First, a little history on Mindy Lou. She'll be 4 years old around September of this year
I've noticed lately that she doesn't listen to my nearly four year old daughter
juniper8204 wrote:She doesn't tolerate puppies much and has bitten a couple puppies on the nose that got too boisterous...she did get reprimanded for those stunts. I run a pretty tight ship as far as my dogs go; they know that nobody deals out punishment except me.
juniper8204 wrote:She didn't draw blood, so I'm taking it as a warning, but STILL, a warning to what?
pitbullmamaliz wrote:Has Mindy ever shown any other warning behaviors when Mikayla hugs her? Freezing, stares, lip curls, or even calming signals like tongue flicks or yawns? It could be that she's been warning and warning and warning and nobody has noticed (not blaming anybody!) and last night she got tired of warnings.
pitbullmamaliz wrote:For now I would say Mikayla needs to have some rules, too, as to how to act around Mindy - no hugs, no getting in her face, no patting on the head, etc. I'm not big on the whole "pack totem pole ranking" thing so I probably wouldn't say that she is trying to dominate Mikayla. I have a feeling she's probably given a bunch of very small, barely noticeable warnings.
juniper8204 wrote:So starting this morning, we are reminding Mindy that she isn't in control. No couch privilegs, no bed privileges, not as much freedom around the house, making her sit for everything, and tonight she will NOT be sleeping in the bed.
She can be food aggressive with other dogs, but people could put their hands in her bowl all day long, and just get kisses.
I've noticed lately that she doesn't listen to my nearly four year old daughter, and will steal her food when she gets a chance.
tiva wrote:Patricia McConnell, in her book For the Love of a Dog, has fascinating things to say about why people love to hug, and why dogs mostly HATE being hugged, and why every trainer has dealt with cases of dogs that bite family children when the kids try to hug the dog. (see pg 227, and the entire chapter has helpful insights). Good luck.
chako wrote:Dogs don't hug one another, but they also don't scratch or pat each other's rumps, scratch underneath chins, or do a lot of things we do. But the domestic dog has been with humans for quite some time, and there are so many studies that show significant differences between domestic dogs and other canines (including but not limited to wolves). In fact, dogs react to other dogs differently than they react to humans in many ways. They can react aggressively when they see another dog across the street, but be lovey dovie with all people. They may seek out eye contact with their humans, but NOT make eye contact with other dogs.
While I'm not saying a hug is in a dog's vocabulary of body language... I don't find that the VAST majority of dogs dislike hugging. Most dogs seems to like any attention from their people.... Petting, hugs, even eye contact (Generally, dogs don't maintain eye contact with one another, but many dogs sustain eye contact with people for various reasons that have nothing to do with trying to be aggressive, dominant, or any of the other things some people associate with 'eye contact" and dogs). Sometimes the eye contact is taught. Sometimes it's not. Some dogs just do it because they find it works to get them what they want (treats, attention, etc.) or because they're taking cues. In fact, the domestic dog is way ahead of both chimpanzees and wolves (even those raised with humans) in correctly interpreting human body language. I have that study somewhere on my hard drive. I can dig it up upon request.... I hope!
-Dawn-
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