Heart Like a Dog

The Good, the Bad, and the Oh My God of living with dogs!

Whaddaya Think?

By

I have an observation to share.

I’ve mentioned before how Sampson and Delilah must lie on mats while we eat dinner.  A typical night starts like this.

Either Hubby or myself brings them into the living room, (yes we eat in front of the tv) and tells them place.  If it’s me, I wait patiently while Delilah decides when she will “down.”  If Hubby is the one placing her, he stands towering over her, hands on hips demanding that she down.  Once both dogs are in the down, we tell them “Stay.” 

We go into the kitchen and prepare our plates, we also get some carrots and a couple of biscuits for the dogs.  When we get back to the living room, Delilah has moved.  She is still near or partially on her mat, but the fact is that she has moved and is no longer where we left her, when put her there and said “Stay!”

We give S & D the two biscuits and sit down to eat our dinner, somewhere after this point Delilah will 1) stand up and stretch, placing her two front feet forward and down while her back end goes up in the air or 2) just stand up and attempt to move.  This infuriates Hubby who will glare and point and if necessary tower over her again until she lays back down.  Meanwhile I sit there and roll my eyes.

When dinner is done, Hubby will give the release word which in our house is “OK.”  Sometimes if we don’t eat fast enough Delilah will whimper, whine or sigh.

This scenario takes place night after night in our house.

Except for last night.  Last night Hubby had one of his Christmas parties.  He was gone after work and dinner was just me…and the dogs.

Here’s what happened.

When my dinner was ready, I grabbed my dinner, a couple of biscuits and a bag with some small treats in it that I would use instead of carrots.  I went into the living room and using the biscuits as the lure, I put Sampson and Delilah in a down position. 

I sat down and started eating my dinner.  About five minutes into my dinner, Sampson got up and curled up on the couch.  A few minutes later Delilah got up and went into her crate.  And that’s where they stayed.

For the entire time I was eating, and I took my time.

When I was done, I said “Ok, it’s time for dinner.”  I picked up the bag of treats and my dishes and went into the kitchen, where I fed them.  I didn’t even use the 2nd set of treats to release them, I just said “Ok, it’s time for dinner.”

When Hubby came home, I told him I thought he was the problem with her.  (And really My Inner Bitch was very gleeful, although my Outer Self was very dignified throughout the telling of the story.)  The trouble is I don’t know how to fix it. 🙁

So whaddaya think?

I think this is the Saturday morning blog hop hosted by Two Little Cavaliers, Life With Dogs and Confessions of the Plume.  You can get your code here.  Hop on if you choose. 🙂

Saturday Morning Blog Hop

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Comments

  1. I think Sampson and Delilah have trained you very effectively. 🙂 You don’t say whether you gave a “stay” command and if so, they broke stay. But I have said before that I don’t think dinner time is really the most effective time to train unless you can give your entire attention to the training. At this point their behavior may be habit and not really one or the other’s “fault”. Good luck. 🙂

    • When they went into their down, I did not give the stay command, You are right, tho it is not the best time to be training, however my other half doesn’t think the same way you do. :-0

  2. Hmmmm….sounds great in theory, but would your husband have allowed her to go to her crate in the first place? Maybe you might consider crating her while you both eat, for everyone’s sanity.

    I’m thinking, if she is getting up and moving from the mat when you are not in the room, she may not be ready to be left on the mat while you can’t verbally correct her for moving. Or, you might consider a tether.

    Also, have you considered feeding them first? I don’t believe in that whole humans have to eat first, and it sure makes for a peaceful meal when the dogs’ bellies are already full.

    Anyway, those are just my thoughts. You can totally ignore them, and just enjoy your gloat that the dogs behave better for you! 🙂

    • Yes, he would allow her to go into her crate, in fact sometimes when she is really being difficult I simply offer it to her.

      We feed them at the same time every night, sometimes they eat before us and sometimes after it just depends on how long it takes our dinner to be ready. 🙂

      I appreciate your thoughts, I really do. But I am going to gloat anyway. 🙂

  6. Hi Y’all,

    Would you like a dog’s point of view? No, I guess not…but you’re getting it anyway!

    Now, my Humans used to have performance horses as well as retrievers, so things like feeding are very regulated. I have certain times I eat…it doesn’t matter when the Humans eat…unless the Humans have business that keeps them late, I am always fed breakfast and supper at the same time every day.

    If you’re interested in more about my feed and walk schedules y’all come by tomorrow, Sunday.

