My dog isn't perfect, how about yours?

[Magpie]

There's been a lot of dog threads lately, and I've noticed a lot of people have beautiful, well-trained, perfectly behaved dogs.

I just want to say that my dog is not any of these things. She's 20 lbs of scruffy, fluffy spaniel/poodle mutt. She smells. She tries to jump on friendly people, so I keep her on a short leash. If she isn't pulling me down the street, then she's dragging behind me trying to scavenge food off the sidewalk. Big dogs terrify her. So do leaves blowing in the wind, and - for some reason - empty golf bags. She doesn't like the feeling of wet grass on her toes, and usually requires a kick in the butt to get her onto the lawn to do her business on rainy days. She'll spend hours chewing on her toe nails.

Sometimes I'll point out a beautiful, highly trained, pedigreed dog to her. "See, Maggie?" I'll say, "That's a REAL dog. What do you think of that?" She has yet to give me any sort of satisfactory answer.

She actually does have a few commands, though. "Sit" means "Make your butt touch the ground for a split second, then jump up, tail wagging." "Sit, sit, sit!" means "Repeat the sit command, over and over." "Stay!" means "Look quizzically at my owner for a moment, then jump up." "Speak!" means "Bark joyfully, and don't stop until someone shouts, "Shut up!"". And my personal favorite... "Off!" which means, "Try and devour whatever's in my mouth as fast as I can, before someone pries my jaws open and fishes it out."

On the plus side, however, Maggie is mild-mannered, quiet, and doesn't bark when the doorbell rings. She doesn't bark at pedestrians, or other dogs, either. She doesn't destroy our belongings. She comes running when she's called. She doesn't bite, and is good with babies, toddlers, cats, and rabbits - she has no prey drive, and won't even play fetch.

I imagine she'd starve to death pretty quickly, if we weren't around to feed her. Luckily, we love her.

What's your dog like?

 

[LucyStorm]

I have this bad habit of picking the most "spunky" dog out of the litter, which means I usually end up with the strong willed one. My current sweetheart hates small dogs, but loves cats, go figure! But she is a wonderful retriever, comes when she is called, and is definitely my dog. She likes it when my husband comes home, but when I come home, you'd think she was singing the Hallelujah Chorus. And her favorite thing is to jump up on the bed for an hour or so before bedtime to cuddle with mom.

Will she ever be the dog that lays there for 20 minutes after you tell it to stay? No, but she's mine and I love her.

 

[Mermaid02]

She's a dog. She stinks. She has really bad breath. I don't think she'd bite anyone, but I'm not SURE she wouldn't. She gets into the trash when we arent' home. She ate a $20 bill once. She pooped on the floor Friday. She ate a pair of brand new Tevas once (actually, she only ate one). She acts like she's my dh's mistress- constantly trying to push me out of our bed, snuggling up to him and then giving me the evil eye. And I wouldn't trade her for the world!

 

[KathyTX]

Mine's bossy and she snores.

 

[Mermaid02]

Oh, if you ask my dog for a kiss she sticks her nose in your ear! LOL

 

[MushyMushy]

Bad to the bone. Our oldest, we call our black nightmare. Our first three years with her were miserable, and we honestly didn't like her much. Took her to training, which she was kicked out of (think Marley in Marley & Me). Saw a behaviorist -- this woman has a PhD in animal behavior and is well known for working with labs. She wouldn't walk properly on leash, though we were able to train her some basic commands. Despite constantly having her around people when she was a pup, she was a complete freak around strangers. Barking, snapping, snarling, lunging. But she was a sweetie and so loving with us. We just had to adjust our lives around this dog. If people came over, she had to get put away. Mostly we just didn't have a lot of people over.

The dog in my avatar is good. Any bad behaviors she has came from the nightmare. I've been able to take her out in public and she is so well behaved. Sits by my side, ignores other dogs, and is very calm and submissive. I don't trust her off leash (oh I'd love a dog I could trust off leash!), but she's a GREAT dog.

