Mia lost her pet store priveledge

SaraB

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#22
I say this owning a very shy dog who barks and growls (not ferociously, but enough to startle people) sometimes at people who approach her, and especially would have in Mia's situation. I still take her out, because 99% of the time, it's not a problem. I ask people to leave her alone, I block her if I need to (I just had to do that yesterday at a park when a child ran up to her, arms waiving, yelling "puppy, puppy, puppy!"), and I give people very obvious body language myself that you do not come near my dog if they ignored the first polite warnings I've given them already. Dance has never bitten or attempted to, but still. I know certain situations make her severely uncomfortable, and so I do my best to make sure she doesn't have to experience those. But at the same time, despite not enjoying strangers at all, she DOES like to go out and do things and is quite happy just to focus on me and our time and normally everything goes nicely. There was a point in time that (when she was more reactive than she is now) I felt similarly to you. If there was a bad situation, and Dance reacted, I immediately went into "well, now I guess we can't go there anymore" mode and was super upset about it.

I guess it all depends on the situation and the dog too though. So definitely do what you are most comfortable with. I just know that in my experience, Dance and I would have missed out on a lot of really great days if I let a bunch of bad/embarrassing experiences get to me too much. There are absolutely certain situations that I do avoid with her both for her sake and for mine, but compared to my thought process of being doomed when I first noticed all of her many, many issues, we actually go and do a lot of things and have a good time and I find I don't need to avoid many of the places/things I thought I should upon more thinking and a game plan.

This.
 

MicksMom

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#23



In addition to what everyone else has suggested, if you encounter unruly kids again, say something to a store employee or ask to speak to the manager. Tell them if you'll be leaving if something isn't done, and won't be shopping there anymore.
 

Laurelin

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#24
Thanks. I'm feeling better about it and talked to one of my classmates about it. She also has a dog that is a bit afraid of kids. It's hard to socialize with kids when you don't know any. Mia probably didn't see a kid up close till she was almost 3 since we were at college and no one I knew had kids. And being a college town there just weren't many around.

She hasn't ever caused a problem before. I take her all around other dogs and people all the time and she just ignores everyone (unless another dog starts up in her face or trying to fight through the crate- happened today).

I do need to b more forceful though. I now know that she can't handle a situation like yesterday so we need to avoid them. Maybe I should just not let people pet either of them while I have both. I'm not sure. It seems like people can't follow directions and only pet Summer like I tell them to.
 
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#25
I would have reacted the same way as Mia. I don't think it's fair to take away get fun things because a couple women who over procreated made her have a bad day.

This 100% IMO that is the parents fault. If you take your child to a pet shop that allows dogs you had damned well watch and control them. Same goes for the dog park. Just as I would be expected to do if I took my dogs to a playground.
 

Catsi

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#26
I now automatically pick Abby up if kids are going to approach us. It's not recommended I know, but we are at the point where I know she's not going to be a social butterfly and I don't expect her to interact with strangers out in public.

Usually it's her they are coming to see, coz she's disgustingly cute. I direct them to Grace who is more than happy to take pats and is highly tolerant of all kinds of human behaviour that would just overwhelm Abby. Win, win for me really because I don't have to be too forceful. I explain the situation, sure but they can't not listen if I have already picked up the dog. Grace is a willing diversion and she gets all the attention while Abby feel safe with mum.

Saves me from stressing out and causing more aggravation for Abby as well. But that's just what I'm willing to do, not everyone wants to pick up their dog
 

JazzyTheSibe

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#27
Some parents really need to take better control of there kids, & not let them run around everywhere. I had similar experience at petco today, but without a dog.There were 5 kids running around, & screaming at petco. Their parents were just standing there,when their kids were running around.

Don't blame yourself, the parents were at fault.

I agree with the others, she does sound like she was overwhelmed.
 
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#28
Agree with everyone who says still take her, and that the fault lies with the parents of the unruly children. I wouldn't blame kids for being unruly and crazy... they're kids. Mom needs to keep them in line. And now that you know Mia can get overwhelmed, you will be more proactive about removing her from situations like that.

One time I had my pit at the store and some little kid came FLYING up behind her and threw his arms around her neck to hug her. I was terrified because, even though Angel's temperament is very mellow, ANY dog could snap if they're startled like that. Luckily, she turned and licked the kid and seemed to enjoy the attention. Mom came running over and profusedly apologized. I appreciated that, and said that everything was ok but definitely let her son know that even friendly doggies can be mad if he does that to them. I can only imagine how bad it would have been if the situation ended differently, with Angel being a pit bull.
 

stafinois

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#29
If seven Giants charged and attempted to surround me, I'd probably holler. Mia probably handled it better than I would have.
 

