Posted on 11/12/2012 6:03:49 PM PST by Daffynition
I prefer to think of it as having an ever-present guardian angel hovering over me.
Since he lays with his head across my hips or stomach at night, I sleep like the dead, no matter what.
:)
Depends on the dog, of course. You’ve got some goodies.
Sadly, I don’t let my Zeus on the bed anymore. Once he snapped at my husband when he was told to hop down. He had been up keeping me company (which I didn’t let him do often)and didn’t act appropriately when told he had to leave - we were floored by the snapping. Never allowed on the bed since.
He used to start out in a little ball at the bottom of the bed, and gradually would magically expand until he was lying stretched full length up the middle of the bed, and I would be shoved to the edge. I always felt perfectly safe.
Not well. But never mind the dogs. Beware of wife!
If you want him back on the bed, here’s how you fix that.
Tell him to come up and let him lie down for a bit.
Then, for no apparent reason, calmly but emphatically tell him to get down.
Lather, rinse, repeat, a lot.
If you persist with that simple training, he will eventually get the point that you can and will capriciously assert your rank for no reason other than that you *can* and will accept his role as subordinate.
He is seeing himself as pack leader [even if that’s his only “symptom”] and no dog is truly happy leading the pack.
If you do the above, it will actually assist him in becoming a calmer, more emotionally balanced dog.
You will ‘relieve him of his command’ which is, to a dog, an awfully heavy burden.
When Odin hit puberty, he had a similar issue with my sofa.
Now he just sighs and hops on or off when told to, simply because I said so.
If you haven’t already, try and get his thyroid checked.
Our breed is infamous for hypothyroidism which usually manifests as ‘snarkiness’.
We had an Australian Shepard/husky/??? mutt that was a great guard dog. When the kids were little they would play outside with mom, and our dog would sit there very alert of everything for hours on end. As soon as I pulled my truck in the driveway it would wander off, lay down, etc. He was the only dog to bark when someone went through the neighborhood late at night breaking into cars one time. He only barked twice though - and a quiet “woof”, and I didn’t bother getting out of bed to check.
A cop later said that if you hear something - check it out. You will probably only hear the something once!
Our current dog (lab, great dane, mutt) does a good job of barking if someone comes on to our property. Just the other day some guys were working on the yard next door (no fence). They could be within feet of the property and he would just watch them. As soon as they stepped over he would bark at them.
I’m not sure how either one would do as an attack dog. The Australian Shepherd (RIP) once took down a larger dog that got too close and aggressive with our kids once.
However, whenever our dog barks now I’ll investigate with a gun.
Yep! That’s an ACD.
My last dog was a Doberman/Husky mix I got from a local shelter. Her reaction would be first to crap on the floor and then eat it. She would then run and hide in the closet just in time to through up. Very cute dog but the worst behaved dog I ever had. Never got another dog after that one.
Oh ya.
My parents grew up in the country just as I did. They always had a dog as one was virtually a necessity. With one exception, they never would let a dog in the house and neither would I.
About 60 years ago they had a dog, “Old Richard” who was the best dog I have ever seen. He was the same age I was, we were born the same year. Daddy always claimed Richard’s Momma, Fritzi was an even better dog than Richard but I don’t think that was possible.
Maybe once a year Daddy would let Old Richard in the house just for a minute or two. That old dog was so happy just for those few seconds it was funny.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.