# How Owners Annoy Dogs



## Amyshojai (May 3, 2010)

My Magical-Dawg hates being confined on leash when he'd much rather chase-n-whup that dad-gum coyote family...which is what he did yesterday. *sigh* Right in time for my Paw Nation article about 7 ways owners annoy dogs, thought I'd share the blog (with the AOL story link):

http://www.redroom.com/blog/amy-d-shojai/woof-wednesday-coyotes-frisbees-annoying-dogs

So what are some other things that make YOUR dog "howl?"


----------



## Vegas_Asian (Nov 2, 2008)

My dog snorts at me when I use her bed as a rest for my head


----------



## julieannfelicity (Jun 28, 2010)

For Deuce, unfortunately that would be leaving him. He's got separation anxiety and can't stand being alone. We always have to have someone at home or else he soils on the floor. This includes even if we're home and not within eye-shot. He has to literally trail someone to feel OK.  

But if he sees you and you're around him, he's the biggest nut yanking at your hand to follow him!


----------



## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

My pug likes it when I pet him with one hand, but if I use two he gets upset and tries to bite me.


----------



## Amyshojai (May 3, 2010)

Love it! My dog goes to bed before me and seems to always want to sleep on MY pillow--I make him move and he groans and belly aches.

That two-handed petting, maybe the pug-ster things you're going to grab him?

So sorry about the separation anxiety with Deuce. That's always a tough one to deal with.


----------



## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

My dog gets upset with me if I take away something he's trying to chew on. Which is everything because he chews on the kids' toys, my blankets, the furniture...


----------



## ◄ Jess ► (Apr 21, 2010)

My dog HATED being picked up when she was small (she's an English Springer Spaniel, so I haven't even attempted to pick her up in many years). She believes in keeping all four paws firmly planted on the ground (except when she's jumping repeatedly into the air, as she does often). 

I enjoyed the article!


----------



## Alle Meine Entchen (Dec 6, 2009)

today it was b/c I took Gizmo to the vet, but on most days it's the whole feeding her dry dog food (and not canned), not letting her lick DD's face clean of peanut butter, oh and the biggie, she's not allowed on the furniture.


----------



## markdamaroyd (Jul 16, 2010)

Here in Thailand - particularly in villages - untold thousands of dogs roam wild. They cause road accidents, disturb the peace at night with relentless howling and baying, and scavenge in every corner. Understandably, non owners may not always treat them kindly!


----------



## Amyshojai (May 3, 2010)

Dara, Magic chews up stuffed toys and gets upset if I take away the pieces before he swallows them. *sigh* He's too big to pick up like Jessica's dog (luv those springers!). Alle, my brother's family adopted a retired show dog and she'd had several litters during her lifetime--and "adopted" the baby. It was hard for mom to get there before the dog did to clean up messy faces, LOL!

Mark, my sympathies on the feral dog situation in Thailand. South Texas has a similar problem. Is there an animal control or animal welfare (or even health department) that administers the issue?


----------



## Shayne Parkinson (Mar 19, 2010)

I haven't had a dog since I was in my teens, but my Nicky-dog (a corgi-cross) really was my best friend. This may be time gilding the memory, but I honestly don't remember him ever being naughty. Well, at least after he outgrew doggy adolescence, and with it chasing cars and girl dogs.  He did once spend a night in the pound. 

It probably helped that he was never alone - when I was at school, my mother was home, and he'd be busy keeping her company or going for walks with her. So he never got bored, or felt neglected.

One quirk: in New Zealand small towns, which typically have a volunteer fire brigade, the fire siren is an old-fashioned... well, siren.  A raaa-raaa noise. My Nicky would always throw back his head and howl when the siren was heard. In the countryside where we live now, whenever the siren goes I can hear dogs on the neighbouring farms howling, too. What do you think it might be about that particular sound, Amy?


----------



## Amyshojai (May 3, 2010)

Hi Shayne,

Dogs often howl at sirens. The coyotes around here really throw a concert when the sirens go off. They maybe consider it another type of "howl" which is sort of a signal for "I'm lonely, come join me" so they howl back. *shrug*

Of course, my Magical-dawg howls whenever I practice singing for church. What a critic!


