(VICT) Re: Alex- Dog Attack
- From: Sheila Styron <sheilastyron@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: vi-clicker-trainers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 01 Sep 2007 10:29:35 -0500
I guess I find the whole issue of uncontrolled pet dogs roaming free so
serious that I would report my neighbors. Usually, these people don't
heed anyone's warnings anyhow, but at least the offenses will be on
record in the event of any more serious altercations taking place in the
future. This is the only way we can get the attention of authorities and
eventually maybe stiffen penalties and ultimately stronger enforcement.
I of course think your idea of circulating information is a positive
thing to do as well and might help persuade those who are on the fence
to be responsible pet owners and not allow their dogs to run loose,
unsupervised.
Sheila Styron, President
Guide Dog Users, Inc.
816-363-3172
sheilastyron@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
-----Original Message-----
From: vi-clicker-trainers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:vi-clicker-trainers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Infinitepaws@xxxxxxx
Sent: Saturday, September 01, 2007 9:00 AM
To: vi-clicker-trainers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: (VICT) Alex- Dog Attack
Hi all! I finally gave up getting the GDUI presentation to download on
my
computer and got permission to download it to cd at work. One of the
reasons was
that Alex was "attacked" while coming home the other evening and while
she
seemed to handle it fairly well, I was checking to see if there was
something
else I could do or could have done. BTW, it was a good presentation! it
is at
_www.gdui.org_ (http://www.gdui.org) on the front page to download as a
audio file. Although if you have dial-up it might not download
properly..which
was my problem.
One of the things I have talked about here was touched upon in the
presentation. They said that many times a dog that is actively guiding
and not paying
attention to the other dog is less likely to be attacked and/or
injured.
I work actively with Alex on walking and working past fence fighting
dogs
when I can.. Luckily for me we have some on the corner on the way to the
bus
stop to practice with. Anyway, I have a cue called "On by" that is a cue
for her
to ignore their distraction and speed up forward. I use this on many
distractions but it is most used for fence fighting dogs or other dogs
we encounter
on leash. It really helped the other day.
Alex and I have to go to the store every other day to buy dog food since
we
are temporarily feeding kibble instead of raw and I cannot carry huge
bags of
dog food easily. The danes and Alex eat 20 lbs every other day. Anyway
the
idiot bus driver missed my stop and ended up letting us off 3 blocks
past my
stop. It means jaywalking a major street and walking up a really steep
hill,
but what the heck, gotta do what you gotta do. Anyway we were just
coming to
the top of the hill and were about 3 houses from home when two (I
think) small
dark dogs came running out from the front porch and tried to attack
Alex. I
was stumbling over them and they were under Alex's feet..I cued Alex
"on by"
and tried to keep going .. hoping the owners would get the damned dogs.
Alex,
bless her soul, tried to do what I asked and did pretty good
considering. She
just turned in her harness and pulled to look back a few times after we
had
gotten clear of them and the owners had corralled them..
I hate owners who choose to have their dogs off leash and yet cannot
control
them with voice commands..If they had run out and the owner had voice
control , they could have called them back before the engaged Alex. I
firmly
believe in the saying Unleashed is Unloved. Except where the dogs have
earned the
privilege of being off leash due to owner training.., anyway, off that
soapbox...
We got to the house and , since she had handled that so well I took her
harness off immediately inside our gate and turned the sprinkler on..
her
favorite reward.
Alex and I went to get dog food again last night and we have developed
a
small problem that I hope some time and work will cure. We were walking
to the
bus stop and a small dog was being walked on leash and we had to pass
it, of
course it lunged out to the end of its leash although not agressively
and
Alex was a bit nervous. I cued On by and we went on to the bus stop .
Unfortunately they were following us and I had a little bit of a time
getting Alex to
focus on work instead of them. She did do fine when we sat down and the
little
dog walked by on the side walk in front of us.. just a tiny whine. On
the
way back,we came in from our regular stop and some small dogs opposite
the
large fence-fighting dogs started barking and fence fighting. Alex
lurched
forward into her harness like she would for a on by cue but also was
vocalizing a
little with tiny yips and squeaks.. I dont want her to do that at all.
I am
going to ignore it and c/t quiet over the next few weeks and see what
happens.
She also pulled really hard on the last street cross to our gate.
Hopefully
that was due to the sprinkler reward and not relief at getting home..
I don't want to report the owners to animal control since they live 3
doors
away and could cause problems but I do plan on dropping off some
information
in their mailbox about the penalties for off leash dogs and for
interfering
with a service animal.. actually I might just do that with the
surrounding
neighborhood too. A little public ed can't hurt. Hopefully it was a
one-time
thing.. Hopefully, there won't be any long term issues either.
Any other ideas or thoughts?
Sandy Foushee
Infinite Paws-Abilities Training and Service Dogs
Teamed with Alexandra Guide/Service Dog
Colorado Service/Assistance Dog Club - Trainer.-
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