How do you treat your dogs?

Vikki89

Vikki89

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May not be the best title but what im trying to ask is how many of us treat our dogs more like children/pamper them, give them cuddles, let them on the sofas with you etc. and how many treat them like dogs?

hope that makes some sense :confused:
 
Henry is allowed on the sofa, and he gets cuddles (whether he likes it or not:D).

BUT he sleeps in his own bed downstairs, and he is not allowed to beg, come near when people are eating, or have human food. He is also only allowed on the sofa when I invite him if I am sitting there already, and he has to get off when he is told.

So I think I treat him like a dog:)
 
My dogs are a mix of both, they are my best friends, and basically I regard them as family, but I think I do treat them as dogs, I realise certain things are the way they are because they are dogs! Like my mum tells them of for lying on clean washing, I then tell her off because they dogs can't possibly realise its clean washing and/or of any significance!
 
She's my best friend and in that sense I pamper her senseless, shes always allowed on the sofa with me (and when we're out she sleeps there all day!).

However, she sleeps in her own crate (as opposed to my crate ;)), eats dog food, and I expect her to have manners and behave.
 
I treat my dogs like dogs, they live outside (and our furniture is too small for them :p) but that's not to say I don't get on the floor and roll around like an idiot putting on a silly voice and doling out tickles to tummies :D
 
They are spoilt, up on sofa/bed with me.

We have a 5 minute celebration when I get in from work every day with cuddles and squeels (them not me).

They come nearly everywhere with me. One friend has house rabbits so that's out hence I don't stay there long :p

I chat away to them like they understand but they are very much dogs - no scraps off plates and I won't tolerate begging.

However, if one or both became too dominant or big for their boots - things would be a changing and nasty mummy would be making an appearence! :D
 
Spudlet said:
Henry is allowed on the sofa, and he gets cuddles (whether he likes it or not:D).

BUT he sleeps in his own bed downstairs, and he is not allowed to beg, come near when people are eating, or have human food. He is also only allowed on the sofa when I invite him if I am sitting there already, and he has to get off when he is told.

So I think I treat him like a dog:)
Click to expand...

This :D
 
Mine know all th basic boundaries, at the moment they are all sleeping in the doggy room, except my rotti, she has always had a bed on thr landing:eek: she also spends the msot times with me, as she accompanies me on my night shifts, they dont scrounge, jump up, only whippets are allowed on chairs, no human foods shared or scraps given and I do not buy any treats at all, except turkey drum sticks for them now as a meal replacement.

I/we both me and OH spent alot of time exercising them,playing with them and going mad in the local huge field, with the ball thrower chasing them, playing hide and seek, ans having a hoon,OH also takes them swimming ans strips off:eek: and goes in with them.
 
OMG Cala is he mad?? not in the winter I'm thinking?

I'm pretty soft and they do get spoiled but I don't think they act too spoiled. But they sit of the sofa, lie in bed.. get whatever they want really!! Alfie doesn't really need any strictness cos he's a bit pathetic but i'll tell Star off if she's been a pain in the ass.
 
Bit of both.

When we lived in NI dogs weren't allowed inside. When we're back at home she sleeps outside, there is a stable left open with a pillow in it so I assume she sleeps in there! In dublin she had a kennel in the garden.

However when we moved to England she moved inside as the garden cannot be secured and we are in sheep country. She is allowed in all downstairs rooms but not on any furniture.

She doens't like cuddles, but will tolerate being stroked. I do however buy her numerous collars. :o
 
Korben is allowed on the couch but other than that, he has his own area of the house he sleeps in, a large indoor coal cellar which has had the door removed and has his bed and everything in it - its like a big indoor run really, as he has the whole back hall to move around in if he wants but cant access the rest of the house cause he is shut in there at night. He is not allowed upstairs as the cats have that area and given his size, will never be encouraged on to the beds. He gets just a little exercise at the moment given he is only 5 months old but he can go loopy in the large back garden and we spend time playing out there with him - typical doggy games, fetch and chase the kids :D

He goes in the boot of the car when he travels and knows his place in the pecking order so he is not spoiled at all - I think it would be tremendously dangerous to pamper a dog of his size and breed - hes a big lad
 
i let dennis on the couch with me sometimes but he also has his bed if i dont allow him on the couch. He sleeps in his own bed at night in the back kitchen. he always gets cuddles! and human food :l but he isnt allowed human food anymore as he is too fat and is on a diet! he isnt allowed in the bedrooms or on the beds. so i suppose he is half and half! :D
 
I think I am a bit of a meanie compared with a lot of you but its how it works for us and i still consider them my children.

We have a lot of dog scared friends and go to places as a therapy dog where there are lots of dog scared children.
So when we come in the house they go to their mat and sit and wait for me to put my stuff down before i come and pet them release them.
We don't tolerate any jumping, nudging, begging, being hyper unless it playtime or walk time.

