....huh...for some reason i thought that this was a national thing. but what is IIRC?

If I Recall Correctly.

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> ....recall what?

Who's on first? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Sorry . . .

More correctly, What's on second. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

...i don't know, whos on third?

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

You run into those twits all the time,but it doesn't necessarily mean that they are card carrying PETA/ALFs-just have opinions that direction.one woman I have argued with off and on for years is disabled herself,and someone who could really benefit from a service dog. But she is adamantly against the entire idea of not just SDs,but of dogs being more than just pets. We had a really interesting set to,a few years ago,when Tagg (our son's rough collie SD) was my service dog. i saw her at the clinic here,with her caregiver who has been a good friend of mine for years. The woman imperiously directed that her chair be pushed over to where Tagg and I were,and proceeded to drown him in syrupy slush about how terrible it was that he was in bondage,forced to work when he could have been asleep on the couch or chasing squrilles. I was taking the chance to ask my friend a couple things,and Tagg enjoys any chance to schmooze anyway,but what he did was incredible,and timed too perfectly to be an accident. As this woman was getting more wound up about how she pitied Tagg,and wished she could help him 'live a normal life',and all that,Tagg,who till then had been sitting with his head in her hands,getting ear skritches,suddenly seemed to get annoyed-something he never does.he stood up,and leaned forward,as if he wanted to wash her face,but,with his face a few inches from hers,he favoured her with one of his signature loud,rolling,juicy burps! Now,he does do this often,but what he is so well known for is that he 'talks' a lot,with an amazing range of sounds that he uses to comment on things. There was absolutely no doubt that he did that deliberately,because he turned away from her,after giving her a long steady look in the eye. My friend and I were in hysterics-she knows Tagg and how he comments on things-and this was just utterly perfect: an SD who literally 'spoke' for himself!

Why do people have such a hard time believing that it's only humans that are lazy (some of them, at least)? Dogs *love* having a job to do! Why is this a hard concept to grasp?

beats me. all our dogs get trained for something,even if its no more than just "party tricks" to earn treats (no freebies in our house!<g> the more intelligent the animal,the more it needs to have that mind stimulated and encouraged to do something constructive,or you get the opposite. even with our cockatiels, they have to work for treats,and are given toys to mess with,or they go for things like lampshades for chewing! Anja and Tagg go nuts if they get bored-Tagg goes on retrieving jags,and Anja comes and parks beside my chair,with her eyes glued on me,and if i don't pay attention,she literally erases whatever i'm working,by sitting up and slapping the mouse with one of those huge paws of hers...at first i thought it was a fluke,but there is no doubt that she knows that hitting the mouse makes me stop what i am doing and makes me pay attention to her,even though it is negative attention. so i have to head off those two by setting them up with things to do,even here at home.

...now,if i could get Anja over her hangup with retrieving/working with her mouth, she and Tagg could clean up with me! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Mike,

There's your first problem...You were in Ocoee. Enviroment is key <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />