Craigslist & adoption

[WYOgirl]

Yes, I have seen that too. My grandparents adopted a lab from the pound who was trained "old school" and he was terrified when I would put my hand up... as if he was prepared for me to hit him... it made me so sad. I don't understand people who hit animals like that...

Out first dog was a GSD/Dalmatian mix. We were her third family at 7 months old and I believe she was "trained" in this manner as well. It really screwed her up and while she became a well behaved girl, I only ever saw glimpses of the dog she would have been. When we first got her, she associated people walking into the room with getting "spanked"...and would nervously squat and pee and slink away. Initially any quick movement toward her would illicit a snarl. She had a dominant personality and I think was "given" an aggressive tendency by her previous owners.

I've always wondered what she would have been like if we had been the first ones to have her. I think she would have been a kid-loving, playground-playing "mama/nurturing" type. We did what we could with her and she had a good happy quality of life with us as a well behaved pupper until almost 14 years old but wow...she was an awful lot of work and had we had children at the time I'm not sure we would have been up for that challenge!