Quit Telling Me How Gorgeous I Am!

In the last few months, I have written about many of the wonderful adventures I have had with Kino, my foster dog.  Everyone keeps asking me why I haven't adopted him yet and the truth is, it is because Kino has some issues that have concerned me . . . issues that could keep him from being adoptable not just by me but by anyone.

One of those issues is that he is randomly aggressive towards people.  It's been quite a challenge for me to try to understand what's going on because there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to his reactiveness.  We can pass person after person on our walks, talk to some of them and he'll be fine and then all of the sudden something will set him off and he'll start barking at someone, sometimes lunging in their direction.  It's a little scary when it happens and frustrating for me that I haven't been able to figure out what causes it.

None of the people were wearing hats, some were men, some were women, they were different ages, different ethnicities.  I couldn't find a single common denominator that would tell me "This is what he is reacting to" so for months I have been playing Nancy Drew, trying to unravel the mystery.

Here is a picture of Kino trying to grab his rope toy and while there was nothing scary about it at the time (we were just playing), the picture captured an image that represents how scary he can look when he has one of his "reactions".

This past week, I finally figured part of it out . . . I realized that in at least 75% of the cases Kino turns into "Mr. Cranky" it's because someone has given him a compliment . . . phrases such as "Oh my god, what a beautiful shepherd" or "Wow, he is really gorgeous" seem to be the words that precede one of these episodes.

Now, it's one thing to understand it and something else entirely to resolve it, so currently I'm not sure what to do about it, short of carrying a big sign that says, "Please don't compliment my dog" when we are out and about.  It's not really a feasible solution though since I only have two hands and between holding the leash, the treats and the poop bag, it would be difficult to hold the sign as well.  :-)

I am reminded of an old boyfriend of mine who used to spend hours every week in the gym and consequently had a beautiful physique . . . but he hid it under baggy jeans and oversized shirts.  When I asked him why, he said it was because it bothered him that girls were only nice to him because of how good he looked.  I was never sure it was the truth, but it was his truth, so I had to honor that.  I have been wondering if Kino is suffering from the same mindset, wanting to be liked for who he is, instead of how he looks.  It's hard to say, but it really does seem to piss Kino off when people tell him how gorgeous he is.

I often tell people that our animals mirror the things we need to work on ourselves but I have checked myself on this one and while I may not have been able to in the past, I am able to accept compliments now.  In fact, I actually welcome them :-) so I don't think he is mirroring me in this case.  Something though, is making him overly sensitive to hearing people talk about how attractive he is and I've got to figure out how to help him get over it.

Currently, I am giving him treats whenever we walk past someone and he doesn't react, hoping this will assist us in the process but I suspect there is more for us to do to get him beyond this behavior.

I'll be sure to post an update if we figure out how to resolve this one.