No furniture at all, except the hammock in the back garden.

Sleep in crates and are sometimes in them when we are out.

They sit on their mats when we eat, are cooking or just when i tell them to.

But we spend an awful lot of our day playing silly bee's and taking big long walks and swims and they do come almost everywhere with us.
 
Ours sleep downstairs in the utility room and aren't allowed to beg food etc but they do get our leftovers mixed into their dinners. They are only allowed to sit on our laps on the sofa and have to get off if we ask except Susie who is so dominant she is banned from all priveleges or she gets above herself :rolleyes: They don't come upstairs at all but they are allowed everywhere downstairs and they spend all day with us or off rabbiting around the farm.
 
I'm soft as **** compared to you lot! Mine always sit on the furniture if there is space, the terriers sleep in or on my bed, Tilly sleeps in her bed in the kitchen and Flora even sleeps in my bed now I'm single (although not when there is a visitor! Then she is back in her own bed which is in my bedroom, thankfully she gets this rule perfectly, she would be banned from my bed full stop if it ever became an issue). They get scraps, usually in their food bowls with dinner but sometimes I will call them over and feed them by hand off my plate! They don't beg though. (except Floras new trick of begging for the end of peoples tea/coffee, which is currently being cured! :p) They are pretty pampered and are definately my babies, but they also know their place and things would change pretty quickly if they didnt!
 
My dogs are dogs - most of the time :p

My Goldie is allowed to sleep on the sofa - IF and WHEN I ask her to and she gets down the minute I tell her. They're obedient, live on the dog shelf (floor :p) and aren't allowed upstairs. They don't wear clothes (!), they are clipped short to stop them getting dirty and smelly, they are walked twice daily, fed once and have one natural treat of an evening (however, the GSD KNOWS when Corrie's finished, thats it its treat time!!) they also have a biscuit before we leave the house. They don't beg and they are ignored if they jump up and create a huge fuss when we arrive home, until they have calmed ... then we say hello.
Still, the stupid voices, rawling round on the floor with them and 4 hour long cuddles on the floor until your bum goes numb still have to be done don't they...??
K x
 
Brig wants to be on my knee constantly and that's fine, though frankly he's a little large for a lap dog! He is not allowed on the furniture otherwise. He comes for snuggles on the bed when we go down to turn on the coffee and then go back to bed to wait for it and he comes up if the OH is going to be in later.

He's fed dog food, begging is not allowed and he is walked without fail every day.

I'd say he's pampered-2 beds in the lounge, one off the floor in the kitchen and a dog flap so he can come and go as he pleases in the garden. As paranoid owners, he goes to the vet for lots of things, although we've learned to give things a few days before rush/panicking to the poor vet.

Ultimately, he is extremely well treated but knows he's a dog and is very well trained re walking to heel, recall, sit, etc. He doesn't do circus tricks, just basic safety training.
 
Princess Betsy is spoilt... I tried so hard to stop it happening but it has! She pretty much lives on the sofa but is getting better with 'off' commands. Her new fave spot is the winbdow sill! She sits there and sunbathes whilst barking at the cows.... life is so hard for her!

She always gets cuddles and she has a huge paddy on a night time if there is no comfy spot on the sofa next to me / on me for her to have a snooze whilst I watch rubbish tv.

She sleeps in her crate over night / when we go out, she is not allowed to beg and can only go upstairs if we let her go up with one of us and she has to come down when we say. Any scraps are given as treats rather than just because!

I must admit... she does have a pink sparkly collar! And my mum bought her a bandana from canada!

She is bathed once a month minimum.... because she rolls in poo and dead animals.

Her worst habbit at the min is begging for plastic bottles. She LOVES playing with plastic bottles (they are too big for her little gob so they just ping around the room / garden) and she therefore thinks any plastic bottle in this house is property of Betsy.

She also sits at the gate when she hears people passing because everyone gived her some fuss, if anyone dares walk past without giving her some lovin she barks at them!
 
I allow mine on the sofas. In all honesty, after a day of mucking out, riding, poopicking etc they are probably cleaner than me:D Nothing beats a skinny curled up closely to you trying to nick your body heat.
 
well 'wheels' my rescue collie dog is really unhappy if she's in the house - all she ever does is try to get into a different room away from my husband (scared of all men not just him :p).

She is only happy in her own space and for that reason she is kept outside in a kennel and run where she usually sleeps out on the concrete floor, even in the rain.

Zita my lovely pointer pup (1year old now!) is a working dog and so she also lives outdoors (kennel and run) although she'd much rather be stretched out on the sofa in front of the fire with us on the floor but she's never allowed on the furniture and doesn't even come in the house very often.

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They keep each other company during the day, don't think either of them would want to be in the house staring at the same 4 walls all day while we're at work, they have plenty of stuff to look at during the day
 
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