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Do you mildly annoy your dogs?

3K views 18 replies 13 participants last post by  Jenny720 
#1 ·
So... after binging on a lot of dog videos my Youtube has nothing but more dog video recommendations.
I just revisited Jenna Marbles' "How to Mildly Annoy Your Dogs" series and I can't help but find them a little bit funny :') (Though I can relate a little bit with my cat, he's very tolerant about getting rough kisses and maybe a backwards petting or two :p )

On a light note, do you ever mildly annoy your dogs? I would love to hear any funny stories!

And on a more professional note: do you think this interferes with their obedience, respect, etc. towards you? Would love to hear your opinions!
 
#2 ·
Are you talking about teasing them?

I don't tease my dogs. Sometimes when Babsy is watching me eat my dinner, she may think that is not the case, but if I notice it, I tell her, "not yet, I will give you some, in a little bit." I tell her, "I'm not done yet." or "It's too hot, you will have to wait." She understands, mostly. Sometimes in the same tone, I will tell her to go away, or go lay down, and she will trot into the other room and lay down on her recliner. When the dish hits the floor, the toenails quickly follow.

But no, that crap about putting a dog treat on their nose or on their paws and make them wait to eat it, won't do it. And, show the dog a treat and close my hand around it when they try to get it, nope. I see all of that as teasing. I do teach the gentle command, but all the dog needs to do is be gentle with my fingers, and they get the treat.

I guess, I do not want my dogs to annoy me, and I would rather not be annoying to them.
 
#3 ·
Yes. Constantly. No, it has not interfered with their obedience or trust or bonding to me. Because I never take it to a level that makes them feel as if they can't trust me. When I see any stress, I am done.

With Nix, I smooch on him all the time. He doesn't enjoy it. But he tolerates it, if he gets truly uncomfortable, I let him go. He trots away and 20 seconds later his head is back in my lap. Also. I make him get on the couch so I can snuggle with him. Now, if you listen to FB, dogs hate this. FB is probably right. But dang it. I pay the mortgage, I buy the food. I am going to snuggle. I need a boyfriend. Sorry just slipped out.

With Phoster, this may get me some negativity, but I constantly touch her bone when she is chewing it next to me. She loses her little Labrador mind. It makes me giggle. She is snarling and growling and talking smack, the whole time her body her is relaxed and her tail is going a mile a minute. It annoys her but it's a game. And before anyone freaks out about me causing resource guarding, she has none. She is a super vocal dog. If she ever got tense and truly upset, I would deal with it.

Lena, not really. She loves everything I do to her. Very little annoys her, except when I tell her to leave the cat alone. But hey.....or when I clip her nails. That really annoys her. But it annoys me more to hear her clicking throughout my house.

Wicket. Again. Not much annoys this new terrier of mine. Except Nix. Nix is really ticking her off. Lol.

My cat Minnie, well, she's a cat. The world annoys her. But she really talks crud when I clip her nails. Or when I don't realize her food bowl is empty or her litter is dirty. I get cast some serious shade for those infractions.
 
#4 ·
All the time. I hug on him, I fake throw his toys. I mess with him when he's sleeping sometimes. While it's fun for me, I actually consider it training. He's not around kids on a daily basis, but he's around them enough that's it's important that he not be startled by kids hugging on him (before I can tell them not to). And it's really done a world of difference. He used to be over stimulated by kids (anything at his eye level is just another puppy to him) but now he doesn't act as strongly, and there have been instances where he's accidentally ran into kids while hiking on a narrow trail, and the kids take the opportunity to pet him (without asking) and he doesn't bat an eye. Just kinda leans into it. Also, the house I go to for his weekly playdate has 3 kids, and the youngest doesn't realize that he isn't as used to being around kids like their dogs, so she is always trying to hug on him like she does her dogs, and luckily he doesn't seem to mind anymore. I really think that me bugging him all the time has helped his tolerance to situations like that.
 
#5 ·
Hmmm. I'm not sure its possible to annoy Russell. He loves any sort of attention. If anyone is annoying, its Russ, haha.

Carly tolerates a hug, or a kiss on the face, but you can tell she thinks you're an idiot when you do it.
 
