# Frag won over an old lady!



## DJEtzel (Feb 11, 2010)

So I'm at the park working today and have Frag and the puppy with me in the office. Frag is the greeter/temperament test dog when I work. I notice an older lady come into the park through the gate with a member dog, but the lady was not her owner. Frequently members have parents/siblings/kids/friends bring their dogs when they are out of town or busy, working, whatever. No biggie.

So the little dog and her are in the park for a while and start to come up to head out as Frag, Recon, and I step outside for a bathroom break. I hear the lady automatically exclaim "Oooh, I'm afraid of dogs!" in a very afraid tone as Frag walked over to meet "her" dog. Of course I wondered what the heck she was doing in a dog park if she was afraid of dogs, but I didn't question it. I let her know all the dogs here were friendly and she had nothing to worry about, and called Frag into a down near me to wait for his ball. She said she knew they should be, but she had been bitten in the face by a dog when she was younger and never got over the fear, couldn't tell the difference between play and rough play between dogs or a friendly dog in her face. 

We continued to play, working on recalls and drop on recall while retrieving. She stood near the gate (seemingly leaving) and watched Frag for a while. Recon was just doing puppy stuff, she didn't seem too interested in him.  She yelled from the gate that he was a very beautiful shepherd and that he listened real well. I thanked her and she left. 

I came back into the office and she was standing between our double doors watching Frag. I had him down and wait and told her she could come in. So she came in and sat down and watched some more, explained the bite and all, and asked for some advice on shopping since she wasn't from the area. I released Frag and he was just meandering, and when he came near her I asked him to go lay down and she replied, "Oh, it's okay, he seems friendly I'd like to pet him!" 

And so she did. In return for being so friendly and sweet and gentle, she said, she'd throw the ball for him a few times. This turned into an hour of her talking about shopping and loving on Frag/playing catch with him. She said she was really happy to meet such a gentle large dog that wasn't trying to jump on her or anything. 

Mission accomplished, Frag! :wub:


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## Narny (Sep 8, 2010)

Way to be a ambassador of the breed! Good job Frag!


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## CarrieJ (Feb 22, 2011)

That's awesome! Good Job Frag!

My boss occassionally works with humans w/ phobia issues with dogs. His last one was a woman from India that was attacked as a child. Someplaces of the world when you get bit it's a bad thing as stray dogs often carry rabies.
This poor lady started hyperventalating when my boss first went to her house to discuss dog behavior.
Two months later she could actually let a dog (an old sweet lab mix really non invasive) approach her and she petted it.
It's really cool to get that break through.


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## Daisy&Lucky's Mom (Apr 24, 2011)

:thumbup:Way to go to both you and Frag. Great stuff for that lady too.That fear can be such a barrier and prevent people from being safe aroud canines. Great desensitization exercise you did there.


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## blackshep (Aug 3, 2012)

Oh wow! What a good doggie!

And what an accomplishment for that lady, to overcome her fear.


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## DJEtzel (Feb 11, 2010)

It was really neat to see how afraid she was at first and literally screaming that she's afraid of dogs and running away, to sitting in a chair petting Frag and playing ball with him without even thinking about it.


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## blackshep (Aug 3, 2012)

I bet she felt like a million bucks after that


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

Narny said:


> Way to be a ambassador of the breed! Good job Frag!


Agreed!



blackshep said:


> I bet she felt like a million bucks after that


Agreed!

Way to go Frag!


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