (Great Dane and Petey's housemate), Roxy (Great Dane and Harley's housemate), Harley (Great Dane and Roxy's housemate), Bogey (cutest Beagle that you will ever meet), and more.   Plus we had all of the above going on as well.

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Wonderful News About Mandy

At Mannerly Mutts we go on a journey with both our canine and human clients.   It's sometimes a hard and scary journey that is filled with stress that this might not work out for the team.   Our success rate is high (in the 90% and above), but still every case involves new individuals and new circumstances.   Mandy was a dog that came from an unusual circumstance, as much of her life she was tied to a garage before she was rescued and finally adopted by her wonderful owner.  Her situation and reactions to the new life were not easy.   Compounding that was the fact that Mandy is a very powerful Lab/Golden Retriever mix.   She is responsible for me loosing ten pounds in her two weeks here.  Mandy's desire for freedom and thus her bolting were entirely understandable.   Plus she was attacked and impregnated while tied to the garage by her previous family.

Mandy was one of the harder cases due to her sheer strength and determination to get to a dog in order to attack it.   Very high defense drive due to her previous living conditions.   We only had two weeks with Mandy.   The main areas were to get her walking on leash controlled in normal circumstances, and to start her education that all dogs were not out to attack her.   Also, to teach her that when on leash with her owner, she would be perfectly safe.   The garage did not take care of her that well that her previous owners had tied her to.

Freedom and exercise were what motivated Mandy towards becoming more trusting and obedient to her human partners.  Here is Mandy's owner's update (Mandy trained here in March 2010):

Robin and Robert:

I'm way overdue in letting you know how Mandy and I are progressing, this because of frenetic happenings with my work that have left little time for personal notes of late. I've just finished working 37 days straight without a break, often long hours, and spent most of this first weekend at home in close contact with my pillow!

I continue to learn new things about and with Mandy as we go through our first summer together. She has recently discovered hummingbirds (with awe), fireflies (quizzically), watermelon (yum) and kiddie pools (having her own). She totally enjoys boat travel, having come on two recent day-long lake trips (see picture), but is still awful in cars.

Recently the two of us looked after a provincial park for three days and she was quite good at greeting people and dogs as they arrived. It was beastly hot (no pun intended) and I knew it was time to take her to the lake for an extra swim when I found her standing with her front feet in her water bucket!

She has also had her first dog sleep-over, as a good friend of mine and her golden came to stay for 4 nights. This went wonderfully: Mandy had no trouble with another dog sharing her house space and in fact we were kept busy early and late giving these gals the play time they craved. I'm including a picture of me, Mandy and her golden friend Emma at the beach.

I continue to work on Mandy's attitude toward unfamiliar dogs, with notable gains. She still tends to approach new dogs a bit too quickly but has not done this in "attack mode" in the last two months. She is learning to greet in more proper dog fashion.

A prime goal has been to get past a fenced yard with a very yappy terrier without Mandy ripping me off my feet. I'd hoped to achieve this by fall but have made faster progress. She can now make it by this yard with just minor whines and no bolting, although some days I would gladly strangle the damn terrier myself!

Also she is now good at being within a quarter block of unknown dogs without stress, and recently had a face-to-face with an unknown aggressive and equally-sized dog, and she pulled back on my verbal command. More work to do here, but remarkable progress from where she was just months ago.

She no longer bolts out the door and down the street when I come and go from the house, but instead greets me when I come home and (mostly) takes it gracefully when I leave. My office moved recently, so I can't take her to work with me as before, and we're working that out. She sits obediently for leash and food, with some big wiggles when excited.

I've been admittedly slack on leash "heel" lately, as I've been so bone-weary that we more often go the to ball field, where she can run, rather than walk around many blocks. We do have a daily 20-minute walk date (weekdays at 7am sharp) with an older dog, which she looks forward to, and do some heel work on this.

Once my frenetic summer season ends (mid-September), I'll be more structured in Mandy's daily routines and my own, and will be focusing on leash work.

The electronic collar, while rarely needed, continues to be a god-send. It has allowed her much more freedom, me knowing that I can use it to save both of us if exceptional circumstances arise in her heat of the moment.

All in all, she is now well on her way to becoming a normal dog and wonderful companion, in spite of her difficult past. It has not been an easy journey and we're not entirely there yet, but I am hopeful and the two of us continue to work at it.

