Pets

[wurwolf]

So we have Chance, the 10 year old Australian cattle dog. The woman from the shelter brought him by on Saturday morning and except for a little skirmish with Todd and some sad gazes out the window at the spot where the woman's truck was parked, he is settling into our family and things are going pretty well.

Except for one thing. He doesn't like it when my husband and I show affection to each other. I mean he REALLY doesn't like it.

Everything was going fine with Chance until Monday, when APGIL and I were standing in the kitchen. Chance was eating (he's not food aggressive so there was no issue with that) and I went over to APGIL and hugged him. Chance left his food, came right over to us and started to bark and wedge his head between the two of us. Then he looked up at me and barked again. THEN he started humping my leg. 

Ever since then he's been pretty dead set on showing his dominance over me. I went outside to the garden and when I came back he tried to mount my leg again, then my daughter and I took him out to the yard to play and he did it a couple of times again and at one point grabbed the sleeve of my sweater and pulled on it. I told him no in a loud voice and he'd back down for a minute and then get all riled up again and it would start again.

This was Monday afternoon; Monday evening was pretty quiet, he just slept on his bed by the fireplace and then Tuesday morning I left for work. He seems to do it mostly when he's all charged up about something. If I understand dog psychology correctly I'm guessing he thinks that he needs a bitch and since I'm evidently the top female in the house he set his sights on me. The problem is, I don't want to be his bitch! So it's going to be a process, I think, of setting him straight and establishing my dominance over him. I will continue to tell him no and I'll start pinching him, too. Hopefully that will work. Otherwise he's super well-behaved and a wonderful dog.

[Bob]

Hmmmm, never had a dog that did that.

[wurwolf]

Hmmmm, never had a dog that did that.

Translation: no lady friends for Bob. 

[Bob]

Hmmmm, never had a dog that did that.

Translation: no lady friends for Bob. 

* Goes in bedroom to start crying *

[Tripe]

I NEED MY LIKE BUTTON!!!!

[Mrs. Dick Courier]

I was petting my cat Mika the other night and he got so excited his penis came out.  Never even seen a cat penis.

TMI here?  Maybe so. 

Nothing to see here.....just move along.

[k1]

I was petting my cat Mika the other night and he got so excited his penis came out.  Never even seen a cat penis.

TMI here?  Maybe so. 

Nothing to see here.....just move along.

You must give awesome hand.

   _
 ( ((
  \ =\
 __\_ `-\
(____))(  \----   
(____)) _ 
(____))
(____))____/----

[LucasM]

So we have Chance, the 10 year old Australian cattle dog. The woman from the shelter brought him by on Saturday morning and except for a little skirmish with Todd and some sad gazes out the window at the spot where the woman's truck was parked, he is settling into our family and things are going pretty well.

Except for one thing. He doesn't like it when my husband and I show affection to each other. I mean he REALLY doesn't like it.

Everything was going fine with Chance until Monday, when APGIL and I were standing in the kitchen. Chance was eating (he's not food aggressive so there was no issue with that) and I went over to APGIL and hugged him. Chance left his food, came right over to us and started to bark and wedge his head between the two of us. Then he looked up at me and barked again. THEN he started humping my leg. 

Ever since then he's been pretty dead set on showing his dominance over me. I went outside to the garden and when I came back he tried to mount my leg again, then my daughter and I took him out to the yard to play and he did it a couple of times again and at one point grabbed the sleeve of my sweater and pulled on it. I told him no in a loud voice and he'd back down for a minute and then get all riled up again and it would start again.

This was Monday afternoon; Monday evening was pretty quiet, he just slept on his bed by the fireplace and then Tuesday morning I left for work. He seems to do it mostly when he's all charged up about something. If I understand dog psychology correctly I'm guessing he thinks that he needs a bitch and since I'm evidently the top female in the house he set his sights on me. The problem is, I don't want to be his bitch! So it's going to be a process, I think, of setting him straight and establishing my dominance over him. I will continue to tell him no and I'll start pinching him, too. Hopefully that will work. Otherwise he's super well-behaved and a wonderful dog.