I will never again go through owning an aggressive dog! I've been around dogs my entire life. My grandfather was a dog catcher when I was a kid, and he rescued a huge amount of dogs and adopted the ones he grew attached to. I know dogs. But my nightmare was an enormous challenge. She's 10 now, with hip dysplasia. If someone knocks on the door, you'd never know she can only hobble along because she freaks out. Must be that adrenaline.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

Well, my boxer is pretty well trained, but he has some highly annoying and comical quirks.

He certainy stinks and has bad breath.

He has SEVERE seperation anxiety and chewed up my entire doorframe. He can jump up and unlock the door in order to follow me outside when I'm leaving so now he stays outside when we're gone. His anxiety also causes him to drool a TON and he licks the sliding glass door almost the ENTIRE time we are gone which means there is big puddle of THICK...distusting slobber right outside the door....and I mean a PUDDLE.

He is neverous about most things unknown and hate the cheap milk-bone type treats. He will only eat once eveyone is settled in bed for the night and he is NOT quiet about it.

He snores and wheezes.

And although he doesn't bark at strangers, he barks like he's going to eat us as soon as we step outside with him because he wants us to play...LOL

No animal is perfect...and no one kids are perfect...that's the beauty of them right?

 

[SandrA9810]

This harmless mutt...


She was absolutely the sweetest PIA around, and we even called her that. She would shed like crazy. There wasn't a day that I didn't wear her fur. Although she didn't stink much, unless it was a really long time between baths. She hated baths, but once I finally got her in the tub, she would just sit there as miserable as possible. If I asked for a kiss, she'd just turn her head. But the minute she was out of the tub and with a towel, she'd give me kisses.
True story... I went into the bathroom to get it ready to give her a bath. A minute later, I was standing next to the kitchen calling her name. She sat up, but wouldn't move. Called her again, she jumped up on the couch next to my friend.
He goes "why won't she go to you??"
Me "because she knows what's coming"
Him "what?"
Me "A bath"
Him "But you never said anything about a bath, and you're standing in the kitchen"

She knew to never give me kisses on the lips, but she'd always give them to me on the cheek on demand. Any one else got them all over the face.
She never listened to Kari, even though she was the one to pick her out of the pound. And did take care of her as much as me. But I was mommy, and no one else was good enough.
She was a horrible walker on a leash, constantly pulling. She loved to run and dart around. She'd always try to run out the front door. It was pretty much to the point of leaving her leash on her so we'd have something to step on. Only when we lived on the second floor did she stop the darting outside all the time. Gotta love it when the maintenance guy is yelling at you "the dog is supposed to be on a leash"... "well what do you call that six foot cord trailing behind her??" As we're running after her.
She loved pulling me on my scooter. I'd tie her leash to the handle bar and let her run. But she loved stopping dead in her tracks to go pee or poop. Even threw me from a bike once to poop in the middle of the road. I would have to ride in the middle of the road, and I knew she had to go when she'd start dragging me to the grass. So at least I'd have time to slow down, which only worked part of the time. There were many scars and bruises from this.
She never liked male dogs trying to hump her at the park. That's when she'd set them in their place. But one time going to the park, she nearly made it out of the window of the truck as we were pulling up to it. Kari was hanging onto her hind legs and the rest of her was out the window. The dog park was that great. We then started driving there with the windows half up to avoid that again.
She NEVER barked, unless I riled her up playing with her. Well occasionally she'd growl at a grown man too close to the front door. But no barking when some one was at the door, no barking at other dogs. She did this really weird whimpering noise though.
She hated all toys, and she had to have the best of the best dog treats. Merricks was pretty much the only brand she liked. Anything else, just sat there untouched. Never went after a stuffed animal or chew through a shoe.
She never knew the meaning of biting, unless it was food. I could put my hand in her mouth and she just looked at me like I was nuts. She loved the guinea pigs and would give them kisses. She just stared at the hamsters. Nothing in the world mattered to her but me.
She was a sammy when she just got out of the bath and was clean, she was a mutt when she was dirty and stinky, and ALWAYS my PIA.

 

[luvmy3]

My dog is far from perfect and I'd even say she is down right bad. However, I know she is and I don't make excuses for it, she needs a professional trainer to set her straight because she isn't listening to me at all.

 

[goofy!]