Thanks for your support.

No thanks to my client for being dedicated and working with Mandy:)   This is what makes my job and my business the absolute best!!!

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My New Assistant

Meet my new friend.   This wireless Toshiba Satellite is replacing my husbands castoff compaq, which had long ago seen better days.   In fact, I never liked that computer.   It came preloaded with all the viruses that my husband picked up after my far more awesome VPR died.  As nifty as my VPR died, this computer is going to save me a lot of time in downloading graphics, posting, and generally just not hanging up or slowing down for years to come.

Plus now I am mobile, so I can blog post while watching the dogs in the backyard.   Perhaps even take pictures of what I am blogging about right there and instantly download them just as the blog mood strikes.  The battery on this baby lasts a reported five hours.   That is a lot of wirefree time for blog posting.  

Now I have moved to my bedroom and typing in the dark of the morning with my trusty canine companions by my side (sound asleep and snoring of course)!   Course the movement through the house of a previous potty trip for my dogs and this trip have caused both Jake and Lucey to now be barking.   New houseguests often take a few days to get acclimated to their new sorroundings.   Other than that, both slept very well last night.   Now I just hope the husband is able to sleep through the current turmoil.   Jake should quiet down first, and then Lucey may go for the rest of the morning.   Her first night here she went almost all night.  

Now very soon I am going to most likely need a more flesh and blood type of assistant.   I figure my little Toshiba Satellite is going to save me hours and hours of rebooting, uploading, and freeze time alone.   I am talking about per day!!   The last thing a dog trainer needs is non productive freeze and reboot time!!   So then all I will need is the videoing of lessons, cleaning of bowls, vaccuming and mopping of rooms, daycare supervision when I have lessons, walks, pickup and drop off, and feeding.  These last couple of years I could have really used some relief during the day.   Now that I am eating better and taking care of myself more, my energy has been up so that I can keep up with the work load.   However, my days or hours off are few and far between sometimes.   I need a little boosting period or nap to reenergize sometimes.

Now instead of reaching down to turn off my computer so it can turn on again and check some drives, I can get my paperwork and correspondence done much faster and get on with training!!

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Our Weekend and Our Weekend Guests!!!

Proud of his ballie

How cute is Leon?

Wiggling and Waggling it for added attraction.

Bella wonders "hmmm what is over here?"

This wand thing has pretty lights.   She showed me before.

Oh, I know I could walk around the couch.   I go to the beat of a different drummer though.

Here is another thing that lights up.   Interesting.

Petey and Robin chillax on the couch after a long day.

Two friends from the beach are at the fleamarket.

Sales were brisk at the fleamarket at the Masonic Lodge in York Maine.

What a great job Robert did with the teapots and such.

I had many books on the table, including some dog books that I no longer need in my library.

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Seminars Given in The New England Area

As some of my long term followers know, I don't think that we normally get the best and brightest of trainers giving seminars in the New England area.   I am not making a statement on any of the ones below, this is for "your own information", and there may or may not be ones that I would personally attend.   For those of us that can't travel long distances all the time to attend seminars and events (great venues to proof your training), here are some in our area:

First of all, let me give you some sources of where one can look for seminars in the New England area:

Dog Seminars Yahoo Group
K9 -New England
Down East Dog News
Mainepets (though has not been working correctly for awhile now)
Saccarappa Dog Obedience Club
Doberman Rescue Unlimited
Riverside Canine Center
TNT Kennels
All Dogs Gym and Inn
American K9 Country
MasterPeace Dog Training

Then I do a number of searches based on key words like "Maine dog seminars 2010, Massachusetts dog seminars 2010, Vermont dog seminars 2010, Rhode island dog seminars 2010, Connecticut dog seminars 2010, New England dog seminars 2010", which I infrequently but sometimes get lucky at.   Then I usually do a search for dog trainers by state, and see if any are big enough to regularly give seminars.   Then I search for the same states by dog obedience clubs.  

