I have been reading about different dog breeds and their personality characteristics and it is not unusual for the description to contain something like “This breed is known for their intense loyalty.” Since it is such a common descriptor with dogs, help me understand what exactly is meant by dog loyalty. If you have examples of a dog’s disloyalty, or how a dog is more loyal compared to other animals, that would be great too!
I would say a dog that loves you unconditionally. Some members of certain dog breeds can take you or leave you, others, more often than not have the trait to cling to you.
I grew up with two chow chows. They liked me and probably would tear up anyone who bothered me, but would be just as satisfied without me, I’d think. Chows are pretty independent.
I’ve had a German shepherd for almost 7 years now and he is hyperaware of where I am and what I’m doing at all times. He always has an eye on me. If three other people with a bucket of tennis balls and six sides of beef showed up and I started walking away, I’m pretty sure, albeit somewhat reluctantly, he’d follow me. He really is like my shadow and I hear this from a lot of other GSD owners.
I’ve always understood it in terms of how strongly a particular breed of dog is likely to bond with the humans it lives with, which can come into play when there’s a change in a dog’s owners.
I’ve heard, purely anecdotally, that shih tzu are very easy to transfer from one family to another - that they’re very agreeable little dogs that are comfortable moving about, provided they get properly fed and groomed. So that might be interpreted as ranking low on the “loyalty” scale (although I’m a bit sceptical of using that concept to describe a dog’s behavour). Similarly, we have a basenji, a breed which is often compared to cats. She’s very agreeable and affectionate to us, but I have a sneaking suspicion that if Mrs Piper and I were wiped out by a meteor strike while out on a walk, the basenji would just sort of shrug and say, “Oh well - they were nice to know.”
On the other hand, I’ve always heard (and it’s my personal experience) that dachshunds are a very “loyal” dogs - they bond very closely with their families and do not take well to being transferred to another family.
Another way to interpret loyalty is how a breed ranks in protecting its family. Again, dachshunds can be extremely territorial and aggressive in protecting their families, which considering their size and cuteness factor, is a bit surprising to people who aren’t familiar with the breed. That protective instinct may also be interpreted as ranking high on the loyalty scale.
For example, one of our mini-dachshunds once attacked a St. Bernard that was coming up behind us when we were out on a walk. None of us were aware of the St Bernard until our dachsie went running back and leapt for its throat. :eek: He obviously saw it as his duty to defend us from this dog that was surreptitiously following us.
All IMHO, of course.
This Wiki article tells about an Akita in Japan who became a national symbol because of his loyalty to his master.
Hachiko used to meet his owner, a professor, every day at the train station. The professor died at work and Hachiko never saw him again, but for ten years, Hachiko went to the train station every day looking for him. The stuff of legend! Or force of habit. I like the legend better.
Our Boomer (Lab mix) loved everyone. My husband wouldn’t like to hear this, but I think we could have sent him home with somebody else and Boomer wouldn’t have looked back. He was protective though, and once took on another bigger dog who got too close to us one day when we were on a walk.
Scotties have this going for them too - if you consider this an attractive trait in dogs. Sometimes this means that they can be wonderful companions for a person - if that person never has company or lets anyone into the house not part of the dog’s pack.
My childhood dog was an afghan hound. He wasn’t the family’s dog, he was mine. When he moved and the dog had to be boarded at a kennel, he stopped eating. Totally. I was 13 years old and had to live in the house the was under renovation with the dog while the rest of the family stayed at a hotel, because he wouldn’t eat when I wasn’t there. Later, as I got older, if I was going to be away over night, they’d play a tape of my voice on the other side of a closed door, so he’d settle down and eat.
My next dog was a doberman cross. My sister said she’d sleep on my bed all day long, not interacting with anyone else. When I turned onto our street, 3 blocks from the house, she’d start to jump and bark and was just thrilled I was home.
I generally have had rescued dogs, and I think they bond more closely, because they’re afraid to let you out of their sight.
StG
My black lab and I were inseperable. He would almost always eschew interaction with other members of my family when I wasn’t home, preferring to wait in a chair in front of a big picture window which overlooked the driveway, waiting for me to come home.
Mine too. Add in the fact that he was a rescue dog, he doesn’t stray far from “Mommy”. StGermain hit it on the head about rescue dogs. Once my husband goes to bed at night, I’d better make sure I have everything I need for the rest of the evening on the side table next to the couch - my 125 pound dog sits in my lap in the evenings. And does he SNORE…
The late great springer spaniel Miss Emily Kimberly ™ was Mr. S’s dog, all the way. I was just another of his minions. She liked me okay, but if he was around she was his shadow. When he was at work, she moped by the door. Sometimes I would take her along to go out and about, and often we’d end up waiting for him, sitting on the grass at the edge of the parking lot, around quitting time. She quickly learned to watch the doors as people came out:
<ears perk up, gaze turns intense> Is that him? 
No . . .
<perk> How about that guy? No . . .
<perk> How about that guy? No . . .
<perk> Maybe it’s this one, kinda looks like him . . . No . . .
<perk> How about that guy? No . . .
<perk> How about that guy? <looks closer> Could it be? <butt starts wiggling> It is! :D:D:D:D:D
And I’d let her loose (traffic permitting) and she’d wiggle her way over to him, wiggling so much she could hardly make a straight line.
I never got a greeting like that from her, ever. When I was gone overnight or for a few days, Mr. S saw no sign that she noticed. And you should have seen the ADORING gazes she would give him.
