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#1
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Dog moods
Do dogs have moods like humans?
Jake, my 1 year old Border Collie is a strange thing. In some ways it's great, in others, it worries me. Plus side - he seems calm and laid back. I've had him since 7 weeks and worked hard to make sure ultimately, as I have to work, being alone is fine. (I had months off work with him and built up the time with him v the time I knew I would eventually have to spend at work). I leave him a few treats when I go to work, when I return 5 hours later he is always either in his (unlocked) crate or laying by the door. (Treats eaten). I get NO greeting - not even a wag. Is this normal? He waits until I get changed and get my sandwiches out of the fridge then joins me in the garden for lunch and a play. (Whatever the weather, we go and play). Playtime is "normal" dog behaviour, he's dying to play chase, tug or fetch. When I start to get ready to go back to work he lays on his bed - to me it seems in a miserable state but maybe he just accepts this is life?? When I get home at night pretty much the same happens though at night time he lives to be in the lounge, where the action, me and (when not working away) my husband are. I do take him for a walk each night but the word "walk", even when I get his lead, is met with lying down on his back as if to say, really I only want my tummy tickling then can I go in the lounge. (PS - he gets a good off lead walk each morning and mega walks each weekend). I guess what I am really leading up to is he is not loving or affectionate and doesn't often seem pleased to see me. If it's a choice between my husband and I he will go to me, and when I collected him from kennels he was out of his mind with joy at seeing me (or someone he knew) - but he is mainly aloof and unwilling to cuddle or be loved. Is this a puppy thing or will it be how he is forever? I can accept I don't have a dog who is all over me (like my last one) - but I am concerned he may be unhappy? We have such a set weekday routine. Walk am. Play whilst I get ready for work. Alone whilst I work. Lunch and play. Alone in the afternoon whilst I work. A walk and most of my attention until bedtime. Is this boring for a dog? Particularly a Border Collie? I would add that he never chews, barks, or destructs anything - he just lays and waits for me to come home so he can ignore me (I'm joking - but that's how it seems). What do you think?? |
#2
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Your dog sounds just like mine. I'm always wondering if she is a happy dog
as the only time she really seems to be so is when we're outside walking or playing. Other than that she lays around waiting for the next outing. She's not affectionate most of the time although she does have rare moments where she'll give one of us a nuzzle or lay her head on a lap. She doesn't bark, chew or destroy anything either. I've brought multiple types of chew stuff and I can't get her interested in any of them. (Thought giving her something to do on her own might be good.) She'll play for short periods in the house and then just quits, like she's bored. I play hide and seek with her, all kinds of different games, hide treats, do training exercises and all end up with what seems to me to be a bored reaction. I sometimes think to myself 'why even bother, she'll only stay interested for a few minutes'. The only difference I can see between my dog and yours is that when one of us comes home from being away, even if we've only been gone 10 minutes, her greeting is extreme happiness that we're back. You'd think we'd been gone all day. My dog is 15 months old so there should be a lot more play in her, I'd think. I'm sorry to add this in on your post, but I'm extremely interested in the responses you may receive and I thought I'd let you know you're not alone. We, too have a very structured routine and I often wonder if the dog's bored with us, but then I've read that routine is good for dogs. |
#3
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Pam,
Thanks for your reply. You are right, other than the greeting, it sounds like they are very alike. I like to think that if Jake (and your dog) are not chewing, barking etc then they are just content-and that I am applying human 'moods' to my dog which maybe don't exist. I also play hide and seek, name toys etc etc - and after 5 minutes Jake is giving up. He spends many of his nights on the sofa with a soft toy he had when we first got him, just sucking and sucking it. It's cute and great after I've had a tiring day at work, but not what I expected from a young Border Collie dog. Maybe we just have it so right they don't know any different and are quite happy with their/our routine. Lets hope so. I spend all day worrying about Jake's happiness, it's mad really, I have had 2 other dogs and left them and never worried about them and they were fine. Out of interest are you in the UK? (I am) Lynda Hopefully we'll get more replies than the ones I have from the PW!! On Thu, 3 Feb 2005 11:23:05 -0500, "Pam" wrote: Your dog sounds just like mine. I'm always wondering if she is a happy dog as the only time she really seems to be so is when we're outside walking or playing. Other than that she lays around waiting for the next outing. She's not affectionate most of the time although she does have rare moments where she'll give one of us a nuzzle or lay her head on a lap. She doesn't bark, chew or destroy anything either. I've brought multiple types of chew stuff and I can't get her interested in any of them. (Thought giving her something to do on her own might be good.) She'll play for short periods in the house and then just quits, like she's bored. I play hide and seek with her, all kinds of different games, hide treats, do training exercises and all end up with what seems to me to be a bored reaction. I sometimes think to myself 'why even bother, she'll only stay interested for a few minutes'. The only difference I can see between my dog and yours is that when one of us comes home from being away, even if we've only been gone 10 minutes, her greeting is extreme happiness that we're back. You'd think we'd been gone all day. My dog is 15 months old so there should be a lot more play in her, I'd think. I'm sorry to add this in on your post, but I'm extremely interested in the responses you may receive and I thought I'd let you know you're not alone. We, too have a very structured routine and I often wonder if the dog's bored with us, but then I've read that routine is good for dogs. |
#4
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Lynda,
