I’ve heard that if you let a puppy sleep on your kids’ unwashed bedsheets during it’s “formative” period, it will grow up thinking it’s really part of the family (pack) and have a stronger sense of loyalty. Any truth to this? How do domesticated dogs map their pack tendencies to suburban life?
It’s not so much the unwashed sheets, it’s that the dog is sleeping where a dominant member of the “pack” is sleeping. It’s sort of an honor to a do to sleep where a pack member with higher status sleeps, and yes, it’s very bonding. Your dog is going to consider itself a member of the pack and feel loyalty to it no matter what . . . it’s the dog’s status in the pack that’s at issue.
Dogs are very sensitive to status. The male adult of the human family is generally alpha, with the femal being beta, and the children taking lesser status. The dog is at the bottom of the ladder, and knows it. Thus, most dogs are kept in a sort of puppy-limbo where they can’t hope to achieve higher stauts in the family. Some more agressive dogs will challenge the human with the least status, while less agressive dogs will display a lot of appeasing behaviors, such as rolling over and showing the belly to higher-status humans, and displaying other submissive behaviors. If the dog is trying to be dominant, a good way to check that behavior is to make the dog sit or lie down before you feed them. A very timid dog, on the other hand, will sometimes resort to very infantile behavior such as submissive urination, looking right at you whilst pissing on the rug. A dog that does this needs special attention, comfort and love.
Dogs have adjusted remarkably well to living with humans, but dog ettiquet and people’s differ quite a bit. They try to adjust to what the alphas expect of them, thus the rules must be enforced strictly. If, for example, you forbid the dog from being on the sofa, but your kids allow it, the dog will assume he’s getting one over on the kids and gainig status, and won’t obey them as well.
Most dogs love sleeping with members of their family, but it can be hard to get them to change their habits if you change your mind about wanting them on the bed. The dog’s adult size should be considered also. And it’s probabaly a good idea to wait until the pup is housebroken before it gets bed privileges.
Kestrel
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What a great excuse! No, honey, can’t do the laundry or make the beds today. The dog’s bonding with the kids.
Yeah, I know he’s 5 years old, but we can’t be too careful about these things.