All the dogs I’ve seen who did the standing on the feet thing were very dominant.
People get all excited about dominant this and dominant that, but most things most dogs do don’t mean any more or less than all the other things they do - as porcupine says, you have to look at the whole spectrum. Additionally, dogs who really feel alpha don’t do many dominant things - they don’t have to. They are not constantly jockeying for position. Instead, they do little things like stand on your feet and refuse to respond to correction and demand lots and lots of petting, which their foolish owners understand as “LOVE.” (And don’t worry that your dog who demands lots and lots of petting is pushing you around, it’s probably true love! Spectrum, remember.) Meanwhile, a lot of people have dogs who are growling and snappy and the people consider these dogs dominant when in fact the poor pups are terrified and trying to defend themselves. You gotta look at the big picture, and it really helps to spend as much time as possible watching other people and their dogs interact.
This thread has lots of good ideas for curing a mouthy dog, but I’d like to add that mouthiness is an important trait, like music talent in a human. You don’t want to stifle it, you want to redirect it. If you have a mouthy dog, make sure the dog has plenty of chew toys and that you play plenty of mouthy games so the dog can use this powerful instinct for good.
FWIW, herders tend to be more nippy than mouthy, but many mutts are both heel nippers and chewers and retrievers and good at walking on their hind legs…
Just a thing… the curling up in bed? It’s could be a juvenile trait rather than a dominant trait. You are the Alpha Bitch (in the good way of course Velma) and Rory is being all “puppy” on you. Taking comfort from being close.
Standing on your foot is also commonly an insecurity thing. (Not always. As said, sometimes it’s dominance.) The dog feels a little unsure and gets as close as they can. This winds up being on your foot. They know right where you are while keeping their eyes on whatever has them spooked.
I should have mentioned this as well, and thanks for reminding me, j.c. Our dog’s absolute favorite-est toy of all time is the rope tug-of-war toy. She likes to play with it so much we’ve gone through three. (She pulls on them and unties the knots at the ends.) But she loves it.
Our Australian Shepherd, Casey, is extremely talky! He usually only talks to Mom (his Alpha Bitch), but once he gets going he can ‘talk’ for a minute or two. What makes it really funny is that Mom talks back! (No, she doesn’t take it seriously.)
Sample ‘conversation’:
CASEY: Rowwwr!
MOM: It’s good to see you, too.
CASEY: Owrrrowrowr.
MOM: Oh, really?
CASEY: Rrrrowwwrrr…
MOM: Well, my goodness!
It’s amusing to watch. When my sister and I were lil’ ones, Casey used to try and herd us around the yard. He would do things like get between us and the pool, that horrid unsafe body of water that his humans insist on jumping into every summer! That dog knows what bathing suits mean… whenever he sees us in swimsuits he starts getting all agitated. He’s an awfully smart dog, but you’d think that after ten and a half years of watching us swim he’d have it figured out that we’re okay in the water.
Lots of good advice here. I’ll try a few things with her this weekend, since it’s a holiday we’ll have more time to spend with her.
porcupine, we’re not sure exactly what she is since we got her from a rescue that didn’t have her mom. I am quite sure she has some shepherd in her because she has strong herding instincts. It is funny to watch her play with other dogs, she keeps rounding them up. Especially with smaller ones, I saw her once herd a group of terriers under a picnic table and then guard them like sheep! She is not as big as a full shepherd though, (fully grown at 40 pounds) so she must have something smaller in her too, but she does have some physical characteristics of a shepherd. Here is a picture of her - she’s fully grown now but you can see her markings.
I did wonder if the mouthing had to do with shepherds. She also likes to retrieve, though, and is a very, very strong chewer. We know the value of chew toys, she goes through them quickly (except Kongs…hooray for Kongs!) and has destroyed a few things around the house even when she has chew toys, but now that she is done teething it is slowing down. I think part of the mouthing might be due to her being an orphan puppy - she had littermates around but not a mother dog to teach her the first puppy lessons.
How did you train away your dog’s fear-aggression?
My dog, PBJ, has a problem with that. As I said in a previous post, she barks aggressively at men who approach her, but is fine with most women and children. She has a lot of overly-submissive behaviors, such as elaborate belly showing and submissive urination under certain circumstances.
I’ve had her for about a year now, and she’s gained a lot of confidence and made some great improvements. I plan on starting obedience classes soon and I think that will help even more. But I worry about her fear-aggression, just because it indicates she feels afraid (at inappropriate times) and may, at some point, lash out to protect herself.
Great thread, Velma! By the way, I think your dog is just trying to tell you to GET UP!
Rue DeDay – of course! This is the problem with words. Someone says dog stands on my foot, I imagine the type of dog who does this on purpose. You imagine the nervous crowder. Darn these dogs! Why can their behaviors mean so many things?
Velma, I am now convinced that your dog is laying and rolling on you because you stink! As way all know, dogs like to lay in and roll around in things that stink.
Velma, your dog is probably just fine. But if you notice that you have developed a tendency to tuck your buttocks when you are around him, you might want to see a trainer.
mipiace, I meant other people’s dogs. You’r dog is playing you for a patsy. He hate, hate , HATES you and wants to make your feet hust and ruin your good shoes. Your dog is just EVIL!
Good news Country Squire, you hit on just about the only unambigous dog thing. (See j.c., there’s at least one.) Mounting is a dominance display. Young dogs do it, neutered dogs do it, female dogs do it, spayed female dogs do it.
Being a nine month old Lab (not one one the Worlds deepest thinking dogs to start with) just push him off and tell him “No.” (“No” means “no”, man!) If he keeps trying, then you have to be firm with him. But since it’s not your dog, ultimately it’s not your problem.
When your feet “hust” that just means they hurt, but real bad. See how evil your dog is? Not content with your feet hurting, he wants them to “hust”. I don’t know why you put up with him mipiace.
Mariachi Kitty, PBJ just sounds like a sensitive dog. (That’s me being nice and not just calling Peebs a wuss.) Obedience classes will help since they cement your dominance status. If you’re in charge, she doesn’t have to sweat the intruder. Just don’t tell her “That’s OK” or be reassuring like that while she’s all riled and growling. (Yeah, dogs can’t understand English but they pick up a bunch by inflection.) Tell her to “stop it” or “no growl” and then when she’s quiet praise her for being good.
And then do what your obedience class trainer says. It’s a perfect plan.
Hust? Hurt? Well he does weigh about 70lbs but i wouldn’t say it really hurts…it’s just a little weird. HE leans against me with his shoulders at the same time too. I always thought of it as being protective but maybe he wants me to protect him…I don’t know either way he isn’t growling at them or me. Just standing and leaning. He isn’t evil…he’s kind of a big woosy.
We have a golden retriever who has serious anxiety issues; among other things, he likes to sit on our feet. He’s got a bony butt, too! Ow! The closer he can get to us the better, as far as I can tell. He thrives on physical contact, the more the better. He’s dominant among DOGS, weirdly, but with us humans, he isn’t. He’s an absolute sweetie.
He and our other dog, a yellow lab, sometimes will engage in a bit of mounting. They’re both fixed. Normally it’s Rusty (the golden) asserting his domainance over Isaac. Poor Isaac, he’s one of those creature of any species that is just destined to be at the bottom of the heap. On a weirder note, Isaac will sometimes sit and look at me adoringly and get a hard-on. It’s DEEPLY disturbing.
