Joined
·
3,656 Posts
Ralphie has always been a little...weird. He's got quirks. We deal with them. Whatever. But I would really like to have other people's insights on they "why" of these quirks, if there even is one.
He's always had some stranger danger issues. He does not want to be touched by strangers on walks. Does not like them in the house. He is perfectly fine walking past them on walks, even brushing against them once when I slipped and pushed him a bit, as long as they don't try to touch him. We put him away when strangers are in the house.
So, his quirks is that if there is another dog anywhere in the vicinity, strangers are no longer an issue. They are beings to be loved and who will give him treats and cuddles. You have a dog? Sure, you can walk into my yard unannounced and I will love you and rub myself against you. No hesitation. Our neighbors had a party in their yard and there was three dogs there, and Ralphie joined the fray without hesitation. He was pushing toys into people's hands, begging for food, crawling into laps if people let him, stealing the yard game toys. Nobody would even think for a second he had stranger danger issues. He did not give any stress signals, and wanted to go back and have fun when we left.
Busy, crowded spaces with lots of dogs? THRIVING. Everyone is his friend. We had his first agility trial last month, and he was a tad overwhelmed when we first walked in, but once he had a chance to settle he would have let everybody in the building pet him. This was a brand new building he had never been to before. He wanted to crawl in people's laps, if they walked by he would push his head toward them, barked for attention if someone ignored him, he tried to steal someone's lunch, he spent five minutes getting loved on by a lady he had never met before in his entire life. It was like his BEST DAY EVER.
And I'm just like...what? I mean, he isn't even that interested in the dogs (although he does like to play with other dogs). He would rather interact with the humans. He completely ignored the dogs after he figured out it was just like in class where we ignore dogs. But, I would expect a bit of stress or ducking out of the way when being handled by strangers, but....nothing. If they stop petting him, he asks for more or tries to follow them. He's loose and wiggly and behaves exactly as he does when his most favorite people visit him.
I just...I don't get it. I mean, I'm fine with it, it makes him good for dog sports, for sure, and makes boarding him at doggy day care easy, but why are strangers so terrible when they are dog-less, but the best thing ever when dogs are around, no matter the location?
He's always had some stranger danger issues. He does not want to be touched by strangers on walks. Does not like them in the house. He is perfectly fine walking past them on walks, even brushing against them once when I slipped and pushed him a bit, as long as they don't try to touch him. We put him away when strangers are in the house.
So, his quirks is that if there is another dog anywhere in the vicinity, strangers are no longer an issue. They are beings to be loved and who will give him treats and cuddles. You have a dog? Sure, you can walk into my yard unannounced and I will love you and rub myself against you. No hesitation. Our neighbors had a party in their yard and there was three dogs there, and Ralphie joined the fray without hesitation. He was pushing toys into people's hands, begging for food, crawling into laps if people let him, stealing the yard game toys. Nobody would even think for a second he had stranger danger issues. He did not give any stress signals, and wanted to go back and have fun when we left.
Busy, crowded spaces with lots of dogs? THRIVING. Everyone is his friend. We had his first agility trial last month, and he was a tad overwhelmed when we first walked in, but once he had a chance to settle he would have let everybody in the building pet him. This was a brand new building he had never been to before. He wanted to crawl in people's laps, if they walked by he would push his head toward them, barked for attention if someone ignored him, he tried to steal someone's lunch, he spent five minutes getting loved on by a lady he had never met before in his entire life. It was like his BEST DAY EVER.
And I'm just like...what? I mean, he isn't even that interested in the dogs (although he does like to play with other dogs). He would rather interact with the humans. He completely ignored the dogs after he figured out it was just like in class where we ignore dogs. But, I would expect a bit of stress or ducking out of the way when being handled by strangers, but....nothing. If they stop petting him, he asks for more or tries to follow them. He's loose and wiggly and behaves exactly as he does when his most favorite people visit him.
I just...I don't get it. I mean, I'm fine with it, it makes him good for dog sports, for sure, and makes boarding him at doggy day care easy, but why are strangers so terrible when they are dog-less, but the best thing ever when dogs are around, no matter the location?