Yes, I know MY dog's sex, Thank you very much!!

[x0emiroxy0x]

Just another "idiot at petsmart that thinks they are a german shepherd expert" story for ya'll to laugh at.

We have been working on desensitizing so that Rocky isn't scared of people. He wears his "in training don't pet" vest I made him and we just walk all over, walk by people, sit in one place and watch people walk by.

I think my dog looks pretty darn good.

This 19 year old kid walks by and says "is that a GIRL?" (like in a negative way) and I responded..."No...."

He proceeded to tell me that I have a midget german shepherd because the smallest a male should be is 100 pounds. HIS parents bred their two german shepherds and both were over 100 pounds. German Shepherds under 100 pounds shouldn't be bred.

I asked him "Did your dogs have their hips OFA'd? Do your dogs have any titles? Do your dogs act aggressively to strangers who come near you?"

His answers were no, no, and yes. He thought he got the last one right.

I told him "well then youre parents are backyard breeders" and walked away. He probably had no idea what that meant, but since we had an audience of about 20 I figured at least one person would google it and learn something.

Rocky did a perfect heel by the way. Thank god. We looked pretty darn good walking away.

I never say anything back to these people. Not even the one who called Rocky a transgender/multi gender dog. But today was just one of those days. Plus he said it infront of like 20 people. Good lesson time.

[KZoppa]

yikes!

[martemchik]

Why cant this stuff happen to me!?!?! I never run into people that need a lesson! I would not be shy about explaining to them how wrong they are about anything and everything.

Although it is very heartwarming when someone that does know something about the breed compliments me on how nicely sized and tempered my boy is.

[x0emiroxy0x]

Aside from that, we had a perfect 1 1/2 hour adventure today! 1 hour 15 min walk and 15 min at petsmart (its behind my apartment)

Rocky sat, laid down, high fived every time I asked him to in Petsmart, even when people walked by.

We purposely walked down aisles with people in them. Rocky sniffed one lady who had on too much perfume (even I smelt it) but after that, I'm not kidding, he completely ignored them! We did this about 6 times then sat on the bench in the back and practiced down-stays. I have no problem if he stands up when men walk by. That is what I am desensitizing him to. I will know when he starts getting better by when he stays down when they walk by. My trainer said not to punish him for breaking the down, as long as he at least stays sitting. She said down might be too intimidating for him right now when big men walk by. Very happy with todays results.

Also walked by a group of telephone pole repairmen. It is right next to the shaded grass Rocky rolls in on hot days. They laughed and pointed as he rolled around for about 5 minutes. Then we walked by them. He glanced once then kept walking.

My great pup!

[mycobraracr]

I hate petsmart for that reason! I get the same thing every time I go. I had a "trainer" (I use the term loosley) there tell me Mina is way to small to be a PB. She is 4 months and 4 days old and 33 lbs. Not huge but on track. I told her that her (Mina's) papers disagreed with her. She then said I need to socialize her and bring her to the puppy class. As Mina is with me, and laying at my feet without me holding her leash. I just said we dont need your classes and she is socialized. I take her everywhere I go! She kept going on so I just walked away. That's just one trip! Geeze hahaha

[BGSD]

My graphical summary of the event:

[LoveEcho]

I had the opposite reaction at Petco today, for once!

I usually get "your dog is too pretty to be a boy" as well, and "he's so small!" (Yeah...at 80 lbs/16 months...ok). I love that

I was doing the same kind of thing, going up and down aisles working on focused heeling.

He's in a down and I'm looking at bullysticks and marrow bones, when an employee approaches me. He looks a little younger than me, and he has a really, really thick eastern European accent. He asks if it's ok to pet my dog, because he's so handsome. He then goes into how lovely it is to see a GSD meet breed standards for once, how Americans ruin the dogs by foregoing all else for size, and how wonderfully tempered he is. We're chatting, he knows a LOT about the breed. Turns out, his parents are breeders in the Czech Republic... given how much he knew about titling, his dog's titles, etc, I definitely believed him.

I was impressed!!