Your Dog's Public v. Private Personas

[HayleyMarie]

In the privacy of her own home Teagan likes to talk ALOT! She is very cuddly and lovey towards me. Very attentive to whats going on. She is my dog in everyway. At home its pretty easy to get her going.

In public Teagan is quite. You cant even try to provoke her to make a noise, Unless its a grown to snark at a rude dog. She is very attentive to me and ignores strangers. They are no use to her. She pretty much ignores other dogs as well.

 

[Southpaw]

I think Juno's actually pretty much the same. A little more misbehaved out in public but the older she gets, the better she gets. She's pretty good now, I even bring her with when I'm just going to the vet to pick up meds.... she's good about being calm and letting me pay, instead of trying to drag me over to everything she sees.

The only difference is sometimes she's a little shy. But people don't normally notice that because she's too busy doing her own thing, she doesn't give them the time of day anyway.

 

[Brattina88]

Anyway, this also came to mind because I was talking to a woman in one of our current classes about her PWD. I told her that I liked her dog and she seemed to have a really fun personality. Turns out she's a total brat in the home -- lots of barking and attention seeking and general mischief making. (These are pretty savvy dog owners, but of course you never know why dogs act a certain way.) I was surprised, because that was not my impression of her at all. She's definitely more chill in class than B!

Ha! This is Bailey!
Bailey is being a huge PITA at home, very barky and attention seeking behaviors. Yapping, nipping, "herding", eating non-food items, etc etc. BUT at class, at the pet stores, at the park, in the car, etc etc she is REALLY well behaved, pretty chill and fairly well adjusted. The trainer always tells me she's the "perfect sheltie" not nuerotic or too small or too yappy. the other owners often threaten to take her home, and I threaten to let them :rofl1:

To be honest, it's very frustrating. I know I should be happy that she's so well behaved in public, but to be honest, its very frustrating! That and my Dad gets sooo aggravated with her behavior, and he doesn't see the Bailey I know and love I wish that the good Bailey I know would be the good Bailey at home, too lol

Meg is the same creature at home as in public. She adores people in a quiet, respectful way for the most part - she's far more likely to sit on your foot, back to you, and gaze up adoringly into your eyes than to jump on you. People who meet her tend to fall madly in love with her, and it is just the same with me!

This is Maddie. Maddie can also be a total ham, offer a paw, roll over on her back for a belly rub, lean her ears into your hand... She's a good girl. But she's loyal, she'll go visit people, she's very social or like "bubbly" in that way - all they have to do is put their hands down and act like they want to pet her, but she comes back to me and stays by me after that. I mean, if they call to her or motion to her she'll head over for attention, but her "spot" is by my side
I get comments about how loyal or attached to me she is, how close they can tell we are, what a good girl she is, how she's not like "most cockers" etc. And also that I talk to her like she's "human" and she listens and responds to me like she's "human"

 

[PlottMom]

Liz is pretty much the same everywhere... quick to forget her manners she's wiggly and friendly (but doesn't jump anymore, yayyy...) and likes everyone, but absolutely has to know where I am or she's uncomfortable and whiny.

Daisy... well, most people probably think she's boring and shy and aloof in public she acts like she's afraid of pretty much everything. At home, she's always in my lap, or plowing into my face with hers, instigating play with Liz and just generally being made of love & happiness.

Rage is actually happy, solid, well-behaved in public... but if a man comes to my door, she FREAKS. She's mostly all bark and no bite, but she lunged at my roomie's boyfriend the other day She's a work in progress...

Eer is aloof and "uncaring" basically in public. She's sweet, goofy & loving at home.

 

[StillandSilent]

Gambit is a freak out in public. Literally, that creepy, bug eyed swerving around on the leash trying to escape dog? Yep, thats him. He's not aggressive, and I suppose I should be thankful that he no longer shuts down entirely, but I know that no one understands how I can love him so much when he acts like that. At home he's funny and quirky and playful and just perfect.

Argon is actually more affectionate out in public. He flirts with strangers and wags his tail and generally acts like a good boy. At home he's kind of 'eh' about most people, including me.