Have you ever realized you are one of the people you've been ranting about?

Surely when my complaint is essentially about close-minded people, and I’m on a rant!

So, mainly when I think about my position from a broader perspective like that. Often yelling about one side of a polarized argument just keeps the argument loud and polarized, and really what I want is for the argument to go away so people can transcend it and address the real problem. Like, almost all of politics.

(Now I want to know what the correct, researched dog/child protocol is!)

Well my BIG rant is about knucklehead conservatism, a subject convenient for concealing my naive idealism behind a front of pompous arrogance.

Yeah, these kids and their loud music today. What was that, I can’t hear you over my CD.

I don’t like it when wolves bust into peoples’ houses and eat whole families. I am against wolves doing that, I have always said so time and time again. Thing is, I’m always busting into houses and eating everyone there. Since I’m not a wolf though, I never thought it was the same.

I’m against judging other people’s mental states, or their sanity. But @Symbeline you’re insane.

I’m tellin’ ye, tis’ a big problem in me life. Damn wolves!

I have become a walking example of someone I used to ridicule many times.

I always vowed never to treat my kids the way my mom treated us, with sarcasm and contempt. Then, one day when my daughter was about 7, I was scolding her about something.
She said, “Mom! You can be mad at me but you don’t have to hurt my heart!”
Sat me down and spun me around. I realized I was acting just like my mother.

I once had a startling epiphany in a large meeting at my previous company. There was a young guy sitting across from me who kept quipping and punning. He just wouldn’t shut up, and I’m sure the sour expression on my face telegraphed how annoyed I was to everyone around the conference table, the guy included. All of a sudden I realized this young jokester was behaving exactly the way I usually behaved in meetings, and from then on I kept my mouth shut a lot more often.

Yeah, on a few points.

I’ve been paying more attention to this kind of thing over the last couple of days, and I’m doing it constantly. Another example: I rant about children and animals not knowing any better – your child is whining because he’s a child, and your dog is pulling on his leash because you haven’t taught him to walk nicely. What I don’t often manage is applying that same logic to adults. This parent is yelling at their kid because the sum of genetics and environment is making them yell. This owner is complaining about his dog because he has not been taught how to train dogs, and it is overwhelming to him.

I try to remember that we all think we’re doing the right thing, but with animals and children, it comes much more naturally.

@Zaku Well, one thing shook me…the blog is warning against letting children become “magnetized” toward dogs. I realized that, by letting small children cuddle my good-natured dog, I was setting them up. The percentage of dogs which like being hugged is tiny, and you can’t expect a young child to differentiate when faced with another doggy. I see that with one of my cousins – she’s seven, and she’s been hugging and kissing my dog since she was a toddler. We tell her that she is only allowed to hug this one dog, but still – every time I have a new foster dog with me, she gets ready to greet this new dog like a friend. Not a good idea. I step in, but it’s become a habit, and it’s hard to break.

The blog is here, if you want to know more.

@longgone Interesting site. They thought the dog bite was fast? You can see him or her preparing to strike for a while.

@Adirondackwannabe The poodle biting the puppy? Yeah, you can. Then again…I see people completely miss what their dogs are telling them, several times a day. I know I’ve missed what my dogs were saying numerous times.

Look at this. It’s a “funny” clip of babies annoying dogs. The first one made me freeze up, just watching. The dog is trying to move away from the kid, he’s licking his lips, shaking off, yawning, looking at the mum for help…and she just stands by while her kid is yelling at the dog. At one point, the child pinches the dog – and still, mum is focused on making the dog obey the kid’s cue – rather than trying to rescue that poor dog. If he bit, people would be saying that it happened “out of the blue”. And they’d be wrong, but the dog would still be euthanized, and his family would miss him.

I’m watching the videos and I’m just flabberghasted. We have a big,strong German Shepherd, but I’d never allow a kid to ride her.
I’m flabbergasted at the father teasing the dog with the baby.
Do those humans have NO INSTINCT for what is dangerous?
We used to live behind some folks. We had a common fence. They had a couple of big dogs. They’d send their 3 year old out in the yard to play. The dogs would grab her by the jacket and throw her to the ground. Not an adult in sight.
I said something to the mother once, and she became very defensive and angry, said the dog was “just playing,” and would “never hurt the baby.”
We moved soon after that so I don’t know the end of the story, but I can guess…

^ Horrible story.

“Do those humans have NO INSTINCT for what is dangerous?”

We idealize dogs, I think. You’ve let kids climb on Dakota in the past, right? My sister put a children’s backpack on my dog once, aged about five. I can’t remember why she was alone with the dog for long enough to do this, but she was, and we didn’t even consider it to be such a big deal. In retrospect, that was very dangerous. I also realize that I’ve let kids come up to pet Nerina, instead of checking to see if she’d want to go up to them. I trust her, but that isn’t really fair. The blog talks about the “good dog’s curse”, and I think they have a point – my sister’s dog, Amy, gets protected from children precisely because we don’t trust her around them.

You may be referring to the Q I asked several months (a year?) ago, about the 14 month sitting on Dakota’s butt/hip. When Dakota was young and strong, an occasional kid might sit on her when she was laying down, with the floor under her to support her. I’d tell them to get off, but it wasn’t that big of a deal. Dakota gave no indication that she minded.
But then she started developing hip problems, so it became a big deal. The baby, who I was watching a few days a week, would sit on her, which caused her to yelp. Now, Dakota would rather chew off her own foot than bite one of “her” kids, but pain can make any animal “snap.”
So I was stressing about how to get the 14 month old I to stop sitting on the dog, period. We finally got it figured out.

^ Yes, exactly. I’m dealing with something similar at the moment, because Nerina is getting old. No toddlers around to sit on her, but there are loads of kids who want to pet her at parties, or play fetch. They’ve always been able to do these things, and understanding that an old dog needs frequent breaks or simply does not want to play sometimes is difficult for them.

It’s a bit scary because, just like older people, you can’t predict any more… :(

^ I’m not sure we ever can predict when a dog has had enough. We can look, though, and luckily, most dogs are kind enough to give ample warning.

I used to advise a friend that all comparision is subtle and there’s no point in comparing themselves to others. Turned out I’m the one who needs that advice.

And I’m afraid I may end up becoming one of the irrational teachers I rant about, once I begin teaching.

This questions reminds me of a great line from one of my favorite movies, “Rounders.”

“Listen, if you can’t spot the sucker in the first half hour at the (poker) table, then you ARE the sucker.”