Almost kicked out of Petsmart because . . .

ORIGINAL: meilani

Sweet Jesus. If Ash is a wolf then my mother's a virgin. Seriously. It sounds like that guy wouldn't know what a wolf truly looks like if it bit him in the rear end. In all honesty, if an employee came up to me and told me I had to leave because they can't tell an ACD from a wolf, I would've dropped everything I had in my hands onto the floor and I would've said "Well I'm off to Petco/Pet Supplies/Other competitor where they aren't ignorant about dog breeds and wild canines".  There's no way I would've given them a penny of my hard earned money.

Anyhoo, I can dig it. Even though my dogs do well with children and other animals, they are my dogs and if I don't want someone to pet them, I mean it. There are times when I don't want children petting my dogs especially if the children do not know how to behave around dogs and attempt to pet my dogs without asking. It really trips me out at how some people feel it's their "right" to pet your dogs and how offended they get when you tell them that they or their children cannot pet your dogs so I have learned of a way to talk to people like that. Like to hear it? Here it goes...

Idiot: "Why do you bring your dogs in public if no one can pet them?"

Me: "Can I grope on your husband?"

Idiot: "No."

Me: "Why bring him out in public if I can't grope on him?"

That gets them everytime. []

Great line! I've gotta remember that one!

I feel for you, I would have dropped every thing and walked out and not brought a thing.
 
This idiot has no idea, you should have told him to go get a dog book and look up Australian Cattle Dog, (they usually have different breed books in the stores) and then tell you Ash was a wolf..
 
Also people wonder why there are so many dog attacks. If parents taught their kids the right way about petting a dog like asking the owner not just running up to it more kids might not get bitten. People don't realise not all dogs are brought up around children. If it wasn't for the fact I have nephews and neices my dog would not have anything to do with kids.
 
I thought you done well you could have gone off alot more.

I tend to agree with what fisher6000 and Billy said.  After all was said and done, getting back in the guy's face did nothing productive.
 
I do like Meilani's approach
 

Idiot: "Why do you bring your dogs in public if no one can pet them?"

Me: "Can I grope on your husband?"

Idiot: "No."

Me: "Why bring him out in public if I can't grope on him?"

 
Not all people who work in pets stores know about pets, just like all people who work in Home Depot don't know everything about tools, lumber, etc.  They may hire the pretty cashiers, but do you really think for one second most of those girls know squat about that stuff?  Sometime I'll relay the story about the male Home Depot employee and the roofing nails I was buying.  I looked like a genius compared to that guy.

Wow. So sorry to hear that -- I don't even know where to start w/ that man! Bottom of the gene pool, indeed.

<--- Stanley's also heard "Look, there's a wolf" thing a few times... but most children in my 'hood (primarily black & Hispanic) are so afraid of big dogs, they never come close.

It's not that he's wasn't wrong... he was totally wrong.

It's that he got Ashland's goat and therefore "won", and that's too bad. Better for Ashland to have enjoyed her victory.

Oh my Lord, that is so lame! [:@] Poor Ash. I don't really like taking our dog to the pet store...our dog LOVES people, and has never shown any aggression towards them (actually she's a great dog for public places because she does not care AT ALL about new people, and is usually like "Yeah yeah, I guess you can let me smell your hand, but I mostly just want you to get to the part where you scratch me!") []

However, she is a sometimes fearful of other dogs. This is something John Q. Dogowner seems totally ignorant about. She has never tried to hurt another dog, but if she isn't allowed to see them from a distance first, and then slowly make contact (which SHE initiates,) she will try to hide and growl out of stress/fear.

We were in Petco a few weeks back. A woman (who was being pretty insane to begin with, by grabbing my arm and fearfully informing me "There's a pit bull in the back of the store! Be careful! Keep your dog close!!" [8|]) had her lab with her. Her dog wanted to come by my dog and I nicely said to her "Actually, I don't think my dog should get too close right away, she is a little shy and fearful of other dogs and sometimes she growls."

The woman was like "Oh, nonsense! They like each other!" and keeps marching her dog right up to ours. Big surprise, Lady (our dog) starts growling and hiding. The woman looks at me like I'm a bad person!! She made some remark about my dog being mean and pulled her dog way back. Like, did she not process a single word I said? I was so frustrated.