#7 ·
I don't think I annoy my Patton on purpose, I think he actually enjoys the occasional Butt Ruffle. There are times when he may put a paw on me to get my attention and I take it in my hand and say, "yes, that is a big left paw" And then I start tapping his paws going, "right paw, left paw". He looks at me like, "that's not what I wanted". My hubby pretends to slap him with socks in the morning as he is getting dressed but I think Patton enjoys the game.

Chief, I don't annoy her on purpose because she is still learning the routine. No need to confuse things.
 
#8 ·
I don't really try to annoy Newlie but I am sure I do. Things like when I insist on taking his collar off and he fusses about it. When I block him off for some reason so that he can't follow me, ie trying to follow me down the basement stairs when he is not supposed to be on stairs right now.

It's hard to know the difference between what is teasing and what's a game. I sometimes fake throw a ball, he will start after it and realize it's not there, then come racing back and I pitch it to him. I will hide and he has to find me or hide his ball or cookies so that he can find them. I don't mess with his food once he has it, but I do make him wait sometimes before I give him the OK to eat and he often has to do something to get his treats.
 
#11 ·
I do remember one time when I put a stop to something regarding Newlie. I had not had him very long, but I knew already that he seemed good with kids. The kid next door and several of his friends came in and asked to play with Newlie and I stayed out there to watch, These were good kids but a group of 11 or 12 year old boys don't always make the best decisions. They started to play "keep away" with Newlie and I told them "No" because I was afraid the Newlie would feel he was being teased. Also, I did not want Newlie jumping up on them and maybe knocking them over or accidently biting their hand trying to get the ball. I think they probably thought I was being silly, and maybe I was, but better safe than sorry.
 
#15 ·
, These were good kids but a group of 11 or 12 year old boys don't always make the best decisions. They started to play "keep away" with Newlie and I told them "No" because I was afraid the Newlie would feel he was being teased. Also, I did not want Newlie jumping up on them and maybe knocking them over or accidently biting their hand trying to get the ball. I think they probably thought I was being silly, and maybe I was, but better safe than sorry.
Looks like you made a good decision there. I still have a scar on my arm from my pup trying to grab a ball on a string...and missed the ball and the string.
 
#12 ·
Just one annoyance I can think of. When I use to clip Sonnys' nails ( use dremmel now) he would take my hand in his mouth and pull my hand away. He was gentle but clearly trying to make a point about it but that kind of annoyed me so since hand was already in mouth I would take that opportunity to check all of his teeth. He would give me that "what's the use, she just doesn't get it." Look.

He annoys the heck out of me when he gets vocal and very animated f or more food after a meal. It makes me laugh. He doesn't like that I think he thinks laughing at him is a clear indication that I'm not understanding so he tries harder. Pick up bowl,drop it, look intensely at bowl while backing up and talking.

But general rule if both aren't having fun than it is not fun and it stops.
 
#13 ·
I annoy mine on occasion.....times when the dog knows better and a more typical correction isn't required...I'll call it ...getting the dog to rethink the situation and make the right choice with minimal coercion from me......otherwise...I see no sense in annoying a dog just for the sake of annoying the dog.

SuperG
 
#14 ·
What we call 'annoying', may very well be different in the dog language. If Cam has a toy and prances around Deja, it could be perceived by us as annoying but it is part of their hierarchy stuff now he is an adolescent. Closing my hand on a treat teaches them to back off when I have something good and then they get to eat it when they show impulse control; totally their own language. I think we humanize them too much and that dogs do not deliberately tease.
My teacher dog would put something 'valuable' on the rug and step back, only to keep a keen eye on the others to make sure no-one stole it. They wouldn't even consider such a foolish act. To some, this might look like teasing. To me it was reinforcing his status.
 
#17 ·
My son's friend's little brother came over with his mom for the pick up. They were over for a little while and the little boy ran over to max who was in deep sleep and layed on the floor and put his face right in max's face. Max knew the boy but max was also very versed in getting kisses in his sleep which he doesn't really mind.
 
#18 ·
the little boy ran over to max who was in deep sleep and layed on the floor and put his face right in max's face. Max knew the boy but max was also very versed in getting kisses in his sleep which he doesn't really mind.
Eek :surprise: Best way to get bitten. Luckily Max was the smartest of all in that room. What if he had bitten? It would have been in the face because he was startled. And then he would have been labeled a dangerous dog or PTS.
 
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