She seemed to get more this way after her dog buddy and sleeping partner B.J. died suddenly; she needed a new buddy and Mr. S was IT. We came to see her the day after B.J. died (she wasn’t living with us at the time, long story), and she pretty much tried to climb down Mr. S’s shirt, and her eyes were very watery. Can’t tell me she didn’t miss her buddy B.J.
Our current dogs (also springers) are loving and loyal, but not quite so crazy attached like Emily. They’re homebodies and don’t like car rides, though (puppy carsickness; they got over the sickness, but the association with cars seems to have stuck). Dottie seems to prefer me slightly, but otherwise as long as they have SOMEBODY, they’re copacetic.
Greyfriars Bobby (Skye terrier) became a similar symbol in Scotland.
I’ve heard Australian shepherds described as velcro dogs for sticking to their people, but there’s one in this room who would gladly jump into your car if there was a glimmer of a chance you might take him somewhere. When you kicked him out, he’d just look for the next ride.
If you raise a dog, that dog would literally die for you. If you kick your dog across the floor, the dog will crawl back to you and try to lick your hand. That’s dog loyalty. (Not that I endorse kicking dogs, just making a point)
I agree with Northern Piper. “Loyalty”, like so many traits, can be a positive or a negative, based on nothing more than the circumstances the dog finds herself in and the temperment of the owner. Basically, it means a dog who strongly prefers to be with a single specific person or very small group of people. If you’re looking for an intense personal relationship with a creature who apparently adores you beyond all reason, that’s a good thing. If you’re looking for a watch dog or guard dog (not the same thing - watch dogs bark, guard dogs bark and then attack), that’s a great thing, because anyone outside the “pack” (usually family, sometimes uniform) will automatically be suspect. If you go away on vacation a lot, if you’re elderly and expect to outlive the animal, if you don’t take obedience classes to control your dog or like to entertain people at your home, it can be cruel or even dangerous.
Our late, great, Mojo-dog (Beagle/Corgi) was like that. If I got home before DH, he’d wait until he was sure DH wasn’t behind me before he’d greet me and would park himself by the door until DH did get home. I always described it as it’s not so much that he was DH’s dog, it was that DH was his boy!
My dog (rescue pit bull) is loyal but he is kind of a slut about it. He always follows me from room to room, and my boyfriend (and our new dog) to a slightly lesser extent (he’s not happy if everyone isn’t together). He is always completely devoted to his pack. However, he is not discerning - his “pack” consists of everyone who happens to be in his immediate company at the moment (inc. mailmen, strangers at the park, and, presumably, thieves breaking into our house). Given the opportunity he will climb into the lap of a stranger as readily as he’ll climb into mine.
The only time he is ever out of my sight while I’m at home is if the pack members are in different rooms. This bothers him, so he goes back and forth between us, or he hangs out somewhere in the middle of the house, looking worried.
So overall I’d say he’s very loyal to his pack, but unlike that Akita and others like it, he’s very flexible in terms of who’s in the club.
Our Newf seems to have attached himself to my son first and most particularly, then to my daughter, my husband and I. He isn’t aggressive with strangers but is worried when someone he doesn’t know comes to the house; he will hide behind one of us but then is easily won over with petting. He was a rescue dog.
Our terrier mix was ours from about 5 months of age. She fell in love with my husband the first day and adores him without reservation. The rest of us are okay, but we’re not Daddy.
Neither of them will allow any family members to hug or kiss each other in their presence without trying to get a share of the lovin’. There’s nothing like giving my husband a hug and feeling a big nose shoving its way past my leg so he can get some petting too.
Golden Retrievers are complete sluts. They adore you in the most sloppy manner imaginable, utter devotion. Thing is, they treat pretty much anyone and everyone exactly the same way.
Which certainly makes them easy to place as rescues, that’s the good part.
I was so touched when my old Golden was out on a photo shoot and the crew walked her a fair distance away from me when she looked back at me with some longing and a smidge of distress. Normally she wouldn’t have thought twice about it.
My recently passed away Rott/Lab Bitz was very loyal to me and my wife, but it was evident that she was MINE. She listened to and enjoyed the company of my wife, and was great with anyone she met as long as I was cool with them, but anyone who saw Bitz in a group of people could definitely tell who her person was. When we’d go to the dog park, she’d make the rounds and come back over just to check on me every two or three minutes and then go back to whoever she was hanging around with.
Our Bulldog Sydney, is very much the same way, but it’s obvious that she’s 100 percent bonded to my wife. I usually feed her. I do most her maintenance and upkeep, but that dog absolutely worships the ground my wife walks on. The rest of the world, including myself, is all fine and dandy, but we’re obviously second fiddle compared to her mum.
Yeah, our Golden breeder is the same way. She’ll lean right into anybody to get some love, which makes her great to take on school visits. However she does have her favorites. My wife, me, and one of our neighbors. When she sees someone she really loves after a separation she’ll squeak and go crazy with love.
Our border collie/cocker mix, on the other hand, is totally devoted to my wife, because she works at home. I get up first, and he follows me into the kitchen for breakfast, after which he’ll lay at the door to the hall waiting to get back near her. He is 15 now, but still drags himself after her all day. When we leave he spends his time at the door. He will eventually follow me if she is gone on a trip for a while. He does come for food and walks, though.
So putting things together, dog loyalty can be described as a bond or attachment as evidenced by wanting to be in close proximity to their owner, or showing a special bond with one owner, being selective with affection to their owner, or wanting to protect their owner. I am not sure that I would want a super loyal dog that would follow me around from room to room or always be watching me. That would kinda me feel uncomfortable if I wasn’t able to pay attention to him at that moment.