Winterspring
Well-Known Member
Okay, so I think I mentioned that I was bringing Taurus to the vet on Saturday the 29th, and then he had a trainer coming to help us later that afternoon at three.
I have learned a few things about my Fila. First, if you bribe him with enough cookies, he will NOT leave you alone, and try to climb into your pockets if he thinks you have cookies. A 111lb Mastiff head-butting you for cookies can be a tad alarming (My vet took it in stride. I like her.) She palpated his joints, molested him and did...vet stuff. He didn't even twitch. He only growled at someone specific twce. Once at the bitchy tech who was a little afraid because of bad experiences with Mastiffs, and once at a twelve-ish-year old girl who came in after her mother (who paid him no mind at all) and took one look at him and plastered herself against the wall in terror. THEN he growled.
He seems to react when someone is actively afraid of him. Like the friend that tried to pet him while Taurus was growling. He was obviously very afraid of Taurus. Is this common with Filas? (Kid asked, "Do 'e bite?" so I replied with a shrug. "Dunno. He might." Hee. I derive pleasure from horrible places. I'm a terrible person.) Other than that, perfect angel. I was so proud.
But then. THEN. The trainer. What. A. Harpy.
I had told her his breed (she asked) when I made the appointment so she knew what she would be dealing with, before Chuck told me to generally keep my trap shut about his breed. Well, she apparently scanned a Wikipedia page for the vaguest of information, and drew a number of preconceived notions about him. All I told her was that I wanted to make it so that he could be a little more comfortable around strangers, and that he tended to growl at the cat when he tries to "share" Taurus's bowl. Immediately, she referred to him as "aggressive".
Look, I almost stabbed my own mother in the hand with a fork when she tried to snag something off my plate once. I do not consider this aggression. (Okay. Maybe it was aggression with ME.) He growled a bit when she came in. I figured most dogs do that. Hell. My CATS do it, 2/3 of them are cuddle sluts. My dog has never bitten anyone, never lunged for anyone. He is NOT aggressive! (Yet.) I told Taurus to sit, and the way I do that is I hold my hand a certain way over his head so he has to lean his head back and therefore sits. "NEVER put your hand over the head of an aggressive dog." Um. "He's NOT aggressive!" ALL dogs have the potential to snap at a stranger. But I know my dog isn't going to bite me. And she INSISTED that we could train him to be a "good dog" (he IS a good dog! Exactly what he's supposed to be) and that instinct had nothing to do with training.
I kept trying to tell her that he was BRED to distrust strangers, and that the best we could hope for was "aloof" because he's never going to like anyone as much as he does his family! Then she called his behavior "fear-based"! My dog ain't afraid of SHIT!! My dog is potentially dangerous. My dog is potentially aggressive. Right now, my dog is a blob on the floor that likes to trip me in the middle of the night when the cat's off-duty to do it. And he's doofy as shit. There's a reason we call him "Monsieur Le Derp". I never forget that he can be dangerous. I never forget that his home and everything in it is his responsibility in his mind. But she just was not getting the idea that training cannot totally override instinct. On ANY dog. I could have the most well-trained Bloodhound in the world, but I'd still never trust him off a leash, because once he catches a scent, that boy is gone until you hear him calling for you to see the three-day old dead muskrat he found. RRRGH.
And to make matters worse, she indicated that she was surprised we didn't give him up as soon as we knew what we had. Um...to what? Put him on craigslist again and lie to people to tell him he isn't a Fila? Because you know some horrible person would see that, think, "Oo! Growling, snapping, lunatic guard dog to protect my meth lab and eat my competitors!" or I could bring him to a pound, where they would put him down as a dangerous breed. Or, nobody would adopt him. So she pretty much told us that we should have gotten rid of him. The icing on the cake was when she completely ignored the list of things the vet told us we should talk to her about since he needs ear drops and some other things. Just disregarded it as if I hadn't put the paper in front of her. It was worse, but I could sit here all day and fume about the trainer visit, but I don't think I want to swear that much on a public forum.
