Guests and pup discipline

edited July 2009 in General
Yesterday my brother had a friend over, and Jack went upstairs with them while I stayed downstairs. After a while, I heard my brother laughing and then suddenly his friend shouting at our dog... "BAD DOG! Drop it!" Apparently he stole her shoe (why her shoes were upstairs in our house in the first place, I don't know).

I was shocked! A stranger yelling at our dog and trying to give him commands just seems rude to me - like going over to another person's house and spanking their child if they misbehave. Granted, a dog should listen to known commands regardless of who's saying them... but I don't think a guest should give commands unless invited to.

Curious as to what you guys think. :)

Comments

  • edited November -1
    I don't reprimand anyone's animal. I'm also not stupid enough to leave my shoes where a puppy could get them. Just shout at her next time, "Bad human!"
  • edited November -1
    i would HAVE to agree! no one reprimands our dogs or cats... well our room mate does but we worked with him after he moved to so he knew the right commands. But wow the nerve of her; i would asked her to leave but, i'm mean when it comes to my animals they are my children.
  • edited November -1
    I started a very loud argument at a party by calling out some girl for clamping a puppies mouth shut until it squeaked as a way to discipline it. She didn't take it very well, but people don't like it when you point out that they are idiots.

    If your brother is 13 or older it's probably pretty obvious how her shoes were left upstairs.

    With the dogs of my good friends, I'll tell them "No" or take things from them if they are being naughty, but not dogs I don't know really well.
  • edited November -1
    I think the bigger issue is not that someone else is reprimanding the dog, but the reaction of a dog getting reprimanded by someone they may not be familiar with. Even a dog who cowers when their family reprimands it may not act so passively with a stranger. It's just like grabbing a dog you don't know by the scruff, their response can be unpredictable.

    If a dog hears "BAD BOY!...NO!" often enough, they already associate it as a negative sound and may not tolerate it from a stranger. Just as a dog may back down when a doggy 'sibling' growls at it, that same dog might fight and defend itself when being growled at by a dog they don't know.
  • edited November -1
    "If your brother is 13 or older it's probably pretty obvious how her shoes were left upstairs."

    LOL Brandon
  • edited November -1
    I know there are 3 jumpy, wiggly messes to contend with at my house, but if people would just ignore them instead of trying to correct them it would all be better 10 times faster. Running around shouting "down" when that's not the command I use or the way I use it gets them so excited. I'm still convinced it's easier to train dogs than humans.
  • edited November -1
    LOL Brandon - my brother is 14, and I watched them come in the back door. I just didn't notice she still had her shoes on.

    I was ticked off that she was there in the first place, I was left in charge and he didn't ask before he brought her over. When she yelled at my dog I almost kicked her out then and there. Instead I just called Jack downstairs and he hung out with me.
  • edited November -1
    The shoes - her own fault.
    I would not yell at or command anyone else's dog unless they asked me to and told me exactly what to say/do and how. That girl can be glad you didn't kick her out in the first place... lol
  • edited November -1
    I've been dealing with this a LOT lately, as we've had numerous out of town guests staying at our house. If they're friends/family of mine I make sure I explain how we treat our dogs in our house. There's no yelling, "alpha-male"-ing, being physical to give a correction, or yelling in our house. If they have issues with our dogs I ask that they come to me first.

    Now... James' parents... ugh. I can't tell them that, and even when he tries we get "That's just hippy bullshit." So usually if they're here the dogs stay separated from them by the x-pen. I'm not going to watch a grown man get on top of Keiko and flip her on her back ever again. Thankfully they're more comfortable in a hotel so the dogs only have a partially disrupted routine when they're here. (Don't get me wrong, I love his parents... we just have VERY different views when it comes to my furry children.)
  • edited November -1
    LOL, "hippie bullshit"...don't you wish you could pull the "non-hippie bullshit" out at that point? The "While you are staying under my roof you will abide by and respect my rules..." speech because that certainly isn't hippie bullshit.

    Jesse
  • edited November -1
    I'm at odds with this. On one side I do not want others disciplining my animals or children but on the other side other people do have the right to say no, don't or stop and at times I would like them to. I don't want them watching my dog go through the trash and not wanting to say something because they're afraid to upset me. Maybe I'm in the bathroom and wont be able to get there in time.
  • edited November -1
    I swear I'm working today. lol.

    Rina, I see where you stand. I do not discipline, however I would ask a question like "Is he/she supposed to be going through the trash?" or "Oh, your dog has my shoe. How do I get it back from him/her?" Then I let the owner deal with it. I have a friend who has a hell of a fur baby on wheels, and I do this quite often at their house.
  • edited November -1
    When my grandmother came to visit she kept trying to show me how to train Bella by forcing her to sit by pushing her butt down it made me mad she kept doing it funny thing I called Bella over to me I told her down and gave her the sit signal she sat down very quickly.

    I hate it when someone else tries to get my dog to do a trick she is the most odd grandmother around she puts a shock pad on her couch to keep her cats and dogs off, she puts a shock collar on her dog to get her to stop barking and she once lifted one end of the dogs crate and droped it to get her to be quiet I hated her seeing what she did I really wished I called the police on her, but I had no proof she did that to the dog my dad and mom was not in the room at the time.. >.<
  • edited November -1
    Tara if you ask me if a dog or child is supposed to go through the trash I would smack you across the head for asking such a silly question...lovingly of course :P
  • edited November -1
    ha ha ha ha. Now that I think of it it does sound kind've annoying. No one probably talks back to me cause they're scared. I'm a little terror sometimes.
  • edited November -1
    I have no problem with another person saying no to Katsu, I would have a problem with someone being physical with her or trying to be all dog whisperer.
  • edited November -1
    Sometimes dogs think they don't need to listen once mom and dad are gone. When we are in classes with our dogs, agility, obedience or whatever it is, I think it's nice for the dogs to learn that another friendly human can give them a mild verbal correction and lead them back to their place by their collar when they break a down stay or suddenly decide to take off across the room and visit (in my case jump on the instructors with glee) when they are supposed to be working. This especially helps when we do long off lead down/stays where owners are out of sight and only 1 or 2 people are actually still in the arena with the dogs, or when we go over each others dogs.

    When mine break their stays and run amuck, people will say "the Shiba's up", "Oh oh, Beebe's in trouble", "you aren't supposed to jump, but you sure look cute!" or "You're not supposed to be over here, go back to your place and sit," and then lead the pup back over to their spot or hold her until I get there. I have no objection to other people establishing boundaries with my pushy little girl as long as they are kind and I give them permission to.
  • edited November -1
    Once I give permission and explain how I correct/interrupt my dog from doing something he's not supposed to do, they have all rights to do so and I want them to. I do not want my dog to think he can control everyone in the area just because we're not home. However, if people just start yelling 10 different things so loud that the whole neighborhood can hear them, or even beat my dog, well, of course I won't tolerate that.
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