----------



## drenfrow (Jan 27, 2010)

One of my dogs, Emma, has to get eye ointment every day.  Needless to say she doesn't like it.  She's actually pretty good about it but when we walk over to her, we always say "Who wants some eye medicine?" in the excited voice you use for giving treats and she always looks back over her shoulder, as if to see who we're talking to.  "What? Who? Eye medicine? Must be some other dog."


----------



## Amyshojai (May 3, 2010)

drenfrow said:


> One of my dogs, Emma, has to get eye ointment every day. Needless to say she doesn't like it. She's actually pretty good about it but when we walk over to her, we always say "Who wants some eye medicine?" in the excited voice you use for giving treats and she always looks back over her shoulder, as if to see who we're talking to. "What? Who? Eye medicine? Must be some other dog."


Does she then GET a treat after being brave? *s*


----------



## geoffthomas (Feb 27, 2009)

Rascal is annoyed when I tell him it is time to stop running around and go back inside.
He just LOVES to run.


----------



## drenfrow (Jan 27, 2010)

Amyshojai said:


> Does she then GET a treat after being brave? *s*


Actually, no. Now that you ask, that seems kind of harsh!  We don't give treats very often, only when they have to go in the yard when we leave the house (we're in a rural area so they get to run free unless we leave). I think our idea was to give the eye medicine and just move on--like with a kid, don't make a big deal out of it.


----------



## Holly B (Nov 15, 2010)

Our chihuahua freaks if you make kissy noises at him. For some reason, that sound really irks him. He'll jump down and avoid you while giving you the stink-eye.

He also has a vendetta with the squeakers in toys. If we bring a new toy into the house and it has a squeaker in it, he will work tirelessly until he has successfully de-squeaked the toy. He will actually pin it down with his front paws and tear the toy apart until he gets the squeaker out.


----------



## cc84 (Aug 6, 2010)

Our German Shepherd knows that after everyone has eaten their tea, and the washing up has been done he gets a long walk at around 6pm and if he doesnt get it, like if it's pouring with rain, he's miserable then for the rest of the evening. Last year my father broke his toe and couldnt take him out for about 3 months. My brother took him out once or twice but he rarely got the walks he loved. Well when my dad's foot healed, he was so happy to get out! And he's losing the lil bit of weight he put on when he didnt get the excercise.


----------



## A. Rosaria (Sep 12, 2010)

He doesn't like to hear no. He get's grumpy, a grumpy puppy.


----------



## Amyshojai (May 3, 2010)

drenfrow said:


> Actually, no. Now that you ask, that seems kind of harsh!  We don't give treats very often, only when they have to go in the yard when we leave the house (we're in a rural area so they get to run free unless we leave). I think our idea was to give the eye medicine and just move on--like with a kid, don't make a big deal out of it.


Well, if you associate the "eye stuff" with a treat he'd likely put up with it more readily--or even ASK to have his eye treated. *s*


----------



## drenfrow (Jan 27, 2010)

Oddly, both the dogs are not that big on treats.  I have always given treats to my dogs, and these crazy girls just don't like them.  They spit out pig's ears, for crying out loud--who doesn't love a good pig's ear?   Rawhides, milkbones...they don't want them.  The only thing they like is a chicken jerkey treat that we get from Sam's Club.  It's fine though, they are certainly not beggars!  They don't even look at human food.


----------



## Hoosiermama (Dec 28, 2009)

Our lab is a "people person". He thinks he's a people...we had a guy in to give us a quote on remodeling the bathroom, and I told Stokley to go lay down. He proceeded to moan the rest of the visit. Just every few minutes, he'd let out a heartfelt mooooooaaaaaaannnnnn. He does the same thing if we shut the bedroom door. Poor thing.

He does have me well trained, though. At 9 pm every evening he demands his treat. He got that habit from our other dog, who passed last May. She'd go nuts every night at 9 for a treat.


