LJ Idol Week 5
Sometimes, when I'm out in public with my dog, I see people give me dirty looks. Usually parents with young children, who seem to think that just because my boy is muzzled, that automatically means that he wants to eat their kids. Or they sigh and shake their heads because he has decided to lunge at another dog, or bark at someone who has come too close to us.
I always get the feeling that we are being watched and judged. Bad dog, aggressive dog, nasty dog. And of course, you know what people say. If a dog is badly behaved, or poorly trained, blame the owner.
18 months ago I got into a heated debate with someone online. The woman in question knows little about dogs, yet she decided - repeated - that I was a bad and irresponsible person because I refuse to give up my dog. Her reasoning? Nervous dogs with potential aggressive tendencies should never be allowed around babies or infants. While I have never denied that she brought up some valid points, which I happily acted upon, what right does she have to label my dog as some sort of monster, and call me irresponsible when she doesn't even know us?
In a way I find it inconceivable that some people can be so arrogant, so judgemental - particularly with things they know nothing about.
This is Cory. He is a male German Shepherd, three and a half years old. I've raised him from a seven week old puppy.
This so-called 'bad', 'uncontrollable', 'aggressive' dog? He is good-natured, gentle, and loving. Cory loves ball games, and is clever enough to pick up new tricks quickly. He instinctively knows when I'm having a panic attack, and understands how to calm me down. He comforts me when I'm upset. He also has fear-aggression issues. Strange people scare him, new dogs scare him, so do most loud noises, sudden movements and new situations. He barks and lunges, not because he is badly trained, not because he is aggressive and wants to hurt people, but because he is terrified and wants the frightening things to go away.
As for me, I'm a part time student surviving on disability allowance. But as well as his food, his pet insurance, and all the other random little things, I pay every week to take him to a basic obedience class and to his agility class. For almost two years we have been attending his obedience class, through rain and deep snow and fierce wind - never missing a session.
I cannot adequately describe how difficult it is to have a dog with such a high level of issues. There are still days when I sit and cry with frustration (including one week in the middle of agility class when he just would not stop barking at everything!). Some days I want to tear my hair out. Sometimes I get angry, or wonder 'Why me - why did I end up with the broken dog?' I wonder if it is maybe somehow my fault, that I made him this way. When things happen - like in the summer when we got attacked by another dog - and his behaviour regresses, I wonder yet again how much I can reasonably cope with.
Those people who look in the street and judge me, they have no idea how hard we have worked to even get him to this stage. How much money and time and effort I have put in. They just see a dog who is behaving badly, and can't be bothered to take a minute to wonder why.
But there are successes too, and sometimes I cannot believe how fair we have come. When I first took him to my instructor, he was so reactive that I couldn't take him out in public. These days, maybe two or three times a week something will set him off. He can behave reasonably well around dogs he knows. He will tentatively let people feed him treats, as long as he has space to move away. We do dog agility now, and we can work as a team. And a very big success recently was him gaining his Canine Good Citizen Award.
I hate people who refuse to train their dogs properly, because there is no excuse for it. But most of all, I hate having myself and my dog lumped into that category.
I've been told by my instructor that Cory is probably never going to be 100% secure. There will always be issues. He will always be muzzled around children, he will probably always need time to get used to new people or dogs. It's likely he will never be a dog that you can just approach in the street.
I don't care. I love him, and I will never give up on him.
I always get the feeling that we are being watched and judged. Bad dog, aggressive dog, nasty dog. And of course, you know what people say. If a dog is badly behaved, or poorly trained, blame the owner.
18 months ago I got into a heated debate with someone online. The woman in question knows little about dogs, yet she decided - repeated - that I was a bad and irresponsible person because I refuse to give up my dog. Her reasoning? Nervous dogs with potential aggressive tendencies should never be allowed around babies or infants. While I have never denied that she brought up some valid points, which I happily acted upon, what right does she have to label my dog as some sort of monster, and call me irresponsible when she doesn't even know us?
In a way I find it inconceivable that some people can be so arrogant, so judgemental - particularly with things they know nothing about.
This is Cory. He is a male German Shepherd, three and a half years old. I've raised him from a seven week old puppy.
This so-called 'bad', 'uncontrollable', 'aggressive' dog? He is good-natured, gentle, and loving. Cory loves ball games, and is clever enough to pick up new tricks quickly. He instinctively knows when I'm having a panic attack, and understands how to calm me down. He comforts me when I'm upset. He also has fear-aggression issues. Strange people scare him, new dogs scare him, so do most loud noises, sudden movements and new situations. He barks and lunges, not because he is badly trained, not because he is aggressive and wants to hurt people, but because he is terrified and wants the frightening things to go away.
As for me, I'm a part time student surviving on disability allowance. But as well as his food, his pet insurance, and all the other random little things, I pay every week to take him to a basic obedience class and to his agility class. For almost two years we have been attending his obedience class, through rain and deep snow and fierce wind - never missing a session.
I cannot adequately describe how difficult it is to have a dog with such a high level of issues. There are still days when I sit and cry with frustration (including one week in the middle of agility class when he just would not stop barking at everything!). Some days I want to tear my hair out. Sometimes I get angry, or wonder 'Why me - why did I end up with the broken dog?' I wonder if it is maybe somehow my fault, that I made him this way. When things happen - like in the summer when we got attacked by another dog - and his behaviour regresses, I wonder yet again how much I can reasonably cope with.
Those people who look in the street and judge me, they have no idea how hard we have worked to even get him to this stage. How much money and time and effort I have put in. They just see a dog who is behaving badly, and can't be bothered to take a minute to wonder why.
But there are successes too, and sometimes I cannot believe how fair we have come. When I first took him to my instructor, he was so reactive that I couldn't take him out in public. These days, maybe two or three times a week something will set him off. He can behave reasonably well around dogs he knows. He will tentatively let people feed him treats, as long as he has space to move away. We do dog agility now, and we can work as a team. And a very big success recently was him gaining his Canine Good Citizen Award.
I hate people who refuse to train their dogs properly, because there is no excuse for it. But most of all, I hate having myself and my dog lumped into that category.
I've been told by my instructor that Cory is probably never going to be 100% secure. There will always be issues. He will always be muzzled around children, he will probably always need time to get used to new people or dogs. It's likely he will never be a dog that you can just approach in the street.
I don't care. I love him, and I will never give up on him.