Q&A with ‘The Paw Man’ (394) – Subtle, Oh So Subtle Elizabeth Mitchell Hi Grant, Hope all is well. Id just like to start off by saying that your service is fantastic and I love being able to see the issues other people have, and your answers to them, as well as other more random pieces of info is extremely helpful. Paw Man I’m glad you approve Liz :) I have been educating people about dogs for years but Facebook gives me a larger audience and at my stage of life I am looking at the ‘big picture’ not just my local sphere. Liz Now, to the nitty gritty. You met with us the other week, and got to meet our dog ‘Tikka’, the male black Mastiff cross Lab, and ‘Min’, the blonde Mastiff cross Dane, and our human baby Hanna. You pointed out to us the position in the pack that we were unwittingly putting Hanna in by allowing the dogs to come up to her un-invited, standing over her while she is on the floor, and sitting on the dog couches while she is on the floor. Paw Man Yes, when you bring a new baby into the house you are setting a dangerous precedent if you place the baby on the floor and allow the dogs to walk up to it and stand over it. This applies even more so when your dogs are allowed on elevated platforms within the house such as the bed or couch. Liz I have made a great deal of effort to show the dogs that Hanna is a pack leader, by making the dogs go on the floor away from her, if she is, by not allowing them to stand over her, and by getting them to lay down, and then holding her over them, or placing her on top of (above) their bodies when they indicate they want to be near her. Min is learning very quickly and lets Hanna be on top of her, she doesnt get up and move away or indicate she doesnt like it. Paw Man Min appears to have no problem with Hanna and appears to be quite relaxed in the presence of the baby. Liz But Tikka runs away. He doesnt appear to be scared but will not let her be over him. If he is on the floor he will let her be in my arms above him, but if I were to hold her away from me a bit and put Hanna more obviously above him he gets up and moves away. If hes on the dog couch hell also get down. He doesnt like her to touch him. I dont like to push her on him too much because of this behavior. Paw Man Well there are only two possibilities; The dog is over sensitive or the dog has issues with Hanna. If the dog is over sensitive then that’s not really a problem at this stage…… but if the dog has issues with Hanna then you need to monitor their interactions closely……. And if you see a look from the dog toward Hanna that makes you feel uncomfortable then please trust your instincts. Liz Do I need to be concerned by this? What does it signify? Is he scared of her, or is he being submissive and respectful of her space? He seems really wary. (Also, may be related, although he is aggressive to other dogs, he behaves like this with really little puppies) Eagerly awaiting your response. Liz. Paw Man After a second look at Tikka’s interactions with Hannah it is my opinion that Tikka is just overly sensitive and that there are no red flags in relation to the way the dogs interacts. The degree of control that you and your husband have over the dogs is already impressive and both your instincts are spot on…… many people look at dogs and don’t actually ‘see’ what’s going on, but you and your husband are well beyond that because you are not only seeing the subtle nuances offered by the dogs but you are also transmitting information via body language right back to the dogs and the level of communication is impressive both ways.
Posted on: Sat, 23 Nov 2013 04:33:39 +0000
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