How frustrating is your dog

Inadvertently, or by design, dogs know how to push our buttons.

Picky Seniors & Hamburger

A friend of ours is incredibly lucky to have a 17-year-old dog. The dog, a Border Terrier, has always been a picky eater—and it drives our friend absolutely insane because her passion is health and nutrition.

Our incredibly obvious advice to her was: “Your dog is 17. Give her whatever the hell she wants. What do you care if it’s ‘healthy?’ It’s not the time to worry about long-term effects.”

That was right after she told us her dog had been pretty happy eating some hamburger. But she felt compelled to add some veggies, and the dog stopped eating instantly.

Close to Home: Hip Issues & Dropped Food

We’re not exactly immune from the frustration either.

Torque, Hope’s 11-year-old French Bulldog, has some issues with his hips. No, not breathing. He doesn’t even snore. But front-loaded Frenchies aren’t known for their structural stability. Despite the exercises they do, when he walks his rear resembles someone who’d fail a breathalyzer. It’s uncomfortable for him to crouch, so he avoids doing it—which means he avoids pooping on a regular basis. It makes Hope crazy.

Then there’s Simon, Fran’s eight-year-old Boston. He’s the smartest dog we’ve known, and yet he refuses to get the message that pouncing on anything we drop is rude. It doesn’t matter what it is. If you drop a piece of paper, he’s there. If you fumble with some treats, they’re gone before you know it. If you’re cooking and drop some food, consider it gone. The thought of dropping a knife terrifies us.

Instincts & Unmet Expectations

A student in our puppy class is horrified by the thought that her puppy, now a four-month-old Schnauzer, will catch a rabbit in their backyard. Like an asteroid impact on Earth, it’s really not a matter of if, but when. It will happen. Schnauzers are ratters. It’s what they’re supposed to do, so they do it. The only absolute prevention is a leash.

Another student has a dream of standing on the beach and tossing a ball for his dog to dive into the lake to fetch. It’s a little dream, and an achievable one, since he has a Portuguese Water Dog. The only problem is that the dog is afraid to step foot in the water. We’re working on it.

What to Do

There are three standard ways of dealing with any dog behavior:

• Ignore it: If it’s not a big deal to you, it’s not a big deal. Your house, your rules, your dog.
• Manage it: We’ve learned to be really fast at either snatching the things that fall, yelling “leave it!”, or if it’s benign, ignoring Simon’s dash to the drop.
• Train it: Even we’re not sure how you train a 17-year-old dog to eat with gusto. We’re not convinced it’s possible at this point.

So we’ll add a fourth possibility: Concede the win to the dog.

What button does your dog love to push? Let us know in the comments below!