The Petsmart experience......

SunCzarina, you questioned in your earlier post why people take their dog-aggressive dogs places. This situation could have been a bit different with the OPs dog doing the snarling and lunging. And then someone on the pittie site would be asking why people take their dog-aggressive dog places.

I don't think you can have it both ways. You cannot take a dog there to work on their dog-aggression, if you cannot take a dog-aggressive dog there. No matter how hard we worked and how well the dog has been lately and what the dog did yesterday, the fact remains that at the end of the leash is a being with a mind of its own. It can make us proud, it can mortify us.

I think they are doing a great job, and she had cause to believe her dog had made progress. PetsMart is an ok place to go when you are trying to socialize your dog. It is also a proving ground. It is also a place where ignorant and oblivious people go with their dogs. It is better to be 100% focussed on what you are doing (with your dog) when you are there, especially if the dog may have a problem. If I have a questionable dog I take the dog in and walk with it, but do not try to purchase anything. I can take the dog back out to my vehicle, come back in and make the purchases quickly. That way I do not have to be stuck in a check out line between who knows what.

A little is a lot when it comes to stimulation. If you go too fast or do too much, you can go backwards in a hurry. I do think classes are a good idea though, as well as occasional outings. Just be sure to be aware and move delicately away from situations you think the dog is not yet ready for, before the dog realizes it. And go home before the dog is majorly stressed out.

Oh I agree Selzer. Reich could have very well been the loud mouth!

I wouldn't have taken her by myself. With mom there, if the experience started to go sour I could easily have handed mom my stuff and taken the dog back to the car.

I've never taken her there before because I knew it would not go well, and there are usually alot of dogs. But after observing her at the vet, surrounded and remaining calm and collected...I was ready to try her.

Just a bit ago I took her for a run down to the store. We got down to the sidewalk and the little dog at the root of her DA was out on his lead across the street, yapping and being a spazz.
She saw him right away. As soon as I saw her gaze lock on him I gave a quick 'leave it, come on'. And she did. She didn't even bark.

I do want to be careful and not put too much on her too fast...at the same time I don't want to not do enough and lose progress.

Dogs are so tricky!

"Many of the people and dogs there are learning, the rest are idiots. "

I stand by my statement. There are not that many people out there NOT learning. People with excellent, obedient dogs are still learning. People with maniacal, serial killer, psycho bitches may be learning a whole lot more than the first people mentioned, but they ARE learning. People with pits that bark and lunge at dogs are often learning too.

I am not suggesting calling the people that are not learning idiots, what a complete waste of breath that would be. No, I was stating that there are two types of people that go to Petsmart, dogs in tow: those who are learning, and those who are not. While there may not be many people that fall into the second category, the couple that are around can make life miserable and dangerous for us. And there is really no way around that fact that sheer stupidity exists in the world and WE have to protect our dogs from these people and whatever act of stupidity that they choose to commit.