Affects on our pets

[jackie_hubert]

We all know that animals can read us better than we can read ourselves.

Of late I've been seriously considering that I'm having a negative effect on my pets with my INFJ tendencies. For example, both my dog and cat have issues with overstimulation. My cat is offensively aggressive only to me (he has a bladder disease so there's physical reason for some of that). My dog has little impulse control and will bite at his leash like crazy (a sign of anxiety/frustration/overstimulation) when he's on a walk with me, but not really my husband. Off leash he's fine with me and, interestingly, is much more responsive to commands coming from me than my husband.

I work in animal behaviour and work well with the animals I work with. But my own...

Animal behaviour is always a combination of environment and genetics so I know it's not necessarily me - field bred social breeds can have arousal problems. Though when there both animals with issues...and the dog was thought to be totally fine when he was handled by trainers at a boarding facility it makes me wonder if it's me.

BTW, I spelled effects affects, oops!

 

[Lerxst]

I work in animal behaviour and work well with the animals I work with. But my own...

LMAO that explains it all right there My dogs are miserable to company we have - love to jump and play and then play with each other about a second later. Any newcomer to the house risks getting knocked down the second the door opens!

The irony is, that I work(ed) in animal welfare and behavior...

 

[Bird]

I don't think I have a negative effect on my animals other
than teaching Virgil how to walk with a harness, which
he hates. Virgil is very independent, much more independent
than Freja. He refuses to come when you call for him.
He does come if you jingle a bell though, I've trained him.
Ruby is very to herself. She hates being held and only
wants pet on her terms. This is the exact opposite of Virg.
You can scoop him up and start petting him and he'll be
more than obliged to let you continue stroking him.
Virgil I gave a home to as a kitten, Ruby I rescued after
she was already grown. I think how your pets are treated
as bebes effects them more than one's personality type.

I wonder why your dog dislikes being on a leash with you.
Especially if it listens to you just fine when not on one.

 

[jackie_hubert]

LMAO that explains it all right there My dogs are miserable to company we have - love to jump and play and then play with each other about a second later. Any newcomer to the house risks getting knocked down the second the door opens!

The irony is, that I work(ed) in animal welfare and behavior...

Interestingly an excellent trainer I know who I suspect is also an INFJ has two dogs with arousal issues.

Do your dogs settle quickly after the company has been there for a while? Cosmo is very calm inside with us but doesn't settle around company or other dogs, especially away from home and while on leash. I've trained guide dogs and they would sit under a table in a restaurant for hours with no issues and would settled in a snap. I didn't train them any differently, but I also didn't have them from puppyhood and put as much pressure on them to be perfect. Mind you there is a big difference between dogs bred to guide and those bred to hunt...Cosmo's littermate (the only one I'm in touch with) is totally calm though which is odd.

 

[jackie_hubert]

I wonder why your dog dislikes being on a leash with you.
Especially if it listens to you just fine when not on one.

It's not so much that he doesn't listen while he is on leash - I can tell him "drop it" when he's biting on the leash and he does it instantly but as soon as we start moving again.... He is literally unable to think and reverts to instinctive/impulsive actions in times of high stimulation, when he is over threshold (for a retriever that's putting things in their mouth. Sometimes he zooms). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtKNKYZqpkU - yes that exhale is him.

 

[acd]

Dogs see those they live with as a part of their pack, human or not.
Your dog may behave with your husband because maybe the husband is viewed by your dog as the alpha. Maybe your dog views your husband as being more confident of being in control, and so the dog doesn't pull the leash or bite at it.
If you haven't established your place in the hierarchy with your dog, the animal may be stressed out thinking that they have to establish their dominance over you.
Maybe your dog pulls because it's frantically trying to take control because it is picking up on you not taking control.


I totally believe that animals pick up our cues and behave accordingly. They have psychologies, also.
These are good dog blogs:
http://shibashake.com/dog/train-your-dog-to-stop-biting-on-the-leash
http://kevintcraig.wordpress.com/category/walking/

 

[Lerxst]

Interestingly an excellent trainer I know who I suspect is also an INFJ has two dogs with arousal issues.

Do your dogs settle quickly after the company has been there for a while? Cosmo is very calm inside with us but doesn't settle around company or other dogs, especially away from home and while on leash. I've trained guide dogs and they would sit under a table in a restaurant for hours with no issues and would settled in a snap. I didn't train them any differently, but I also didn't have them from puppyhood and put as much pressure on them to be perfect. Mind you there is a big difference between dogs bred to guide and those bred to hunt...Cosmo's littermate (the only one I'm in touch with) is totally calm though which is odd.

They settle when we have long-term company come over, say if family visits for a couple of days. Having a rare person over our house for an evening though, takes them a little longer to settle in, like they can tell there's only so much time for PLAY TIME left! And these are pretty big dogs too!

I know it's also the way I trained (or didn't) them. I did wildlife work and then parrot behavior. There's the school of thought that says parrots are intelligent and like to interact with people so you should teach them how to do tricks. And there's the other school that says parrots are intelligent and love to interact so don't force them to do something for your own enjoyment that they don't want to do. I belong to the latter...

It kind of carried over to the dogs too... although the IQ gap is obvious!

 

[jackie_hubert]

[MENTION=564]acd[/MENTION]: I'll just say I agree that dog owners need to be confident in order for their dogs to be confident You might find John Bradshaw's work interesting if you're interested in dominance-theory type stuff.

Pulling and obedience is not an issue for us - he competes.

Has anyone here read Control Unleashed? Leslie seems like INTJ to me. Would it be creepy to ask her? haha