Is Your Dog a Snob?

[moonchild1970]

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Whenever our pups meet someone new away from our house, they have such totally different reactions!!

Pepper openly loves everyone and will play fetch with everyone.

Poppy, on the other hand, won't. He will simpy walk away. Grabbing the ball and dodging pats and attention until he gets to me.(He just wants to drop the ball at my feet and play catch).

Even if they talk to him or call him by name. He won't even acknowledge them!! (Even if we aren't playing ball).

Is this normal BC behavior? He will suffer petting and all but doesn't initate it or even seem to enjoy it from strangers.


Now if people come in the house then he is different. He will greet them and all and be friendly.

 

[RD]

Perfectly normal, especially if there is a ball involved. If there is fetching to be done, Dakota won't give strangers at the park the time of day and will carefully dodge any attempts to pet or catch him. He is very friendly inside the house though.

Will Popcorn play fetch with anyone else?

 

[ihartgonzo]

Gonzo is SUCH a snob. =P He will always bring the frizbee or ball back to me, if some one that his doesn't know really well isn't calling him. He even by-passes my sisters and Mom most of the time to bring it back to me. He will pretty much obey anyone with a treat, who he trusts. Try giving others yummy treats if you want Popcorn to obey them. However, I actually like that my BC considers me & his family number one. His wariness with strangers makes me comfortable in that I know no one could steal him (without a fight), he would protect me against shadey people, and in a situation where I need him to listen to me he will.

His most exaggerated snobbery is with other dogs. He's definitelty a breed snob! He is mostly comfortable with herding dogs or small dogs... it varies with other breeds. He is "breedist" 90% of the time with some particular breeds of dogs (Labs, Goldens, most sporting dogs, bully breeds) unless he has met them many times and they have earned his trust. On the other hand, he has yet to not attempt to play with every Husky, Border Collie, Corgi, Chi, & Greyhound he has ever met. So, yeah, BC's are some of the biggest snobs of the dog world... most of all, they should be dedicated to their family, as long as there isn't aggression involved, his indifference with unknown people is a trait that this breed is known for.

 

[Kathy29]

Loppi is a snob too! Not only towards other dogs but humans as well. When she steps out of her house, nothing else but me and her matters. Someone may try to tempt her with her favorite treat but she won't give more than 2 sniffs before walking away. With dogs.. she acts like she could care less even if they're right in her face. She simply looks at them (and I find it odd how she doesn't do the whole smell thing like other dogs do!) and turns around to walk away. Because of this, I think that if she ever got out on her own, no one would be very successful at catching her. Could be a good and bad thing.

 

[Red_ACD_for_me]

My boy could care less who is around when we are playing fetch at the park and won't go up to anyone or even other dogs. He totally ignores them. ACD's aren't one of those happy go lucky breeds that love everyone anyway, so I don't consider him snobby

 

[SummerRiot]

Riot just plain scares some people lol EVEN JUDGES in the ring!!

Now.. he USED to be fearful/aggresive, but he was also going through his "kill all who touch me" puppy stage that 95% of Belgians go through.

Now.. I assume its just his apperance?
He has admirers from afar, that will yell out hes a handsome boy, but back away when he walks up to them lol

Hes gotten much better, although only to a select few people.

Some people that like to "glare" at him, he'll still do a deep rumble.

But now he'll wag his tail and rub up against them for a quick pet, then come back to me for a "I did good right?" lol

Chime on the other hand is like "your here to pet me.. and ONLY me" lol
Shes such an opposite "Normal Belgian" puppy. She'd make a GREAT first time Belgian owner thrilled

Crosbie LOVES kids - more then adults and will run up to any kid he sees to get a pat from them.

Jada is social with everyone though lol

Typical little Shelties lol

 

[jess2416]

Chloe will only run up to people that "SHE" wants to pet her...and if someone does throw her ball or rubber dumbell, no matter who threw it, she will bring it back to me...

 

[smkie]

My friend Kelly's dog Fergi is kinda like that. She goes through the dog park just fine but with a don't bug me attitude. Mess with her and she will snarl, but that is where it stops. Kelly did a fine fine job with her as a puppy. She was the MOST AGGRESSIVE pup i ever saw in my entire life. I thought she was out of her mind keeping this dog. Fergi is one of my all time favorites. She has an attitude, but she is totally cool about it.