There's been a lot of dog threads lately, and I've noticed a lot of people have beautiful, well-trained, perfectly behaved dogs.

I just want to say that my dog is not any of these things. She's 20 lbs of scruffy, fluffy spaniel/poodle mutt. She smells. She tries to jump on friendly people, so I keep her on a short leash. If she isn't pulling me down the street, then she's dragging behind me trying to scavenge food off the sidewalk. Big dogs terrify her. So do leaves blowing in the wind, and - for some reason - empty golf bags. She doesn't like the feeling of wet grass on her toes, and usually requires a kick in the butt to get her onto the lawn to do her business on rainy days. She'll spend hours chewing on her toe nails.

Sometimes I'll point out a beautiful, highly trained, pedigreed dog to her. "See, Maggie?" I'll say, "That's a REAL dog. What do you think of that?" She has yet to give me any sort of satisfactory answer.

She actually does have a few commands, though. "Sit" means "Make your butt touch the ground for a split second, then jump up, tail wagging." "Sit, sit, sit!" means "Repeat the sit command, over and over." "Stay!" means "Look quizzically at my owner for a moment, then jump up." "Speak!" means "Bark joyfully, and don't stop until someone shouts, "Shut up!"". And my personal favorite... "Off!" which means, "Try and devour whatever's in my mouth as fast as I can, before someone pries my jaws open and fishes it out."

On the plus side, however, Maggie is mild-mannered, quiet, and doesn't bark when the doorbell rings. She doesn't bark at pedestrians, or other dogs, either. She doesn't destroy our belongings. She comes running when she's called. She doesn't bite, and is good with babies, toddlers, cats, and rabbits - she has no prey drive, and won't even play fetch.

I imagine she'd starve to death pretty quickly, if we weren't around to feed her. Luckily, we love her.

What's your dog like?

My dogs are champion, pedigreed dogs, but as far from perfect as you can get.

Obedience wise, my dogs have been through rigorous training. With their breed, it is almost a necessity in order to socialize them. However, with their independent thinking, they "may" or "may not" decide that a 20 minute down stay is 20 minutes or rather some time of their own choosing.

Funny story. After graduating 1st in his obedience class, I entered my male in an obedience trial. We were there for conformation anyway, so I thought this would be a good time to start working on his CD.

I had high hopes for him that we were going to sail through this first leg - he was 1st in his class you know.

Then we got to the recall. This was usually his absolutely favorite thing. He would come running at full speed to me, sit and when I told him to finish, he would literally leap and twist in the air, coming down in a perfect sit next to me. He LOVED the recall.

For those of you not familiar with the recall, it is a 3 part exercise. You put your dog in a sit and then the judge tells you to leave the dog. You issue the stay command and walk away, then turn around and face the dog when you are at the other end of the ring. The judge tells you to call the dog. The dog is supposed to respond quickly, come directly to you at a trot or gallop and sit squarely in front of you, close enough that you can pet their head, but not so close they are between your legs. Then the judge tells you to finish and the dog quickly sit in a heel position.

Now, let me back up and say the Komondor is one of the worst choices for an obedience dog. They have been bred for hundreds of years to make independent decisions to protect their flock.

So, I put my dog in a stay and leave. He does great and stays in his sit watching me intently.

The judge tells me to call him. I issue the command. He sits there looking at me. You cannot issue another command. So, I stand there trying to will him to do his usual run to me. He just sits there and looks at me like I am crazy.

So, I decide to lose the points and issue another command. He still sits there looking at me. I slap my legs and tell him to come. Still sits there.

The judge is standing next to him, trying not to laugh (she knows the breed). He looks over at her and she says - "you better go."

It is like he understood her. He looks at me, looks at her again, and then stands up and as slowly as he can, walks the mat to me and sits in front of me.

By now, the whole class saw his glance and heard the judge tell him to go. Everybody was trying not to giggle.

I give him the command to finish and he had the nerve to look at the judge again. He then slowly goes around me and sits. Not his normal way of finishing.

Needless to say, we did not pick up the first leg that day. While my dog is not a bird dog, I am pretty sure that was the canine version of the bird.

