I’m trying to develop a habit of complimenting people on their dogs’ behavior. Not their appearance, size or breed, but their behavior.
Like with everything else, people are much more likely to compliment or criticize a dog’s appearance rather than her behavior. Just take a Staffordshire terrier to the dog park and watch people back away because they see the “pitbull” rather than the calm, well-trained dog that she is. Or take a great dane out and notice how people gasp at her size rather than appreciate her gentleness.
The number one thing that stands out to me with dogs is when I see one that’s calm and relaxed in public. This is probably because the average dog barks, pulls or nearly strangles herself on walks, trips to PetSmart or any other time she gets out of the house. I notice when a dog is under control, quiet and responsive to her owner.
It’s a goal of mine to be able to take my dog anywhere with no issues. So when I see a dog behaving better than mine, I notice. It’s a secret competition. Most dogs I interact with behave a lot worse than my dog, others are much more focused and calm. When I see a dog I admire, the owner has typically put a lot of time into working with that dog.
There’s no better way to learn about animal behavior and training than to speak with someone who has successfully trained a dog to do whatever you want your dog to do. And most dog owners like to hear something like, “That’s a really nice dog you have. How did you get him to stay at your side no matter what?”
People compliment me on how calm my dog is, and it’s a great compliment to receive. But no one ever asks how he got that way. They assume it’s his personality, that labs are easy to train (uh, yeah) or that I lucked out. These people have obviously never seen my dog obsess over a tennis ball or crash through an agility course. They don’t know that it took daily six-mile runs and hours of training to get my hyper dog to relax.
We all know dog owners like to brag about their dogs. It’s what we do. We like to complain about them too, but that’s just another version of bragging. “My dog took and ate an entire steak from the table …”
So, the next time you see a well-behaved dog, tell her owner you’re impressed. Then ask how she got to that point. There’s always more we can learn.
What kinds of compliments does your dog get? What do you admire in other people’s dogs?
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I’m with you, I definitely admire good behavior because we see it so rarely when we are out!
Biggie gets complimented on his size, his appearance (“beautiful dog!”) and his behavior. He’s getting a lot better about walking well on a loose leash and we are slowly transitioning frmo the Gentle Leader. People in the dog run, whom he knows and loves, are the ones who started calling him the “Prom King” – he is complimented on his behavior and sweetness with people he knows. Sometimes he even gets complimented on his guarding.
We also get a lot of:
“Hey put a saddle on that thing!”
“What is that, a polar bear?”
and my favorite,
“Does he bite?”
If we don’t get comments about Gus not missing a meal, we get:
“He’s SO cute!”
“He’s beautiful”
We have also been told that he looks like a cartoon character.
I think we get equal “fat” comments as we do “cute” comments. The most common is the ever-annoying:
“What is that!?”
It is a dog, silly!
Good Points Lindsay… most people are completely obsessed with a dog’s appearance and never take the time to look underneath the “fur” if you will.
It takes A huge commitment, time, willingness and consistency to train a dog into a good dog. Sure some people get lucky, but those are few and far between.
Too bad more people dont realize how much work it really is. There’d be a lot fewer animals in shelters in this was the case.
Trooper really gets the most attention now a days. Kodiak used to and he still gets a lot of comments on how beautiful he is. But Trooper is so big and fluffy that people just seem to gravitate to him.
Trooper has gotten a lot better at behaving when I take him out – the choke chain helped. But he still gets excited if someone goes all baby voice on him and tries to jump on them. Only he jumps up backwards – with his back to them. He expects them to catch him and rub his belly while he stands on his hind legs. It’s hilarious but I only allow it if the person is okay with it (like his agility instructor who is totally okay with it).
re: Trooper, hahahaha!
Our old Eskie would get super flirty with the women who’d do the baby voice. He’d go up to them and look up at them with this “I only have eyes fur YOU!” look and leeeaaaan ever so gently.
That is a really good idea… I admire calm and well mannered dogs, too. Usually I get asked what breed my smooth collies are… usually the blues are mistakenly thought of as being Australian shepherd mixes. =P Not only aussies are blue!
Chels only gets comments on her size, and both get comments on their coat…I make it a point to compliment on well behaved dogs when Im out photographing …. the talk usually swings to training, methods and trainers … mind you there are also alot of misbehaving dogs…I always feel Chels has to be better than others due to her size and looks… she can be intimidating especially if she is alert
After meeting Ace a few times, I am so impressed at how calm he is, (especially compared to my dog)! We exercise a lot, but he still gets so excited around new places, and does his anxious whining routine. I think I really need to do your 30-day challenge and take him to a new places every day and reward him for being calm. We tried that at Petsmart just a few days ago, and he did very well, until I asked him to relax in front of the cat cages…he was very unhappy about that
Ace frustrates me because I want him to be calmer at the door and when he meets other dogs, so thanks for the compliment!
