Still sour on Salty’s walker

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Updated: September 27, 2011 1:45PM

Q. The latest dog walker I employed left my dog behind after an off-leash outing to a nature preserve. Salty was found wandering near a busy road by a Good Samaritan stranger who knew to call me because of the personalized dog collar with my phone number and Salty’s name embroidered on it. The quick-read collar and the kind stranger saved Salty’s life. The dog walker cried and apologized again and again. He begs for another chance. I am tempted to forgive. What do you say?

A. If it happened once, it can happen again. Most unfortunately for her and fortunately for you, Dog Lady knows whereof she speaks. You can forgive but you cannot forget the negligence. You always will be on tenterhooks. And, really, this relationship is all about trust. Your dog could have been hurt or killed because of the dog walker’s disregard. Sure, you can give the walker a second chance but what if . . .?

Dog Lady heartily endorses the life-saving collars featuring the dog’s name and your phone number embroidered. These are user-friendly and easier to decipher than jangling license tags or embedded microchips. They are available through many dog catalogs and websites.

Q. I adopted a puppy mill rescue dog four months ago. She’s a 5-year-old Havanese named Mary. She has come a long way. My problem is that she fights me every time I go to pick her up. I try to pick her up once a day and we have a system where she goes to her safe place — her bed — and jumps into my arms. She loves to sit beside me in my chairs and I can rub my hands all over her, but when I put her down, it’s like she doesn’t know that I’m the same person. I don’t know what else I can do.

A. Don’t force the issue. Allow little Mary to come to you on her own terms. She’s obviously making great strides and doing quite nicely (except when you become the “different” grabby person she fears). You never know what rough hands picked up Mary during her internment at the puppy mill. She probably came to fear human hands. When you go through your ritual of your dog jumping into your arms from her safe bed, always make sure you have a tasty tidbit to reward her.

Give her time. Dogs with issues need patience.