(Also, our dog looks very similar to a Cattle Dog and we also often get "Ohhh! She looks mean!!" I feel so bad for my dog - she is like the least aggressive animal I have ever seen!) []

Oh yeah, and I also wanted to add that it's not like she's always bad with dogs at the store - if that were true we wouldn't take her there. She just doesn't like it when a dog comes out of nowhere and gets right in her face. She has made many a "friend" at the pet store when their owners aren't dorks! []

ORIGINAL: georgie4682



A wolf, really?  People can be so stupid!  I just don't see how anyone, even someone who doesn't know much about dogs could mistake your dog for a wolf!  I just don't get some people.  I guess that guy just needed to be right and wanted to start a fight.

 
Good point, because is she would have been parading a wolf around that store there would have been no mistaking THAT!! Ooh that would be creepy

Ash -
 
[linkhttp://wolfpacks.com/working.htm]http://wolfpacks.com/working.htm[/link]
 
a_k_s-
[linkhttp://www.flyingdogpress.com/sayhi.html]http://www.flyingdogpress.com/sayhi.html[/link]
 
 
Meilani get the prize for the best come back!
 

See, I'm probably the crazy one, cuz I love wolves and hybrids.  I guess its cuz I grew up with one, and she was about the most perfect dog you could ask for-----and had no aggressive personality whatsoever. As a matter of fact, I have known several wolf-dogs, and every one of them was a sweetheart.  So, even if Ash were a wolf (which she is clearly NOT), I would have loved her all the same [sm=smile.gif].

Terrible experience for you and you handled it waaaay better than I would have. Heaven forbid my husband have that experience; the guy would have needed a muzzle to keep his teeth from falling out! We take our pups to PetSmart for socialization and apparently we have been very blessed in that children have always asked if they could pet before rushing up. The only bad experience we had was with a PetSmart Employee!  We had Bronwyn in there (10 weeks at the time, GSD) this bonehead comes RUNNING up LOOMING over Bron making an EEEEEEEE SHE"S SO CUTE squeal at 200 decibels. Bronwyn peed on the floor she was so startled. First time she had ever shown any fear of anything. I chewed the stoopid woman up one side and down the other and complained to the manager, who was very apologetic and said he would advise his EMPLOYEES on the correct way to approach a dog.

ORIGINAL: fisher6000

It's not that he's wasn't wrong... he was totally wrong.

It's that he got Ashland's goat and therefore "won", and that's too bad. Better for Ashland to have enjoyed her victory.

 
Deb, I totally agree.  The guy was completely in the wrong.  I knew exactly what your point was.  I have gone to a lot of therapy and done a lot of self-examination to learn how and when to disengage.  It's not easy. 
 
 

ORIGINAL: agilebasenji

Ash -

[linkhttp://wolfpacks.com/working.htm]http://wolfpacks.com/working.htm[/link]

a_k_s-
[linkhttp://www.flyingdogpress.com/sayhi.html]http://www.flyingdogpress.com/sayhi.html[/link]


Meilani get the prize for the best come back!

Great link -- I know, we even talked to our dog trainer about this after we first got Lady because so many people kept wanting to throw random dogs in our dog's face and she would always growl or cry, and then the owners would act like our dog must be a problem.

Our dog trainer put it very similarly - "Imagine if a stranger came right up to you can got in your face out of the blue. Would you like it?" I have no idea why people don't get this. Our neighbor who is great with dogs let his dog get slowly aquainted with her and they love each other! I just hate when people act like "Your dog must be mean" - she's not!!

Wow.. that seals it.  I hate people.  I hate it when people think they are allowed to say whatever THEY want and then expect you to just stand there and suck it.  I do not think so.  If he could say what he wanted, you had every right to say what you wanted.
 
I hate pet stores. I finally have given up and only go to the specialty shops, cause I get ILL when I see people picking out Old Roy "Look at that price!" or buying those giant water cooler water dishes for their dogs so they don't have to change the water as often [:@]  I won't even start on the part about the 4 week old puppies up for sale.. [:@][:@][:'(][][:@][:@]
 
 

crikey, how do people get hired at pet stores

 
They put a mirror under their nose. If it fogs up, they are hired.
 

Never mind taking off the muzzle. I will bite. While perhaps Ashland should have let the original victory stand, I can understand the need to combat ignorance and arrogance on the part of the original complainer. Whether she was right or wrong to continue the debate with the guy doesn't change my desire to see him "spanked" publically. And I hesitate to call him father if he can't control his kids. And if he was so adult, he could have simply apologized or ignored Ashland the second time around. Perhaps the man needs clicker training.
 
My wolf is 26 inches to the shoulder, 60 lbs or so, can run over 30 mph, and if you approach him wrong, can get nervous or shy. So, we go out in public and allow him to get more relaxed but I, too, will caution children not to pet him if he is shy or nervous.
 
Here's a pic of my wolf.