"Oh, she's fine with getting her nails trimmed"...

[Kittish]

The first time I took our dog to have her nails trimmed, I warned the groomer that it was entirely possible that she'd be aggressive with other dogs there. She certainly is at home (kind of understandable, that's HER territory!). Turns out that outside her own turf she's really quite sweet and sociable with other dogs. Going to get her nails trimmed is turning into a bit of a fun adventure day for the dog, she gets all excited when her harness and leash come out.

[katzklaw]

my parents used to have a 130lb rottweiler and a chihuahua... guess which one ruled the house.

this is our current pair:


guess which one wiggles herself in a paroxysm of frenzied excitement and happiness when a visitor comes into the house. even though she's a doggie senior citizen now, and guess which one won't stop growling and woofing, even after i make a deal of greeting the visitor so its plain that the new person is allowed to be there, and telling him to shush already.

[Kit-Ginevra]

HAH! You reminded me of the first time I got my Japanese Chin groomed. He was a show dog, previously a stud and currently unfixed. The lady mentioned that his... bits... were HUGE. XD Little dog does not mean little dick, apparently.

.

At which point the dog looks up and says Why thank you.So kind of you to have noticed. Whilst we're commenting,your bits are pretty damn huge too

[wheeitsmee]

One of my favorite dog park interactions was with a rescued Pit.
One of the bigger ones. Massive and muscled...and he would not allow any of the other dogs to fight.
When any dogs tried to start something - he'd put himself between the two and stare them down. Once they backed down, he'd go back to playing fetch or romping with the other dogs.

Every Pit I've ever met was a big old slobber monster that would drown you in loves.

But those little ones? I always tell my Black Lab mixes to be careful...those little ones will totally take you down...

[fireheart]

close... small dog symdrome

caused by people treating their small dog like a baby or a toy, or both, and the dog being super confused on who's supposed to be alpha and feeling forced to take over that role... and being spoiled rotten to boot.

My SO's parents have 2 dogs, one of which formerly belonged to my SO when he was living with his ex. Both of them suffer from small dog syndrome BIG time despite not being treated like babies. They make great doorbells though! It got to the point where we could tell who it was simply by the amount of noise the dogs made (they would go NUTS if one of his friends came over)

HAH! You reminded me of the first time I got my Japanese Chin groomed. He was a show dog, previously a stud and currently unfixed. The lady mentioned that his... bits... were HUGE. XD Little dog does not mean little dick, apparently.

Is that a stick in your fur or are you just happy to see me?

[Aislin]

I have a 42 pound shibu inu minpin mix who hates nail trims with a passion. Last weekend we went to a charity dog wash. They offered a very cheep nail trim and wash package or an upgraded pack with a vet and new collar and leash. I took the upgrade and the vet offered to trim my pups nails rather than send him to the techs. I warned her the pup broke the nose of a trainer at the daycare he went to when she was too rough with him (her bosses words and they took responsibility) and he bit a tech at pets mart when he got his nails trimmed too short. I had his mussel with me. The vet and tech took him, cuddled him. Offered him treats and love. To be forewarned is to be prepared. He had the best nail trim and was wagging at the end. I hate people who don't understand that they are endangering their animal and the people around them.

[protege]

My parents have a chihuahua, that has a serious case of SDS*. He can get snarky at any time, for any reason. Thankfully, they're responsible owners and warn vets and groomers of his temperament, and will actually stick around to control him.

My aunt has a chihuahua, an annoying little dog named Lily. All Lily does is bark and bite. The last time she was up here, Lily bit just about everyone. Except for me, that is. A boot upside the head (not hard, just enough to startle her) was why I didn't get bitten. Naturally, my aunt was pissed. But, I didn't care. A biting dog is a problem.

[Dreamstalker]

Right now I'm dogsitting a few towns over; longhaired chi who was crazy when I first started with him (3+ years ago; before I showed up they had gotten a different sitter each time which confused the poor guy) but is now calm as can be. They moved last month and he was a bit traumatized by the change; as soon as I came over to visit the new place he was chill again.

Every Pit I've ever met was a big old slobber monster that would drown you in loves.

Ditto. When I used to volunteer at the local animal hospital shelter, I was more a cat person but did take some of the dogs for walks around the building on occasion. Never got a chance to directly handle any of the pitbulls (they had all passed the hospital's socialization classes), but they would all beg for scritches and loves when they saw me.

Now, in my dad's neck of the woods I'd never approach a pit unless I/he knew the owner (dogfighting is still a thing out there in some of the sketchier neighborhoods and there's no way to tell how the dog's been trained).

[Seshat]

Seph (our now-dead cat) used to be the absolute sweetest girl with Her People; but would be dangerous to vets and vet techs. She'd let Her People clip her nails or give her tablets, but a stranger was always refused.

During the time the vet had surgeries (and thus the examination rooms were empty), we tried having a vet tech in an exam room with us and her and let her explore the exam room, have some treats, meet the tech. But it never really worked. She just stayed freaked-out by it.

Fortunately, the few times she was really sick, she felt too bad to become a clawing, biting frenzy of a cat and let herself be examined. Our vet declared that it meant she HAD to be really sick.


