Dog people?

[bk_blue]

Do you think dogs can tell whether someone is a dog person or not? Further, do you think they know how much they can get away with according to the person? Is this acceptable behaviour?

BK can tell! When Dad had the painters over to paint the outside of the house last year, the painters were "dog people". Didn't take any melodrama from BK, were firm with him, and he ADORED them and behaved perfectly for them. You just couldn't get him away from them. Luckily for him, the feeling was mutual. He would've done brilliantly as a tradesman's dog.
With the different mower men Dad has had, BK would try his bag of tricks on all of them and you could tell they all loved dogs by the way they interacted with him and told him from the outset they wouldn't put up with any of his little tricks, and you could really see that BK understood and behaved really well if they set the boundaries straight away. He really is amazingly well-mannered as long as he knows you're the boss.
The exception was one guy who had been mauled by a dog on the job once and asked us to lock BK up in the house or tie him up while he mowed the lawn, which was fair enough I suppose, but fancy being a mower man and being scared of dogs! Besides, this wasn't practicable as people weren't home all the time. BK knew this guy was scared of him and took any chance he had to let him know he knew it. Not by biting or growling (he wouldn't hurt a fly) but just being obnoxious. The guy was just not interested in learning how to handle a dog at all and as a result BK played up just for him, but if we told him to settle down or lie on his bed, he'd do it immediately. Anyway now Dad has a mower man who thinks BK is tops and the best behaved dog ever, and even told Dad that he thought BK was a bit shy. Any of you who know of his exploits would also think that is as funny as I do. :o :lol:
Whether or not behaving according to whoever is on the end of the lead, so to speak, is a hallmark of a badly-trained dog or not is debatable. It is arguable a dog should behave the same to everyone, but they obviously don't. Clearly BK is a dominant dog who was quite difficult to train in that respect, and he needs that constant reminder of who's in charge, otherwise he'll take a mile when given an inch. :)

[imported_Matty]

Its quite strange how dogs love doggy people and cats love non cat people. :o
Tell me, which is the smarter species?

I think BK sounds like a lovely dog :wink:
And yes, I completely agree that dogs treat different people differently. I had one person walk my arm socket breaking dog and he walked in a perfect heel. :o this person was an experienced dog person. Never could I get my dog to behave as well as he did for her. He worshipped this women and groveled at her feet :-?

[MajiesMom]

Dogs know dog people! I guess they get the same feeling they get from other dog people as they get from their owners that admire them so much and love them. I never trust people that don’t like dogs or my dog and it has always works as a rule. Even some people that don’t like dogs but like Magic for some reason I connect with and get along with.

[Horsefeathers!]

What an awful, cruel joke, bk! :x

I clicked on "dog people" expecting to see pictures of some newly discovered species of humans with floppy ears and running around on all fours. :o

[sarahmyjoy]

LOL at HF :lol: :lol:

[BuddysMom]

I think they can tell!

Our dear departed Puppy never growled at anyone except our kitty-corner neighbor, who is a really nice guy (I think!) I wondered if it was because he was blind... but then I found out that he really did not like dogs.

[courtnek]

they know. I know they know.


:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Seijun]

My dog seems to have no preference for either dog or non dog-type people. She DOES know however what she can get away with for/with certain people. She tries to pull those little stunts on me though as if she thinks I might let her break the rules just that once.

~Seij

[imported_Kat]

Meg is the type of dog that is just a good all-rounder and will try her charm on any type of people! :wink:

[imported_nea]

Web most people, but there are definatly different degrees of like! :wink:

Theres a man in the appartment building who's been dubbed "the sour old man" for as long as I can remember. Always a nasty, argumentative, selfish, bitter, old man. But he ADORES Web! :o :lol: Once when Web was a puppy and saying hi to him, he started rooting around in the man's grocery bag before I could stop him and then proudly gave a cheese to the man, who was charmed. :roll: :lol: I didn't realize at the time that it was the sour old man, but later found that out. Today I was walking Web and he was behaving perfectly. Then suddenly he got all excited. The sour old man was walking by.... He said hi to Web and Webby was oh so pleased. :)

Occasionally on walks Web will see someone that he loves. Just complete strangers, but he is [u]determined[/u] to say hi to them. He doesn't leap up or anything (he did as a puppy but thankfully has quit! :o) but strains his neck and looks as cute as possible.

