Dogs and pianos

[Jonathan Finger]

Well, my dog has never smelled, as I clean him regularly.  He is not a
public menace, as I take my job as his owner seriously, and keep him
under control at all times.  Furthermore, the PH level and temperature
of his body are such that many organisms don't survive inside of him.
In other words, he's virtually anti-bacterial! :)  The old adage
"...their mouths are cleaner than ours" is actually true.

But yes, smelly dogs are "the pits" ... and out of control dogs can
certainly send a paranoid person over the edge (or any person fo that
matter).

Jonathan Finger RPT

-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On
Behalf Of gordon stelter
Sent: Tuesday, March 04, 2003 11:41 PM
To: Pianotech
Subject: Dogs and pianos

Dear list,
     I also just don't like them because they stink,
and I have spent thousands of dollars on pianos (nice
ones!) that I have had to destroy because there is NO
WAY that I could eliminate the stench and, in good
conscience, sell the piano to one of my very nice,
clean, non-pet owning customers!!! ( Who would be
equally repulsed, and very angry with me were they to
know what kind of environment it had been in! ) 
     This is something else that dog owners seem
oblivious to ( besides the fact that dogs are often a
hostile public menace )... DOGS USUALLY REEK!!! And
they always stink at least alittle. To anyone who does
not have the smell so entrenched in their sinuses that
they can no longer percieve it, that is. 
     And how do you justify letting a dog slobber on
your fingers, knowing that it may just have just
ingested/licked something repulsive, and then stick
said fingers in a costly piano, an musical art object
representing centuries of dedication and refinement?
     I am truly glad that I am more respectful than
that.
     Thump
     P.S.: I may have a silly name, but I do know what
"class" is! 
P.P.S.: Americans spend 5 times on their pets as they
do caring for their elderly parents.(Great
priorities!)



--- Jonathan Finger <johann@tollidee.com> wrote:
> Kevin: 
> 
>  
> 
> Exactly right..  And why we're on the subject. 
> Every piano tech would
> benefit from studying dog behavior (seriously) since
> clearly this is an
> issue.  
> 
>  
> 
> Dogs very often sense our fear of them, and this is
> why those of us who
> get along with them, don't understand why others
> don't, while they don't
> understand how we can like them.  Dogs react very
> differently to people
> based on the person's like, or fear of the animal. 
> I own an 80Lb.
> German Shepherd (a real live one, bred in Germany)
> who is a Lab stuck in
> a shepherd's body.  He has never learned aggression,
> loves small
> children, other dogs, etc.  But, his face is black,
> and he's a shepherd,
> so of course he's scary looking.  Also, Shepherds
> tend to be very vocal,
> which can make them look aggressive.  Well recently
> we had a friend
> staying with us, who had been taking a nap all
> afternoon.  He had made
> it known that he was very afraid of dogs, and didn't
> like them.  So I
> tried to keep "Attila" away.  But he awoke from his
> nap, and came out
> while we were all sitting at the dinner table. 
> Attila jumped up and
> barked, being surprised by this man, and I thought
> the man was going to
> become incontinent.  It was clear to me that the
> only reason Attila
> reacted the way he did, was his sense of the other
> man's fear.   
> 
>  
> 
> It behooves those of us who work with and around
> dogs to understand some
> of their basic body language to know if it's friend
> of foe running
> towards us.
> 
>  
> 
> Just a couple of quick pointers:
> 
>  
> 
> Good signs: 
> 
>  
> 
> Tail carriage low
> 
> Slow wag
> 
> Dog licking his own face/nose  (this is a common
> calming signal among
> dogs, it works if you use it as well).
> 
> Dog dropping to elbows and growling  ("Please play
> with me!!")
> 
>  
> 
> Bad signs:
> 
>  
> 
> Tail Carriage high
> 
> Fast, erratic tail wag
> 
> Eyes wide open
> 
> Dog holding breath
> 
> Head low, hackles up (the hair behind the shoulders
> on the back)
> 
>  
> 
> I know it's off topic, but thought it might help
> some of us since we run
> into at least as many dogs as the post man! :-) 
> (and we can't carry
> cayenne pepper spray with us)
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> Jonathan Finger RPT
> 
>  
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org
> [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On
> Behalf Of Kevin E. Ramsey
> Sent: Tuesday, March 04, 2003 6:52 PM
> To: Pianotech
> Subject: Re: Bad day!
> 
>  
> 
> 
> FWIW, I get a whole lot of pleasure from the
> friendships I've made with
> piano owners' pets and children during my visits. 
> Couldn't imagine
> excluding them from my practice.
> 
> Mike Spalding RPT
> 
>  
> 
>     Mike, I too have fun with people's pets. I've
> never met a dog that I
> couldn't have playing with me and licking my hand
> within about a minute.
> I don't know what it is, I've had people say "He
> doesn't usually warm up
> to people like this."  Clue, they're just big kids,
> even the little
> ones. They want someone to pay attention to them. 
> 
> Kevin
> 
> 


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