I am disappointed. Not in Shelby but in people. Tonight when I took Shelby out she reacted the same fearful way as I met her 2 weeks ago. As soon as she stepped outside of the door, she layed down and refused to move. I couldn’t even coax her across the street. Rather than getting frustrated I returned her to her crate. And when I looked on the white board, I noticed on the check off list that someone else walked her. At that time I understood why she slipped back in her default fear behavior.
Wow, isn’t it amazing how quickly an animal can progress but at the same time regress when the training is not persistent? I watch the volunteers interact and talk with those dogs and I am saddened to see how little knowledge they have about dogs and dog behavior. Here they come and spend hours a week walking the dogs; why don’t they maximize their time and treat the dogs like dogs (meaning fulfilling their dog needs) – in that way they truly could make a difference in those dogs’ lives.
Nowadays, almost every other dog has the line “dog aggressive” on their name tag. Those dogs, Cricket, Macguire, Sampson, Dudley aren’t dog aggressive. They are frustrated animals who don’t get their basic needs for physical activity and mental stimulation fulfilled.
Instead they should write on the name tag, “We made them dog aggressive.” That would indicate to me that people are taking responsibilities for their actions and inactions. After all those dogs weren’t dog aggressive before they came to the shelter. That makes me so angry and almost people aggressive!!!
