Officially finished....we think (and minor rant)

[Carlie Wolf]

The roofers say they are finished. Hurray! So it took about 6 weeks, the first week in Sept to the second week in October. I never realized there are 5 or 6 sections to this roof, 2 chimneys and they said it's the steepest roof they've done yet. They've now started my neighbors house that is just a driveways distance from mine. So there will still be noise but not like it's been so far. They think it will be done in three weeks because it's a much simpler roof.

I have to admit Carlie did her job well, she let her presence be known without being unruly when they worked on roof sections by "her" windows, she was in control and was very "measured" throughout the whole process. She was very pleased with herself in the way she did her "job". Her job is very important to her and always has been. The roofers liked her and were respectful of her doing her job and thought she was one awesome protective but measured german shepherd. It was very clear that she was not going allow anything to happen to me or "our" property. She has rules and she makes it clear what they are and are not.

Some days things just amaze me. The roofers were working on the neighbors garage. I woke up, put Carlie out in her yard while I made coffee and was sitting on the porch waiting for it to brew. The roofer owner starts talking to me at my fence and Carlie is meandering around out in the yard. Everyone knows the "rules", by now, right? Suddenly he decides he's going to just open the gate and walk in. We've been very clear about not doing that. I immediately put my hand up in the STOP motion and said Don't do that. He says Ohhhh, I don't think she'll hurt me!. bwahahahahahaha, yeah righttttttttttt. Carlie spun around, looked at me and her eyes said......I thought they were respectful of my rules, is this guy stupid?

It can be so frustrating when people, after you have made it clear what your dog will and will not find tolerable, then suddenly decides to push the envelope. I love that dog and she loves me, don't these people realize that they are putting me and my dog at risk because they've decided to have a macho moment? She may not bite him, or she may, but the end result is then, at worse, I might have to put her down or at best, I'd suddenly have to start paying a huge yearly insurance premium because she has injured someone. I know for some dogs it can be $1000. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[Carolyn]

Re: Officially finished....we think (and minor rant)

I know how you feel Carlie. We have a golden shepherd. Loveable as can be and will most likely lick anyone to death before he would bite them. Still there are types he will not tolerate. No matter what you say to some people they still think they can convince him to like them. Not going to happen. Stay in your space, stay out of his.

[shirleyknot]

Re: Officially finished....we think (and minor rant)

Yep. I have a Chow. Well-trained but intolerant of idiots and will tell them so.

[GuitarGramma]

Re: Officially finished....we think (and minor rant)

People like that drive me nuts.

What happened? Did the guy walk in? What did Carlie do?

[Caroline T.]

Re: Officially finished....we think (and minor rant)

Dogs are amazing creatures. When they have learned (or taught themselves) a "rule", then by gosh, those rules are in stone.

I had a dog years ago that her #1 rule was, "NOBODY enters the house without being invited by her people".

Every morning, my FIL would come over to pick up my DH for work. FIL would knock on the door, I would say come in, dog would great him with absolute ecstasy. She loved FIL !

One day, FIL knocked, I hollered "come in", was greeted by dog as usual. But then FIL forgot something in his vehicle for me, went outside to get it, and then came back in the house without knocking. YIKES, my sweet lovable dog turned into Kujo. I managed to grab her before she grabbed hold of FIL, and FIL quickly backed out the door, and shut it.

Once the dog was calm again, FIL knocked, I said "come on in", and when he entered the dog greeted him with compete enthusiasm once again.

[Carlie Wolf]

Re: Officially finished....we think (and minor rant)

When I put my hand up and told him to stop he did stop. He looked a little annoyed like I was being overly cautious but I kept my hand up in a stern way. Carlie just stood there staring intently at him when she realized I was in control of the situation. He had only slightly opened the gate so he slowly closed it again. People don't realize that when Carlie thinks that I don't have control of a situation then she moves into action. She believes that is her role. She knows I'm Alpha but she considers herself to clearly be Beta. She believes her job is to immediately move into Alpha when her Alpha is "out to lunch". She'll move into that arena extremely fast and aggressively.

I've only seen it happen twice with people. Once I was right there and she responded immediately to my "NO". The second time she responded before I got downstairs to the room and they fortunately got out the door before she got there. She was dead serious and they were nowhere in sight outside when I got there. I do believe that that time it was someone who intended to break in. I had used that door earlier in the morning and forgot to lock it which I normally do. That was also before I fenced in the back yard.