Web always acts perfectly (or nearly so) with his breeder. She doesn't let him get away with things, and he has learned that. :wink:

Web likes non-dog people too, but it seems more like he wants to tease them and get treats than he wants to be with them because of themselves, sort of. And the few people he doesn't like, they'd better stay FAR away, cause I wouldn't trust them a bit. :-?

So the point of this longwinded reply is that yes, I think that dogs can tell the difference... :roll:

[Canis erectus]

Sure dogs know who are dog people. If they can't smell any of the various doggie scents on a dog person's clothes (not all dog people own dogs), they can definately tell who might like them just from the most subtle nuances of body language.

I also think it's interesting to look at the various people that dogs like/dislike based on general physical appearance. Zoey hasn't ever met anyone who she didn't think was her best pal, but China certainly has her preferences. Being that she was once a nearly feral dog it's granted that she'll have some 'personality quirks', the only preference that she seems to show toward liking someone are toward quiet, soft-spoken people. China definately shows a dislike/mistrust toward men in general, loud people, blondes, overweight people, and anyone who is abnormally tall or short. Some, if not all of these things, have something to do with her past life, but it interesting to see how differently she reacts and behaves towards various different people.

Oh, and I'd also gone into a house once that was owned by a rottweiler who didn't like people wearing hats. And you should have already guessed by now that I just happened to be wearing a hat and I almost got mauled for it. I asked the owners what the dog's reasoning was behind this behaviour and they told me that they didn't know, they had the dog since puppy-hood and she's never had any bad instances with hat wearing people. I'm told that this isn't an entirely uncommon personality trait dogs.

[courtnek]

[quote]China definately shows a dislike/mistrust toward men in general, loud people, blondes, overweight people, and anyone who is abnormally tall or short.[/quote]

**sigh** China will never like me. I am blonde, somewhat pudgy, and short.... 8)

the hat thing is actually documented. I dont know if its ever been explained. some dogs hate people in uniform, but I have always thought that was because of the mailman in the old days (or like my 140 yr old house) when the mail was delivered right to the door or mail slot. they seem to recognize a uniform and take that dislike to all people in uniform. which might explain why cops are so leery of dogs (the good ones, not the shoot-first-ask-later ones) I dont understand the hat thing tho. If the dog has never been frightened by someone in a hat, I dont know why seeing one upsets them so much...

:o

[imported_Cassie]

[quote]Oh, and I'd also gone into a house once that was owned by a rottweiler who didn't like people wearing hats. And you should have already guessed by now that I just happened to be wearing a hat and I almost got mauled for it. I asked the owners what the dog's reasoning was behind this behaviour and they told me that they didn't know, they had the dog since puppy-hood and she's never had any bad instances with hat wearing people. I'm told that this isn't an entirely uncommon personality trait dogs.[/quote]
As for dogs with quirks and dislikes for people in hats, men in uniform etc. it all comes down to socializaton and fight or flight instinct. If a dog had never seen a person with a hat on during its critical period of socialization then it would not associate what a person looks like with a hat on. Then possibly the first time the dog sees some one with a hat on...perhaps the hat flew off the persons head and scared the dog...or the person bent down and the hat moved etc etc etc....we as humans rarely recognize when our dogs have been frightened. Once the dog has been frightened it will respond to it on a survival basis. Fight or flee.
I have seen some dogs which had not been properly socialized form a life long fear or aggression to one certain item/human etc which may have frightened it when it was young. One of my Newf's Gil was walking by a few garbage bags when he was an adolescent, the owner of the kennel had put a tarp over top of the garbage bags to keep the crows out. The tarp just happened to be snapped in the wind and the garbage bags made a russeling noise. Gil was terrified of garbage bags for the longest time because of the sound it made and it surprised him. I would never have made the association if I hadn't been there when he was spooked. For most people they don't even realize when their dog has been subjected to some thing scary. The only indication Gil gave at the time that he was spooked was he froze and walked so close to me you would have thought he was trying to get inside my leg.
Some dogs fear the unknown, it looks different or smells different then instinct kicks in and puts the dog in fight or flight mode. With postal workers (poor postal workers :lol: ) there are many dogs which become postal worker aggressive :wink: For a dog what they see is a stranger coming onto their turf, and clunking some thing into the mail box which can startle some dogs. Some dogs see the postal worker coming and start barking to scare of the intruder, and glory be, it worked the intruder is leaving...the dog has scared of the intruder.

