What behaviors do you find acceptable?

[*blackrose]

I took Abrams to work with me this morning so I could give him a bath (and on the off chance my car ran off the road and we were stranded, I could cuddle with him for warmth LOL). To make a very long story short, my coworker and I got into a discussion regarding the behavior and training (or lack there of) of a current boarding dog. In the course of the conversation, my coworker said, "Kind of like Abrams. He'll be a good dog, he just needs to calm down a bit." He said this in reference to the fact that Abrams likes to jump and chew on you when you pay him any kind of attention.

And then later, when I got him out of the kennels and was walking him over to the vet side, he sensed that one of the vets was in the office and he WOOFED his alert bark until we got around the corner (maybe all of two seconds) and he saw who it was. Then he was Mr. Friendly Pants.

I actually find neither one of those behaviors bad. Abrams jumping is annoying at times, but 90% of the time I don't mind it because he is typically very gentle when he jumps up and doesn't put any weight behind it at all. And when he chews on you, he doesn't put any significant pressure that I find bothersome. In fact, we play bitey-face and wrestle quite often.

I also have no issue with him alert barking when I'm alone (or as far as he knew I was - I think there was only the vet and one other person in the entire building at the time) in a building and he hears something coming from an area he's never seen a person in before. He can make as much noise as he wants as long as he shuts up when I tell him to and is friendly when he realizes there is no threat.

So while he may seem like an untrained loud mouthed dog to a lot of people...I find him pretty good. He is polite to other animals, he's friendly to strangers, he's quiet in his kennel and crate, he is housebroken, he responds to commands, he walks well on a leash, he's reliable off leash (to an extent), he lets him trim his nails, give him a bath, clean his ears, and blow dry him with little to no dramatics, he isn't noise sensitive, let's you do anything you want to him, he rides amazingly well in the car...THOSE are all things I care about. Not the fact that he jumps and chews and alert barks.
I am trying to make his jumping and chewing by invitation only and I'm also trying to tone down his alert barking...but it isn't high on my priority list.

So. What behaviors do you accept from your dog that others may deem rude, or "unruly"?

ETA: And do you have different "rules" for different dogs? Cynder, for example, is allowed to be extremely rude and jump into strangers' laps, push her head under your hand for petting, and jump up for pets. Abrams is not. But she is small and cute, so people don't mind it when she does, but get put off when Abrams tries the same thing. LOL

 

[Doberluv]

My Chi, Chulita has always barked anyplace we go if an "intruder" comes in. Like at the vet's, they have a door bell when their door opens. Yap, yap, yap....warn everyone of impending danger. lol. She stops in a few barks and wags....is very friendly. But she considers it her duty to protect the staff. So, if it annoys anyone, well, then they just don't like dogs because dogs have behavior that is "dog" and well...that's just the way it is.

I don't mind if my little Poodles that weigh about 3 and 4 lbs put their feet up on my legs. I guess eventually, I'll curtail it so they don't bother people who may have nylons on or something. But it doesn't much bother me. They're so weightless and only do it a couple of times....at a time. I guess if their feet were muddy, I might not like that. Yep, might just have to discourage that one. lol.

Other behaviors they might do that someone else might not like, but I don't mind might be standing around while I fix food, watching me intently, getting under foot...that sort of thing. I like the company when I'm cooking and I enjoy giving them little tid bits of things.

I don't mind if they bring me a toy and ask me to play. Some people think that they shouldn't let their dogs "dictate" to them when to give them attention. But I don't mind...just like I wouldn't mind a friend calling me up and asking if we can go shoot some pool. I don't mind if they tell me it's dinner time. That way I don't have to watch the clock. Some people might think their dogs are about to stage a palace coupe if they follow their instructions. I don't mind and never had a dog ruin my life on account of stuff like that. So....that's it in a nutshell. (well, a big nut shell)

 

[Taqroy]

Um, Abrams sounds better mannered than all three of my dogs. Lol.

What behaviors do you accept from your dog that others may deem rude, or "unruly"?

Murphy and Tipper jump on people. I actually let Tipper jump on me all the time because she's so gentle, but I do discourage her from doing it to other people when she first meets them (she's not as gentle when she's excited). Murphy is discouraged from it all the time because he's heavy and he's the perfect height for a crotch shot on guys.

