This morning, I drove down to Buda to meet a fellow TBer who had business there. We met at Cabela’s. I brought Hairy with me because I didn’t want to pen him up for two hours or more. Anyway, we chatted in the parking lot while I left Hairy in the car a few feet away. I then leashed him up and let him out. He ran up to the person (I’m leaving him nameless for his privacy unless he might choose to post on this thread) and begged for attention like he always does.
We both petted him while we talked of the current state of affairs in this country. After a bit, we headed into Cabela’s because he wanted to buy some ammo. I kept Hairy on a very short leash as we wandered the aisles. The selection of ammo was the absolute worst I’ve ever seen at a Cabela’s. A single 8’ shelf, when they used to have a 30’ long aisle dedicated to ammo.
We stood next to the ammo chatting some more, with Hairy standing next to me. An older clerk came toward us to ask if we needed anything. He put put the back of his hand toward Hairy as he approached, but was headed directly toward me and made eye contact with Hairy, who without warning jumped at the guy snarling and tried to bite him. I yanked him back. I don’t think he made contact, but he might have.
I apologized for his behavior and told him that Hairy was intensely protective of me. After I pulled him back and reprimanded him, he sat in front of me, once again perfectly happy and calm. A few moments later, he actually stood and went over to the clerk sniffing politely. In retrospect, he made two mistakes. First, he came directly toward me. Second, he made eye contact with him. Had he simply walked up and stood with us and ignored Hairy, all would have been well. Come to find out, the clerk was ex-law enforcement and said he had trained dogs. That last made me wonder why he approached the way he did. What did Cesar Milan always say: “No touch, no talk, no eye contact.”
Anyway, we stood the together for about 15 minutes talking about stuff. Here’s where it gets odd: the clerk couldn’t understand why people collected large quantities of ammo. Coming from a former LEO, that position was hard to believe. It was time to go, so my TB bud paid for his two boxes of 10 millie and we left. The entire time, Hairy showed not a bit of aggression toward him, instead being a constant pest for attention.
We talked for a time in the parking lot and went our separate ways. I always enjoy meeting fellow TBers, and wish I could do this more often.
Now my question: what the heck can I do with Hairy to get him to stop doing this? As long as another person isn’t coming directly toward me he’s fine; happy and begging for pets. But if they come at me, he’ll attack. This is very disturbing to me. It makes him a ticking bomb. Before Covid, I used to take him out and about so he could interact with people, but for the past year that really hasn’t been possible. Any thoughts on how I might train this out of him?
And to my TB bud, I had a great time. Thanks for the meet!
We both petted him while we talked of the current state of affairs in this country. After a bit, we headed into Cabela’s because he wanted to buy some ammo. I kept Hairy on a very short leash as we wandered the aisles. The selection of ammo was the absolute worst I’ve ever seen at a Cabela’s. A single 8’ shelf, when they used to have a 30’ long aisle dedicated to ammo.
We stood next to the ammo chatting some more, with Hairy standing next to me. An older clerk came toward us to ask if we needed anything. He put put the back of his hand toward Hairy as he approached, but was headed directly toward me and made eye contact with Hairy, who without warning jumped at the guy snarling and tried to bite him. I yanked him back. I don’t think he made contact, but he might have.
I apologized for his behavior and told him that Hairy was intensely protective of me. After I pulled him back and reprimanded him, he sat in front of me, once again perfectly happy and calm. A few moments later, he actually stood and went over to the clerk sniffing politely. In retrospect, he made two mistakes. First, he came directly toward me. Second, he made eye contact with him. Had he simply walked up and stood with us and ignored Hairy, all would have been well. Come to find out, the clerk was ex-law enforcement and said he had trained dogs. That last made me wonder why he approached the way he did. What did Cesar Milan always say: “No touch, no talk, no eye contact.”
Anyway, we stood the together for about 15 minutes talking about stuff. Here’s where it gets odd: the clerk couldn’t understand why people collected large quantities of ammo. Coming from a former LEO, that position was hard to believe. It was time to go, so my TB bud paid for his two boxes of 10 millie and we left. The entire time, Hairy showed not a bit of aggression toward him, instead being a constant pest for attention.
We talked for a time in the parking lot and went our separate ways. I always enjoy meeting fellow TBers, and wish I could do this more often.
Now my question: what the heck can I do with Hairy to get him to stop doing this? As long as another person isn’t coming directly toward me he’s fine; happy and begging for pets. But if they come at me, he’ll attack. This is very disturbing to me. It makes him a ticking bomb. Before Covid, I used to take him out and about so he could interact with people, but for the past year that really hasn’t been possible. Any thoughts on how I might train this out of him?
And to my TB bud, I had a great time. Thanks for the meet!