Am I dead inside?
While Melissa and Tony are in Hawaii for a week, I'm going over to their home and taking care of their three basset hounds. They are a rowdy bunch. Barking, jumping up on me, licking my feet and legs; basically running around in chaos. When I told my roommate Mark that I didn't particular care for being pounced upon, or the tongue action, he said I was "dead inside." Apparently I'm missing the "accepting love from an animal by being slobbered on" gene. I don't mind petting a dog that sits calmly while I do, however when they get all hyper and bouncing around I kinda freak. Part of it may be my irrational fear of them, but even when I know the dog is friendly I still don't like the craziness. So, is there something wrong with me?
posted by Jason | 10:42 PM
9 Comments:
I hate it when dogs do that to me too. I just think its gross. So I don't think there is anything wrong with you....or maybe I'm missing the same gene. Who knows.. :)
Good to know I'm not alone.
eww. not alone. i'm dead inside too... eww. thats why i like cats.
-kel
I taught a class to day where a guy brought in his dog. I had to be all nice and say what a nice dog as its was licking my shoes and all that.
No, there is nothing wrong with you. The behavior you describe is not just bad manners on the dogs' part, it is kind of sad, because it shows that they don't really know how to be "dogs" and respect a pack order.
It's because of the owners, but it's a mistake of misplaced kindness. But dogs are honestly happier when they "know their place." We have 7 dogs, and I guess it's easier to observe pack dynamics when you have that many. There is an alpha, and on down to the least of them all, and they are ALL happy with their position, once it's been established.
Chances are, if you take a firm "no attention" stance to the dogs when they're acting nutty, and ONLY pay attention to them when they are calm and quiet, they'll catch on quite quickly. It'd be great if the owners would do the same--they'd have some Canine Good Citizens on their hands in short order!
Thank you for the advice. Getting my sister and her husband to NOT give the dogs attention at every second might be asking the impossible. They love to spoil them. (Melissa if you are reading this you know you do.) Do you think the "no attention" stance would work on humans? :) Though even if it did work, I doubt I could keep up a tough front for long. I'm too much of a softy, especially with family.
My sister and brother-in-law had Basset hounds for years and in my opinion there wasn't much going on between the ears, if you know what I mean. Just a lot of slobber and healthy appetites. I mean, they were sweet and all, but not my kind of dog.
Hahaha
Meant to come back the other day, to say, that "YES." The same procedures of conditioned response work on human relationships! We are "training" others how to treat us all the time, good or bad, like it or not.
The book "Don't Shoot The Dog" by Karen Pryor is a WONDERFUL training manual for ANY species, including ours. Seriously.
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