 

[moonchild1970]

No Poppy will NEVER fetch for anyone else. He will NEVER even food from them.

When an adult or child corners him he will growl and if you don't back off, he will snap. Now if you are polite about meeting him he is very friendly. And if he approaches you he is very friendly.

Pepper is the opposite. She loves just about everyone. And if not at least she gives them a chance before making up her mind...lol.

 

[Doberluv]

Lyric, my Doberman is very much aware of his station in life. He will only associate with people or dogs of his class. First he has to size them up and find out what kind of family they come from, their education, their socioecconmic status. Then, and only then, provided they meet his stringent standards, will he associate with them.

Chulita and Jose are much more liberal about this. They tend to make quick assessments and will allow much more immediate familiarity from strangers. They really have very low standards.

 

[GSDlover_4ever]

Caza, OMG, is all I have to say. He HATES being touched and growls if someone does touch him (its not a fearful thing, I dont know where it comes from, Its just his personality, I guess). Now, you can be around him, run circles around him ect. HE doesnt care what goes around him. I rememeber the first time he heard a gunshot, I was expecting him to atleast turn around and look, NOPE not Caza, he just kept going. He's fine as long as you dont touch him. He'll warn all day and not bite but I would never allow that to happen. No one touches him because I respect his personality. I dont try to break him from it because there is no point, he doesnt go out in public with me, usually and when he does I am always watching him to make sure no ignorant people run up and pet although he wears a backpack and in BIG BOLD LETTERS it states DO NOT PET, guess some people cant read .

Neeko is like "pet me PLEASE". He will lay on your lap until you pet him.

Joe is weary of people.

Hondo is very outgoing loves people, but after a while he's like "leave me alone I want to play with mommy". Know Hondo ONLY plays with me, adn up until last week, no one in my house was allowed to play with him. Now he is always by my side.

 

[Roxy's CD]

GSD- Roxy sounds a lot like your Caza. She doesn't mind people being around but she doesn't like being touched, or talked to by strangers. I know, it sounds ridiculous but everytime it never fails. "Oh! What a cute doggie you are!!!" *Roxy snarls/shows teeth gets up and moves as far as she can away from them*

We've been working on this issue and I hope to get her at least to the point where she'll stand properly and allow a judge to examine her, but I don't ever think she'll allow just anyone to touch her. Obedience work is different, and she brings a different mentality to school than as opposed to just walking down the street.

Hades loves everyone. Sometimes he's a bit timid if people rush up to him, but 99.9% of the time he'll roll right onto his back and wait to get belly rubs! LOL

 

[Cidney]

Yes, Scooter my biggie Yorkie isnt even aware that he is a dog. He will not associate with any other dog except for my other Yorkie. When other dogs are around him or in our house, he moves away from them like, ick, you are a dog, get away from me. He hates when other dogs want to sniff or play with him, I dont know why he is like this. I could see if he were the only dog I had and he wasnt around other dogs but I do have a second dog and Scooter loves, loves, loves my other Yorkie. I dont know why Scooter is like this and I really wished he would play with other dogs. I am getting another puppy soon so maybe Scooter will adjust because poor old Cidney is getting old, he is 13 and just wants to rest and not play so much these days.

 

[moonchild1970]

Yeah see my two pups bonded to each other and that is the only dog that Poppy cares about. Pepper, like I said earlier, is good with everyone.

 

[RD]

Keep in mind too that Border Collies do have a tendency to focus solely on their handler. They wouldn't be much use in the pastures if they wanted to play with the sheep

My Dakota is more like Pepper - he'll give anyone a chance before he makes up his mind about them. However, if I give him a command or if there is something in my hands worthy of his complete focus, other people don't exist. I've had him offlead at a heel in the middle of a massive agility trial (TONS of people and dogs, dogs barking and running, balls being thrown in every direction) and he didn't glance away once. It's part of what I love so much about the breed - they give you their complete attention when there is something to do.

 

[moonchild1970]

Me too! I like that about this breed alot.

I just wish the kids at the park would leave him the hell alone. They make him snap when they keep cornering them coz he is ignoring them...~Sigh~