rude woman at obedience class...what would you do?

[Jaegergirl]

maverick, my son and i are attending an intermediate obedience class. we took the beginner one and we "placed" 3rd out of 11 dogs...they had mock dog show as our "graduation!! : ) the classes are geared for those wanting to show their dogs but anyone wanting to train obedience in general can take them. although my goal with maverick is to do therapy work, i may decide to show him in obedience... i can't show him in confirmation because he has a disqualifying bald spot on this tail stump from an infection when his tail was docked. there are a lot of people in this class. i'd say about half of them are taking the class "just because", like me and the other half are preparing their dogs for a show in december. other than the occasional puppy excitability, maverick is very well behaved...never barks or growls at the other dogs or any of the owners. and he listens quite well.

there is this woman in class that really ticked me off. she has a grey weimeriener?? (i tried to look it up on the akc website but the "breeds" page kept crashing so forgive me if i totally butchered the name). we were watching the trainers demonstrate something so everyone was facing the center of the "ring". this woman and her dog were next to us. her dog was having a hard time sitting there. all maverick did was turned his head so see what was going on and the woman mutters to her dog "oh don't get to close to THAT dog, he'll bite your head off." all maverick did was look at her dog!! but i let it go.

later on we were waiting in line to do a recall (one dog at a time) and this woman was in front of us. she turns to me and says (quite sarcastically, i might add) "how dog is HE, 2 months??" i politely said "nope, he's almost 6." i could tell by the tone in her voice that she was making a smart remark. again, i just let it go.

third time... we were waiting our turn to walk thru (weave around) a bunch of orange cones. once again, this woman and her dog are in front of me. her dog, once again, was having a hard time sitting. maverick and i were about 3 feet behind her and maverick was minding his own business. she mutters to her dog once again, "oh i know it's hard for you to be still when you've got THAT dog in your butt." hello!!!! maverick never once sniffed the dogs butt... he wasn't even close to her dog.

so now i'm ticked off!

i was chatting with the women who was behind me while we were waiting our turn. she and her dog (a real cute mixed breed of some sort) were in the beginner class with us. i told her that the woman in front of me wasn't too fond of maverick. come to find out that she was making smart remarks about this other dog last week. so apparently this snotty woman has problems with dogs, not necessarily rottweilers.

when i told my husband about it, he asked me why i didn't say anything to her. now, i know that some people aren't going to accept maverick because he's a rott and people are going to make comments (this is the 2nd time someone has been nasty about him.. the 1st being at a campground..which i talked about in another forum). part of me wanted to make a smart comment back to this woman. what i'd really like to say is to kiss my...um... feet...but of course i won't. : ) i can think of some polite comebacks but.......

do i say something the next time or do i just keep ignoring her?

[LORHEL]

I say you get your butt out there and show her just how good your rottie is compared to her dog.... kick some major butt!! :D I do like weimerainers and they are nice dogs, but that sure doesn't sound like the dog has a Polite owner one bit... either she's uncomfortable with her own dog, or other dogs, and has a major complex...

Don't back down, but I would try to move maybe on the other side of the room so you don't have to get upset when she makes her catty remarks. (I would be boiling, then it wouldn't do my dog any good)... I say put her and the weimerainer in the dust, and make your rottie shine....

P.s. I have one of those neighbors just like this woman, who thinks EVERY dog but his own is "vicious", however, the hypocrite's own dog barks all the time, and gets loose constantly...:o

[Bucky's Mom]

oh don't get to close to THAT dog, he'll bite your head off."[quote]

I would SMILE sweetly and say in a voice loud enough to be heard by all - "Oh you are Toooo funny - you have nothing to worry about from my dog = but you better be careful around his owner" - then laugh (maniacally if you can pull that off) - and move you and your dog to ANOTHER place in line. Why subject yourself to the agravation when the class is large enough to put buffers between you and this witch. - JMHO - Lisa (Bucky's Mom)

[Knucklesmom]

Geez, I hope this lady only has a dog and not kids. Reminds me of a neighbor whose kids could do no wrong (according to her) and talked about everyone's kid's mistakes, and how "bad" they were. Until her one kid got in trouble for under-age drinking and the other decided to run from the police instead of stopping for a traffic violation! Can you speak privately with the instructor and ask that this lady and her dog be placed last in line? Who will she blame then? This lady is the one with the problem - too bad for her dog because she will only see him as "perfect" and if he screws up, it will always be someone else's fault; she will never be accountable for a poorly behaved dog. If she tries the "that dog might bite your head off" line again, I would smile and , using the old Ann Landers reply, say, "Why would you say that?" or "What do you mean by that?" She probably thinks she is being funny, and questioning her will probably cause her to be off guard.

[Judi W]

So why do you continue to be next to her? Is there some reason you can't simply and quietly move from your position to another place in line? Have you been told by the instructor that you have to be in that place? Be active rather than proactive. Vote with your feet and move.

