Two Sides of a Story

[AbbyK9]

I came across this and thought it was interesting.

The first is an opinion piece on "cruel training" of a Service Dog that a person observed at a Trader's Joe's store - Cruel Training Methods - Santa Barbara Edhat

I was really disturbed yesterday (Saturday) when my son and I saw a beautiful little German shepherd inside Trader Joe's on De la Vina about 12:30. We smiled and commented on the sweet, very submissive dog, wearing a guide-dog harness and choke collar. It turned its eyes toward us and the woman with it began repeated jerking very hard on the choke collar and yelling NO! to it. We didn't say anything about that but told her what a beautiful dog she had and asked how old it was. She said "Two! And it's in training!" and yelled NO! at the dog again, jerking the choke violently, and walking off. I said to my son "Bummer for that dog" quietly and at that moment the woman and another across the way that seemed to be with her - both at least 15 feet away inside the busy store began yelling something like "Mind your own business!". My son and I could not get the look of that dog's eyes out of our minds all day.

Is there a local group that trains seeing eye dogs? I would like to lodge a complaint with them. This was literally animal cruelty - nothing close to proper animal training methods. The women had obviously had people comment negatively before as they were very hostile.

And, from the same website, a response to the article by the disabled person whose dog was being interfered with at the store -
Dog at Work - Santa Barbara Edhat

I am that woman with the dog at TJ's. I am blind, not a trainer. Dogs in harness are working (training dogs wear capes). My guide is from The Seeing Eye in New Jersey.

It is difficult to shop when blind, but especially when accosted. These people blocked my path and wouldn't let me pass. They distracted my dog by cooing and extending their hands to her. I tried to get around them, but they crowded in closer. I tried to move out of their way, but my dog was already uncontrollably distracted and couldn't guide me. The woman muttered something about the poor dog not being allowed to play. (Play at TJ's?)

Because of "well meaning" citizens like my accuser my dog may soon be out of a job. She is very friendly and needs to learn not to respond to distractions. She is happier than most pets, goes with me everywhere, is never left to rot at home or bake in a car. She is not trained with shock collars or starved to crave treats. She works for love. My love.

I thought it was an interesting view of an incident from both sides.

[JakodaCD OA]

quite a few years ago, there was a man in RI who had a dog from this same place. He was arrested TWICE for abusing the dog, physically abusing. In the end he got off with a slap on the wrist and his dog was RETURNED to him.

I find it absolutely disgusting that anyone with a service dog treats their animals badly, and feel they should be removed and not given another one

[AbbyK9]

Of course, we do not know whether the woman here was actually "abusing" the dog. A lot of people see someone use a choke (pop/release) and consider it "abuse".

[Rerun]

Originally Posted by AbbyK9

Of course, we do not know whether the woman here was actually "abusing" the dog. A lot of people see someone use a choke (pop/release) and consider it "abuse".

agreed. There are people on this very forum that can read and be educated about the proper use of prongs and slip chains, and they still believe they are unnecessary and abusive, or the owner/trainer is lazy and doesn't know how to train a dog.

The general public is even worse, they really are clueless.

[Emoore]

Agreed. Our rescue requires that all foster dogs over 6 months old be on a prong collar when off the foster's property, due to the fact that we have some BIG, unruly dogs and some small volunteers. You wouldn't believe the number of complaints and criticisms we've gotten over these "torture devices." Usually these complainers have never tried to control a 100lb GSD that's just spent 2 weeks in a tiny cage in an animal shelter and hasn't received any training in its life.

[JakodaCD OA]

agree also

[kiwilrdg]

It turned its eyes toward us and the woman with it began repeated jerking very hard on the choke collar and yelling NO!

It sounds like the dog turned towards them. That would mean a distracted dog and the dog giving bad feedback to the handler. If I was the person who talked to the woman I would have appologized for distracting the dog.

There are also bad handlers out there but a good team of dog and handler is a wonderful thing.