Help-Serious Problem

[JohnF]

>If people to be judged poorly for asking questions then we might as well just ditch the whole Training & Behavior discussion section of the forum.

 

It's surely OK to discuss things opinionantedly even if people don't agree; how else can there ever be a true balance? I long ago learned that you take the rough with the smooth and pick up and take away what's good and leave the not-so good behind. I'm actually grateful to anyone who answers my online questions whether they be helpful or waspish.

[Guest Snazzy_Chloe]

The OP had a post on Thurs called Barking where the person adopting told her the following: (Dog will) Always be a talker, but not annoying. But he also voiced concern that it could be a sign that the dog might protect his space or eventually be aggressive towards other dogs near him. (How about near children??)

To me this would have been a red flag if I didn't think that I had the confidence to deal with the dogs issues.

I read the post that the previous owner had concerns with this match up from the get go. She had cats and was also misled as the dog seemed to be OK with the cats at the owners home.

So this current post occurs on the following Monday and we now have someone struggling with concerns after bringing the dog to a dog park, and also has kid issues on the sidewalk.

I praise her for returning the dog which I feel was the right thing for her to do and sympathize for her excessive travel times. OTOH, potential adopters need to listen to the group when they are giving mild cautions about the dog. Obviously they didn't know the adopter that well and due to the travel distance maybe this made the situation more difficult; but they should have questioned her abilities and watched how she handled dogs in their presence before releasing the dog into her care. The end result is good news especially for the hound, as it looks like he needs to be with a more confident and experienced owner that can help him overcome his lack of confidence in himself. This poster hopefully will get to pick a more mellower, cat friendly pup in the future- Good luck to you .

[EnzaFerrari]

Does it matter now who saw what red flag and who saw a person asking questions? The dog has been returned and everyone is moving forward.

[Guest saabqueen7]

I am sure that I am much less experienced than most of you here. I have had dogs all my life, including greys as I said before, but have been extremely blessed with dogs who were easy to train or already fairly well trained. I have always chosen to take my dogs to a general obedience class, to brush up their skills and mine. Every breed and every dog is different and I have always tried to make sure I am being breed appropriate in my expectations. As I said, my greys were remarkably well trained when I got them. They were both older and had been fostered. They were housebroken, walked well on the leash and crated well. Not so great about counter surfing, but we worked on that. In all my years, I never had to housebreak a dog and wanted some tips. I also never had to introduce a potentially dangerous dog to cats. My collie was fine with them when I got her and they are best friends. So I wanted some help here.

As for the thing about the barking, I may not have been very clear. Posting is always tricky. The adoption people wanted me to know the dog was a "talker" and would "bark at a leaf". They also were being very general in saying some dogs will bark to assert their ownership of their space and could be aggressive to other dogs that come into it, but not in a serious way. They said it was normal if this dog turned out to do that. They wanted me to understand barking would be an issue, except at night when they said he was fine. In actuality, once I got him, he really only barked at people who came up to him and when he needed to go out. But, he howled and barked all night. I think that was probably becuase it was a new place, so I didn't worry about that too much even though it was exhausting for all of us. My question on the barking post was my own concern. I had asked them about it and they said the barking was a habit and not from aggression. I had not heard of greys barking much, so I wanted to pose the question here. If I wasn't clear, I apologize. As I said, posting questions and responses can be tricky and if I gave the wrong impressions, it was unintentional.

[Guest JustGreyt05]

I am 100% sure you will find the perfect grey for you! Please don't give up!