Seminars and Events in The New England Area:

Julie Daniels Seminar Warwick RI August 21 and 22 Speed "Em Up
Mike Ellis Seminar Warwick RI December 10-12th Protection Obedience
Hogs for Dogs Event August 7th Westbrook Maine
Paws for a Cause Event August 14th Freeport Maine
Nail Trim Clinic August 21st Augusta Maine
Gardiner Barks in the Park Event August 28th Gardiner, Maine
Doberman Rescue Unlimited's Reunion Picnic September 12th Westford MA
Summer Agility Seminars Intermediate (note it is listed under 2009, but if you look at event dates they are 2010)  August 9-10 Nashua New Hampshire
Summer Agility Seminars Masters (note it is listed under 2009, but if you look at event dates they are 2010) August 11-12 Nashua New Hampshire
Aggression Causes, Catalysts, and Cures September 16th Manchester New Hampshire
Fifth Annual All Pet Festival October 16th Manchester New Hampshire
Pet First Aid October 26th Manchester New Hampshire
Advanced Obedience Camp w/ Celeste July 29th-August st Amherst New Hampshire
World Canine Freestyle Organization National Show October 8th-10th Amherst New Hampshire
Get on the Ball July 30th Franklin Massachusetts
Canine Athlete Academy August 28-29th Franklin Massachusetts

It took me many hours to do this searching by the way.   I am sure that I missed many seminars in the area.  If you know of one, forward it to me, and I will post it the next time, if I think it is an appropriate seminar for the scope of this blog.

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Pet First Aid

Here are things that I keep in case of an emergency (getting in touch with your vet and/or calling the poison hot line is always a priority):

***Be sure to check with vet on proper dosages if you give your dog anything internally. This is best done BEFORE the emergency happens (IE call your vet before you accidentally find out you have given the wrong dose), and your vet may even have a table or chart to give to you.

• Your vets phone number and poison hot line number in an easy place to find.
• Hydrogen Peroxide (1% solution), good to clean out cuts & to induce vomiting (if you have a dog like I do that eats socks, underwear ET).
• Bandages
• Something that can be used as a tourniquet. (hidden barbed wire, glass, dog fights can cause injuries that need the bleeding to be stopped fast).
• Muzzle (dogs in pain can bite, when you need to get them somewhere quickly and safely, it's best to put something on so you don't need to worry about it, or fight the dog, but just go)
• Board that can be slid under the dog in case of back injury that will fit into vehicle.
• Old towels, rags, or diapers to put under the dog.
• Crate, for ride to the vets (don't need anything worse to happen).
• Leash, collar, and id ET ready and available so you aren't racing around the house.
• In a kit that goes with you or in your car, contact info to give to the vets, plus any medical records that you already have (in case of going to an emergency that is not your regular vet).
• Sanitary napkins to control and add pressure to reduce bleeding.
• Cotton pads to put under sticky bandages. (doesn't stick to wound)
• Benadryl (for allergic reactions)
• Rectal Thermometer and KY jelly (to lube up thermometer). Good to know what your dog's temperature SHOULD BE before doing this.

I found a more complete list at this site.
Here is the site for the Pet Poison Hotline.

Need your dog trained. Call Maine Dog Trainer, Robin Rubin, at Mannerly Mutts 207-361-4395. You may also e-mail mannerly_mutt@yahoo.com for questions about your Maine Dog Training needs.

About "Scientific Studies" on Electronic Collars

A member of the professional organization that I belong to, International Association of Canine Professionals, wrote an amazing article that highlights the problems in "scientific studies" on electronic collars.




http://ruthcrisler.wordpress.com/2010/03/30/remote_control



People hear the word "scientific" and it is assumed that very professional and scientific protocols have been put in place, perhaps by world renowned panel of scientists who are impartial to the dog training debate. One would also assume, therefore, that they would have picked helpers that actually understood and knew what they were dealing with, rather than people who would randomly torture dogs on the highest level of the little known brand of equipment that was selected for the study. Ruth makes it crystal clear what much of the dog training community on both sides is well aware of. There is a sense of humor present in this writing that gave me more than a few chuckles.



This is some one's blog that I have started to follow.

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Dog Does Not Bite, But I Do!

Originally, we come from Worcester Mass.   Years ago, our first two Dobermans, Neptune and Jazzabelle, and cats, Clyde and Mustache, lived with us in a quaint little house in a semi suburban setting.  I took for granted the solitude that I would most likely enjoy with my dogs on a walk.  In fact, it used to irritate me no end when people would cross to the side of the road, while I approached with my dog(s) in a heel.  I did not realize what a gift this could be!

