Re: He just wants to say Hi

[Justine&Rafe]

Sweetypye, I agree that that was the main point of the article – the part I was referring to re high standards was this…

“Cream’s owner and her instructors were unrealistically holding Cream to higher standard of tolerance than they would expect from themselves. After all, she is a Golden. Does that mean she or any other typically low-aggression breed should tolerate rude dogs making physical contact?”

And my answer to that is yes.  Because Rafe has avoided incidences of rudeness from escalating to scraps by not taking them on.  I don’t expect the same form of high standards from other owners whose dogs may have come from distressed backgrounds.  I know Rafe’s background – he has no violence in his past, and I do expect him to be tolerant of other dogs, just as I would expect him to be tolerant of kids pulling his ears.

In either situation I’d make sure he was removed from the situ before any harm happened, but I’d expect his initial reaction not to be an agressive one.

I AGREE with the article in the most part, BUT there’s a difference between the ideal this article promotes and the real world of dog ownership!  Great if this can change some attitudes, but the dogs which cause the most trouble are ones where the owners don’t really care about this.