Three Dog Behaviour Mistakes They Made Straight Away
- Mar 23, 2017
- 2 min read
My new owners are not dog behaviour experts, let us get that one out there straight away. Although they were fairly experienced dog owners and comfortable with coping with times of unease when introducing a new pet to the family, they had no idea when it came to little old me!
They had previously owned dogs such as labs and border collies both of which are a fairly demanding breed of dog. They had clearly never owned a little dog so the learning curve for them was very steep from the off. Here are three mistakes they made straight away:
1. Little dogs are not little in our eyes. To us a dog is a dog, and stature is no measure of status in the eyes of any little dog. We are more than comfortable in expressing our likes or dislikes to animals ten times our size. For example, here is me perfectly happy walking with a huge dog. Here, we are equals. Sure, my new friend here might be able to run faster than me, but can he turn around in one jump?
2. As a little dog, it is important that you understand, we don't see the floor as our only domain. Bigger dogs may be too clumsy or polite to be jumping up and down on the furniture, but us Tzu's see the world in three dimensions, not just two! For us it is rude to be told to get down, and that had to be challenged straight away. "No! You get down" I would growl. And when a hand came to force the issue, it would be met with the unmistakable bite of the undershot shih tzu jaw. NO! swiftly became OW! Also, can I point out that it is called a laptop, so therefore, its for me to sit on.
3. We most definitely are dogs, not toys, not teddy bears, not anything but dogs! We are not greedy animals, if you offer us a treat and we don't want it right now, we will not impolitely refuse your generosity, unless of course it is not for us. No, if we think we may like that treat, but a bit later on, we will carefully store the treat somewhere safe. What I mean is, we will bury it. In the garden or in the house, it's all the same to us. So when you turn your pillow over in the middle of the night, seeking out the cool side, don't be so dramatic when your face meets that lamb bone you gave me earlier, or pizza crust, or chicken foot. Yes, I am definitely a dog! 100%
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