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Space clerk!

Omigosh, omigosh! Remember that game I was playing before I bought the VR headset? The one I liked? The one that boils down to an inventory management game? I did not realize – they released a free patch to make it compatible with VR. I’m managing my spaceship inventory with my own hands, y’all!

 

I got talking to a young family on vacation in town today. Parents and three little kids. Mom was holding the lead of a dog – I think it might have been a Labrador. I am not good with dogs. Big handsome beast.

Anyway, the kids were crawling all over him and he was lapping up the attention. I looked at the dog and said, “well, hello” and he went nuts – snapping and lunging.

The woman apologized and said, “you’ll have to excuse him – he was a lockdown puppy.”

She said he’s fine if you ignore him, but if you speak to him or make eye contact, or speak to her, he goes nuts. He has no idea how to sort out people who are a threat from people who are not. They have hope he will gentle down eventually, but this was the first time he was out and about around strangers and he was utterly lost and bewildered.

Now think what we’ve done to children.

Comments


Comment from Uncle Al
Time: April 4, 2022, 6:30 pm

I should un-retire and start a company making child harnesses and maybe kiddie muzzles. If the huge crop of lock-down children are anything like that poor pup, we’ll be inundated with kids going “nuts – snapping and lunging.”

Hey! Maybe I can make some extra bucks with Disney character tie-ins.


Comment from ExpressoBold
Time: April 4, 2022, 7:59 pm

Unpredictable dogs require muzzles in public, especially when the humans have no idea what will happen, except begging the indulgence of the potential victim(s).

Perhaps the doting adult humans would prefer liability suits…

Choose the better option, Lockdown Puppy Parents: muzzle until you know what the hell is going on.


Comment from S. Weasel
Time: April 4, 2022, 9:31 pm

He was wearing a muzzle. I should have said. She seemed well in control of him, but rather sad.

When the children weren’t around, he stared into the distance and ignored everything, people coming and going. It was only interacting with him that made him act crazy. It was the damndest thing.


Comment from durnedyankee
Time: April 4, 2022, 9:58 pm

Too many people don’t know how to behave around dogs, and a dog not socialized can be a huge problem.

1+1 can equal nips and bites.

Pity, black labs are my all time favorite dogs.
I hope they can socialize him so he doesn’t have to spend his life in a muzzle.


Comment from ExpressoBold
Time: April 4, 2022, 10:07 pm

“Walkies”

Barbara Woodhouse, who had the philosophy that there are no bad dogs, only bad owners still has tons of dog training vids on youtube. I hope that the owners will begin to exert corrective action to mend the behavior ASAP.

Sometimes, just a loud “NO!” and a yank on the leash is all that is needed but it should be consistent, not “hit-or-miss-oh-well.”


Comment from Armybrat
Time: April 5, 2022, 12:16 am

@UncleAl…I’m one of 4 kids….singleton, twins, singleton, 15 months between us. My mama was mostly a single mom during my childhood as my daddy was busy serving his country in every war/conflict from the 60’s thru the 80s. I have pictures of my mama standing with all 4 of us kids, each of us wearing a harness with a leash that she is holding. I think these were fairly common in Europe when we were growing up there.


Comment from Durnedyankee
Time: April 5, 2022, 10:59 am

Hah, Barbara Woodhouse must have known about our Quincy (black lab mix) who we still lovingly refer to as the good boy who did bad things. But he never met a stranger he wouldn’t take a ride home from (several times), whereupon he would jump into the pool and paddle around as atonement for making yet another escape.

We’re fairly sure he was kin to the legendary Marley of “Marley and me”.


Comment from Veeshir
Time: April 6, 2022, 6:12 am

I liked this post until the last sentence.

Then I was sad.

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