Our family is now comprised of two Dobermans, Boris and Leon, plus my husband and myself.     From November to mid May York Maine remains the perfect beach getaway to live.   This means it is a quiet little community of people that you become more and more acquainted with the longer you reside here.   Then vacation or tourist season slams into York like a freight truck into a "smart car".   Bored and lonely people are now out of their element and looking for entertainment, or that is the way I explain the phenomenon to myself.

One would think it would be safe to walk or sit with one's Doberman in solitude.   Unfortunately my companions are too friendly and cute to dissuade unwanted attentions.  There are breeds that you can typically rely on to get attention.   These are the breeds that I never intend to own Great Danes, Thai Ridgeback, Newfoundlands, and Saint Bernards.  Sometimes our business needs to handle and train these dogs in public.  Good luck getting five feet unless you are terribly rude to someone.   This includes during the non-tourist/vacation season.   Sometimes a dog owner just wants to walk with their dogs, and not be treated like the local petting zoo every day.

Truthfully though, I can take being the local petting zoo with respectful people and children.   At least with my dogs, and not one of my client's dogs that I am trying to train at that moment.   The absolute worst are the weirdos that most often find me.   They find me sitting under a tree with my dog reading a book, or like just yesterday enjoying the shade of the gazebo on Short Sands with my husband and dogs.   Unfortunately, my husband was sitting on the bench in front of me, so maybe I looked approachable and single.   The funny thing is, when I am out just to enjoy myself, I practice looking unapproachable.

First there are the people with the inevitable "Doberman story".  Usually it's a neighbor's Doberman.   They report that this Doberman was always a very nice family pet until that one day.   Imagination will fill in the rest for you.   The person who found me minding my own business relaxing with my dog, also had some religious material to offer.   I guess they should have come up with a better story.

There is a second sort of situation that happens to me frequently.  These happen with  people that do not agree with dog training, or realize that the act of maintaining training may require concentration and scheduled valuable time.  I am not talking about people that have a problem with methods or tools, as those are often not seen or recognized or with me when out in public.   If I have one or more dogs in a sit stay or heel on the beach, it is guaranteed that I will get one of the following inquiries or advice:

• "Do they EVER get to play?"
• "Beach time should be play time."
• "Can my dog meet your dog", followed quickly after the explanation by "oh I didn't get what was going on" or "I couldn't figure out what was going on".
• "Can I ask you a dog training question?"
• "What kind of breed is that? I used to have one of those..."

I don't understand how people can assume that the only time I spend with my dogs (or my clients dogs) during the day is training.   Maybe it's because that hour of the day is the only time THEY spend training their dog.

The next sort of scenario happened also yesterday.   Not realizing that my husband's seat situation may be opening me up for the normal onslaught, next a man chose to sit right next to me in a gazebo of many other empty benches.  Boris then lost that side to meander and laze on, and I positioned him next to me so he wouldn't disturb the man with his highly technical reading device.   The reading device was not opened, and instead I got the "is your dog friendly".   "Why yes he is, would you like to pet him", I replied.   Why couldn't he just have read his book and left me to my enjoyable beach day?    I say that because not only was I quite aware that he didn't "love" dogs, but I was then treated to the story of why he gave his dog away after owning her for nine years.   It was a good reason at least, they didn't have time for her [insert sarcasm here].  If I stop anywhere just to enjoy my day with my dogs during this season, I get at least a couple of these until I finally give up and go home.  However, I am now training my dog, and have figured out a very passive/aggressive way to get my point across.   Here are some T-Shirt Ideas that I have come up with:

NO, MY DOG DOESN'T BITE, I DO!

MY DOG IS FRIENDLY, I AM VISCOUS.

THE DOG IS FRIENDLY  THE OWNER IS NUTS

BITES?  SURE DOES!

DOG DOES NOT BITE BUT I DO WHEN ANNOYED!

NEITHER I NOR MY DOGS ARE PART OF A PETTING ZOO

ONLY DOG STORIES I WANT TO HEAR END IN HAPPILY EVER AFTER

THIS MAY BE THE ONLY TIME YOU SPEND WITH YOUR DOG  I SPEND MANY HOURS A DAY WITH MINE

MY DOG IS NOT A COUCH POTATO HERE OR AT HOME

Maine and New Hampshire Dog Trainer
Mannerly Mutts Dog Training Blog
E-Mail Mannerly Mutts with any Questions