There is such a big difference between a properly socialized dog which was socialized "properly" during the critical period and one that had not been properly socialized. Dogs fear the unknown, and if they did not have it imprinted during the socialization period from 4-16 weeks then it makes it much more difficult to get them used to new things as they get older. Its even worse if a dog develops a phobia due to having a bad introduction. It took me months to get Gil over his fear of garbage cans, and it had to be done slowly and I had to be very careful how I went about doing it. Gil also feared people when the carried a bag of dog food...he had never seen it before and he was an adult...when I carried in a bag of food one day he was so scared he was huddled in a corner, I reacated quickly and let him know it was me carrying the bag. I then set it down and got some cookies and started carrying the bag again and threw cookies for him...it took awhile, but, he no longer has a fear of people carrying a bag of dog food. :wink:
I have also gone through other problems as well, fear of walking on ceramic flooring (all of my Newfs), I have one Newf (Cassie) who was frightened to death of men, she would cower when ever a man approached or came to my home. I had to slowly get her over her fear and now she is a mans girl :lol: She had never been abused by a man, her problem was she was brought up by a female breeder who did not have a man in her life. The breeder did not properly socialize this litter and viola, you have a litter of pups who are fearful of men...the reason is they had never met a man during the crititcal period.

[DogPaddle]

Kavik and Zaphod can tell firm and confident people from wishy washy sorts and they take FULL advantage. I think they can tell dog people from non-dog people but they have different methods. Zaphod doesn't pay as much attention to them after his initial affectionate assault. Kavik is obsessed with non-dog people; he puts on his puppy face and cajoles and snuggles and leans and arooos etc - I think he is trying to win them over. :D

[Cairn6]

[quote name='nea']Web most people, but there are definatly different degrees of like! :wink:

Theres a man in the appartment building who's been dubbed "the sour old man" for as long as I can remember. Always a nasty, argumentative, selfish, bitter, old man. But he ADORES Web! :o :lol: Once when Web was a puppy and saying hi to him, he started rooting around in the man's grocery bag before I could stop him and then proudly gave a cheese to the man, who was charmed. :roll: :lol: I didn't realize at the time that it was the sour old man, but later found that out. Today I was walking Web and he was behaving perfectly. Then suddenly he got all excited. The sour old man was walking by.... He said hi to Web and Webby was oh so pleased. :)

Occasionally on walks Web will see someone that he loves. Just complete strangers, but he is [u]determined[/u] to say hi to them. He doesn't leap up or anything (he did as a puppy but thankfully has quit! :o) but strains his neck and looks as cute as possible.

Web always acts perfectly (or nearly so) with his breeder. She doesn't let him get away with things, and he has learned that. :wink:

Web likes non-dog people too, but it seems more like he wants to tease them and get treats than he wants to be with them because of themselves, sort of. And the few people he doesn't like, they'd better stay FAR away, cause I wouldn't trust them a bit. :-?

So the point of this longwinded reply is that yes, I think that dogs can tell the difference... :roll:[/quote]
Well I guess the sour old man is just people aggressive not dog aggressive :lol:

[imported_Cassie]

[b]Cairn6 wrote[/b]
[quote]Well I guess the sour old man is just people aggressive not dog aggressive [/quote]
:lol: :lol: :lol:
I wonder if its genetic or a learned behavior. :lol:

[Marble]

Dresden can tell for sure :) If someone a woman is scared of her she's almost always very sweet and gentle. If a man is scared of her she terrorizes him, stares, barks, growls, etc...If someone doesn't like her she generally ignores them completely. And if someone likes her she tries to get them to play with her and wants to climb all over them and lean on them to get them to pet her.......She's working on the climbing part....She's doing really well and maturing beautifully....

[bk_blue]

MARBLE!

Hello :D :D