What dog behavior annoys you?

As many people on here know, I had to give Frodo up because I couldn’t train him out of his aggression.

Well, currently my dog’s unrelenting flatulating is annoying the hell out of me. God it stinks!

My other dog barks too much for my liking. She’s not as bad as a barky little breed, but it’s still annoying. It’s interesting in a way because she really wants to please us, and she knows the barking does not please us, but she won’t stop.

@Dutchess_III never smelled anything so rotten in all my life. Lingers too!

@janbb was he always like that or did something set it off.

Mine pulls on the leash hopelessly. She prefers coughing and spluttering to a gentle walk we could both enjoy! Headstrong little dog!!

Oh it is horrible @ZEPHYRA. Have you ever read James Herriot’s stuff about animals? Oh, you must if haven’t! He tells true stories of his time as a Yorkshire large animal and small animal vet. One story is about a dog that had an above average flatulation rate, and an above average smell to it! He was a wonderful dog, but noone would keep him for more than an hour! Well, finally they found someone willing to take the dog in. James is trying to talk to the man with these waves of stench floating about, but the man doesn’t say a think about it, just keeps talking. Turns out he had lost his sense of smell as a boy!

My own dog has always been well-behaved, but in her old age, she doesn’t listen very well when I call her to come. That’s pretty much it. It’s hard to re-train her to a solid recall, because she just doesn’t like to run anymore. She has a solid ‘freeze where you are’ signal which I tend to use instead.

My sister’s dog, who spends a lot of time at my house, is afraid of people getting too close. Huge problem. We’re working on it, trying to battle her fear with squeaky toys and clicker training.

Before these two demonstrated, I had never thought about the difference between a well-behaved dog, and an obedient one. My old dog is still extremely well-behaved, but not that obedient anymore. Amy, on the other hand, is incredibly obedient despite her issues. You can call her away from anything – but I’d much prefer for her to be a little more stable and able to enjoy her life.

My Dakota is starting to refuse to go outside when I tell her, unless she has her own reason for going out. So unlike her.

Another one is sleeping on the bed, spreading out and pinning you to the wall so the little lady can be comfortable! I do try to be patient but she is so spoilt that she is getting tough to handle! I won’t even go into the food begging department!

@ZEPHYRA I got him as a rescue dog and he began food guarding and then biting people soon after.

@janbb who knows what he had been through before you got him! Sorry he had to move on.

Bad behavior that is clearly the fault of the owner.

Which is to say nearly all bad behavior.

My dogs were horribly behaved when they first found me. They had been chained up their entire lives, maybe two to 2½ years. The first time I put them on a leash was wild. They had never ridden in a car. First time they both threw up all over each other. It took me 4 years of working with them hard to get them to behave. It was worth every second. So I guess it is crappy owner behavior that annoys me the most.

Good for you @Adirondackwannabe!

Dakota was a rescue dog too. We got her from a guy who intensively tried to train her to be an attack dog. It took about 3 months for her to realized, no, we don’t want you to bark at other dogs. No we don’t need you getting aggressive with people for no reason. She was so was so relieved when she finally understood that we just wanted her to be herself, which is intelligent and gentle. Unless a dog attack one of her own. Then her training is fecking UNCHAINED!

To me dogs are sad. Unless their person is around and paying attention to a dog, they seem all sad, sitting there staring into space.

I hate when dogs bark at everything and are hyper and jump all over you. (I know it’s the owners fault the dogs are like that.)

Daisy is absolutely perfect and never does anything wrong.

HA! In my dreams. I don’t like that she comes off as aggressive around strangers even though she just wants to play. She’s a really loud barker. She pulls when we walk her. All of these are things we’ve tried hard to correct through training. Nothing works.

But she’s still my beautiful, precious baby. She’s currently got her ass planted on me like the 40 lb lap dog she is.

I’m much more annoyed by people that complain about dogs than I am by anything dogs do.

While I love everything dogs are my least favorite and I have zero desire to own a dog ever again.
I do not like the barking, whining, slobbering, in your face, neediness of most dogs.
I do not like having to take them on walks, scoop poop or be a slave to their needs.
Dogs are noble animals in their own right but they are also the most high maintenance of all animals.

Cats, birds and horses are my favorite animals.
I’d rather shovel horse shit over dog shit any day of the week. haha

I tell you what I really hate is when people give excuses for their dogs when they bite other people.
My daughter was living with her BF at his mother’s house for a couple of months. The mother had this shitty little dog that bit both of the twins at different time,completely unprovoked. The mother blamed it on the twins. They were a little over a year old, then.