I have learned a few things about my Fila. First, if you bribe him with enough cookies, he will NOT leave you alone, and try to climb into your pockets if he thinks you have cookies. A 111lb Mastiff head-butting you for cookies can be a tad alarming (My vet took it in stride. I like her.) She palpated his joints, molested him and did...vet stuff. He didn't even twitch. He only growled at someone specific twce. Once at the bitchy tech who was a little afraid because of bad experiences with Mastiffs, and once at a twelve-ish-year old girl who came in after her mother (who paid him no mind at all) and took one look at him and plastered herself against the wall in terror. THEN he growled.
He seems to react when someone is actively afraid of him. Like the friend that tried to pet him while Taurus was growling. He was obviously very afraid of Taurus. Is this common with Filas? (Kid asked, "Do 'e bite?" so I replied with a shrug. "Dunno. He might." Hee. I derive pleasure from horrible places. I'm a terrible person.) Other than that, perfect angel. I was so proud.
But then. THEN. The trainer. What. A. Harpy.
I had told her his breed (she asked) when I made the appointment so she knew what she would be dealing with, before Chuck told me to generally keep my trap shut about his breed. Well, she apparently scanned a Wikipedia page for the vaguest of information, and drew a number of preconceived notions about him. All I told her was that I wanted to make it so that he could be a little more comfortable around strangers, and that he tended to growl at the cat when he tries to "share" Taurus's bowl. Immediately, she referred to him as "aggressive".
Look, I almost stabbed my own mother in the hand with a fork when she tried to snag something off my plate once. I do not consider this aggression. (Okay. Maybe it was aggression with ME.) He growled a bit when she came in. I figured most dogs do that. Hell. My CATS do it, 2/3 of them are cuddle sluts. My dog has never bitten anyone, never lunged for anyone. He is NOT aggressive! (Yet.) I told Taurus to sit, and the way I do that is I hold my hand a certain way over his head so he has to lean his head back and therefore sits. "NEVER put your hand over the head of an aggressive dog." Um. "He's NOT aggressive!" ALL dogs have the potential to snap at a stranger. But I know my dog isn't going to bite me. And she INSISTED that we could train him to be a "good dog" (he IS a good dog! Exactly what he's supposed to be) and that instinct had nothing to do with training.
I kept trying to tell her that he was BRED to distrust strangers, and that the best we could hope for was "aloof" because he's never going to like anyone as much as he does his family! Then she called his behavior "fear-based"! My dog ain't afraid of SHIT!! My dog is potentially dangerous. My dog is potentially aggressive. Right now, my dog is a blob on the floor that likes to trip me in the middle of the night when the cat's off-duty to do it. And he's doofy as shit. There's a reason we call him "Monsieur Le Derp". I never forget that he can be dangerous. I never forget that his home and everything in it is his responsibility in his mind. But she just was not getting the idea that training cannot totally override instinct. On ANY dog. I could have the most well-trained Bloodhound in the world, but I'd still never trust him off a leash, because once he catches a scent, that boy is gone until you hear him calling for you to see the three-day old dead muskrat he found. RRRGH.
And to make matters worse, she indicated that she was surprised we didn't give him up as soon as we knew what we had. Um...to what? Put him on craigslist again and lie to people to tell him he isn't a Fila? Because you know some horrible person would see that, think, "Oo! Growling, snapping, lunatic guard dog to protect my meth lab and eat my competitors!" or I could bring him to a pound, where they would put him down as a dangerous breed. Or, nobody would adopt him. So she pretty much told us that we should have gotten rid of him. The icing on the cake was when she completely ignored the list of things the vet told us we should talk to her about since he needs ear drops and some other things. Just disregarded it as if I hadn't put the paper in front of her. It was worse, but I could sit here all day and fume about the trainer visit, but I don't think I want to swear that much on a public forum.
