Dragging

I love this photo of my daughter, Tilley and Luke.

Inspiration at the park; yep it doesn't take long and I'm inspired.  Yesterday I took the poodles to the park; it is a slow go with Tilley but she made it all the way around.  While we were getting out of the xterra a woman got out of her car with what looked like a Fox Terrier mix.  She immediately headed across the park to the other side; giving herself and her dog some distance.  I got Tilley out first and then Luke and we head in the opposite direction.  It was a gorgeous cool day.

Of course at one point we had to cross paths with this woman, I thought nothing of it.  Her dog looked excited as we got closer and closer.  About 25 feet away from us the woman made an abrupt turn and started walking across the park again.  Fine; maybe her dog had issues with other dogs.  But; she was literally dragging her dog and not looking back.  She kept walking; the dog was on the very end of an extension leash straining to see my guys.  She gave it an almighty yank without so much as a glance backwards.  I shook my head as we continued our lovely walk.

Once again we were approaching the woman and her dog.  This time she started walking away instantly; her pace was abrupt.  Her little dog started to squat to pee and was quickly yanked out of pee position from her very rude owner.  Not one glance back to her dog did this woman make.  Her dog could have easily gotten wrapped up around one of the many trees while she was yanking.  It wasn't a smart behavior from the woman, nor was it safe.  Not only was it unwise to just head off without a look back but the whole scenario spoke volumes.  There was no concern for the dog, no trying to work on a behavior issue, just dragging. 

Lack of supervision is a big problem; it is often when something happens.  Plus while her dog was displaying a great deal of communication; she was missing it on her quest to get away.  Running away never fixes anything; what it does do is instill worse behaviors.  The big thing in this whole situation was the lack of watching; there was no connection between this dog and the human.  No talking; no communicating, nothing.  It was sad and I felt bad that this dog was just being dragged along.  The woman could have used this as a great training moment.  The park is great in that you can really get some great distance yet keep the trigger or distraction in the same area.  I hate to see a disconnect between a dog and their owner.

A wasted moment in time; left to become the past with nothing to bring to the future, sad.  Sherri Regalbuto