Equinox

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#30
Glad you are feeling better now! I do understand being upset and wanting a great breed ambassador, but no dog should have to deal with that. It sucks that it happens anyway, but outside of being a representative of the breed, the dog is also an individual and is allowed to be annoyed or pissed or nervous once in a while. Considering that this isn't a frequent occurrence for Mia, and that she just gave a verbal warning, I'd say that she was being a pretty good dog. I know that there are a lot of different opinions on dogs growling, but it is not something that disconcerts me on its own. Particularly if you know Mia and can call her bluff.

Who knows? Maybe the kid or his mother will learn to be more respectful of dogs in the future. I love seeing kids love on dogs as much as the next person, but if I had to choose, I'd rather see one knowing to give a dog space.
 

skittledoo

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#31
Ugh I'm sorry. You shouldn't have to avoid taking her to pet stores because some people can't control their children. Now that you know how you might handle the situation should it present itself again I think you will be fine taking her again.

This kind of reminds me a little bit of when Noludoru came to visit and we went hiking. We just took Joey and Cricket. When we were finishing up out hike we ended up back near the visitor center. Both Cricket and Joey are kid friendly thankfully and both were completely under control on leash. This little kid pretty much comes running straight to us. Nolu says to the parents something along the lines of it not being a good idea to let their little kid run up to strange dogs like that because not all dogs are kid friendly. The mom got mad and said, "well you might want to control your dogs better." First off, my dogs were under control and luckily we didn't have Bamm with us because he would have been uncomfortable having a kid run up to him. Second, we were on a leisurely walk with behaved leashed dogs and it's not our job to make sure her kid doesn't run up to us. Stupid parents really make me mad. Sorry to rant.
 

noludoru

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#32
Ugh I'm sorry. You shouldn't have to avoid taking her to pet stores because some people can't control their children. Now that you know how you might handle the situation should it present itself again I think you will be fine taking her again.

This kind of reminds me a little bit of when Noludoru came to visit and we went hiking. We just took Joey and Cricket. When we were finishing up out hike we ended up back near the visitor center. Both Cricket and Joey are kid friendly thankfully and both were completely under control on leash. This little kid pretty much comes running straight to us. Nolu says to the parents something along the lines of it not being a good idea to let their little kid run up to strange dogs like that because not all dogs are kid friendly. The mom got mad and said, "well you might want to control your dogs better." First off, my dogs were under control and luckily we didn't have Bamm with us because he would have been uncomfortable having a kid run up to him. Second, we were on a leisurely walk with behaved leashed dogs and it's not our job to make sure her kid doesn't run up to us. Stupid parents really make me mad. Sorry to rant.
You're not doing this story justice. The kid was 100' away from his parents, running, wouldn't stop when I told him to, and I was super polite to mom when I told her not all dogs are friendly and to please ask before letting her kid run up. She started yelling at us about controlling the dogs better, and I think I told her it sounded like she wanted her kids to be bitten. Then she started shrieking about our "vicious dogs."

Yes. Joey and Cricket are vicious monsters SLAVERING FOR YOUR CHILD'S BLOOD. Your parenting is CLEARLY NOT THE PROBLEM.

I wonder what that lady (or Laur's lady) would say if their kid ran up to a coyote and got killed. Sue the county because the coyotes are loose and should be friendly?
 
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#34
I really dislike children who run around with no discipline. If my dogs acted like that it would be a problem, so why do we (as in society) allow it from parents with children. Wish I had the luxury of being able to growl and snap at little kids. ;)
Do it. Obviously the parents have taught their kids anything and it seems to be up to the members of society to do it.

..what a pussy.


lol I have no other commentary.
lol.



Laurelin - i'm glad you're feeling better about the whole situation. Hudson loves people, like throws himself on the ground and wiggles, loves people, but if a bunch of unruly kids came running up to him, I'm sure he would have barked.
 
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#35
Maybe I should just not let people pet either of them while I have both. I'm not sure. It seems like people can't follow directions and only pet Summer like I tell them to.
I, too, had a learning curve communicating with others about interacting with my dogs. Adults can handle more complex directions than kids.

If you have seen that kids can't follow "only pet this one" then change your directions to no petting. Maybe adults can follow your 'this one, not that one' direction. I've found a helpful direction to be "one hand only." So far, this prevents picking up the kyoot wittle puppydog.

I changed directions from letting the neighbor kids pet to, "you can give them a treat." If they deviate from my instructions, the dogs leave.
 

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