Sorry - when I meant 'incident' I meant it as a whole; this particular time at the store, this day etc. Not a fit of barking = an episode in and of itself.
Again - I don't know what was/is going on in her situation. If she was coming from a stressful experience earlier, if her handler was having trouble with something before going into the shop and so on. So I can't say - and her owner is a fairly knowledgeable, competent, and solid handler so I really can't discredit him or the dog personally based on this incident (again - as a whole).
As for having a double standard - most of the dogs that are problematic/unpleasant around here are indeed on the smaller side. I'm not going to say that that doesn't have anything to do with my opinions but I try to be as fair/moderate as I can. Most of the smaller dogs I had run in's with previously have been badly managed and poorly controlled by their owners on every occasion - this Fila in question has been a great dog every other time I've seen her - like I said I can't discredit either her or her handler based on this one incident (as a whole, again.). I haven't discredited small dog owners at first sight either - it's been time and time and time and time and time and time again - they even had acknowledged that their dogs had issues yet didn't do a thing about it.
How do I know that what happened today didn't deeply shock/upset her owner? how do I know if they aren't working on issues surrounding this type of behavior? how do I know if this was an isolated "incident" or a normal recurrence? how do I know if she has reactivity issues in certain settings and it's still a work in progress? I do NOT. I do commend small dog owners that train them properly and hold their behavior to good standards as I do dog owners in general. I am critical of smaller dog owners that let their canines run amok just as I am of larger dog/LGD owners whom allow that to happen as well. But funnily - most of the LGD's/Giant breeds I meet around here have been excellently behaved (from what
I have seen of them) - Gisela is no exception. And if it is your definition of a double standard I don't care - but I won't discredit her over this one time. If however I witness other episodes of ill behavior from her - trust me, I will be just as 'harsh' on her and her person as I have been on smaller dogs in previous threads.
No, still not fair.
If your criteria is going to be consistent bad behavior, the Fila showed consistency by repeated barking and screaming at everyone and everything in several separated incidents. That to me is consistent bad behavior. One episode? Maybe. Repeated episodes without removing the dog from the store? That’s consistency.
If your criteria is owners not doing anything to correct the rude behavior, ditto. Your description has nothing about the handler attempting to correct anything. In fact he allowed it to continue until people moved out of the dog’s way.
If your criteria is an attempt to teach the dog how to behave, again I see that missing here too.
Its really the same thing, no matter how you try to paint it. Fila acting like a butt = cute. Little dog acting like a butt = reactive, snappy, annoying PITA.
Double standard.
Fran,
Those smaller dogs were just improperly managed - one of them in question's owner actually admitted to me that he liked to behave in that sort of a manner (snappy, reactive, growly, aggressive) but she went ahead and indulged him. This is a great deal of the issues surrounding smaller dog problems locally - I can't speak for your town or your experiences but this is what I see and know firsthand. This is the community around here, this is the attitude/handling style they have - nearly 90% of the owners of those dogs I mentioned previously were just very indulgent/lax. Their dogs don't usually have any impediments except for those indulgent owners. As for possibility of behavioral issues...they are often nurtured/encouraged by their handlers. Most of the ones I see have been anyways.