[log in to unmask] wrote:

> Is there dog lit on why this happens?  Or dog shrinkage?
>
I'm related by marriage to a dog shrink... I prefer not to ask questions
as I suspect it is a radical feminist shrinkage involved. Don't get me
wrong, I like feminists, but I don't think radical feminism should get
between a boy and his dog considering an agenda that would eliminate all
boys. Our last conversation, regarding Mudslide nipping folks, like my
mother... or the esteemed HC... was to the effect that any dog that
bites/nips should be put down. My response was that if a dog needs to be
put down for that reason then possibly it is their owner that should be
put down and that neither I nor the dog was about to go that route when
there remained other possibilities of behavior and life. The
conversation did not go over well as I think I was expected to be the
nice husband-of-cousin, put on a smile and take it. But, then again, the
first day I met this woman I ended up spanking her son. Like I say, we
have been working on our behavior. The non-relative shrink that we heard
of from our vet quoted $500 for one on-site visit. I don't think so.
What we changed, though, was the behavior of the people in the house --
and slowly the dog gains confidence in the context of habit and ritual.
If the social group to which the dog belongs does not recognize how the
dog feels that they fit in then it is inevitable that, with an
underlying psychosis -- reference previous anonymous owners and hostile
environment, that there will be problems. I've been able to take him to
the city and on a leash on the streets he is freaked out... but he does
not bark at anyone and does not try to bite them, or even threaten.

][<

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