September 17th, 2009
|
If a dog is lying across a doorway he is claiming that passageway as his own. In a dog pack situation, lower-ranked dogs will not try to walk through that opening until the dog moves; if a person steps over the dog and he puts out his leg as if to trip them (which two of my dogs have don, incidentally), I take that as a sign of a good sense of humor! However, with an overly assertive dog the human is supposed to make the dog stand up and let the person pass, which will show that the human is the true alpha in the pack.
Radio show host and pet expert Tracie Hotchner is the author of The Dog Bible and The Cat Bible. Click here to follow her on Twitter. |
Ms. Hotchner
You have done something I have found almost no trainers do: You allow for different dog personalities. Acknowledging that not every single dog who sleeps in the doorway is performing an act of alpha expression is great. And a relief!
Most trainers seem to express hard and fast rules in their writing and I know my dog well enough to know when she’s being alpha and when she’s not. Not every rule applies to her. You recognizing that allows me to be a better pet owner by not constantly second guessing myself for disagreeing with something a trainer has written. Thank you!
Also, not everyone agrees that dogs have a sense of humor, but I swear our girl does. She’s a JR and expresses a whole range of emotions. She loves to make us laugh and will spontaneously repeat behaviours that we find funny.
I love receiving these daily dog tips! They offer up some absolutely wonderful tips and help me be a better dog owner.
Cheers!
Sandy aka Cosmo
HA!!! My two cats do this to my dog ALL THE TIME! She whines for me to help. She can’t get into the bathroom to use her pee pads, she can’t get into the kitchen to eat or drink, or they throw a body block to keep her from getting back near me! Hysterical!
Dear Sandy & Cosmo- I apologize for not writing back sooner but I have a new radio show beginning Oct 24th on WOR in New York City (but you can listen live online and I truly hope you will). So I have been going non-stop – but I LOVE your comment and it means the world to me that you are enjoying the tips and my points of view. Sense of humor ? For sure! My Rottie Yogi Bear used to stick his leg out right as you were trying to walk through a doorway and his grin was ear-to-ear when he nearly got you. His playfulness and wittiness in making up a game like that made me realize that we constantly underestimate how rich our dogs’ inner lives really are. The more we recognize their abilities, the greater our bond becomes and the more they are encouraged to express themselves.
And as for those kooky kitties, Smc626 – they are really a riot to watch if you have the perspective you clearly do – bravo to both of you for loving your pets so well.