A couple things from a combination of psychology and animal behavior (a separate course I took when getting undergrad biology degree).

First, pain is never a good method for shaping behavior (either in animals or children).  There are FAR too many associations that can be made by the recipient that are not wanted (e.g. the most likely: he may develop fear of you reaching to touch him AT ALL out of fear of the pain).  Find a way to reward appropriate behavior, rather than punishing unwanted behavior.

Second, it is not YOU that needs to assert dominance.  He's a dog.  He's a MALE dog.  He is trying to claim to be the ALPHA male dog.  The person who needs to assert dominance in your 'pack' is APGIL, not you.  He won't bother YOU if APGIL demonstrates that he is the alpha male of the pack.  [Seems sexist, but they're dogs: that's how they work.]

I hope those help.

[wurwolf]

I don't really care about causing pain. He's getting a pinch anyway.

I will pass along the rest to APGIL, though. Thanks.

[Bob]

I am guy and all dogs love me.



* Sits back like Il Duce and studies earth *

[MartyS (Gromit)]

The tricky thing about stopping bad behavior is sometimes they will see any kind of attention (even a pinch) as a reward.

My mom always had good luck with a few coins in a tin can, shake the can when they are doing something wrong.  But don't be pointing or otherwise paying attention to the dog when you make the noise, they don't like the noise and if you do it right they don't see it as getting attention from you.

[CJones]

I was petting my cat Mika the other night and he got so excited his penis came out.  Never even seen a cat penis.

TMI here?  Maybe so. 

Nothing to see here.....just move along.

Ugh.. I've had that happen with my Mom's dog Luke while scratching his belly. And he was "fixed". I was like, Dude, I think you're into this way more than I want to think about.

Never seen it with a cat though. Usually they just drool when I scratch them.

[Bob]

I am guy and all dogs love me.

Sometimes several times a day...

Il Duce does not care about your comment.

[LucasM]

I don't really care about causing pain. He's getting a pinch anyway.

I will pass along the rest to APGIL, though. Thanks.

You're welcome.

But on the pain thing: another possibility is it could make him become vicious (e.g. biting at ANY hand when it comes near).  Depends on the breed and temperament of the animal (just as it does with children) as to whether they become fearful and timid or violent in response to being hurt by 'parents'.  It is, of course, up to you if you want to be responsible for a potential lifetime change in your dog's mental state, with either outcome... it is you, and anyone who visits you, who will live with the result.

Pushing him down abruptly and saying "No!" in a very commanding voice (not yelling) can be both more effective and have far fewer potential negative emotional/behavioral effects, however.

The tricky thing about stopping bad behavior is sometimes they will see any kind of attention (even a pinch) as a reward.

My mom always had good luck with a few coins in a tin can, shake the can when they are doing something wrong.  But don't be pointing or otherwise paying attention to the dog when you make the noise, they don't like the noise and if you do it right they don't see it as getting attention from you.

MartyS (Gromit) is right, of course: both with children and with pets 'negative attention' is STILL attention.  I'd never heard the coins in a can trick.  Sounds reasonable to me ('irritating' but not 'painful', so less likely to provoke anxiety or viciousness in the dog and therefore less likely to result in different behavioral issues).

[wurwolf]

Gracie got adopted today, which is great.  It was kind of a surprise thing; I've been subbing at my wife's school this week and she brought her over in the middle of a class to say goodbye. Now I'm at home and the place seems really empty without her, which I guess just means we kept her too long.  So I'm sad, but glad.

I think that's normal, though, and not necessarily that you kept her too long. Chance's foster mom (she had him for two months) misses him. I'm in contact with the woman who runs the shelter and she told me that she asks about him all the time. I would tell her to add me as a Facebook friend so she could see pictures of him but she doesn't do the internet.