Well, I went to Petsmart today, and it was a bit chaotic because there was an adoption event there. When the rescue organization is there, Jax and I always cruise around and look at the dogs and he sits while we look and we sometimes practice a few things with all of those distractions. We've actually gotten to know some of the people there with the dogs. When someone is walking one of the dogs they usually ask if Jax and that dog can meet and they normally do. Well....when I got inside the store, it was still chaotic in the front because some of the rescue workers were there talking to people and a few of them had dogs with them. Jax sat, but he gets so excited that his entire, gigantic, muscular ass "wags" right along with his tail, so even though he's sitting and staying, it kind of looks a bit "frantic"...I don't know if that's the right word...it just isn't the calm, cool, collected sit and stay that I hope to achieve in the future!
Despite his wiggly bottom, each time he meets a dog, he waits for me to tell him he can "break" and they sniff around and get to know one another (a.k.a. smell each other's butts!) Before I knew it, I looked up and there was "Nosy Trainer!!!"..."master trainer" of that Petsmart along with her therapy-dog-in-training. Well, neither of us was going to just rip our dogs away right in the middle of people, so I told Jax to sit and stay. Her dog calmly came up to Jax and began to sniff. I said, "break," and Jax just stood up and started sniffing as well...they weren't to the intimate ass-sniffing part yet...just snout to snout. Out of nowhere, the "master trainer's" dog snapped and slightly bit at Jax...on the scruff of the neck. Big, bad Jax peed in the floor, and I'm glad that's all the poor baby did. Of course I was checking Jax's neck to make sure that nothing was hurt, but I had really been able to see as it happened that he was okay (just scared). The cashier saw it, and came over and by that time the trainer was backing her dog up saying, "Aires, you know better than that." The cashier said, "Uh oh, somebody tee teed in the floor." I said, "That would be my Jaxie." The "trainer" said, "Yes, that would be Jax." (With a tone like, "My well-trained dog would never do that.") I said, "And somebody bared their teeth and snapped...that wouldn't be Jax." She just kept walking...which is for the best, but it did give me some level of pleasure to see that she is not as in control as she thinks she is. I could still hear her saying, "You know better than that" as Jax and I went to get what we came to buy.
To be fair, she does have another dog, Thor, who is three years old, amazingly well behaved, and a working therapy dog.
Also to be fair...despite being an adult, I can be a petty, grudge-holding bitch! Still, I do think it shows that she isn't as great as she thinks she is. (Or maybe it was a "one-off" thing, and she is awesome.) Who knows...it could also be that her Aries felt her emotions down the leash and he read that Jax and I are the enemy!!
The main thing, of course, is that my Jaxie didn't get injured. I hate that he got scared though, because he really hasn't had a lot of opportunities to play with other dogs, and I don't want him to be fearful of them. When we went back outside, he still showed interest in the dogs, and was very gentle when he sniffed and met the little bitty ones.
Take that, Beaaatch!
!!!
