[LeRoymydog]

I'm getting so frustrated. China is a rescue from someone that kept her outside (we think). Whenever she does something wrong and we scold her, she still wags her nub and is all happy that you are paying attention to her. It drives me batty.

How do I scold a dog that is just so happy all the time?

 

[wvasko]

What is she doing wrong? How long have you had her? If she had been kept outside 24/7 I can understand the wanting attention as some dogs can vegetate while outside.

 

[hulkamaniac]

Try dealing with my basset hound. I scold him and he just turns and ignores me. His attitude is, "I'm getting fed either way so I don't have to deal with this ****."

 

[MrsJohnnyG]

My 6-year-old dog does that too, and she's never been abused, made to live outside, etc. and has always had plenty of positive attention. There was one time, I'm ashamed to say, that I gave her a bit of a spank with a rolled-up magazine because I caught her in the act of doing she knew was wrong... she wagged her tail like crazy and started giving me kisses!! I melted and vowed never to use a rolled-up magazine to hit anyone but myself... but she responds the same with a stern "enh enh!" What's a dog parent to do??!

 

[TooneyDogs]

It takes a pretty good eye to tell the difference in tail wags....tail position, rhythm... everything from happy, stressed/cautious, fearful to serious/aggressive. That's only part of the body language though....changes in heart rate and respiration, head/ear/mouth postition, body movement and eye set all have to be taken into account to 'read' the dog.

 

[MrsJohnnyG]

It takes a pretty good eye to tell the difference in tail wags....tail position, rhythm... everything from happy, stressed/cautious, fearful to serious/aggressive. That's only part of the body language though....changes in heart rate and respiration, head/ear/mouth position, body movement and eye set all have to be taken into account to 'read' the dog.

That's a very good point... I can't speak for others but in my case, I know my dog's expressions, barks, tail wags, and other body language subtleties, and it's a genuine happy expression and tail wag (not to mention the kisses are kinda telling ). At the time, it struck me as her apologizing. (Our puppies react similarly when she disciplines them for biting her ear etc... she growls and snarls, and has even snapped harmlessly a time or two, and the offending puppy, rather than running and cowering, wags his tail crazily while trying to kiss her.)

 

[Dog Tracks]

As extremely social animals, dogs regard almost any attention as better than none. If you go back to the habits of their ancestors wolf pack, to be ignored was a death sentence; you couldn't survive without the pack.

Of course, dogs are a long way from their ancestor wolves, but some things are pretty hard-wired.

 

[LeRoymydog]

Well, she has a little nub tail, and I can tell it's a genuine happy wag. She is just happy all the time. She doesn't growl. I only hear her bark when her and LeRoy are playing or she's chasing the golf cart around.

So, it's hard to scold her. She likes to eat socks, so when I say China No! She'll look at me and wag her nub. Or if she tries to get on the furniture, I tell her no and she'll be all happy.

 

[Dan The Man]

A pinch or poke on the back of the neck is a signal that is hard to misinterpret. The idea being to mimmick being nipped at for doing something wrong.

 

[LeRoymydog]

A pinch or poke on the back of the neck is a signal that is hard to misinterpret. The idea being to mimmick being nipped at for doing something wrong.

I tried that too and she flips around all wiggly.

 

[Curbside Prophet]

How about putting the socks away so she can't eat them, teaching 'drop', and teaching her 'off'? You wasting your time trying to scold her when you should be trying to teach her what appropriate behavior is.

And you watch too much TV if jabbing your dog in the neck is a solution to this problem.

 

[Westhighlander]

Well, she has a little nub tail, and I can tell it's a genuine happy wag. She is just happy all the time. She doesn't growl. I only hear her bark when her and LeRoy are playing or she's chasing the golf cart around.

So, it's hard to scold her. She likes to eat socks, so when I say China No! She'll look at me and wag her nub. Or if she tries to get on the furniture, I tell her no and she'll be all happy.

Why don't you try training her? When you scold at her what do you expect her to do? How is she suppose to know when you scold at her it means stop whatever it is you are doing.