    Y’all come by now,
    Hawk aka BrownDog

    • Thanks Hawk, Sampson and Delilah’s feeding times are also very regulated. Sometimes they eat before us and sometimes after, it just depends on how the day is going.

  7. Delilah is definitely making a statement about hubby’s training methods. He needs an adjustment in thinking. 🙂

  8. Years ago I used to make my dogs stay in the living room while we ate at the dining room table. They would all sit at the door watching (and hoping for an invite). After awhile my dachshund would quietly sneak just inside the dining room and under the side table near the door. When he was noticed and told to get in the other room, he did. This quickly became part of the normal routine. I could have fixed it by working on the stay in the other room just like I would training any other behavior and not when I was distracted by eating and conversation, but it was a little harmless game so I let it go. Plus, it was funny to watch how stealthy Dazs thought he was being.

    • LOL I think you hit the nail on the head Dawn, she thinks it’s a game and he buys into it. I just ignore them and they settle down.

      I kind of giggle (to myself of course) when she does it. I just can’t help mself. 🙂

      I love that you knew what Dazs was doing but let him do it anyway!

  9. Interesting. It appears we have 4 different motivations here. It looks like your husband wants control. It looks like you just want to eat in peace with the dogs you love. It looks like Samson wants the couch. So what does Delilah want?

    You didn’t say whether she seems distressed when your husband commands her to stay. Your description made it sound like she was having fun.

    I wonder if the reason she fidgets is because she likes the attention. When you were home alone, it became obvious to her quickly that you were ignoring her and enjoying your dinner. But she’s learned over time that if she fidgets, your husband will give her attention.

    What do you think?

    If I’m right, you’ll have to work on retraining your husband. And that could be tough. 🙂

    • Nothing much distresses Delilah, I think she wants the attention and he gives it.

      You are right that he needs retraining, but he’s not as easily trainable as Mike. 🙂

  10. We feed the pups first at our house. A full Koly is a manageable Koly.

    I tend to agree with Pamela. Koly is like that. Once he is fed, he isn’t so much upset that we are eating as he is that we are not paying attention to him. He’ll fuss until he gets our attention. Perhaps, periodically interacting with her might take the edge of her excitement? For Kolchak, the difference between whining and slowly inching his way off his bed is as simple as me acknowledging his presence, praising his obedience and reminding him to STAY. I only do it once or twice a meal, but it makes a real difference (and it’s easier than retraining the hubby. If yours is like mine, that’s impossible.)

    • It doesn’t matter if she has a full tummy or not, she still does it. 🙁 I will however try giving her some encouragement although she usually takes that as a cue I want her to move. LOL

  11. I do feed the dogs at the same time each day, or at least as close as possible. When I eat I just ignore them and they will usually just lay down or sit and stare at me, either way I basically ignore them. I don’t have to much trouble with them but the ones in the house who like to give them nibbles from their plate and make a fuss get harassed by them while they eat so I think the trick is ignoring them. Works for me and sounds like it worked for you too and if hubby gives it a try it just might work for him 😉

    • Us too Misty, 7:00 am and 7:00 pm. Sometimes they eat before us and sometimes after. I have yet to get him to understand the concept of ignoring her. 🙁

  13. Wow that is fantastic! There must be something about C that makes people want to break the rules around him! 😉
    As promised here is the link for the fat free vegan blog. http://www.fatfreevegan.com. its a complete website but the link to her blog is there which is where the recipes are. Let me know what you think!

  15. What do I think? I think hubby needs to chill. That said, I don’t think hubby chilling is going to help much.

    Definitely there are varied dynamics going on here. The dogs respond differently to the two of you, which is normal. Yes it would be grand if they would always settle like they did for you, but I think you have to accept that they are going to behave differently when you two are together than when you are individuals. Sucks though that may be.

  16. I think that she is demending attention from Hubby and this is the way to get it. Her own little game with him. I think it’s too cute. I amazes me how dogs act different with different people. I had shared with you how we got Chase via our daughter when he did not fit into the houshold anymore. (babies) When we bring him there we will find him on the couch. He is not allowed on our couch, just his but he remembers that they allow it. He will look at us like what is your problem. I have decided it is not my house and not my hair problem there so let him have his moment.

    • I think you are right Margaret! She plays the game and he jumps right in on it. 🙂

      So Chase is an opportunistic couch potato? It is funny the things they will remember even though many people will tell you that they don’t remember things. As long as your daughter doesn’t mind and he is not carrying the behavior home then no harm no foul. 🙂 You are very wise Margaret.