@Dutchess_III: From what I see on animal sites, sometimes little kids do things like hug the dog around the neck, which, as you know, may upset some dogs. So to us, it’s “unprovoked” but to the dog, it’s uncomfortable or scary.

MY boy wakes me up at night to cuddle. I love it but hate being woke up several times a night. He’s SO CUTE!

@KNOWITALL This is about your dog, not hubby. Go back to the details. :)

Incessant barking. Jumping up on you. Humping of the leg. I have known some of the worst,worst pet owners. I had a friend that I had to rent a room from for a few months- his dogs were unsocialised and spent all day running in circles barking, chewing up everything in his house, shedding mountains of hair. Once, whenI was out he went in my room then left for the day, I came back to my underwear shredded, handbag chewed to pieces, gravel and poop on my bed. I moved out then and there, never spoke to him again.

Why the hell didn’t he rehome his dogs?

@Dutchess_III He obviously sucked at caring for them.
My dogs also never set next to me. It was always crash into me and sit on my feet. Most all dogs sit on my feet.

LOL!!

Why is that? They always sit on my feet.

I have all these dog rescue sites in my FB, and it’s so sad, all the neglected dogs chained up and living lives of boredom and misery. So many end up in shelters, and then it’s a tossup – is it better to be euthanized or to live in cages, sometimes for years. The very rare few are rescued, either by people or by other rescue groups that foster them until a permanent home is found.

One thing I discovered recently is, if you type “bullies” into FB search, you find these pit bull sites for admirers and breeders of pit bulls. Just FYI, the majority of the homeless dogs in shelters are pits. So anyway, these “bully” sites have people talking about who the dad is, who the mom is, how pups are going to be ready soon. How sad these people breed these dogs incessantly and they end up either fighting them, using them to breed more, in shelters or euthanized.

Jumping on me, sniffing me, licking me, nails ruining my clothes or hose. If they are someone else’s dog I usually don’t want them to rub up on me, even just walking by my legs and their body hits me. Yup, pretty much I don’t want your dog near me unless I am dressed for it and I have decided it’s ok.

Almost everyones dog stinks, I really don’t want that smell on me. Especially, not my clothes I maybe could have worn once more before dry cleaning. Also, if they run my hose I want the $10—$15 for a new pair.

$10 to $15 for a pair of hose @JLeslie???!!!

@Adirondackwannabe Wull…because…you step in dog poo on your way home and…the dogs are fascinated by the smell?

What gets me is when I’ll be out running or hiking and people do not keep their dogs on a leash. It’s especially concerning on a bicycle or motorcycle. There have been several times walking with my chihuahua (leashed) when an unleashed dog runs up and scares the crap out of her or gets all up in my business. All I get are excuses or “sorry ” I really love dogs but this is just not ok. Leash the poor pups!!!!

Good point by @JLeslie. When the dog puts their wet, dirty nose on your clothes, now you have a dirty spot which is gross.

Our neighbors across the street have about a million dogs. They consistently get out. One time, two of them got out and tried to corner us on our back deck. They were threatening us. Dakota kicked their asses.

Today I called Animal Control because I had found a dead bat on the window sill, inside the house, on the window sill of the window above the bed. When he showed up, coincidentally, one of the neighbor’s dogs was out. He went over there to help them corral the dogs, but I have a feeling he didn’t write them up. He needs to. There is no excuse for those dogs.

I love dogs, especially my late Milu. Milu is probably the cleverest dog I’ve known. He knew where to poop properly (probably because my parents taught him). He never bit anyone without a reason. He could even play some human games (we used to play cat and mouse together). The only thing I disliked about him was that he sometimes barked aimlessly. When it happened, he just barked and barked and nothing could stop him. I just wanted to kick his ass when he did. A lot of attempt had been made to change that behavior, but none work.

I said I like dogs, but there was this dog that particularly annoyed me. He was like an upside-down version of Milu: always aggressive, loved to chase and bite people, mean to everyone but his owner… everything I hated about a dog. I was bitten once by him already. I just walked past him and then he chased me. An utter nightmare. I’m glad that dog finally died.

Dogs that have been taught to shake hands and that habit of their’s to get right up beside you and shake all that water off!

