This. Is. Madness.
I wish I had a picture of what our sweet girl looks like when she sees another dog. It is so unlike the dog that you see here on the site. Her face suffuses with blood, and she becomes unreachable, totally monstrous. Like a switch was flipped. You see this dog? This dog right here?
This is not my dog when that happens. Not even close.
Barrier Agression - it's nothing personal! I just hate this leash so much.
I think this is what it sounds like, inside her head:
OHMYGODLETMEGOYOUHAVETOLETMEGORIGHTNOW
THEREISADOGOVERTHERELETMEGOINEEDTOGOLICKJUMP
GREETLOVETHATDOGWHATISHOLDINGMEBACKOHMYGOD
MAKEITLETGOIAMGONNAKILLITIAMGONNAKILLIT
LETMEGOIHAVETOGOARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH.
At first we thought it was just plain old dog aggression, until one day she had an accidental off the leash encounter with another dog and was fine. Thank goodness. So that determined for us that the issue was formally "Barrier Aggression." We are getting some help from a trainer but this is a long process, and unfortunately there are a lot of people out there that instead of continuing on their way when they see Yuki freaking out, they stand there, and gape, as we struggle to pull her away far enough that we can get her attention again.
OHMYGODLETMEGOYOUHAVETOLETMEGORIGHTNOW
THEREISADOGOVERTHERELETMEGOINEEDTOGOLICKJUMP
GREETLOVETHATDOGWHATISHOLDINGMEBACKOHMYGOD
MAKEITLETGOIAMGONNAKILLITIAMGONNAKILLIT
LETMEGOIHAVETOGOARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH.
At first we thought it was just plain old dog aggression, until one day she had an accidental off the leash encounter with another dog and was fine. Thank goodness. So that determined for us that the issue was formally "Barrier Aggression." We are getting some help from a trainer but this is a long process, and unfortunately there are a lot of people out there that instead of continuing on their way when they see Yuki freaking out, they stand there, and gape, as we struggle to pull her away far enough that we can get her attention again.
WHY ARE YOU CHASING ME!?
Once, a man in our neighborhood was jogging with a German Shepherd puppy. I was walking Yuki, and had nowhere to go besides back the way I came, so I started jogging back with her, looking over my shoulder every now and then to see how close they were. See where this might be going? I am not a jogger. Yuki was getting real interested in the puppy down the street and behind us. I kept looking over my shoulder and trying to pick up the pace so that the jogger and his dog didn't overtake us. Despite my frantic appearance, which I think pretty clearly expressed "oh no he is gaining on me!" the man did not stop.
I eventually gave up (read: ran out of breath and almost collapsed), and there was a brief moment where I gasped out "not dog friendly!" and Yuki and the puppy stood not five feet from each other to no event. Then the puppy moved, and Yuki decided that it was not at all okay that the leash and harness should be holding her back. No one got hurt, except for me. I ran almost half a mile and thought for sure that anyone with half a brain would see that I was freaking running away from them. Once Yuki lost it he veered around us and kept going.
I eventually gave up (read: ran out of breath and almost collapsed), and there was a brief moment where I gasped out "not dog friendly!" and Yuki and the puppy stood not five feet from each other to no event. Then the puppy moved, and Yuki decided that it was not at all okay that the leash and harness should be holding her back. No one got hurt, except for me. I ran almost half a mile and thought for sure that anyone with half a brain would see that I was freaking running away from them. Once Yuki lost it he veered around us and kept going.
The Yellow Dog Project
A sidebar advertisement clued us in to The Yellow Dog Project. Check it out. We are considering getting behind this project seriously, and volunteering to raise awareness in our community. Right now we are basically stopping in our tracks when we see someone else walking their dog. Either myself or my husband will run ahead to ask the owner which direction they intend to go, so that we can plan to have enough space, train our dog, and not have her freak out. Sometimes, we don't have time for that. Hopefully that is where a little community education and a yellow ribbon will help out.
We'll keep you posted.
By the way, anyone else out there got a yellow dog?
We'll keep you posted.
By the way, anyone else out there got a yellow dog?