The Nice People Thread, No.16: A Universe of Niceness.

LydiaJ

zagubov wrote: »

I knew somebody who got a dog from Battersea Dog Home and had to jump through so many hoops that the admittedly inappropriate metaphor of "tails wagging dogs" crossed my mind more than once.

Well, having been whinging about how hard it was to find a dog we could qualify for from one of the big dog charities, and how they all seemed to want "quiet but active adult only homes with someone around for most of the day", I am coming to see the wisdom of their approach. If we had read on her listing "can be very possessive of her toys so will need to be exercised away from other dogs or else wear a muzzle when out" we would never have chosen her, and she wouldn't have been put through the distress of thinking she had found a forever home and then finding herself back in a cage for no reason she's capable of understanding.

PasturesNew

Some dogs just have "their one thing".... with my friend's quiet, well behaved, well trained, little dog ... everything's fine unless you go near his food when he's eating, or touch his back legs.

Although, having said that, I didn't know about the food thing and I had to pop in/feed him one day ... and he didn't seem to be eating, so I moved his bowl and he was quite happy with that... maybe I was lucky.

We've all got "our thing" ... but, if there's kids/others involved then it's difficult when the dog's "thing" suddenly becomes a big thing.

Pyxis

silvercar wrote: »

A friend had to give a rescue dog back because their toddler accidentally woke the sleeping dog and the dog jumped up and bit her! The toddler needed a GA for a repair to her ear, luckily her hearing wasn't effected. When they returned the dog, the rescue centre admitted there had been a similar incident before but had hoped it was a one off!

That's actually quite interesting. I had always thought that if a dog were to bite a human, particularly if it's more than once, it would be put down. Obviously that is not the case.

I know it can all depend on the circumstances, but when a child is involved, I thought it would be fait (or fate) accompli.

Does anyone know what 'the rules' are ?

zagubov wrote: »

I knew somebody who got a dog from Battersea Dog Home and had to jump through so many hoops that the admittedly inappropriate metaphor of "tails wagging dogs" crossed my mind more than once.

Something quite amusing recently. I went to a local festival, and they had a little, informal dog show. One of the competitions was 'the waggiest tail'.

One of the entrants was a boxer. A docked boxer.
Well, he did his best, I suppose.



And that's another thing....... I thought docking wasn't allowed any more?

silvercar

Pyxis wrote: »

That's actually quite interesting. I had always thought that if a dog were to bite a human, particularly if it's more than once, it would be put down. Obviously that is not the case.

I know it can all depend on the circumstances, but when a child is involved, I thought it would be fait (or fate) accompli.

Does anyone know what 'the rules are?

Emotional blackmail - if you report this, the dog is at risk of being put down.....my friend was accused of not supervising toddler properly in allowing it to happen....risk of being banned from having a dog from rescue centre ever again. Compromise agreement where the centre promised to ensure the dog only went to an adult only household, even though that would limit rehousing options.

I was horrified, but I'm not a doggy person, so stayed out of it.

GDB2222

Lydia, could you perhaps keep New Dog but muzzle her when other dogs are around? She may calm down, and it's good that no blood was drawn.

MIL's little dog was forever getting into fights. She (the dog, not MIL!) was very feisty, particularly with dogs *much* bigger than her, and would growl and snap at them. That would then start these gentle giants off. Occasionally MIL's dog would get knocked over, but no blood was drawn, ever.

There wouldn't be many dogs around if they were forever biting chunks out of each other, so they have a mechanism for signalling submission that stops the dominant dog actually biting the weaker one to bits. At least, that's Konrad Lorentz's theory. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Aggression

Pyxis

GDB2222 wrote: »

Lydia, could you perhaps keep New Dog but muzzle her when other dogs are around? She may calm down, and it's good that no blood was drawn.

MIL's little dog was forever getting into fights. She (the dog, not MIL!) was very feisty, particularly with dogs *much* bigger than her, and would growl and snap at them. That would then start these gentle giants off. Occasionally MIL's dog would get knocked over, but no blood was drawn, ever.

There wouldn't be many dogs around if they were forever biting chunks out of each other, so they have a mechanism for signalling submission that stops the dominant dog actually biting the weaker one to bits. At least, that's Konrad Lorentz's theory. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Aggression

It's not just the walks, though, it's also the doggy day-care, etc.

