Laugh it Off..

Marge has the right idea here.  That's what I need to learn to do.

My parents had sudden visitors to our house last night, and, long story short, I was bombarded with such comments as..

"If she's this bad with her dog, how will she be with her kids?"

"You're constantly up your dog's 'butt' " (edited to be family friendly)

"You're a nut"

"Leave her alone, she's fine"

"I've had four dogs, so I think I know a little about them"

"I've grown up with dogs, you're new to it"

"You have too many stupid rules.. can't pet her, can't talk to her.."

"She's just a dog"

And I wasn't supposed to get upset by any of them.  They were supposed to be "just jokes," just someone "busting my chops."  Well, I did a great job of not getting upset.. I went down into the basement, my best friend Marge close at my heels (because she WANTS to be, not because I'm following her around), and moped by myself.  Sat there like a child with tears in my eyes, frustrated over the fireworks we had just heard outside (AGAIN), the fact that I can't walk my poor dog to remove her from the stressful environment due to those fireworks, and for the beating I just took for my apparently very strange pooch precautionary practices.

Funny thing is, I wasn't even doing anything.  Marge was exploring the room and I was sitting on the floor (as the nineteen year old, the "adults".. I use this word loosely.. were given first dibs to sit around the table) giving her a few treats.  She wasn't on leash, she wasn't inhibited by me in any way. The only time I reacted is when another, totally unexpected visitor came through my door unannounced.  

Damn right I'm going to grab my dog and bring her to the yard.  It's dark, you're a stranger to her, no one knew who it was, and I, quite frankly, don't need the heartache of having her growl and bark in a fit of fear.  I'd rather be proactive than reactive, but sometimes, as this situation showed, that is not always possible.

Regardless of the context of the comments, regardless of who has had more dogs, regardless of who really knows what they're doing, I am really appalled that someone would speak to me like that.  Marge is not this individual's dog.  This individual does not deal with Marge on a deal basis.  This individual knows NOTHING of classical conditioning, of Pavlov, of positive reinforcement.  Nothing.  But it's still okay to rat on the college kid because apparently she's paranoid and, instead, should be yanking on her dog's neck like Cesar Millan and forcing her to interact with people who scare the life out of her.  Because she's doing things differently than what is considered traditional, she's automatically wrong.  I did not ask for your opinion, nor do I want it.  I'd rather take training advice from a pile of dog poop.

Whatever, I guess.  I'll put it behind me eventually.  I need to keep reminding myself of what's important - I need to be Marge's champion, I need to be strong for her.  Because I'm one of the few who understands.

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Anyway, on a brighter - or stormier - note, Marge has been significantly better with thunderstorms.  We've had a few rumbles the past few days and a full-fledged storm today.  The really loud ones still bother her, but she recovers more quickly than she used to.   She did not go and hide, though it was easy to see she was thinking about doing so.  The FEAST game made her decide that staying with me was a better idea.

We went on a long walk down by the beach yesterday.  Marge seemed fine on the actual beach, not terribly concerned with the people around, though I did take measures to keep our distance.  We found walking trails that we never new existed.  Because it was so hot and humid, we didn't walk all the way through them, but it looks like we can have some fun there in the future. On the way back to the car, she wasn't taking treats and had a little bit of a "go go go home" mindset, but I think the heat had alot to do with it.  She walked right past a man unloading beach chairs and such from his car without batting an eye.  I don't know if it was because she was shut down and didn't care, but it seemed more like she just wanted to get to the cool air conditioning.  Who can blame her?