Some people.. <sigh>

Yesterday, I took Willow to the vet (once again....). This time, she has an eye infection. She's such a little trooper, though.

Anyway, she loves going to the reception area of the vets office. She's such a little socialite. She wants to meet and greet everyone. While we were waiting, a woman with a 3-4 month old labradoodle came in. The puppy was high energy and obviously excited to be out and about. She had little to no control whatsoever over the rambunctious puppy. She carried him in to the vets at first, and when he saw Willow he was desperate to get down. She freaked a bit; her dog was twice Willow's size, afterall.

I reassured the woman, though, that Willow was highly socialized and knew her dog was just a puppy; Willow also knows that she can come to me if she feels insecure. I finally convinced the lady to put her dog down. Willow immediately went over to him and they sniffed. The puppy then play bowed and pounced on Willow. The lady freaked until I pointed out that Willow was pulling toward the puppy and she could easily get away if she wanted to, which she obviously didn't. Once the lady took time to watch the socialization, she started to lavish praise about how GOOD Willow is and how well-behaved, etc. Eventually, I called Willow to me (and she came over immediately and politely) when the lady went to check-in with the receptionist.

I picked Willow up and praised her gently for her good behavior. I watched as the receptionist talked to the woman while the puppy was pulling and bouncing and getting all tangled in its leash, etc. Then, the receptionist asked her to put her dog on the scale to get a weight. I could tell this was going to be a chore, and I asked the woman if she had a treat to help get the puppy to sit still for the scale to work. The woman said, "oh no. We did treats with his predecessor, and we aren't doing that again!" All the while, she's manhandling the puppy, saying "stay" over and over and over.

<sigh>

Without treats, as Willow no longer needs them for immediate training rewards, we went on our way to the exam room. I have no idea if they ever got a weight on that dog.

I know the type! I get so frusterated when people get a dog, especially a large dog, and refuse to accept any advice, socialize it, or train it properly! Then they dump it on a rescue or a pound when they can no longer handle it

People keep pulling their dogs away from Dylan thinking he will get squashed or hurt. They are only playing. He has had a Great Dane stand on him once though, that dog was too big to play with!

Glad Willow made you proud today, what a good girl. I hope her eye clears up quickly.

Well, I'd rather have the owner be overly concerned (which she apparently was) than under-concerned about her dog hurting a smaller dog!

I wouldn't criticize an owner too much for a crazy 3-4 month old puppy because lots of puppies are often crazy in situations like that. Yes, she should have tried a treat, but then if a dog gets overweight from constantly using treats, then the owner gets criticized too! Maybe that's where she was coming from.


Some dogs are harder to handle than others just because of their nature, and as an owner of some naturally calmer dogs and now an owner of a dog who is generally crazy on a leash, I have learned not to judge too harshly. Lord knows we have worked and worked and worked on the leash problem with Daisy, so it's not an easy problem. The lady may be doing her best and trying to be considerate of other dogs. Of course, I didn't see how much she was manhandling the puppy, as you said, so I may have had the same reaction.