[Carlie Wolf]

Re: Officially finished....we think (and minor rant)

Dogs are amazing creatures. When they have learned (or taught themselves) a "rule", then by gosh, those rules are in stone.

I had a dog years ago that her #1 rule was, "NOBODY enters the house without being invited by her people".

Every morning, my FIL would come over to pick up my DH for work. FIL would knock on the door, I would say come in, dog would great him with absolute ecstasy. She loved FIL !

One day, FIL knocked, I hollered "come in", was greeted by dog as usual. But then FIL forgot something in his vehicle for me, went outside to get it, and then came back in the house without knocking. YIKES, my sweet lovable dog turned into Kujo. I managed to grab her before she grabbed hold of FIL, and FIL quickly backed out the door, and shut it.

Once the dog was calm again, FIL knocked, I said "come on in", and when he entered the dog greeted him with compete enthusiasm once again.

Yup Caroline that sounds like Carlie too. That first instance I mentioned was the same, the person had to run out to their car and came back in without knocking and he immediately moved against the wall and stood stock still. And god, it was the landlord.....yikes! I thought he wouldn't let me keep her. But his response was boy is she a good guard dog! He was standing by the parlor room door and when I said no I had pointed to the parlor and she immediately turned in there and dropped on command (holy, holy I had never actually taught her that!) Thank god for small favors uh!? LOL.

[Sylvia H]

Re: Officially finished....we think (and minor rant)

As an owner of a rottweiler, I totally understand. One of the problems we now have to deal with is the misconstrued expectation that ALL dogs are submissive to all human behavior. The truth is that as we, humans, bring another species into our environment, we need to understand the species. Basically, this means, do not attribute human emotions to your dog, cat, bird, etc. Learn to understand how these animals communicate differently than we do.

[Carlie Wolf]

Re: Officially finished....we think (and minor rant)

I agree Sylvia. Absolutely. I think one of the most important things is the awareness of "mutual" respect. Well, that, and the Queen's Rule...no pawing the Queen without her expressed permission. :-)

[SuzyQue]

Re: Officially finished....we think (and minor rant)

When people come in our driveway, they always stay in their vehicles. Even grown men don't approach our dog. When I go to meet them, they always ask if it is safe. If i don't know them, I always tell them that he's fine as long as you don't attack me, but I can't tell you what would happen if you do. They are respectful and we have no issues. I can't go any where on my farm without our dog being within 2-3 feet of me.....even when I mow. It is nice to feel so protected.

[Sandy Navas]

Re: Officially finished....we think (and minor rant)

Yes, even birds. We had a parrot that a 'friend' insisted he could handle and did so after being warned. The parrot walked up his arm and sat on his shoulder, leaned over and totally pierced his nose through and through right between his eyes. Human was irate. WTH? You were certainly warned numerous times! Yeah, but he didn't think we meant it. Stupid!!

[Monique]

Re: Officially finished....we think (and minor rant)

I am so afraid of dogs (you have no idea) that I will not venture where there are dogs. If I went to visit, you would have to put your dog in another room for me because I just couldn't handle it, sorry. I was bit very early in life and was left scarred (figuratively) by it.

[Hulamoon]

Re: Officially finished....we think (and minor rant)

We had a Jack Russell and for such a small animal he packed a lot of punch. Luckily he never went after a human. He wasn't fun to take to the beach. He would chase another dog 1/2 mile. lol

[Carlie Wolf]

Re: Officially finished....we think (and minor rant)

Monique, I always feel more comfortable putting Carlie in my bedroom/office if people are coming. One of my sisters is afraid of dogs too, it doesn't matter what size. She had been knocked over by a barking dog when she was around 5 years old. That did it for her.

Sandy, yeah, it's really perplexing when a human gets irate after being warned. Like you're suppose to then feel overly guilty. At least with a bird your insurance doesn't go up by a thousand. Of course now a days whose knows about even that!

[shirleyknot]

Re: Officially finished....we think (and minor rant)

My girl is the same way. You don't come in the door unless 'mom' opens it for you. And if she is outside, you don't get out of your vehicle til I come out to see what she's barking at. Once I look, she stops barking and stands quietly by me.