Mu sticks her nose in people's ears. :lol-sign: She also barks at people she finds scary (mainly bearded guys). It's pretty rare for her to do either one these days so when they pop up I just laugh.

All three of them are terrible beggars. And they mostly suck at LLW. Other than that stuff though, I think they're fairly well behaved. Or maybe I just don't notice anything anymore.

 

[casey82]

You know... I've been wondering what rules I have for Hunter. He's increadibly well trained. He's allowed on all the furniture including now apparently the kitchen table chairs. We started that when perching was the trick of the week. Thanks Chaz. :rofl1: Anyway.... He jumps. he's 19 pounds. I don't tell him off for it because I would like to do frisbee with him and he needs to jump to do it. I guess that's it. He alert barks too until I tell him to be quiet. Then he calms down. He's very curious and nosey. While he won't jump on the kitchen table at home I've herd of him doing it other places and he will stand on his back legs or jump on a chair to see what's up there. I don't really consider that bad but I could see other people considering that rude.

 

[GipsyQueen]

We don't like Zora jumping on people, since many people (esp. none dog people) regard this as a rude behaviour. I and the rest of my family do not mind her jumping, since it's more of a "yaaayyy I missed you! I'm never letting go." She actually closes her front legs around you so you can't shake her off.
She can be pretty rude when she want's attention (she'll chew on you and such.)

I welcome her alert barking, because I know she's protecting me or at least trying to. Though, since she is still young, she can't read interactions like kiding around just yet. For example: SO and I were joking around while taking her for a walk. He playfully pushed me. Zora noticed, and watched carefully. I pushed him back. That was aparently a cue for her, that this was not an OK situation and caused her to over react. She barked at SO and started jumping up on him and holding his arm. While this would be an OK behaviour in the correct situation, its not acceptable in this kind of situation. Though I guess she still needs to understand that there is diffence.

She's also not allowed to bark all.the.time. She tends to get caught up in barking.. this is not acceptable.

 

[*blackrose]

Ooooh, that's another one. I don't care how close Abrams is to me when I'm eating as long as he isn't actively trying to steal food. I don't have a table, I just eat on the couch, so there have been a few times he's asleep in my lap and my plate is right by his face. He ignores the food, so I ignore him. If he acts like wants the food, he gets booted off.
Same when I'm cooking. Unless he is in the way, I really don't mind that he's standing by me when I cook. He does, however, know "get!" And that means get your booty out of the kitchen right this minute.

When I visit my family he has to be on a leash and in a stay during mealtimes, else he is too nosey. Not everyone appreciates the dogs nose right by their plate, even if he is just sniffing and not touching. LOL

 

[krissy]

I find a lot of behaviours unacceptable, lol.

My dogs are not allowed to jump on me or anyone else unless invited or if we are playing together. I don't appreciate other people's dogs jumping up on me, and my in-laws really hate that kind of behavior so it is important to me that my dogs don't do it so that my in-laws continue to love them and invite them to come over. They are not allowed to mouth unless we are in heated play and if I feel any sort of pinch the game is over.

Fortunately my dogs are very quiet, but I do not appreciate barking in the house. Kili will sometimes bark at Summit if he has something (a chewy or a toy) or if he is ignoring her and she wants to play. It bothers me that she's bothering him so she gets a time out any time she does that.

I HATE HATE HATE a dog that is dramatic or uncooperative about medical treatment. Kili has been an idiot in this department recently and it irks me to no end. I work on restraint with her at home all the time and she's perfect, but as soon as someone goes to touch her foot she gets squirrely. If I could both restrain AND do the procedure (take blood, put in a catheter, etc.) it would be totally fine. But I can't, and then she is a total drama queen and pisses me off. Summit will let me suture him awake with no pain control. Love him.

 

[Elrohwen]

I'm fairly accepting of naughty behavior I think, though it does drive me crazy occasionally.

I don't mind jumping up as long as it's gentle. I wish Watson didn't jump on strangers as much, but he is getting better at it while still jumping all over me and my husband.

I don't mind mouthing, again if it's gentle. For a while he would get over the top and bite too hard, but he's much better now and will stop if asked.

Barking does really bother me. Part of that is that Watson can't control the volume of his voice, and his excited barks are super high pitched. I hate those barks so we actively work on that.

