Meeting breeds

That's awesome. What a trooper!

LOL that sounds right. Ollie's tail is ALWAYS wagging. I think I could throw him through a brick wall and he'd still want to work.

He's also seriously obsessed with fetching. Like, screaming, crying, shaking obsessed. He actually skinned his pads open playing ball and never showed any signs until my mom brought him inside and found blood all over.

A good cocker is totally underrated. I rarely meet the kind I like out in public, though, so I understand why even dog people sometimes have poor perceptions of them.

^ This. Although I much prefer a dog that is politely reserved with strangers/other dogs (and by politely reserved I mean well behaved and tolerant) than "ZOMG, HAI!!!!" I think I prefer the type of dog that stands there and lets you do what you will with it, but opens up and blossoms when it is with its person. Which is one of the reasons I've decided to try my luck with a Chessie.

I swear, when it is time for the next dog (which will likely be after Cynder passes) I would love to get an English Cocker from field lines. If it wasn't for the fact that I want a large, protective dog this time around, I probably would have gone the English Cocker route.

I think this is my 'ideal' as well. The whole 'ZOMG HAI' thing drives me nuts. My grandma's Foxhound is like this and it's SO annoying. Like, even if I'm trying to *quietly* pet Jackson so she doesn't hear, she notices and comes running over, jumps right on top of me and Jackson (which he doesn't take kindly to) and is just like INYOURFACE. She's so friendly, but she's also just so dumb, she has no clue about manners whatsoever. It's not even her purposely trying to be rude or obnoxious, she just... is. LOL. I've been around other dogs like this too and I know they're not the type for me (a Boston/Beagle mix, and a JRT/Beagle mix).

However, Jackson is a tad too reserved - I wouldn't look for a dog quite as shy in the future as much as I love him to death. He takes a long time to warm up to somebody. But once he does, he'll love you forever. But I do love that he's very much into me, but even though I'm very clearly his person, my whole close family he loves too.

Ideal next dog would have me as their #1 (i.e. wouldn't just hop off into a car with another person and be perfectly content to live out the rest of their life with them, LOL) but also be happy (and enjoy) attention from others, including strangers, if prompted. But not necessarily SEEK it out (in the 'I'm going to jump on everyone because you MUST say hi to ME!" way). That's why I think I've settled that if I get another terrier, it will be a Border. As terriers go, they seem to be the best 'family' terriers (most are great with kids) and friendly with people but still devoted to their person. And if I were to go bigger, I think I've strayed away from BC's and think an English Shepherd would much better suit me.

Btw, I love Chessies. I see quite a few around here (being on the Chesapeake Bay and all).

Get one! Get one!! Honestly though, I hang out with some Border Terriers now and love them. If I ever want a small dog, I think I'd seek one out. They are so enjoyable to be around and based on a lot of what you've said here and there, I think you'd be thrilled with one.

I do like chessies, but the dog aggression thing has always given me pause with the breed.

It's funny, Jack enjoys meeting people and is really excited at first, but he doesn't gush over them. DH says he is like a politician--smile, greet, shake hands, and move on. Jack also definitely has favorite people-he does not regard all people as equally awesome. His list of favorites goes--me, my friend Ann, DH, our trainer, one of the ladies that vacumms the center where he swims, then everyone else. As far as loyalty goes, he is more than happy to stick close to me at the dog park. He goes off and plays but if I start walking around the perimeter he follows without prompting usually. He is up my butt all.the.time. though--lol. In my experience goldens seem to be much more gushy with strangers than labs.

Honestly, from a training perspective I would rather work to tone down "ZOMG HAI" with strangers than deal with a timid or suspicious dog.

I think it's because they're really closer to spaniels than retrievers. Tollers are almost completely unrelated to the other retriever breeds, except possibly incidentally and relatively late in the breed's development.

Regardless, Tollers are the best and everyone should have them, except no one should have them so I can have all the Tollers.

Except tollers from one of the kennels around here. I am so put off, and nearly offended (only because I have an interest in what tollers remain as), at what's being produced. They don't even LOOK like tollers anymore.

I still want one someday, from the breeder I chose years ago now!

I'm the complete opposite, although I think some of that is that my dogs are rarely around "non-dog" people. I might find it worse if I had to deal with people who don't understand "he'd rather not say hi".