----------



## Holly B (Nov 15, 2010)

Hoosiermama said:


> Our lab is a "people person". He thinks he's a people...we had a guy in to give us a quote on remodeling the bathroom, and I told Stokley to go lay down. He proceeded to moan the rest of the visit. Just every few minutes, he'd let out a heartfelt mooooooaaaaaaannnnnn. He does the same thing if we shut the bedroom door. Poor thing.
> 
> He does have me well trained, though. At 9 pm every evening he demands his treat. He got that habit from our other dog, who passed last May. She'd go nuts every night at 9 for a treat.


That's funny! Our oldest dog is a border collie/keeshond mix, and he's very good at alerting us to anything that seems threatening. He'll be quiet when my husband tells him to, but he always has to get the last word in. After being told to be quiet, he'll wait a few seconds and then let out a quiet, closed-mouthed "woof." If he's told again to be quiet, he does the same thing. Always has to have the last word. LOL


----------



## Vegas_Asian (Nov 2, 2008)

My dog is annoyEd with me now. I won't pet her I am about to leave for an interview and her hair is so fine for a yellow lab that she is stalking me. She is my shadow like a giant cat constantly rubbing against my legs. She can't cuz I am in my slacks. She is barking at me. I keep scurrying away from her. Dad is trying to take her upstairs


----------



## Amyshojai (May 3, 2010)

Isn't it amazing how the light colored pets gravitate to dark clothes, and dark pets want to rub on the light ones? I've got a black dog and a Siamese cat so I can't win.


----------



## Sporadic (May 1, 2009)

My dog hates when I stop her from rolling around in the grass and call her inside after any amount of time. The rolling around in the grass wouldn't bother me if she didn't get extremely dirty after doing that and I try to limit how much she lays outside since she can get extremely stinky after awhile.


----------



## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

Mine gets very upset at any rough housing and tries to corral everyone, barking frantically and seemingly convinced we're misbehaving sheep.


----------



## easyreader (Feb 20, 2011)

I love how the dog whisperer points out that owners teach dogs how to act.  It's usually the owner that's the problem, not the dog.


----------



## Amyshojai (May 3, 2010)

JRTomlin said:


> Mine gets very upset at any rough housing and tries to corral everyone, barking frantically and seemingly convinced we're misbehaving sheep.


LOL! Yes that's sometimes called 'splitting behavior" where the dog tries to break up what they perceive to be fights. My mom's shelties used to do that when my parents hugged. Guess owners need to "play bow" first to tell the dogs it's all kidding. *s*


----------



## Klip (Mar 7, 2011)

Great topic 

My White Shepherd Anna has a very finely tuned sense of what is fair and what is not.  If I scold her for something that in her opinion was not deserved, she will talk long sentences at me: "Whooo!  Hooh hooo hoo whoah hoooo!"  in a hurt tone of voice.

She does not do this when she knows she's been naughty, only when it's clear to her that I'm being unreasonable, for example if I object to how she greet's visitors ("But MOM!  I'm just being FRIENDLY")  or if I tell her to shut up when in fact, my other dog was the one making the noise. ("It wasn't me! I was just LOOKING!").  

When I used to do obedience training, she used to do this if I gave her a too-loud command during distance control exercises. ("OK!  I heard you the FIRST time.  Look, I'm LYING DOWN ALREADY! Jeeeeez.")  It always made the rest of the class crack up. 

She'll also give long, theatrical groans and sighs when she feels we are neglecting her.


----------



## BarbraAnnino (Jan 27, 2011)

My dog can be very sassy when he's hungry. He paws at me, growls, bays, barks and generally drives me crazy until I get up. Then he sits perfectly still and waits for his food. He's awesome. 
Oh, and he HATES baths.


----------



## Amyshojai (May 3, 2010)

mashadutoit said:


> When I used to do obedience training, she used to do this if I gave her a too-loud command during distance control exercises. ("OK! I heard you the FIRST time. Look, I'm LYING DOWN ALREADY! Jeeeeez.") It always made the rest of the class crack up.


LOL! One of my friend's dog loved an audience. He was perfect, spot-on with commands when nobody was around but during competition, he'd driver her crazy in a long-sit....move one paw, grin; move the other, grin; crowd laughing, he wags; one more paw moved--still in sit but slowly sinking...

