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Dog imprinted on me



 
 
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  #1  
Old August 11th 05, 03:47 AM
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Default Dog imprinted on me

Hey,

My husband and I just brought home a new dog (poodle) the dog is an
adult (1.5 years) and within 2 days of being home with us he has
"imprinted" on me. The dog is still intact -- we'll be getting him
fixed next week and in the mean time I am trying to limit my contact
with the dog and have my husband take up the emotional slack.

Is there anything else I can do?

Thanks for your help!

  #4  
Old August 12th 05, 02:13 AM
Janet Puistonen
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Tee wrote:
"Janet Puistonen" wrote in message
news:07LKe.6041$lK2.5258@trndny01...
wrote:
Hey,

My husband and I just brought home a new dog (poodle) the dog is an
adult (1.5 years) and within 2 days of being home with us he has
"imprinted" on me. The dog is still intact -- we'll be getting him
fixed next week and in the mean time I am trying to limit my contact
with the dog and have my husband take up the emotional slack.

Is there anything else I can do?

Thanks for your help!


Imprinted on you? I've never heard people use this term with dogs,
but hey, live and learn. Are you saying that the dog has bonded to
you? If so, be glad. If you are saying that the dog seems to be more
attached to you than to your husband, well, dogs commonly pick out
one person in a household to be "theirs." Your husband can simply
woo him, and all should be well.

You seem to be linking this imprinting with his being intact: are you
saying that the dog is following you around the house trying to hump
your leg? That would definitely be something you wanted to call an
immediate halt to.

Can you elaborate on the dog's behavior?


I took the OP's meaning to mean the dog peed on her.


Really? Well that would certainly fit in with her concern about his
neutering.

I thought she was talking about that thing that happens with some kinds of
birds: that they "imprint" on the first person they see after hatching.
Which normally is their mother, but can be a human (as in that movie in
which the girl leads her flock on migration in a super-light airplane, the
name of which I cannot recall).

Well, we can hope that the OP will give us more details.


  #5  
Old August 12th 05, 08:14 PM
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Default

Sorry for the confusion and not checking back -- when I saw PuppyDoc's
response I thought better of posting.

Anywho. I meant that he imprinted on me the way a bird imprints on the
first thing he/she sees. The dog follows me everywhere and is
distraught when I am not around.

It seems like an early stage of separation anxiety (which seems odd
because we only got the dog on Monday), and I do not want to encourage
it. Sure it's nice that the dog seems like me, but I think encouraging
this kind of obsessive behavior is just going to lead to problems down
the road.

I've taken to not giving the dog the attention he craves from me (which
seems mean, but it appears to be working). If he is excited when I
enter the room I don't pay any attention to him. I let my husband feed
the dog and brush him (he likes to be brushed).

It seems to be working a little. I can leave him (the dog not the
husband) for small stretches and he doesn't have a melt down. Is
there anything else I can do? We're working on crate training and I
have a baby gate that I use to confine him to a single room where he
can see me but not get to me so he gets use to the idea of not being at
my side all the time.

  #6  
Old August 12th 05, 09:26 PM
Janet B
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On 12 Aug 2005 12:14:29 -0700, , clicked their heels
and said:

Anywho. I meant that he imprinted on me the way a bird imprints on the
first thing he/she sees. The dog follows me everywhere and is
distraught when I am not around.


OK - you just adopted him. He wants to make sure you aren't leaving
him. Not unusual and not harmful. Describe "distraught".

It seems like an early stage of separation anxiety (which seems odd
because we only got the dog on Monday), and I do not want to encourage
it. Sure it's nice that the dog seems like me, but I think encouraging
this kind of obsessive behavior is just going to lead to problems down
the road.


I don't think you need to encourage obsessive behavior or discourage
him following you. All of my pets, but particularly the dogs, are
wherever I am. They do not have SA. My female dog can't stand my
husband and I being in different parts of the home, especially one
outside, one in. She wants to go back and forth. We limit that but
she is perfectly fine left alone as well. Wanting to be with their
people doesn't necessarily make a dog obsessed.

I've taken to not giving the dog the attention he craves from me (which
seems mean, but it appears to be working). If he is excited when I
enter the room I don't pay any attention to him. I let my husband feed
the dog and brush him (he likes to be brushed).