Meg is pretty ideal for me as far as that goes - she loves all people, but she doesn't actively try to fawn over them. If they greet her, she'll wander over and happily sit on their feet for petting. If I get up to leave, she's at my side. I worried a lot about Gusto with people for a bit - he's so stinking aloof. People want to pet him, and he sort of ducks away. But he never reacts, even if they grab him, and he has people he *adores* beyond all reason. He's just rather not have strangers touch him. He's kind of the dog equivalent of me, so I can't be too bothered .

He was actually hysterical at agility last night - I brought him in on leash, and for just a second, he clearly thought one of the women there was someone else - he came through the door and approached her in full-body wiggle happiness, then took a second glance and walked away in disgust when she reached down to pet him. I think she was offended!

This. Nothing like living with a 140lb human aggressive giant to make you count your blessings. :rofl1:

IDK, I find Summer's 'OMG HAI' a lot more annoying than Mia's 'Leave me alone, I don't trust you.'

If I could snap my fingers and have Tucker suddenly transformed into the most obnoxiously friendly dog on the planet I'd do it in a heartbeat. So much worry would be gone.

I'll go opposite. If I could transform Gambit into a super friendly in your face loves everyone dog, I might have to throttle him. I would probably do it for his sake, so he didn't have to live his life so edgy, but it would make me crazy.

I thought I wanted it until Folly came. She's a lab/ACD and has the temperment of the lab. Friendly, never meets a stranger, gentle, loves the world, happy, happy, happy, and I regularly want to kill her. No one can understand why I'm not adopting her, but that overfriendliness and desperate need for people makes me nuts.

I've had many people tell me to try spaniels, but I don't mesh with them in real life. They fit exactly what I want, but it's just like...no.

It's a selfish thing really, I like having a dog who clearly prefers me over everyone. Aloof doesn't mean fear or overt aggression, it merely means "meh, you're not my family, no thanks."

My first dog was aloof to everyone who wasn't me. That was gratifying at the time, but now I'd prefer to have a friendly dog. Though I love my girls, of course, and they haven't been super social with other people.

For people who think they'd rather deal with timid or suspicious than an "OMG HAI" dog, you need to have a dog like my friend's oldest Standard Poodle. He goes right up to everyone, and if you touch him, he bites you. Deal with that, and you'll appreciate the friendly ones a little more. :lol-sign:

Pirate really does have the ideal temperament from my standpoint. He loves people, but he generally does not fling himself at strangers. That may partly be training, he's just learned that he doesn't go up to everyone. At dog shows, he tends to be uberfriendly because he assumes everyone is there to meet him. And as I recently discovered, he'll throw himself at any mail carrier, because ours carries dog biscuits. Otherwise, he can walk right by people without much notice, it's when they act like they want to meet him that he plasters himself to them.

This is my Plotts to a tee and the reason I love them so much.

I'm obsessed with daisy but I'm pretty sure she'd forget me shortly if she went to live elsewhere.

She can come live here. <3

Pirate sounds awesome!!

Here's a random question for everyone:

How much of the "everyone's best friend" do you think is a training/relationship issue with the handler? Anyone who has met Zinga (or even Zuma) knows she's very much everyone's best friend and loves to be in everyone's faces looking for attention. However, through premack work and training, she now will go say hi to a stranger and come straight back to me and offer great focus.

I have never had a dog that even though they loved people and are over the top with greetings, that they prefer the company of another person to that of mine. So I'm curious about that. What training/relationship building has been done with that sort of dog? Are they just a house pet or do they actively engage in training or other activities with their handlers?

This isn't meant to tick any one off, I'm just really curious.

Yep. Nothing at all wrong with an aloof dog. MY GSD Jora was so perfectly aloof, she was awesome. I could take her anywhere and she was totally trustworthy but when strangers tried to interact with her, it was as though she couldn't even see them. They could pet her, hug her or whatever and she was just like "meh". I got asked "Is she shy?" a lot by pet people, which is kind of weird for a dog who's standing there letting you pet them without any sort of fear or resentment. She wasn't shy, she just didn't care if strangers existed or not.

OMG did she love her family and friends though. Once someone was her friend, she never forgot them and would greet them like enthusiastic, silly puppy every time even if she hadn't seen them for years.


Off topic but I'm curious about this dog's history. Did she have him as a puppy? What was he like then? When did he start this behavior?

And I dunno, different personality traits suit different people. Most people who love say GSDs are not people who want "OMG HAI!". If they did, they wouldn't have GSDs. Most people who love Goldens, enjoy gregarious dogs. There really isn't a right or wrong answer for what people should like or appreciate. I can appreciate a lot of different types of dogs.