Plus, if she were always muzzled when out, she wouldn't be able to retrieve balls, so that wouldn't be fun for her or Lydia.

I don't know if that 'attack if you've got my ball' thing could be trained out of her? It probably could, but might need a specialist trainer.

There's always the fear that a child might pick up the thrown ball and provoke the same 'attack' reflex, though.

ivyleaf

That's such a shame, Lydia, for New Dog and for you and DD

Pyxis

PasturesNew wrote: »

Been booting .... got .... a vase; blue glass, tall/square, slightly "wobbly/old glass" texture to it. Not sure why, once you buy one of something you do tend to get drawn to others.

Bought some faux gold flowers on long stems, 6 in the set.

A magnificent glass paperweight.

A glass wavy shaped bottle with stained glass look ... not sure why, except it was only 50p.

Total spends: £3.50. And 30p entry and £3 or so in fuel.

If I can find any enthusiasm at all for finally getting the house tidied/cleaned and the garden sorted etc.... I'd do a clippings tip run, but I really CBA. So far from the finish line and I'm just flagging. Overwhelmed by all the stuff that could've been done days/weeks ago .... but wasn't.

They sound like good buys!

Don't beat yourself about not having done much. You have actually done a lot........ make a list!

Plus, remember during that very hot spell, it was impossible to do anything other than essentials.... it was so draining.

That's my excuse, anyway!

And there isn't a deadline, so just doing what you feel like doing, instead of what you think you should do is better...... otherwise you'd wear yourself out and not have the energy to cope with the actual sale/purchase.

Plus, in the meantime, it gives you a chance to enjoy your revamped house, before you have to do it all again!

GDB2222

Pastures, look on the bright side, and give yourself a pat on the back for really ace procrastination?

LydiaJ

Pyxis wrote: »

And that's another thing....... I thought docking wasn't allowed any more?

It used to be legal for any adult to dock a dog's tail if it was under 7 days old. Ages ago (in the 90s or even the 80s I think) they changed the law so it's only legal for qualified vets to dock tails. Vets have a code of practice that says they're not supposed to remove any part of a tail except for medical reasons - for example if the tail has been injured - but there are still a few who don't abide by the code. There are also docked dogs who have been imported from countries where docking is still common.

Pyxis wrote: »

It's not just the walks, though, it's also the doggy day-care, etc.

Plus, if she were always muzzled when out, she wouldn't be able to retrieve balls, so that wouldn't be fun for her or Lydia.

I don't know if that 'attack if you've got my ball' thing could be trained out of her? It probably could, but might need a specialist trainer.

There's always the fear that a child might pick up the thrown ball and provoke the same 'attack' reflex, though.

Yes, these are the non-negotiables. The reason we chose her instead of Little Dog was because she would play fetch and he wouldn't, and throughout our search for the right rescue dog, we've always ruled out any whose listings said they needed to wear muzzles. She's just not right for our family. I don't think it's the end of the line for her, though. She really isn't aggressive to humans - or hasn't shown any sign of it while we've had her, anyway. If the human gets the ball, far from getting angry, she gets excited that the human is going to throw it for her.

The rescue centre we got her from sometimes puts dogs in foster care, and some of the listings of the dogs quote a "foster carer's report", so DD and I have written a report about her, highlighting all her wonderful qualities but being honest about her challenges - and including this bit:

"She walks nicely on the lead without excessive pulling, and is generally reasonably calm around other dogs, but can be very possessive of her toys, becoming aggressive if another dog gets her ball when she’s playing “fetch”. For this reason, it would be safest to let her give her legs a good stretch chasing the ball somewhere away from other dogs, and for her to wear a muzzle if she is off the lead where there are other dogs around."

We have seen other dogs listed on dog rehoming websites with comments like this about needing to wear a muzzle, and there are people willing to rehome dogs like that, so writing it has felt like a really positive thing that we can do for her to help her find the right forever home, which has made both of us feel a bit better.

ivyleaf wrote: »

That's such a shame, Lydia, for New Dog and for you and DD

Thank you. She is seeming much more settled now, and is obviously beginning to trust that she has found a forever home with us, which makes me feel dreadful for "betraying" her by taking her back to the centre, but I am confident we are making the right decision.