Wednesday, July 14, 2010

I'm Ten Days Late


Happy Fourth Everyone!

I thought I'd post a video of Gaius at the Asland Parade. He had tons of fun even though they changed the time this year to 1 PM ugh! I don't have to tell you how hot it gets in Richmond. We were losing basset hounds left and right. They were dropping like casualties on a strange long short hound dog battle feild. But Gaius and I made it till the end.

Gaius loves this parade. I think he just likes being the center of attention. Even a year ago when he was much worse with strangers I took him just to see how he would do. I was a nervous mess desperately grasping my treat bag terrified of a little dachshund meltdown. But he's not a little dog to underestimate, and he was pretty much perfect (ok he did growl and bark at the guy dressed as Uncle Sam when he reached to pick him up without asking me frist. But that's understandable. And he let the patriotic symbol pet him this year without a peep so there has been progress). But this year he was a real champ. He accepted petting from a bunch of random strangers including several children. You can even see parts in the video where he's voluntarily initiating interactions with people he dosen't know. We've come a long way. I have a little therapy dog in there somewhere.

But that just goes to show you that if you have a dog that seems nervous around strangers or barks and growls at other dogs, don't banish them to an existence in the house. Try to go out and work through it. Such issues can be over come and improved if you try to fix them. And besides, the dogs life will be happier if they get to experience life.

On that note we need to be more tolerant and understanding when people are working with a dog whose manners are less than perfect in public. At least they are out there working on the issue and trying to fix it. Who cares if the methods they are using are diffrent than yours. They are trying to improve the life of their pet which is commendable. The effort is the important thing.

So without further ado, a parade video!


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