BS: A Question for Dog Behavior Experts

Subject: RE: BS: A Question for Dog Behavior Experts
From: Kaleea
Date: 07 Feb 06 - 12:24 AM

Pit Bulls? I've seen big Pit Bulls who had toddlers climbing all over them, pulling their ears, poking where they shouldn't, & the doggies seemed to love the attention. The doggies had daddies who were well trained as doggie daddies--they knew the value of training the doggies well, and the children as they grew older, too.
I've also known people who had no understanding of the need for dog training-where the human is trained to "train" the dog. Their dogs, no matter what the breeds, are always ill mannered.

Subject: RE: BS: A Question for Dog Behavior Experts
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 06 Feb 06 - 08:37 PM

Dominant female wolves will lift their leg to urine mark. Not as high as males do, so sometimes it doesn't get noticed, but it happens.

~ Becky in Tucson

Subject: RE: BS: A Question for Dog Behavior Experts
From: GUEST
Date: 06 Feb 06 - 08:23 PM

Stilly - From everthing I've heard pitbulls can be very dangerous dogs { I'm not trying to make any value judgements at all } I'm guessing you'll disagree. What are your thoughts on pitbulls since you are an owner of one ?

Subject: RE: BS: A Question for Dog Behavior Experts
From: Scoville
Date: 06 Feb 06 - 08:16 PM

My long-spayed female dog will do this occasionally if she really thinks she's losing. She's done worse things to get the upper hand (she doesn't like other dogs unless she can boss them around).

She's about 35 pounds and retirement-age (12 years old now) but spry. A few years ago we had a young, hyperactive, rescue dog that was probably some combination of Cardigan, blue heeler, and pit bull--short but beefy and with huge mule ears (weighed about 50 pounds when he was healthy again). She played him like a fiddle. He almost literally couldn't make a move unless she let him. One day, though, he got too pushy and she deliberately peed in his food bowl to get even.

We call her our "white trash dog"--she's white and she has absolutely no class.



Our first dog humped a lot when you tried to play with him, but he was a male (neutered) with a serious alpha complex so that wasn't surprising.

Subject: RE: BS: A Question for Dog Behavior Experts
From: Sorcha
Date: 06 Feb 06 - 02:21 PM

Bet they are smart enough to know when the batteries aren't in.

Subject: RE: BS: A Question for Dog Behavior Experts
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Feb 06 - 01:01 PM

Right now we're going through a period of adjustment as my dogs get used to an "invisible fence," a wire transmitter than runs around the circumference of the yard. The "volume" is set at the level to keep them a certain distance to keep them away from the fences and they wear collars that have a tiny battery pack receiver that delivers a zap if they get too close. They had a lot of training leading up to the setting the collars in the charged mode (they use a watch battery, so it isn't like an electric fence, but they don't like it). They've been great about staying where they're supposed to, until this weekend. The neighbors are dog-sitting a little Boston terrier who really torques my two, and they forced past the invisible boundary and pressed themselves against the fence to snap at that little dog, regardless of the collar zapping them. The trainer is coming today to adjust the collar settings and see if we need to do more training.

It happened yesterday and I don't want the dogs continuing to ignore the collar today since that dog is still there, so I'm not letting them get near that fence this morning. For a while one was in the garage and one in the kennel. I let them out every hour or so, they take a little run in the yard and take care of business. We went through this for weeks as they first were introduced to the system and I had to walk them on leash near the fence to teach them to avoid it. Depending on who was couped up with or without the other, they go through this ritualized (and very fast) racing around the yard, knocking each other over, rolling, leg-and-ear-and-collar-biting (not drawing blood), growling, snapping, barking, and humping. Under normal behavior when they aren't confined they race around and do the rest but without the humping. If, however, I have confined them even for a little while, upon release, they have to sort through who was in the dominant kennel or garage. If they are closed together in the kennel they don't do that much, but they sit and bark and that isn't really great to listen to.