And the Komondor:

Imagine long cords and going to the bathroom. As you are picking more **** off the dogs behind, it really makes you wonder what kind of drugs you were on when you decided this was the breed for you.

And those cords make velcro look weak. This week alone, we found a hornet, a large spider, and countless leaves and large branches in the cords.

We know of people that have found snakes and other larger wildlife in the cords. (knocking on wood here)

And hopefully our breeder is not reading this, but they are very accomplished at eating off a fork from the dinner table

So, nope, my dogs are about as far from perfect as you can get.

 

[Acklander]

My dog is a very good dog, with a very bad owner. So she does things like, sleeps in the bed with me, eats my scraps at the table, jumps up on my lap, and barks at all the wildlife that wander around the yard.

 

[tink20]

Our new puppy is almost 4 months old. We are not quite sure what she is. We were told part Cocker Spaniel/Rat Terrier and Chihuahua sp? Anyway she poops and pees everywhere, tries to get in the garbage, bite and chews on everything...we are getting used to her and trying to teach her some manners LOL, but we love her. She is very smart. You can tell her to go get a toy, and she will, and she can fetch. So maybe we can get the housetraning down soon. In this pic she is 6 weeks old.

 

[DawnCt1]

Funny story.

That was definitely a funny story. He knew exactly what he was doing. He probably never walked that slowly in his life!

 

[PFlamingo]

And those cords make velcro look weak. This week alone, we found a hornet, a large spider, and countless leaves and large branches in the cords.

We know of people that have found snakes and other larger wildlife in the cords. (knocking on wood here)

Wow, and I thought I had it bad because mine shed and roll in the dirt.

Mine are actually pretty good and do what they're told - most of the time. But... they love to dig in the yard and take turns at it so we never know who did it. They also, ahem, recycle. You know, "recycle?" (nudge, wink) Okay, they eat poop. And they don't care whose it is. And they take turns at that, too. And then they want to kiss us.

But they are all rescues, one literally an hour from death when he was pulled from the shelter. They've all been through one form of abuse or another, but in spite of that they greet us every time we come home as if they haven't seen us for a year, and let us know we are thoroughly, unconditionally loved.

But I still wish they'd knock off the poop-eating.

 

[DawnCt1]

Connor is a very sweet boy. He turned three last week. He came to us in March after I lost my beloved Jude. He attached so quickly to me that it was almost suffocating. I couldn't be more than 2 ft from him so it was even difficult to take a picture of him. He has made a couple of trips back to his former home to meet "lady friends" but I think he has learned that this is his "forever home". He loves his previous family. He hugs them and kisses them, but he looks sad when I leave and he is happy to see me again. I took him to obedience so that he would learn to listen to me and develop confidence in his new home. He now doesn't have to be in the same room with me. He just has to see me from where he is. . Everyone in the family loves him, and he loves them...however, if I am home, he has to be with me. He cannot be coaxed away except for a few moments, and then he has to find me. He is fine when I am not home. He goes to his crate on his own and waits there until I get back...with the door open.
He loves to be on his hind legs. DS#2 dances with him. He can hop across the room on his hind legs and yes, he does appear to be laughing when he does that. He sleeps with us. He doesn't beg for food and he barks if he hears a strange noise at night.
The big thing that made DH very happy. He does his business in the woods. His first business he did here was on the lawn. I moved it to the woods and said, "this is where you go" and that was that. No doggie doo to clean up....ever.

 

[NHdisneylover]

Connor is a very sweet boy. He turned three last week. He came to us in March after I lost my beloved Jude. He attached so quickly to me that it was almost suffocating. I couldn't be more than 2 ft from him so it was even difficult to take a picture of him. He has made a couple of trips back to his former home to meet "lady friends" but I think he has learned that this is his "forever home". He loves his previous family. He hugs them and kisses them, but he looks sad when I leave and he is happy to see me again. I took him to obedience so that he would learn to listen to me and develop confidence in his new home. He now doesn't have to be in the same room with me. He just has to see me from where he is. . Everyone in the family loves him, and he loves them...however, if I am home, he has to be with me. He cannot be coaxed away except for a few moments, and then he has to find me. He is fine when I am not home. He goes to his crate on his own and waits there until I get back...with the door open.
He loves to be on his hind legs. DS#2 dances with him. He can hop across the room on his hind legs and yes, he does appear to be laughing when he does that. He sleeps with us. He doesn't beg for food and he barks if he hears a strange noise at night.
The big thing that made DH very happy. He does his business in the woods. His first business he did here was on the lawn. I moved it to the woods and said, "this is where you go" and that was that. No doggie doo to clean up....ever.