No, Lynda, I'm not in the UK. I live in Canada. You're right about the dogs not chewing, barking, or displaying bad behaviors as a sign that they are content as a bored dog usually will do things to entertain themselves or attract attention to themselves and usually it's stuff like chewing up things, digging, etc. But, and for me it's a 'big' but, does being content necessarily mean that they're happy? I see alot of dogs that you just know are happy little critters. They seem bubbly and their tails are wagging constantly. My dog acts like what you'd expect from a more mature dog. She's calm, doesn't jump around much and up until about 5 months ago I can't recall that she wagged her tail. Even as a little puppy she was hard to work up into a state of excitement. Maybe they're more serious souls. I saw a behavioral specialist and she told me that some breeds see life as a bowl of cherries while other are more work orientated. Mine is a German shepherd and she said that they're definitely not ones to see life as a three ring circus. Even with that said, you'd think that the dog would want to go off duty once in awhile. As for being affectionate, my dog accepts affection on her terms. It seems that if she's in the mood to be socialable, she'll let me pet and cuddle her, but if she's not she'll actually pull away from me or shift her position. Almost a snub! I guess they have the right to let people know when they're not in the mood to be mauled, but she's so obvious about it it's almost funny. As for sitting with us in the evenings, most times she'll go off into another room by herself if there's no reason for her to stay. If she knows that we're done playing for the day and that there'll be no more outings or treats etc., then she'll head off to bed. I'd love to be able to find out more about dogs body language. It would be great to be able to know more about what they're actually saying to us with their actions. I learned alot from the behavioral specialist, but I'd like to know more. I've never had a dog like Lexi before. I thought she was one of a kind until I read your post. I know she's attached to us and loves us and she's a really well behaved dog, but she's so-o-o serious (98% of the time). I've have a German shepherd before and she wasn't nearly as serious as Lexi is so I know that not all gem shepherds are like this. As for your breed of dog, every one I've had contact with was a fireball. They all want to go go go. I don't know how their owners handle all of the energy these dogs display. Maybe like you said in your first post, you're luckier than you know. I'm disappointed to see that no one has posted anything in regard to your post. Maybe we're the only two with dogs like these. Oh well, we'll just have to wait and see if there are any people with any thoughts about this subject. |
#5
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Pam,
Busy as this newsgroup is it seems we probably won't get any other comments which is a shame. But I am so glad you replied! Interestingly we both have "working dogs" so I'm sure your behavioural specialist was correct. Your comments on affection made me smile. I wrote my original post after a night of constant 'snubs' from Jake. The final straw was when he was stretched out on the sofa and I went and lay next to him, just gently laying my head against him - he got up and moved to the furtherest corner of the room!!!!! (And if I go to stroke him in his crate he moves his head away as if to say "leave me alone for goodness sake"). Like you say, so obvious it's funny - except I'd like a little bit more affection just to know he's OK.!! There are, however, occasions when HE fancies a cuddle and of course I oblige - he lays on his back and off I go to hug him which he seems to love. Thanks again for replying! If I ever glean any more information I'll e mail you. Lynda On Fri, 4 Feb 2005 08:54:54 -0500, "Pam" wrote: Lynda, No, Lynda, I'm not in the UK. I live in Canada. You're right about the dogs not chewing, barking, or displaying bad behaviors as a sign that they are content as a bored dog usually will do things to entertain themselves or attract attention to themselves and usually it's stuff like chewing up things, digging, etc. But, and for me it's a 'big' but, does being content necessarily mean that they're happy? I see alot of dogs that you just know are happy little critters. They seem bubbly and their tails are wagging constantly. My dog acts like what you'd expect from a more mature dog. She's calm, doesn't jump around much and up until about 5 months ago I can't recall that she wagged her tail. Even as a little puppy she was hard to work up into a state of excitement. Maybe they're more serious souls. I saw a behavioral specialist and she told me that some breeds see life as a bowl of cherries while other are more work orientated. Mine is a German shepherd and she said that they're definitely not ones to see life as a three ring circus. Even with that said, you'd think that the dog would want to go off duty once in awhile. As for being affectionate, my dog accepts affection on her terms. It seems that if she's in the mood to be socialable, she'll let me pet and cuddle her, but if she's not she'll actually pull away from me or shift her position. Almost a snub! I guess they have the right to let people know when they're not in the mood to be mauled, but she's so obvious about it it's almost funny. As for sitting with us in the evenings, most times she'll go off into another room by herself if there's no reason for her to stay. If she knows that we're done playing for the day and that there'll be no more outings or treats etc., then she'll head off to bed. I'd love to be able to find out more about dogs body language. It would be great to be able to know more about what they're actually saying to us with their actions. I learned alot from the behavioral specialist, but I'd like to know more. I've never had a dog like Lexi before. I thought she was one of a kind until I read your post. I know she's attached to us and loves us and she's a really well behaved dog, but she's so-o-o serious (98% of the time). I've have a German shepherd before and she wasn't nearly as serious as Lexi is so I know that not all gem shepherds are like this. As for your breed of dog, every one I've had contact with was a fireball. They all want to go go go. I don't know how their owners handle all of the energy these dogs display. Maybe like you said in your first post, you're luckier than you know. I'm disappointed to see that no one has posted anything in regard to your post. Maybe we're the only two with dogs like these. Oh well, we'll just have to wait and see if there are any people with any thoughts about this subject. |
#6
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"Pam" wrote:
I'd love to be able to find out more about dogs body language. Turid Rugaas "Calming Signals." -- Family Dog Trainer "It's A Dog's Life" http://hometown.aol.com/dfrntdrums/m...age/index.html Get Healthy, Build Your Immune System, Lose Weight http://www.re-vita.net/dfrntdrums |
#8
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Lynda wrote:
Leah, Is this a book? Yes, and she also has a video. -- Family Dog Trainer "It's A Dog's Life" http://hometown.aol.com/dfrntdrums/m...age/index.html Get Healthy, Build Your Immune System, Lose Weight http://www.re-vita.net/dfrntdrums |
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