Shiro, the white cat, is very good with vets. He just sits there and lets the vet manhandle him as needed. If he is bothered, he will make a warning growl and give the vet plenty of time to change what he's doing.


Vi - our dog - is not very good with other dogs, and becomes very very exciteable among new humans. Humans who are scared of dogs become frightened by her, because of her exciteability. Vet techs, vets, dog trainers and the like say that her body language is relaxed and friendly so they tend not to be worried. And she does calm down once her humans have told her the person is permitted to be near her.
We've worked hard to ensure she knows that the humans are dominant over her. She chose which human is her alpha, but the rest of us are ranked above her and that is not ever going to change.

[mathnerd]

I've never met a truly bad dog that wasn't trained (actively or passively) to be that way. I did have a small dog that, after a traumatic, cross country move, developed a bit of little dog syndrome, but we got that under control in fairly short order. However, the few weeks she was being a brat were awful!

[Aragarthiel]

I was just reminded of a story my mom told me...

She used to work in a large pet store chain and spent some days helping out in the grooming department (she had been trained to groom at other jobs before, though she mostly did cleaning). One day, a coworker in the grooming department had some sort of medical emergency and had to leave, so my mom had to cover since there wasn't really any backup.

She spent several weeks there while coworker was in and out of surgeries, and it eventually drove her to quitting a very well-paid job. Apparently, there was too little equipment for how many animals they had to deal with (muzzles, leashes, etc.), the AC was broken and management wouldn't get it fixed (this was Arizona in June and July), and nobody in management wanted to hire a temp worker since they kept expecting coworker to be back "any day now." My mom walked out after getting bitten for the third time by an animal they didn't have a muzzle for, since she knew from the first two times that worker's comp wouldn't cover her.

Sorry for the threadjack. Back on topic, I had a cat who LOVED the vet. He was just a big ball of lazy and fluff and cute, and though he'd be a bit shy around strangers, once he got to sniff you, he was fine. The only thing he didn't like was having his toes spread to be trimmed, he'd never act aggressive but would just yank his paws away.

[AccountingDrone]

Shiro, the white cat, is very good with vets. He just sits there and lets the vet manhandle him as needed..

We moved up to Connecticut with our big scarred up ex-alley cat Pyewacket. As mean and nasty as he looked, he would sort of huddle there looking pitiful whenever he was at the vets. It wasn't that he liked being there, or wanted to be there, he was just sort of resigned to being somewhere that smelled funny and waiting to be taken home again.

I wish I had a picture of him. Big old tuxedo american generic shorthair mix. Torn ears, smattering of scars and all, one of the sweetest cats I ever managed to coax into being a housecat.

[notalwaysright]

I wonder how many places have banned this dog for biting?

When someone new comes to my house I tell them not to pet my cat unless he comes to them. If they want to actively try to be friends, the best thing they can do is sit quietly, and not make sudden movements. Soon enough Mr Kitty will be sleeping on them, if they do this. You have no idea how many people ignore these warnings and go try to pet him while he's snarling and growling. I've had issues with a vet, too. He doesn't get his claws trimmed, and he isn't afraid to bite, so children aren't allowed in my place. They simply can't be trusted not to bug him. He used to be very well-socialized and friendly, until I lived in a house which was for sale for over a year. All those people barging around loudly, leaving him no place to hide, since prospective buyers look everywhere.

(They even looked in my personal things, things which don't come with the house, like my laundry basket!)

[Aragarthiel]

You have no idea how many people ignore these warnings and go try to pet him while he's snarling and growling.

That's just stupid. The most I would EVER do is walk over and hold a hand out for kitty to sniff. Are people oblivious to snarling and growling or are they just so stupid that they don't realize it means an animal is about to bite/scratch you?

[Golden Phoenix]

Our dog is called Mop, he is a shih tzu with one eye, buck teeth and bandy legs. He's amazing in a so-ugly-he's-adorable kind of way.

Before we got him Mop was abused very badly, and at first, we couldn't get near him, poor thing had been beaten and starved, he was terrified.

Five years on and he's upside down, snoring away cuddled up to Dh. He loves kids, adores our cats, and 99% tolerates me unless i'm trying to cuddle Dh too, he's very protective. He has no food aggression at all, which is surprising. He dislikes getting his fur cut, it usually requires lots of treats and Dh holding him in a very gentle headlock to steady him while i trim his face, and about three days of on again off again work to get him cut, but it gets done in the end, he just looks a little silly when he's half done. But he hates having his nails clipped.

He will struggle, snarl, bite, urinate, just about anything to get away. And you know what? We're sensible about it and take him to the vet to be sedated when he needs that clip! (We also walk him on a lot of hard surfaces to keep his nails as short as possible so we don't have to do it too often, damn that's expensive)

An owner like the one in the OP is a danger to others and her dog, all it will take is for the dog to injure the wrong person and the poor creature won't have a chance.

EDIT: A memory surfaces of taking my childhood dog Rupert (another shih tzu) to get his claws clipped at the vets, he yowled and howled like an army of demons. We walked out of the exam room and a farmer in the waiting room looked astounded and said "That's what was making all that noise?!"