This afternoon we went to a campground to meet some friends of ours who had been there for a couple of days - they invited us to come hang out for a while, have a cookout. We brought Lacie along, our black Standard Poodle. THey had their dog there as well, a black lab mix. He's a nice boy but totally out of control. Their daughter (12 yrs old) went for a walk with my daughter(15 yrs old) and they took the dogs. I guess it was a pretty interesting walk. Lacie has had obedience training and you know how you just get used to having a dog be well behaved? Well, it's hard to walk with a dog who isn't. This boy was just into everything, pulling, running over to people, running in front of cars, jumping on Lacie - my daughter said it was just awful. At one point the other girl was hitting her dog over the head with the end of the leash to get him to listen, throwing herself over his hips to get him to sit, and yelling at him constantly. All of which he completely ignored. My daughter tried to help her and showed her how to get him to sit - took her only two tries and he would consistently listen to my daughter, even with distractions. He's a nice dog and he's smart. He seems like a dog that would love to learn. But what a handful he is right now. I suggested dog training classes and they aren't interested.
It's sad to see so much potential in a dog - to look into that happy face and know that one day he'll probably pay for his lack of training. He already does pay for it - they get mad at him and punish him, call him stupid. All for just acting like a dog.
It's frustrating to love animals so much and to also love the people in your life who just don't get it. They just don't see a dog as anything more than a possession. When it fits into their life, that's great and it's a lot of fun. When it doesn't, then the animal suffers. It's so heartbreaking and maddening and frustrating and....UGHHH!