He loved working the crowds, and watching his hander grit her teeth.


----------



## Amyshojai (May 3, 2010)

What a spectacular Dane! Gorgeous. Betcha he makes sure you get wet during the bath, too. *eg*



BarbraAnnino said:


> My dog can be very sassy when he's hungry. He paws at me, growls, bays, barks and generally drives me crazy until I get up. Then he sits perfectly still and waits for his food. He's awesome.
> Oh, and he HATES baths.


----------



## easyreader (Feb 20, 2011)

I've always thought that dogs reflect their owners.  We teach them how to act with our own emotions, so I usually think it's a bad owner when there is a bad dog.


----------



## ◄ Jess ► (Apr 21, 2010)

Amyshojai said:


> LOL! Yes that's sometimes called 'splitting behavior" where the dog tries to break up what they perceive to be fights. My mom's shelties used to do that when my parents hugged. Guess owners need to "play bow" first to tell the dogs it's all kidding. *s*


Ohh my dog does that when we hug as well!! I always thought she was jealous of the attention or something. I'm glad I finally got an explanation for that.


----------



## lpking (Feb 12, 2011)

My first dog was a Dalmatian, and she had hearing problems. If we wanted to drive her nuts, we'd hiss. She hated that sound.

(I didn't realize the extensive back-talking vocabulary was a Shepherd thing. My son has a mutt who looks like a Belgian Malinois, but is more likely a German ShepherdX. He sasses with amazing variety.)


----------



## Klip (Mar 7, 2011)

lpking said:


> My first dog was a Dalmatian, and she had hearing problems. If we wanted to drive her nuts, we'd hiss. She hated that sound.
> 
> (I didn't realize the extensive back-talking vocabulary was a Shepherd thing. My son has a mutt who looks like a Belgian Malinois, but is more likely a German ShepherdX. He sasses with amazing variety.)


Yep! Amazing variety is right  My Anna's most annoying habit is her operatic voice exercises early in the morning when she feel's we should get up, or when she thinks a walk is due. From the highest register - "hi hi hi hi hiiiii" and then sloping down "hiiiioooooouuuuaaaaarrrrgggh" into the base range for some heartfealt groaning.

And ignoring does not help. This is seriously self rewarding behaviour


----------



## lpking (Feb 12, 2011)

LOL mashadutoit! When my son's dog hears someone at the door of their condo, he barks normally. When I say, "Hush, Percy, it's me!" he switches to something that sounds like, "Hey, I didn't expect you! People, it's Mom!"

Well, I'm only exaggerating a little bit.


----------



## Klip (Mar 7, 2011)

lpking said:


> LOL mashadutoit! When my son's dog hears someone at the door of their condo, he barks normally. When I say, "Hush, Percy, it's me!" he switches to something that sounds like, "Hey, I didn't expect you! People, it's Mom!"
> 
> Well, I'm only exaggerating a little bit.


  How cute. Dogs certainly know how to make you feel welcome, dont they! My father's little rescue girl ducks her head down and puts on a this shy snarly grin for me when I arrive. So sweet.


----------



## Amyshojai (May 3, 2010)

How fun! they do have different sounds and expressions for individuals.  Not all dogs learn how to do that "snarly grin" but it appears to be a mimic of the human expression. In dog language, showing teeth can be a threat, so that "submissive grin" is modified to show a human-like smile that means the opposite.  

We've changed dogs, and dogs have changed us--mostly for the better, I hope.


----------



## Kia Zi Shiru (Feb 7, 2011)

my mums dog is really smart, he actually knows that I will allow him on the couch when others aren't at home and he won't even try to  he also knows how to knock on doors if he thinks it's time to be let back into the room especially when we're having dinner And usually it's spot on


----------



## Amyshojai (May 3, 2010)

My first shepherd was not allowed on the furniture. But one day I forgot something when I left for work and had to turn around and come back in...and caught him on the chair that was actually too small for him. He looked at me, and slowly stepped off the chair, and curled up on the floor. 

I'm sure as soon as the door shut, he was back up on the chair.


----------

