"Janet Boss" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Opinicus" wrote:

Balim could
take bones right out of Urger's mouth. She probably would still be doing
it
if we let her.

Rudy and Lucy both let Marcie get away with anything, She's 18 months
old now and has not lost her puppy license.

I don't think Muttley recognizes that "puppy license" stuff. We attended an
introductory "class" at Petco last night, which also included a woman with
a large young Dobe wearing a prong collar, and another woman with a young
male black Lab (uh-oh), who she said was about 9 months old and neutered,
so I need not worry. But I did.

The dog-to-dog greetings went well enough, although I thought I saw the Lab
take a quick snap at Muttley's face, causing him to back off. They probably
should not have been face-to-face anyway, and I/we did not allow that for
any longer than a few seconds. Yet I felt some tension, and some of that
may have been mine, traveling down the leash to Muttley, who was on an
anti-pull harness.

After the instructor arrived, she alternated her attention to each dog and
owner, and spent a good bit of time getting to know Muttley and building
his trust and attention with treats, soon accompanied by use of the
clicker. She got him to associate the clicker with good things (treats) as
well as good behavior.

Later, Muttley went toward the woman and her black Lab, and she gave
Muttley a treat. Her Lab did not seem to approve, and gave a quick show of
teeth until he was also given a treat. That may not have been wise, as it
may have reinforced the behavior, but at least Muttley did not react, and I
pulled him back before anything could escalate.

I think the other dogs, being basically puppies after all, really wanted to
play. Muttley is not so much playful, and he may have taken their
attentions as serious threats and he might have taken it to a level where
someone may have gotten hurt. Muttley has shown that he can play roughly
with another large dog, without drawing blood, as evidenced by his
interactions with Lucky. But in the presence of two other strange dogs over
whom I did not have control, it might have been not so good to allow that
play.

http://www.smart.net/~pstech/Muttley...ht_9090031.JPG

This may not relate to the OP's information about a dog's "guilty
expression". I found it interesting that the dog who was punished unfairly
showed even more of this expression, which indicates it might signify a sad
feeling of having a bond of trust violated.

Paul and Muttley