Stealing things bothers me when I'm busy, but otherwise it's not so bad. Watson likes to steal my chapstick stuff off of the table (if I forget to put it away) and carry it around. He doesn't chew it, just brings it to me so I'll pay attention to him. The other day he did this while my husband and I were trying to install a light fixture and I was pretty annoyed. :lol-sign:

He's just not one of those naturally polite dogs, but he gets better with age.

 

[Slick]

I treat a lot of "bad" behaviors as "Don't do this, unless a human initiates and then its ok" when teaching Leo.

I teach Leo not to jump up on people when meeting them, and also do not want him to jump up on me randomly. But occasionally, I will ask for it by kneeling down to him or patting my thighs.

Similarly, I don't want Leo initiating bitey hand (because I don't want him to scare a stranger with it), but we sometimes play if I initiate.

It probably makes it more confusing for him, but I think he understands it well enough.

 

[frostfell]

i allow begging for food and sniffing at my plate, and i feed them from my fork if i feel like it, and barking at strangers. i think thats about it. im pretty tyrant-y otherwise i absolutely dont allow mouthing biting jumping or roughhousing or any of the other typical bad dog behaviors

 

[Linds]

I was thinking about this. I'm honest enough with myself to admit I am very very bad at teaching house manners....or manners in general. My dogs jump up on people, Traveler has been known to land on people's backs *cough* Shai *cough*, rebound off of them when excited, they bark, they run around like idiots inside, pull on the leash, and did I mention bark?

They really aren't the kind of dogs not dog people are gonna want over to their house. And that's totally my fault because I'm perfectly ok with them being like this at mine so I don't enforce things. Doesn't help no one else in my house cooperates with anything I say.

So, apparently I mind very few things. That all being said I think my biggest thing is all that is ok except if I tell you to knock it off.

• Bark? Go for it! But as soon as I say 'enough' you stop.
  
• Jumping all over me? I love you guys too! But if I say 'sit' or 'off' that needs to happen.
  
• Pulling when walking? Go for it! But when I say 'with me' then you stop.
  
• Shove through a inside doorway in front of me? Not worth the effort to care! But if I give the signal for you guys to hang back and wait it better happen.

So I guess my dogs have default "bad" behaviors with pretty decent commands to stop them.

That all being said, I am really firm about not alert barking unless there is a REAL reason for it. And you better stop when I say. It's funny, alert barking gets under my skin like crazy even when it's justified but stupid "I'M SO EXCITED" barking just makes me laugh.

That isn't to say I don't have my moments of "WHY DON'T YOU GUYS EVER JUST BE GOOD!!!" And resolve to work on all these house manners. That normally lasts five seconds or until I am making them jump on me and bark.

 

[Oko]

I'm pretty lenient. But no food stealing. And I hate barking with a passion. Feist has learned this. There are definitely different rules. Wesley steals food and counter surfs and barks and barks, alert barks, barks to hear himself bark, etc. he gets away with it because he's Wesley, the needle nosed sandwich stealer. Likewise, Wesley is not allowed to jump on people. Feist I would prefer not to, and we are working on it. Strangers just think she's adorable and pick her up and kiss her when she does it. I don't mind her jumping on me, and I hope to eventually teach her that she can jump on me and that's it. We will see. In general, she gets away with murder and I will need to start drawing the line. She's stopped barking at the bunnies, so there is that.

 

[*blackrose]

It's funny, alert barking gets under my skin like crazy even when it's justified but stupid "I'M SO EXCITED" barking just makes me laugh.

See, I'm the exact opposite. I don't mind alert barking if they have a reason to and stop when I tell them to. But I cannot stand when dogs bark because they're excited, or bored, or annoyed, or because they feel like it. Drives me BATTY. LOL Abrams barks when he is playing with Cynder sometimes and I want to kill him when he does it.

 

[Elrohwen]

See, I'm the exact opposite. I don't mind alert barking if they have a reason to and stop when I tell them to. But I cannot stand when dogs bark because they're excited, or bored, or annoyed, or because they feel like it. Drives me BATTY. LOL Abrams barks when he is playing with Cynder sometimes and I want to kill him when he does it.

Agreed!! Probably because Watson's alert bark is nice and low and slow, while his excited bark is high pitched and makes my brain hurt. I just can't stand that frantic "I'm so excited!" bark.

