Tales from a Discount Store 1

[Grendus]

Back when I worked as a dog walker, there were two types of dogs you watched out for. The first were gigantic labs. Huge, hyperactive, and too many people get labs because "they make such good pets" without bothering to train the things. The second were toy breeds. Some of them were wonderful, you could tell they were lap dogs and they were happy to behave for attention. Some were the most entitled dogs and would try to bite you if you put them back in their kennel (which was pointless, just pissed me off).

Chihuahua's not going to bite, my ass. Toy breeds are more likely to bite to convince you they're a threat, a Chow just needs to look at you (if it meets your eyes, run).

[Sheldonrs]

My sisters have small, nippy dogs. The yapping and nipping drive me nuts.
My nephew and his wife have slightly larger dogs that don't make much noise at all and get along with everyone, including my Grandnephew, since he was a baby 4 years ago. :-)

[greensinestro]

I don't know who's worse in this story. The SC, or your boss. Your boss is actually OK with letting someone come back again like that, as long as things he throws at you miss you? As long as he doesn't actually hit anyone, although he intended to? Man, even after I left a job like that, I would have reported that to corporate.

Good for you not being there any more.

Response: The store has insurance, right? When the store is paying my medical bills and lost wages, the insurance company may have a dim view about not banning a dangerous customer. Oh, and I'd like a copy of the incident report please.

And if you had not written that incident report, they would have probably fired you, even though your boss didn't want to deal with this.

[Geek King]

I generally have found smaller dogs to be aggressive more often, but I think that is more because people don't train them to same level as they would a larger dog. Too many people think small dogs don't need the same training as a big breed.

[wolfie]

Chihuahua's not going to bite, my ass.

Of course not - it's too high for them to reach, and for most people, the radius of curvature is too large for a Chihuahua to get its mouth around.

[EricKei]

wolfie - True, but the little buggers CAN jump when they want to, and -- at least on us guys -- there's a much smaller target or three not too far away from that zone...>_>

[Faetouched]

I've worked with animals practically my whole life, and I can tell you that small dogs are often far more aggressive than their larger counterparts, and often quite a problem!

No chihuahua I've ever met would make a half-decent service dog....or anything particularly useful either, except maybe hunting rats or mice. I've trained many dogs, handled a lot of rescues, and I love pretty much anything with fur...but I can't stand chihuahuas. I wouldn't take one if someone gave it to me for free with shots and papers proving it was descended from the holiest of lineages. No, no, and no.

I'm glad you don't work there anymore, your ex-boss sounds like a grade-A spineless d-bag. I bet even if that guy had come back and tried to hurt you again your ex-boss wouldn't have done a thing. Could you have pressed (or even still press) charges against him?

[Comechatcha]

I think I have three words for your boss. Hostile. Work. Environment. Might want to get in contact with HR.

And as for the dogs, I think smaller breeds are more likely to bite because not only are you a big scary stranger and they're going to bring out their best weapon, but often people don't train them to be gentle the same way they would a larger dog. Or they don't socialize them. Not to say that all small dogs bite of course. My grandmother's adopted a string of elderly toy breeds and the latest is just the derpiest little kitten in a dog suit.

[Barefootgirl]

I'm surprised that no-one in the queue called the police. I would, if i saw a shop worker being attacked like that.

[eltf177]

Welcome to the board, and apoligies for the rude welcome.

Good thing you walked off, it's pretty obvious boss never would have your back in a similar situation.

I agree, it's the tiny hyperactive breeds that scare me more than the larger breeds.

[AccountingDrone]

About the only thing a chihuahua could do as a service dog, other than for anxiety would be one that alerts for epilepsy or diabetic metabolic imbalance. None of the 3 require any particular size [I know an epilepsy parrot, lovely bird. He talks and tells people that 'Maribeth is about to have an attack please get help' I keep telling her to teach him to say 'I am really pining for the fjords' ]

I suppose I could get a yappy little mutt to alert for diabetes, but I would rather have a big shepherd configuration [nondrooly] dog to fetch keys, go answer the door and stuff like that. I have seen a picture of a service dog doing laundry but just fetching my shoes and keys would be fine. And hitting hte panic button if I fall

[Fire_on_High]

I've owned chis.

If I had a disorder that would cause me not to be in complete control of myself, no matter how good they were at detecting it, I'd still rather take my chances. I'm pretty sure the vast majority of chis would have a full blown freakout and most likely bite anyone who tried to help you.

[dalesys]

Chi-bow-wow-wow-wows suffer from traumatic Racial Memories, which explain the popped eyes and attitude.

See, they were bred as hot dogs. Semi-tropical climate, so not stunt skiers.

No refrigeration, so the package has to be small enough to eat before it starts moving around on its own again. Lacking the transport necessary for Meals-On-Wheels, they had to settle for Meat-With-Feet.

The hoop-rollers & glazed nopales monsters would get very upset to find their very own Pupi Xocalatl in the pot (Those toy arrows hurt! There oughta be a law!), so there was a neighborly exchange of dog-wokking duties, which is why the attitude towards non-family is "I *KNOW* you're going to eat me, so I'll get a bite out of you first."

[freespirit114]

Welcome to CS!
Your bosses reaction amazes me. There are a lot of times people deserve second chances but this was not one. He would be banned if he did it again? WTF? The guy was a loon ball. Creating a problem where there was none. Ugh.
My moms side of the family were huge animal lovers. We all had many dogs over the years and any dog will bite given the right circumstances. But no dogs policy of the store usually has nothing to do with that. Besides, it was fine with the ladies that you said no, this guy was just off his rocker. Glad you left there!

[Catwoman2965]

I think they know that people aren't very intimidated by them, so they get a bit more aggressive to get their point across. On the other hand, if this dog*:



was staring you down, you'd probably think twice about crossing him without him even having to move.

*That picture is a year old, taken when he was still a puppy. He's about 50 pounds larger now.

But yeah, as to the OP, damn straight I don't want a little yippie dog that's not a trained service animal in a store where they don't belong.

Hahaha - sorry, nope. They don't scare me Then again, I had one. I'd be more worried about the slobber than teeth.