My original dog is very soft too. If DH and I argue she hides in her crate. Every little facial twitch means a great deal to her!
One time when she was pretty young she slipped away from me on a hiking trip, so I was upset, but then she came back when I called so I had to do a FAST switchover to "good girl" priase mode. She works to make me happy. My approval means more to her than treats or toys ever could.
I bet the owner was showing a lot of disapproval to a dog that wanted approval more than anything else.
OR it could have been the other case, but I find that everyone jumps to the conclusion of abuse just because a dog is being overly-submissive. A dog showing too much submission is a trainer-problem, but it doens't necessarily = abuse. Lots of trainers end up with a super-sensitive dog then they have to switch to a different method of training. A poor trainer wouldn't figure that out and wouldn't know how to work with the dog
One time when she was pretty young she slipped away from me on a hiking trip, so I was upset, but then she came back when I called so I had to do a FAST switchover to "good girl" priase mode. She works to make me happy. My approval means more to her than treats or toys ever could.
I bet the owner was showing a lot of disapproval to a dog that wanted approval more than anything else.
OR it could have been the other case, but I find that everyone jumps to the conclusion of abuse just because a dog is being overly-submissive. A dog showing too much submission is a trainer-problem, but it doens't necessarily = abuse. Lots of trainers end up with a super-sensitive dog then they have to switch to a different method of training. A poor trainer wouldn't figure that out and wouldn't know how to work with the dog