[Jaegergirl]

there is no specific order we are supposed to be in so we can move about if i want to. our "line order" got mixed up many times during the 1 hour class because of the different exercises we were doing. i didn't end up next to this lady until the last 15 minutes of class. it didn't occur to me get away from this woman because A. by the time she made the 3rd comment, we only had a couple minutes of class left and B. it really didn't dawn on me that i should move to begin with. i'll just make it a point to not get stuck next to her next week. if i do, then i'll come up with something clever to say (thanks for the good ideas) before i find another place in line.

[Vivianne]

Can't say that I blame you for being pissed off. I had to deal with the same thing before in my girls obedience classes. I had to hold my tongue many times before.

I would take Lorhel's advice and let your boy shine above the rest. And also heed JudiW's advice and move somewhere else in the ring during class.

I've also had to tell dog owners, once I had my place in the class, that I would appreciate it if they would move somewhere else. If they don't then I would move. They get the hint, first time out of the shoot.

There's no love lost since your there to train Maverick and not necessarily to make life long friends of all the dog owners in class. If they persist on being pests then I would talk to the trainer and explain your concerns.

[JoJo]

Oh I think I would be a little more tackful...I'd wear a BSL t-shirt to class, then make sure I wasn't next to that lady. I'd be directly across from her so she could read it loud and clear. Maybe in a situation like this one, silence maybe more "golden" then you realize. Give them all "food for thought".

JoJo

[TrishB]

I would move away from her. If she seeks you out (and some of these horrible people will do that), I'd react.

Simply say, in a solid audible tone: "Can I help you with something?", with a small smile and a direct stare. Sort of picture a Rottie in your head when you say it and how they would say it if only they could. ;)

Most trainers will not allow people to behave poorly or berate other owners pets. Not that you need to cause a scene, but I wouldn't neccesarily hide the fact that this woman is very poorly behaved.

[Jaegergirl]

i'll see how the next class goes. i'll try to stay away from her. if her catty comments persist, i will talk to the trainers.

if she's like this at class, god only knows what she'll do at the dog shows. i don't suppose she'll have many friends with that kind of attitude.

i remember the first time i went to class (i was a minute or two late), i heard someone gasp when maverick, my son, and i walked in... she was probably the one who did it! no one else in the class seems to care much that he's there... except for this woman who had a doberman.. she gives me "looks" every now and then. go figure! most of the other classmates seem o.k. though.

[TrishB]

Originally posted by Jaegergirl
i remember the first time i went to class (i was a minute or two late), i heard someone gasp when maverick, my son, and i walked in... she was probably the one who did it! no one else in the class seems to care much that he's there... except for this woman who had a doberman.. she gives me "looks" every now and then. go figure! most of the other classmates seem o.k. though.

I'm going to be dealing with this shortly. Parker is going to be 13 weeks on Sunday (I just got him last Saturday). The next class available for me isn't until October 24th (another 4 weeks away). So not only is Parker a Rottweiler, but he'll probably be the oldest pup in the class at 17 weeks of age (the class is for 12 - 18 week olds).

My hopes are that he'll be so well behaved, that it will allievate any concerns they may have. :)

[whitney greenway]

I would move away from her, and if I was in a situation where "SHE" got near me again.

If any little comments were forthcoming, I am afraid that I would have to have a little girl talk with her!

Let her know as sweetly as I could....RIGHT....to knock it off.

Plain and simple!

[whitney greenway]

Trish B,

We are going to be the oldest in class. Dru was born July 29, and my vet does not want her out with other dogs until after all her shots.

That will be mid-Nov.

So, I will probably hear the comments, but I will not tolerate them.

I already have gotten some flack from one of my daughter's school mates, Mother.

Where did I get the puppy? What kind is it? And, no way do I want one of those ROCKWILERS!

What a moron!

[fpoof230]

that lady is a complete moron. I had a similar situation with Tyson and one of our neighbors friends. Tyson is such a baby and only wants to lick people and wants them to play with him. Our neighbors have a really little dog, I dont know what kind. Our neighbors kids were playing with both dogs and the other lady had her kids playing with the neighbors dog. As soon as Tyson went over the property line the lady freaked and grabbedher kids and said "dont go near THAT dog they're mean dogs!!!!" I turned to the lady and asked her what kind of dog this is? ( i ran into this problem once before) she turns and says "if you dont know you have a pit bull then you are stupid" I looked at and thought, "yeah, i'm the stupid one".

Dont let other people say anything about your dog. Maybe if she wasnt so pissed off, she could enjoy her "pet" not her "animal"


Fred

8 month male- Tyson the "rotti rott"

[Jaegergirl]

the beginner class we took was small and about half of the dogs were pups and the others were adults no one ever said anything negative about maverick nor did i ever get looks. the trainers would even comment how "good" maverick was (he is very smart and caught on to the "training material" very well). the nonsense began in the intermediate class.

whitney, my son has a friend who is not allowed to be around our dog because they supposedly know someone who had a rottie that attacked a child. this boy calls the dog names and freaks out if the dog is at the door when he knocks at it. i think his parents are not doing him any favors by instilling that kind of fear in him. but what can you do? i will respect the parents wishes that they do not want their son around the dog, but i have told this boy that maverick will not be banished to his crate just because the boy wants to come inside.. that either he and my son will play outside or they will have to play at his house. i guess that got off the subject but i wanted to comment....