I would say the jumping up and inadvertent (or maybe deliberate?) aiming for the groinal area.
I know, I know. I just like the sound of groinal

@Dutchess_III Depending on the hose. Could be as cheap as $6, but I still have to take the time and spend the gas money to get the hose. If they were DKNY they could be $15. What if the dogs ruins my $80 slacks? Is the owner going to pay for those? Last friend I visited her dog kept licking my shoes and feet. I have dog all over my Merryl shoes. They are about $80 a pop, and those are my favorite casual shoes for walking, and I have been unable to find the same style.

There are friend’s houses I won’t sleep over anymore, because they have a dog. Sometimes the dog is very well behaved or a particular friend is a fanatic about a clean house, clean dog, and the dog stays away from the guest room area. Then it usually is ok.

Many people negatively judge people who don’t love every cute dog that comes into their presence.

HOw about non-dog people who don’t even pet your polite loving dogs? Like ignoring your kids, how rude. Don’t trust em.

And there it is.

I love dogs. I love cats. Not everyone loves dogs with their jumping, their slobber, etc. Not everyone loves cats with their fur, their litter, etc. I have cats and I have a kid, but I realize that not everyone will be fond of children, either, no matter how cute or well behaved they are. No biggie.

Getting offended because someone won’t pet your dog seems weird to me. I feel sorry for the people who are afraid of all dogs, because that must complicate their lives quite a bit – but I accept strangers hesitating when my dog approaches. In fact, I even expect them to. Which is why my dog, in turn, is expected to check with me before going up to strangers.

I don’t get offended if people don’t want to pet our dog. It’s sort of an inconvenience to us, anyway, though I always allow people to pet her if they want to.

People that don’t like dogs bother me, and I really don’t care what anyone thinks of that. We were once walking down a hiking trail and approached some people coming from the direction we were headed. It was 3–4 adults with a couple of younger kids, maybe 7–10 years old. Of course, Daisy starts barking, but she wasn’t growling and her tail was wagging at an alarming speed, so she clearly wasn’t being aggressive or viscous. Understandably, they held their kids back with a hand and we got out of the way. I have no problem with that. Daisy was jumping a bit because she wanted attention, but we were controlling her on her leash and she didn’t get close enough to touch any of them. The people started to pass us and my husband said to the kids, “don’t worry, she’s nice,” and one of the guys sarcastically said, “yeah, she seems real nice.” Um, okay asshole, if you don’t want to encounter dogs, stay off of walking trails that allow dogs. That pissed me off and I wish I would’ve said something back to that douche bag.

I’m always really annoyed when I go into PetSmart with Daisy and certain people act like they’re really surprised to see a dog in there and automatically jump back like they’re terrified of her. People did this even when she was a puppy that couldn’t hurt anyone. Seriously, what the hell are you doing at a pet store, in the dog section, if you don’t even like dogs? Get a grip, my 8 pound puppy isn’t going to maul you.

It’s just a pet peeve of mine. I get that some people are wary of dogs or even scared of them because of a bad experience, but I don’t get why some people dislike dogs for no reason. Then again, I’m one of those dog owners that thinks my dog smells pretty dang good (she’s an indoor dog that gets regular baths, but I’m talking about her natural doggy scent) and will happily let her give me kisses right on my closed mouth, so I know some people don’t understand the way I feel about dogs. They can go fuck themselves, though. Dogs are way better than people.

I totally get not liking kids, but puppies and kitties?! Crazy.

The three I dislike the most are jumping on me, incessant barking and crotch sniffing. I get it that the last one is normal for dogs, but that doesn’t make it less annoying.

@tedibear: Yes, the crotch sniffing is so embarassing. I think dogs can be trained not to do it.

We have an acquaintance who has a half wolf dog. That dog’ll damn near rape a woman! I murmured to our acquaintance, “That dog sure likes to get up close and personal!” He’s tried to get him to stop but hasn’t had any success. It’s a good dog, though. Cool as hell.

My dog was an angel and super-easy to train. She was a rescue and had separation-anxiety issues up until she was about two or three; I would often come home to find something shredded (she was particularly fond of shredding anything made of paper so I quickly learned not to leave books on the sofa). But as she got older I guess she realised that I would always come home so that behaviour stopped and there wasn’t really anything else she did that was annoying.

I could let her off the leash and even then she would “stay” and “sit” on command, she’d even do it to hand-signals when she was too far away to hear me. So when encountering other dogs or nervous people there were never any problems. One time a cat foolishly entered the dog-park and she went haring off after it. I yelled “Xena! Sit!” and she just skidded to a halt and her butt hit the floor like there was a magnet in it.

