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My little Doxie seems to have numerous rules that she lives by and expects others to obey.
Near the top of the list of these rules is one that must go something like this; All dogs that enter into our yard must be intimidated. Over the years she has perfected this into a fine art. She just calmly and matter of factly glares at them until they go into their submissive posture. She does not bark when she is really serious about doing this. Not only does she not bark, she does not move either. We stand there like a statue with our tail up stiff and high. I don't know how to describe her facial expression except to say it's a very cold one. Whatever it is that she does must be very un-nerving to some dogs because they sometimes go running in the opposite direction. When they do she explodes. It's like she decided " AHA!""I KNEW that S.O.B. was up to no good!!"
It was a day or two ago that I finally realized that this behaviour is only for dogs that are bigger than she is.
Two Chiuaua's entered the yard and approached me. Dolly intercepted them before they could get to me. Once they met up it was like "You guys are my size!" "Lets get to know each other." Her tail dropped and there was much sniffing of each other. The only thing she would not allow them to do was sniff her butt. It was basically a friendly exchange. When they left the yard she did not bark at theml
A few days before that a big dog came into the garden, Dolly moved in to cut him off from me. She was having trouble running because I had just tilled. Her little legs were sinking in all the way. She had such a momentum going that she could not stop when she got to the dog. She wound up popping the other dog square in the butt with her nose by accident.
The other dog had not seen or heard her. When Dolly popped her she immediately laid down on the ground n a submissive posture. Dolly just stood there with that little grin of hers on her face. It was like she was saying "Now this is more like it.""I hardly had to work at all to show this one who the boss is."
A few days before this my neighbor brought her mini doxie to visit her mom. When the dog saw Dolly it went into a barking frenzy. It charged at Dolly several times to drive her off. Dolly stood there like she was saying " This is some kind of joke right?" Dolly likes other Dachshunds. Her tail was not up and in fact she was giving off signals that another dog should have interpreted as friendly but not submissive. The barking Doxie was raised in a puppy mill and does not seem to understand body language.
In spite of the tiny dogs behaviour Dolly just stood there and tried to be friends with it. This makes me happy to know that Dolly is not a bully. Her intimidation routine is a self defense action.
Near the top of the list of these rules is one that must go something like this; All dogs that enter into our yard must be intimidated. Over the years she has perfected this into a fine art. She just calmly and matter of factly glares at them until they go into their submissive posture. She does not bark when she is really serious about doing this. Not only does she not bark, she does not move either. We stand there like a statue with our tail up stiff and high. I don't know how to describe her facial expression except to say it's a very cold one. Whatever it is that she does must be very un-nerving to some dogs because they sometimes go running in the opposite direction. When they do she explodes. It's like she decided " AHA!""I KNEW that S.O.B. was up to no good!!"
It was a day or two ago that I finally realized that this behaviour is only for dogs that are bigger than she is.
Two Chiuaua's entered the yard and approached me. Dolly intercepted them before they could get to me. Once they met up it was like "You guys are my size!" "Lets get to know each other." Her tail dropped and there was much sniffing of each other. The only thing she would not allow them to do was sniff her butt. It was basically a friendly exchange. When they left the yard she did not bark at theml
A few days before that a big dog came into the garden, Dolly moved in to cut him off from me. She was having trouble running because I had just tilled. Her little legs were sinking in all the way. She had such a momentum going that she could not stop when she got to the dog. She wound up popping the other dog square in the butt with her nose by accident.
The other dog had not seen or heard her. When Dolly popped her she immediately laid down on the ground n a submissive posture. Dolly just stood there with that little grin of hers on her face. It was like she was saying "Now this is more like it.""I hardly had to work at all to show this one who the boss is."
A few days before this my neighbor brought her mini doxie to visit her mom. When the dog saw Dolly it went into a barking frenzy. It charged at Dolly several times to drive her off. Dolly stood there like she was saying " This is some kind of joke right?" Dolly likes other Dachshunds. Her tail was not up and in fact she was giving off signals that another dog should have interpreted as friendly but not submissive. The barking Doxie was raised in a puppy mill and does not seem to understand body language.
In spite of the tiny dogs behaviour Dolly just stood there and tried to be friends with it. This makes me happy to know that Dolly is not a bully. Her intimidation routine is a self defense action.
She may not be mean, but she's mighty! (And smart!)
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