Fair enough, but DO let him BE with you. He;s NEW!

It seems to be working a little. I can leave him (the dog not the
husband) for small stretches and he doesn't have a melt down. Is
there anything else I can do?


Stop stressing so much - he'll pick up on it. Just live with him.

We're working on crate training and I
have a baby gate that I use to confine him to a single room where he
can see me but not get to me so he gets use to the idea of not being at
my side all the time.


To each their own. I use separation when needed (crate at classes and
such) and if I'm doing something dangerous or messy (tails and paint
don't mix!), but otherwise, I don't shut my dogs off from me.
Companionship is why we have them after all.

RELAX and spend time just existing with him instead of doting, and
he'll be fine.

--
Janet B
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/bestfr...bedience/album
  #7  
Old August 13th 05, 12:58 AM
MauiJNP
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wrote in message
oups.com...
Sorry for the confusion and not checking back -- when I saw PuppyDoc's
response I thought better of posting.

Anywho. I meant that he imprinted on me the way a bird imprints on the
first thing he/she sees. The dog follows me everywhere and is
distraught when I am not around.

It seems like an early stage of separation anxiety (which seems odd
because we only got the dog on Monday), and I do not want to encourage
it. Sure it's nice that the dog seems like me, but I think encouraging
this kind of obsessive behavior is just going to lead to problems down
the road.

I've taken to not giving the dog the attention he craves from me (which
seems mean, but it appears to be working). If he is excited when I
enter the room I don't pay any attention to him. I let my husband feed
the dog and brush him (he likes to be brushed).

It seems to be working a little. I can leave him (the dog not the
husband) for small stretches and he doesn't have a melt down. Is
there anything else I can do? We're working on crate training and I
have a baby gate that I use to confine him to a single room where he
can see me but not get to me so he gets use to the idea of not being at
my side all the time.


I remember in the beginning when Maui wouldn't leave my side. It was great.
I loved it and grew to miss him a step beside me when he started to get
brave and explore a little bit. Now, he still is a step behind me for the
most part (like 85% of the time) but there are other times when he'd rather
lay out in the sun or other such things. I never had to worry about SA
either. Anyway, congrats on the dog and enjoy him!


  #8  
Old August 13th 05, 04:49 AM
Paula
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On 12 Aug 2005 12:14:29 -0700, wrote:

Sorry for the confusion and not checking back -- when I saw PuppyDoc's
response I thought better of posting.

Anywho. I meant that he imprinted on me the way a bird imprints on the
first thing he/she sees. The dog follows me everywhere and is
distraught when I am not around.

It seems like an early stage of separation anxiety (which seems odd
because we only got the dog on Monday), and I do not want to encourage
it. Sure it's nice that the dog seems like me, but I think encouraging
this kind of obsessive behavior is just going to lead to problems down
the road.


It depends. While it is a good idea to help the dog to bond to
others as well and to be more comfortable on its own, taking it too
fast can make the separation anxiety worse in the long run instead of
better. What the dog is saying to you is that it is afraid of being
alone and without all the good things that you have brought into its
life. Showing the dog over time that the good things you bring into
its life show up even if you are not there, which is what you are
doing, in essence, when you have your husband feed and brush the dog,
is a good thing, especially when done over time. Just be careful of
doing anything that would give the dog to have cause to think, "See!
I knew bad things would happen if I let that lady out of my sight!"

We have a German Shepherd here who we took in at the age of 3 who
would whine whenever I was not in the same room with her. After a few
days of being here and having us leave for short periods and then
return, she was fine, however, and even did fine when we went on
vacation for a week without her. I think being in the shelter might
have shaken her up a bit and she was afraid that if she lost sight of
us, she'd be in a bad situation again. She just needed to be
reassured over time that we weren't going anywhere permanently when we
left and she was A-OK. Now she not only doesn't whine, but often
chooses to be in a different room from me (the tiled rooms are the
coolest to lay in when it's hot, for example) and sees us to the door
when we go out without even trying to get out the door herself.
Hopefully, your dog has only a temporary situational anxiety as well.
If not, as much calm and reassurance as you can provide for her will
still help her to deal with any anxieties that she has.

--
Paula
"Anyway, other people are weird, but sometimes they have candy, so it's best to try to get along with them." Joe Bay
 




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