@Dutchess_III they were rescue dogs, and he thought he was the best pet owner in the world. He encouraged the big dog to jump up on him, and would French kiss the beagle (this made me physically sick). He was a single man thus never home so these dogs had a doggy door and would just go crazy all the time.

@Jleslie That wasn’t a dig at you! geesh. I meant at my house acting like my small dogs are covered in poop. It’s odd.

@KNOWITALL I didn’t feel it was a dig at me, just an overall feeling many dog owners have.

@Jleslie Good, I love you lady. I don’t let my dogs touch me in my good clothes or heels, I totally get that! :)

In my experience dog owners tend towards being much more projecting than cat owners.
I have had people with dogs staring into my cats carrier at the vets and groomers saying,,, ” Oh, he/she wouldn’t hurt anything” all the while the dog is bristled up and sneering much to the owners denial and my cat is beside themselves while huffing dog harasses them.
There is nothing “cute” about an obnoxious dog, nothing at all.
The thing with dogs is that they are in your face, more often than not.

When’s the last time somebody had to call their cat off for being in your face?
I take my Ragdoll kitty in every May for his summer shave and there is ALWAYS some freaking jerk of a dog owner letting their dog sniff and huff and drool and woof in my cats face acting as if ” Ooooh isn’t that CUTE!”
NO, it is not “cute” it is annoying and upsetting to my cat who is trapped in his carrier while you allow your mongrel to harass another confined pet that feels extremely threatened.

I’m sure someone has already mentioned these behaviours, I don’t have time to read through everything right now… I really detest when dogs go up and smell a woman’s crotch and also when they try and hump your leg. The first behaviour, while embarrassing, is no doubt instinctual but the second is simply repulsive.

When they eat their own shit then vomit it back up on your carpet. Why the hell do they eat shit in the first place???

@Adagio – Yes! Even though it’s a dominance behavior and not a sexual one, it’s still nasty.

@Dutchess_III My understanding is there’s something missing in their diet. My dog didn’t used to eat inedible stuff, but then after coming down with the doggy version of C-Diff she now does. I think her system has been depleted of some needed vitamins. I’ll be addressing it this week.

Do they make doggie vitamins?

@Dutchess_III Yes. Go to a pet store or a health food store if they carry pet stuff, and they should carry them. Probably cheaper if you buy online. Like people vitamins, the health food stores carry a higher quality of vitamin, which means the vitamins are more bio-available.

For pets or people, the best vitamins are liquid, then powder, (encapsulated is OK, but pets usually get the powder on their food), and then tablet. The easier it is to break down, the faster and easier the body will absorb the vitamins. < (This is the short version, anyway).

I have a little papillon. When I’m gone for literally a minute and I walk back in the door, he yaps and yaps and jumps on my legs and pretty much tears the skin off with his claws. It’s so annoying and it hurts!

@Misspegasister28 I learned a trick to train a dog not to do that. Stand still, fold your arms and turn your back on him. If he moves round to the front, turn around again. Don’t look at him or speak to him until he stops. He WILL stop eventually. When he does, reward him with attention. It worked a treat on my dog (and was necessary because a sixty pound labrador jumping up at people is not good).

@downtide Omg, that’s extremely useful, thank you so much!!!

I work with dogs and one dog (Springer Spaniel) that I see on a nearly daily basis has a particular trait that really bugs me. He quite often doesn’t like other male dogs, picking minor fights and whether they are entire or neutered, doesn’t make a difference (he is neutered). It is particularly difficult as he comes to the daycare part of my job which makes it tricky whenever a new dog comes along.

The main issue here is, his problem isn’t as easy to diagnose as most of the dogs I work with. He has a stable (dedicated even if a little naive at times) home which he has lived in all his life, he has never been in a major dog fight or had another dog “pick” on him, causing him to be fearful, he has plenty of mental and physical stimulation, he is not particularly fearful of anyone or anything and, before anyone says it, it has nothing to do with “dominance”. I have come to the conclusion that he is generally just a bit of a grumpy git and, for that reason, although this trait bugs me, he is one of my favourite customers!!!

I handle it by very careful introduction to other dogs and hoping for the best at times. I also make sure he has plenty of rest time so that tiredness doesn’t play a part. He is regularly vet checked and is a healthy young dog. The really annoying thing is, he is so unpredictable. Dogs I think he will be fine with, he hates and dogs I am sure will offend him, he ignores or even plays with.

A friend has a little dachshund that must be at least six years old and still whenever he meets someone he pees himself. That is irritating enough but then he immediately sits down and sniffs his peegun as if to say “Damn, that thing went off again!”