 

[Linds]

I think it comes from Kaylee being a horrible alert barker. Everything set her off and I came to absolutely hate that sounds sooo much.

Traveler has been starting to alert bark more since Kaylee's been gone. I think before the dogs waited for her bark and then they would check it out to see if it was anything. Now though Traveler is alert barking at things that never set him off before. And his alert bark sounds like a chicken on helium. Luckily he's been backing off of it.

 

[Red.Apricot]

Elsie steals stuff and I think it's funny. She opens bags, takes treat pouches off people's hips, sticks her face into containers...

At home I do nothing to stop it. In public I try not to let her fuss with other people's stuff, but occasionally it happens and then I have to apologize.

 

[Laurelin]

My dogs are hooligans I admit it. On the furniture. They both bark. A lot. Mia demand barks. They both do laps around the house when excited. Mia screeches. Mia nibbles in affection. They both walk across tables, wtf.

My only requirements are walking really. On leash they need to be good. Off leash they need to listen and recall. Tey are great at both of those.

Crate barking is probably the worst. We're working on it.

 

[Elrohwen]

And his alert bark sounds like a chicken on helium. Luckily he's been backing off of it.

Yeah, that would drive me nuts. I guess it's the pitch and frequency of the bark that gets me, whatever the purpose. Watson's alert bark is deep and sounds like, "Woof! ....... Woof! ..... Woof!" His excited bark is like shrieking and makes me want to strangle him.

I remember hating when our schnauzers alert barked because is was the typical small dog barkbarkbarkbarkbark.

 

[teacuptiger]

I'm fine with Roxie:

Licking me. It's one of the ways she deals with stress/excitement, she gets licky.

Jumping up on me when invited (one of her tricks is "branch", where I put my arm out, she puts he front paws on my arm. She will walk around on her hind legs with her paws on my arm, it's cute)

Barking- especially alert barking. I need her to bark when there's something I should be aware of. If something goes bump and she doesn't bark, it's not something I should be concerned with... etc. She also barks on command.

I can have her laying right on top of me while I'm eating, so I don't really care about that. She knows better than to be around the table when we have a sit-down meal, though. Plenty of things will be dropped for her to come get, no need for her to be RIGHT THERE.

Roxie is allowed in the kitchen most times while cooking, mainly for the fact that my mom gives her the "scraps" or "fall outs" that either aren't fit for the meal, but dog safe, or what falls on the floor by accident. She will go lay down on command though, if we're cooking something with oil (so she doesn't get hurt) or whatever.



Oh... and I let my dog sit on me if I sit on the floor. She uses me as a chair, lol. A lot of people think she's being "dominant" over me, and has no respect for me... lol. I don't believe in any of that crap. She just needs to be near me. Her respect for me is pretty darn obvious, when she knows she can't get away with certain things when I'm around (like attention barking), but will do them when I'm gone and my parents are home.

Or when I only need to give her a command once, but anyone else can tell her to sit a thousand times (training my family has been... ineffective... they're stuck on repeating things instead of enforcing the command) and she won't until I get sick of hearing "sit, sit... sit... SIT! Roxie, sit! Okay, siiiiiiiiit, Roxie. Sit." and tell her to sit.

And I have no issue with her only listening to commands from me. She may be a people slut, but that's all it is when it comes to other people.

The only thing she does that I really HATE is when she whacks me in the legs/face (if I'm sitting down) with her tail. That thing is a weapon. I've never known a dog with such a muscular tail. It hurts. And it sounds like it hurts when she smacks it against other things like walls....

 

[Snark]

I don't mind alert barking, I want to know if someone or thing is on the property or coming down the driveway. I can't stand what starts as an alert bark that morphs into a broken record - Murph and Mick are pretty bad about it - 'I think there's a deer/coyote/UFO a half mile away' = bark/bark/bark...bark/bark/bark...bark/bark/bark... and that gets an 'Enough already!!'
Riley will alert bark at Mom's house or on vacation, too, and that doesn't bother anyone in the family. He has a pretty deep voice and if it makes some stranger at the door step back, great!
Murph is the only one who will jump up on me uninvited and it's a really rare occasion. None of my dogs will jump on strangers and Riley is generally very quiet and well-mannered out in public. All of my dogs tend to be suspicious of strangers, which is fine with me, I'd rather have them stay out of reach of people.