I have a catahoula and a pitbull, about evenly sized height-wise though the pit outweighs the other by 15 - 20 pounds. That doesn't seem to matter, I see the catahoula rolling the pit as often as I see the reverse.

They're pretty interesting to watch, but when they start racing, look out. They misjudged this morning and have given rise to a silver-dollar sized bruise on my shin where one bony dog smacked into me on one pass. Ouch!

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: A Question for Dog Behavior Experts
From: wysiwyg
Date: 06 Feb 06 - 10:48 AM

They'd probably just hump each other, and I do NOT need Ruby to learn marking!

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: A Question for Dog Behavior Experts
From: Janie
Date: 06 Feb 06 - 10:46 AM

Hmmmm....I wonder if the testosterone bit explains why our spayed female hikes her leg and marks territory?

Maybe Ruby and Amy should meet? Might be a rather fearsome duo.

Janie

Subject: RE: BS: A Question for Dog Behavior Experts
From: Bill D
Date: 06 Feb 06 - 10:26 AM

answers (google..."mounting behavior + dominance")

Subject: RE: BS: A Question for Dog Behavior Experts
From: wysiwyg
Date: 06 Feb 06 - 10:20 AM

SRS, I'm not disturbed by it at all; I just want to understand it.

There has been a wee longrunning battle over sleeping-place rights, with no winner but lots of escalating noise. Maybe they're working it out in play instead of taking it to the level of biting. If so, IMO Faulkner started it-- the deflection into play. She never did this until he started doing it recently. He will also go find and brandish a toy to brag over and play tug of war, with her, when the play-snapping in the wrestling gets out of hand. He's not the smartest dog I ever had, but he has that pack-order-maintaining thing nailed in many ways, more than any other dog I've had.

He doesn't mind the humping, BTW, nor insist on her letting him return the favor-- with him, it's all good. His attitude seems to be, "More fun! Let's play!"

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: A Question for Dog Behavior Experts
From: MMario
Date: 06 Feb 06 - 10:13 AM

They'd say it with flowers - but can't get credit.

Subject: RE: BS: A Question for Dog Behavior Experts
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Feb 06 - 10:12 AM

Consider the options: they could bite each other, or pee on each other. Don't you think this is much easier on them overall?

Subject: RE: BS: A Question for Dog Behavior Experts
From: wysiwyg
Date: 06 Feb 06 - 10:11 AM

(hi Bill)

See the RSVP thread yet? :~)

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: A Question for Dog Behavior Experts
From: Bill D
Date: 06 Feb 06 - 10:10 AM

because dog's brains have little teeny programs that are 'almost' as clever as your computer, and they don't always do what makes sense. They are 'turned on' by some random click and head down a silly path, following some autonomic command sequence until another command or distraction interrupts it. Ok? ;>)

Can I explain anything else of significance today? Maybe a treatise on the social dynamics of church congregations?

(hi,Susan)

Subject: RE: BS: A Question for Dog Behavior Experts
From: wysiwyg
Date: 06 Feb 06 - 10:09 AM

OK.... but why are they saying it with humping?

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: A Question for Dog Behavior Experts
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Feb 06 - 10:08 AM

They're trying to show who is the dominant dog. The one doing the humping is saying "I'm in charge here."

Subject: RE: BS: A Question for Dog Behavior Experts
From: wysiwyg
Date: 06 Feb 06 - 09:47 AM

:~) I'll have to ask her.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: A Question for Dog Behavior Experts
From: Janie
Date: 06 Feb 06 - 09:45 AM

I dunno. Is she transgender?

Janie

Subject: BS: A Question for Dog Behavior Experts
From: wysiwyg
Date: 06 Feb 06 - 09:39 AM

Why is Ruby humping Faulkner??? (Well, he's humping her, too, but even tho he's neutered I can sort of understand that one.) It happens when they play, and even after she gets knocked off she sometimes keeps making the motion in the air until her brain catches up with the fact that he's not under her any longer.

~S~