I read an interesting blog post by my friend Mary Haight, author of Dancing Dog Blog about dog behavior studies. She discussed how studies have shown that peoples' state of mind and how they interact with their dog can impact their dog's state of mind and behavior.
Mary's blog post reminded me of our neighbors Bob and Terry, and their two Boxers. They love the Boxer breed and in the 15 years I've known them they've had 3. All their dogs were incredibly well behaved and well trained. I'll admit I was always a little jealous of that. My dogs are well trained and well behaved but Bob and Terry's dogs surpass mine in terms of exemplary behavior.
2 years ago an interesting thing happened on our street. Two women lived in a cute little house 3 doors down from ours, across the street from Bob and Terry. They had 3 dogs; two Boston Terrier mixes and a Boxer/Bulldog mix. Their dogs were extremely unruly and unpredictable. Like many people, I avoided walking my dogs past their house.
We'd sit in our yard peacefully having coffee when suddenly we'd hear a ruckus break out! Their dogs would start fighting with each other, both women would start screaming at them, and it sounded like world war three was happening in their yard.
And then there was the inevitable dog bite incident.
Bob had been out walking his incredibly well behaved Boxer, with a friend of his tagging along for the walk. As they walked by the unruly dog house, the dogs of course started going crazy like they always do. Their front door was open with only the screen door closed. The larger of the 3 dogs jumped right through the screen and went after Bob and his dog! As Bob's friend tried to help break up the fight he was bitten by the aggressive dog.
Neighbors were up in arms and told the women they'd better do something to get their dogs under control! It was clear they couldn't handle their 3 dogs. They were out of control. While walking Phoebe one day, I saw one of the women attempting to walk the two smaller dogs together and it was a total fiasco! She had no control whatsoever. I snatched Phoebe up in my arms and quickly scurried past them.
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| I hate having to avoid certain houses or streets because of scary dogs! |
Our neighbors Bob and Terry offered to adopt the Boxer mix from them to help the situation. We thought they were nuts to take on one of those dogs! But they liked the dog and wanted to help so they took him in.
I worried about Bob, Terry, and their own wonderful Boxer, but I shouldn't have. Within a few weeks I started seeing them calmly walking both dogs together two to three times a day! The dogs calmly hang out with Bob (on leash) in front of their house too. I'm so amazed, not only have they gotten this dog totally under control, but he looks so happy and relaxed with them!
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| I'm really lucky that Icy & Phoebe get along so well |
Bob and Terry's two dogs have been living calmly and happily together as siblings ever since. The women unfortunately continued to be unable to keep their remaining 2 dogs under control. Thankfully, they finally moved out of the neighborhood!
I agree that a dog's environment and owner's personality can have an impact on a dog's behavior. Sometimes a dog and owner or home environment just aren't the right fit. Of course, that's not to say that every dog with behavior issues probably lives in the wrong home environment. Dogs can develop behavior issues for so many different reasons, but it was amazing to see the change in this dog's behavior and life once he moved to a different home environment. Lucky dog, huh?
Have you seen examples of a home environment creating negative behaviors in a dog or cat? Leave us a comment and share, we always love hearing from you!