I took Eli to a nearby park and he did not do any whining there, even when we came across other dogs and people. Good boy!
Ace will sometimes do the “whining routine” when we visit new places as well, especially in the car. When this happens I am usually unable to get him to stop crying. Any suggestions? I know it’s a matter of taking him more places and not letting him out until he’s calm, but he’s at his worst when we go on short roadtrips to places like Detroit Lakes or Itasca State Park. He recognizes these places and gets extremely excited (panic attack crying and shaking!) but it’s not like I can bring him to these places very often and practice teaching him to be calm. Taking him for a 10-mile bike ride before we go doesn’t help either, I tried that! It’s a state of mind, not a matter of how much exercise he’s had.
Also, I forgot to tell you that when Eli was here I was telling him to do things like roll over just to see what he knew, and he did it perfectly the first time I asked. I was impressed! Ace is very reluctant to roll over.
Roll over is one of his favorites….he plays dead too and gets very animated about that sometimes! Eli also does a lot of whining in the car, especially when we go to the dog park or even on the way to Lindenwood. He whines and starts shaking, even before we are at the park. I have even tried taking different routes, but there are only so many ways to get to once place and I think he’s starting to recognize most of them. And like you said, there is no stopping it! I think the car is the most difficult place to control it because there’s really not much you can do while you are driving. I have a shhh command I use when he barks that actually quiets him down, but does nothing for the whining. One trainer told me to put my hands over his mouth and tell him to stop…and when I told her I tried that and it doesn’t work, she said I wasn’t doing it right, but trust me, it doesn’t work! Maybe it’s just a matter of not letting him do anything while he’s excited, and waiting until he is completely relaxed to let him out of the car. But some days I don’t have 2 hours to wait until he relaxes. I am going to try acupuncture for him because sometimes his whining is out of control and maybe it will help him relax in general. My plan is to take him to acupuncture, and see if he is relaxed after wards, and then take him to places where he is most anxious. I’m hoping if I take him to these places after he is relaxed, then it will just turn into a behavior. I guess it’s worth a try!
I agree that the hand over the dog’s mouth doesn’t work. It maybe works with dogs that are not as anxious.
I think it is a matter of waiting until they relax completely before letting them out of the car. But when Ace is on his worst behavior, we are usually visiting someone or meeting someone or have friends or family along and they are not going to want to sit and wait for my dog to calm down. I have thought of using an e-collar with him but so far I just tolerate the behavior (and get very annoyed).
I wouldn’t have suggested acupuncture because I don’t have any experience with it. You will have to let me know how that goes.
I have en e-collar (shock collar) for Eli, and even that doesn’t stop the whining when he is very excited. Usually the vibrate is all he needs whenever he is off leash, but that nor the actual shock does nothing for the whining. I have tried acupuncture a few times myself and it is great! I will let you know how it goes on the dog.
I think the shock collar would work for Ace, I just haven’t gotten around to buying one with a remote. He’s trained on a shock collar for my parents Invisible Fence.
Our peke mix, Stella is either really protective, excited, or scared around strangers. Yet she’s so small that everybody thinks it’s cute. When bringing her home for the first time, we stopped at a Runnings to get her a bigger collar, and I took her out in the field next to the store to let her go to the bathroom and walk around a bit. We got closer to the store, and she started barking at people. One guy said “She’s the store’s guard dog! How cute!” No, not cute dude, she would probably rip your leg off if I let her off the leash.
Then when visiting my brother’s college, we had her out and she was barking at people passing by. Some guys were “barking” back at her.(Yeah, that helps!) Two girls walked away quickly, one even said “Woah, psycho dog”.
Then my brother’s friend came over and kicked her for biting his leg when he came into the house(Mind you, she’s a 14 pound dog, so she slid across the room). What he doesn’t understand is that he just confirmed her fear that strangers were going to hurt her.
She’s a wonderful dog everywhere else, with anything else, but just not people she doesn’t know. Therefore, I always see dogs that are so well-behaved and honestly, I’m a little jealous. It’s difficult, but we’re working on her, although she did break skin a little bit on my other brother’s friend. Even when we gave him a treat to give to her, she ate the treat and then bit him. The breaking skin may have been due to the fact that he jumped back in surprise, but it’s still unacceptable.
It especially stinks when ding dong ditchers who think they’re being funny ring the doorbell several times a day. Usually we pick her up and put her in her kennel, and don’t let her out until she’s calmed down and has stopped scratching at the door.
It’s frustrating when other people only add to the problem. People do that with my dog Ace who is nuts about a tennis ball. Instead of helping him calm down, people are very entertained by his obsessiveness and keep talking to him and throwing the ball and getting him excited.
I’m fostering an American Eskimo, and he is scared of strangers and will growl if someone pulls on his collar or reaches at him in a certain way. Apparently the words “Please don’t pet my dog. He doesn’t always like strangers” are not enough to stop people from reaching at him.