So in other words--your dog IS perfect

I don't have any problems with my dog barking sniffing, going the bathroom in the wrong place or anything else. This would be because I am far too lazy and cheap to own a dog

Cute stories here though and sweet to hear the love from many of you

 

[NHdisneylover]

double post--apparently I am not perfect either!

 

[Mermaid02]

Well, my dog poo'ed on the floor Friday because she's mad at me. I started a new job last week and had to be gone 6 1/2 hours for training every day. On Friday- My mil came over twice to let her out- and my dh stopped by the house twice also. She still pooped on the floor. Spiteful thing.

 

[Belle0101]

We have 5 dogs, 4 labs and a greyhound, all in the house. Are they perfect? Not exactly. They all have their own unique "quirks".

As for the labs, they all shed. If I could find some way to animate their shed fur I could make a small dog every couple of days. Not that I need another dog but that's how much fur they leave behind!

Individually, Shadow enjoys a good stick of butter on occassion. We can't leave out any form of butter or margarine ever because she will devour all of it. In the winter she eats her fair share of poopsicles.

Simba weighs 118 pounds and doesn't realize that he is a LABrador and not a LAPrador. Ouch! He will pull anything off the counters or tables that has the slightest smell of food on it - candy wrappers, dishes, even drinking glasses. His motto surely must be, "If it smells like food it must be for me!" He slobbers a lot too. When he drinks water I'm really not sure how much he actually consumes because he leaves a lot of water all over the floor and dripping off his face. If we have company we have to warn them not to let him near after he drinks. He's left lots of wet laps. He enjoys poopsicles too. And he snores, loudly.

Jack weighs in the 80 pound range and he thinks nothing of stepping on my feet. Ouch! We have a fenced in yard and he needs to be out on a cable because he thinks the fence is for going under. We've closed up holes and he finds new ones. He likes to keep his private part clean which is okay. Cleanliness is good. But he cleans himself often and he's very loud with the licking. He also enjoys a winter poopsicle on occassion. Jack has been diagnosed as a Psychogenic Water Drinker. That's fun. He obsesses over water, has to drink all that he can. Of course that means he needs to pee every hour.

Shy Boy is both shy but also a bully to his brother Jack. Books, tools, Trapper Keepers, they all send him looking for a corner to hide in. But if his brother Jack has a toy he will steal it right out of his mouth. He has to be kept on a cable too because he goes over our fence.

Annie is our greyhound and she's just flat out weird! She loves to lick exposed skin whether it be legs, arms or feet. She licks the wall by her bed. She's a shoe eater but she will only eat 1 shoe of the pair.

They're not any of them perfect by any means but when I'm not tripping over one or being tripped by one, licked by one, sweeping up fur, cleaning up puddles of water (we have hardwood flooring) or avoiding poop breath, they're actually fun to be around. I couldn't imagine not having one of them.

 

[DawnCt1]

So in other words--your dog IS perfect

I don't have any problems with my dog barking sniffing, going the bathroom in the wrong place or anything else. This would be because I am far too lazy and cheap to own a dog

Cute stories here though and sweet to hear the love from many of you

I can't take credit for Connor anymore than I could take credit for Jude. Jude was 8 when he came to our home. We were lucky enough to have him for 3 years. Wished it could have been longer. Conner was almost 3. Both dogs came as adults, well trained and just needed an opportunity to be "an only child". We had done the puppy thing twice and we loved both Annie and Chelsea from the time they were babies until they crossed the Rainbow Bridge but getting a well trained, adult dog is SO MUCH EASIER!. I am also lazy and cheap. And I have to say, after having two female dogs, I absolutely love the boys. They have been both very sweet, gentle and loving.