HE SAID WHAT?

So yesterday I wrote on a few e-mail lists about something someone wrote about on a social network group that I belong to. For those that didn’t read it, and for those that are not on those e-mail lists, I’ll write about it again here because it fits in with today’s topic.

This woman wanted to know what she could do about a male dog that she owns that has been driving her crazy with his constant whining. Hmmmm, all right, so I read on. It seems that the dog has a one track mind. You see this woman also owns another dog which is a female that just so happens to be in season. She’s not a breeder, but a pet owner. Obviously neither one of the dogs is altered. She wanted to know what she could do about his constant whining besides having them altered. Oh yeah, she keeps the female up on the bed with her while the male paces around the floor. So I write to her trying to convince her to get both dogs altered. I told her how her male could end up having prostrate problems if she doesn’t have him “fixed!” I don’t think she liked my answer because she never wrote back. She’s more focused on trying to get him to stop making so much noise rather than fix the problem at its source. Wouldn’t you think that someone would have more common sense than this? I guess not. People never fail to amaze me……even though we have more intelligence than animals do! Sometimes I wonder!

Looking back through the years and the people we’ve all dealt with……wow the stories that we could tell. Some of them may have made us laugh and others may have made us shake our heads in disbelief. Sometimes friends will share their stories with me and we’ll giggle about some of them. So here’s a couple of more that I share with you.

Seems this woman was a neat freak. She liked everything to be perfect in her house. She had owned other breeds of dogs before, but this time she wanted a German Shepherd. When the breeder told her the only negative thing about this breed was their excessive shedding, the woman squirmed in her chair a little bit, but she wasn’t convinced that this could be a problem for her. As time went by she would call the breeder with her puppy tales about her new dog. The breeder really didn’t hear about too many complaints so she was happy. One day she got a letter and a couple of pictures from the woman. In one of the pictures she could see that it was taken in the winter time. She saw the dog in boots and rain gear. In the summer pictures, she saw that the dog had been shaven. The breeder was concerned so she called the owner. The owner just said that she was making sure that her house would remain clean. All winter long she kept the boots on the dog every time he went in and out of the house. The rain gear prevented him from getting water or snow on her Oriental carpets. The shaving of his coat prevented him from shedding too much. Forget about the fact that he needed that undercoat to protect him from the elements. Forget about the fact that now he could get sunburned. So she says, “I’m a fashionable woman, and the dog that lives in my home must also be fashionable and keep up with the latest trends!” She planned on keeping the dog dressed in designer clothes! So I guess that no harm was done except maybe the loss of the nobility of the German Shepherd! He really didn’t care though. He was very much loved and at the same time became quite a fashionable fellow among the local neighborhood dogs I’m told!

One day I got a call about a litter of puppies that I had advertised in the New York Times. I had a pleasant conversation with a man that told me what he was looking for in a dog. He had told me that he owned a German Shepherd before. He seemed intelligent and educated about the proper way of taking care of this breed. He promised he would do the best by my puppy and that the puppy would be very much loved. He told me his dogs slept in the bed with him. Well he seemed like the perfect type of person that I wanted for one of my puppies. He was adamant about the fact that the puppy had to be a female and told me that he wanted the biggest one in the litter. He said that size was very important to him. He didn’t want the runt of the litter. Well these requirements seemed reasonable enough. I reassured him that my puppies were big and healthy. He seemed happy with my response to the size question. Then he proceeds to tell me (I don’t know if you guys are ready for this), the reason that he wanted the biggest female in the litter was because he wanted to have sex with her. I kid you not!! I almost dropped the phone on the floor. I thought I must be hearing incorrectly. I asked him to repeat himself hoping that I was wrong. Nope, I wasn’t and yes this is what he wanted the large female for. I slammed the phone down and stood in the middle of the floor with my mouth open. I just couldn’t believe what I just heard! Ahh…..just another reason why I like animals better than most people.

Then there’s the story of Mr. Jones. Now Mr. Jones was the kind of man that everyone liked. You just couldn’t get mad at Mr. Jones. He was a refined elderly type of gentlemen. He would come to obedience classes all dressed up in a suit and tie. He was very distinguished looking. Everything he did was slow and deliberate. He took his time when all those around him were loud and boisterous. Mr. Jones wasn’t in any hurry. And one could tell this by looking at his dog that he brought to class with him. He too was a quiet sort of dog. Oh Mr. Jones was very proud of his dog Rusty. He didn’t care about his pedigree or that he wasn’t a show dog. Mr. Jones just loved good old Rusty. The instructor of the class was very patient with Mr. Jones because after all, who could ever get mad at him? He was just too nice! Well the instructor would tell the class what she wanted them to do with their dog, whether it be to sit, stay, down, come, etc. So one night the instructor tells us to make our dogs sit and stay and then for us to walk across the floor to the other side of the room. Mr. Jones tells Rusty to sit and stay as the rest of us are telling our dogs the same thing. So we all are walking across the floor to the other side of the room. Our dogs are doing what we commanded them to do……except for Rusty. Rusty is closely following Mr. Jones across to the other side of the room. Mr. Jones is not even aware of it as he’s walking calmly with his dog wiping up the rear. You could just about hear a pin drop even though some of us were trying to hold back our giggles. “Mr. Jones” the instructor calls out to him. “Correct your dog.” He looks at her like if to say, “Who me?” But one never to argue or question anyone, he turns around and see’s Rusty standing right behind him. He say’s “F….Rusty what are you doing boy?” Well all of our mouths dropped as the refined elderly Mr. Jones just burst our bubble! He was human after all!

So there you have just some of the stories about people and their quirky ways. I’m sure many of you have your own stories you could tell when dealing with the public. Dealing with the public is by far my most disliked area when selling puppies.


My rating: no bad dogs: (4), dysfunctional people: (1)