(Melanie L Chang) wrote:
Anyway, I'm proud of Solo for keeping his cool today in Home Despot.


Should be. I don't think *I* could have kept my cool as well as he did. :}

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On Sat, 13 Nov 2004 21:53:21 +0000 (UTC),
(Melanie L Chang) wrote:


Rude cutting-in-line guy says, "There's always two lines for these things.
I've been coming here for two years. People like you are what's wrong
with this city." Apropos of nothing, he adds, "I bet you guys voted for
Bush."

You don't have to be embarrassed about voting for Bush, Melanie. He
won, after all. Now America will be safe.

Charlie

Melanie,

It sounds like you are doing a great job with Solo.

Celeste

"Melanie L Chang" wrote in message
...
Solo and I went to Home Despot today to get heat-shrink plastic for
winterizing our (three) windows. I took just him for socialization
reasons, and because it's just too hard to juggle three dogs in a retail
establishment sometimes, especially when one of them still doesn't realize
sometimes that her leash is only four feet long, one of them is small
enough to be crushed inadvertently, and one of them is Solo. It's a good
place to practice Solo's crowd skills: they allow dogs in, the aisles are
nice and wide, there are plenty of them so there are many routes of escape
from crowded situations, and most of the customers are too absorbed in
whatever project they're buying for to want to fondle my dog. Aside from
a couple of little kids who REALLY wanted to say hi to Solo and apparently
didn't speak English, things were fine.

So we get our plastic, and we go to the check-out line. I choose the
self-scanners so I won't have to tell a cashier not to lean over the
counter at Solo. There is one line for four scanners. Solo sits and
looks up and does nose touches for treats while we wait.

There's a guy in line behind us who looks really interested in Solo.
"Rescue dog?" he asks, why, I'm not sure but I nod and explain that I
bring him here to practice being calm around people, because Solo is very
shy. And I move Solo around to the other side of me because I can tell
that the guy is about to do what he does next, which is kneel down, stare
at Solo, and reach out toward him. I give Solo his "watch me command."
When Solo ignores the guy and looks up at me instead, he gets a click and
a treat.

I tell the guy that when people kneel down and stare at Solo and reach
toward him, it totally freaks Solo out. The guy says, "Oh, but you know,
I have an affinity for dogs." Trust me, I answer, this one will not have
an affinity for you if you do that, but if you just stand up and pretend
he isn't here he may come up to you and say hi in a little bit.

So the guy stands up and says, "You know, I'm starting my own dog breed.
German Shepherd, Husky, and Lab. They'll be able to do it all: herd,
hunt, and pull sleds." I stare at him like he has three heads but he
looks deadly serious.

So I blurt out the first thing that comes to me: "I think that's a
horrible idea."

Undeterred, the guy smiles and answers, "You wouldn't feel that way if
you came up to my neighborhood and met my dogs." I am at a loss for
words and it's my turn anyway so I just sort of smile weirdly and turn
away.

Another guy cuts in line and snakes me to the scanner. "Hey!"

The lady two behind me says, "Yo, asshole, there's a line here."

Rude cutting-in-line guy says, "There's always two lines for these things.
I've been coming here for two years. People like you are what's wrong
with this city." Apropos of nothing, he adds, "I bet you guys voted for
Bush."

We're in South Philly, and the people in line consist of me, a lot of
black people, and the "new breed" white guy who has long hair, and is
wearing Birkenstocks with socks. We all just stare at cutting-in-line
guy like he has three heads, wordless. He proceeds to scan his items.

Finally another machine opens up and Solo follows me over to it, slightly
bored but slightly alarmed by the animosity present in line. We purchase
our two boxes of heat-shrink window stuff and split.

Anyway, I'm proud of Solo for keeping his cool today in Home Despot.

--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Melanie Lee Chang | Form ever follows function.
Departments of Anthropology and Biology |
University of Pennsylvania | -- Louis Sullivan
|
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Melanie L Chang" wrote in message
...
Solo and I went to Home Despot today to get heat-shrink plastic for
winterizing our (three) windows. I took just him for socialization
reasons, and because it's just too hard to juggle three dogs in a retail
establishment sometimes, especially when one of them still doesn't realize
sometimes that her leash is only four feet long, one of them is small
enough to be crushed inadvertently, and one of them is Solo. It's a good
place to practice Solo's crowd skills: they allow dogs in, the aisles are
nice and wide, there are plenty of them so there are many routes of escape
from crowded situations, and most of the customers are too absorbed in
whatever project they're buying for to want to fondle my dog. Aside from
a couple of little kids who REALLY wanted to say hi to Solo and apparently
didn't speak English, things were fine.

what an, um, *interesting* experience. labs, GSDs, and huskies, eh? sounds
like most of the dogs in the shelters here. :-)

i'm totally jealous that you can take your dogs into home depot out there,
they've been banned in my area for about two years. apparently, some asshat
brought his totally unsocialized Dobe in and it bit some kid, and the
parents sued the store.

sigh

-kelly

Melanie L Chang wrote:

Anyway, I'm proud of Solo for keeping his cool today in Home Despot.

In that scenario, I'd be crowing if *I* didn't loose my cool.

Kudos to both you and Solo on that one.

Tara

Charlie Wilkes wrote:

On Sat, 13 Nov 2004 21:53:21 +0000 (UTC),
(Melanie L Chang) wrote:


Rude cutting-in-line guy says, "There's always two lines for these things.
I've been coming here for two years. People like you are what's wrong
with this city." Apropos of nothing, he adds, "I bet you guys voted for
Bush."

You don't have to be embarrassed about voting for Bush, Melanie. He
won, after all. Now America will be safe.

Charlie

From whom?

"BluHeelrTX" wrote in message
...

From whom?

why from the horrible threats of gay marriage and canadian drugs, of course!

-kelly

Give yourself a very big pat on the back for the incredible progress Solo
has made over the years with your patience and guidance. I don't think I
could have imagined him going to Home Depot on a busy Saturday with you 5
years ago (has it really been that long?).

--
Tara...not to be confused with Tara

On Sun, 14 Nov 2004 03:33:11 GMT, BluHeelrTX
wrote:



Charlie Wilkes wrote:

On Sat, 13 Nov 2004 21:53:21 +0000 (UTC),
(Melanie L Chang) wrote:


Rude cutting-in-line guy says, "There's always two lines for these things.
I've been coming here for two years. People like you are what's wrong
with this city." Apropos of nothing, he adds, "I bet you guys voted for
Bush."

You don't have to be embarrassed about voting for Bush, Melanie. He
won, after all. Now America will be safe.

Charlie

From whom?

The terrorists, of course. Haven't you been following the news? The
terrorists attacked our buildings, we attacked a couple of their
countries and took one over, and now we're good to go, all thanks to
Pres. Bush.

Charlie

What a GOOD boy, Solo! Way to go!

Be proud, not only of him, but of you. You've come a long way. Isn't it
nice to see a real-life payoff for all that work?


-----------------------------------------
Only know that there is no spork.