Boggie and Penny 4/11/11

I made a new discovery! A valuable lesson if you will. Penny is usually skittish around me, but today she was actually a little enthusiastic to see me! The thing is, I usually look her straight in the eye when I first come in through the door, but that's not very good. There is a very reasonable rule about how to greet a dog. It's called "no touch, no sound, no eye contact." It means don't touch the dog, don't talk to the dog, and don't look at the dog. Pretend it's not there. That way, the dog won't feel intimidated, and will come up and smell you if it wants to get to know you.
Anyways, I walked in and was saying 'let's go outside' to Boggie when Penny jumped off the couch. I hadn't even known she was there! She was very energetic and did not make me call her to go outside. The con of her being friendly was that she pulled more. =\ Oh, well, she was great anyways! Boggie was his usual calm self, but he gets even calmer and happier when Penny is there. We got our neighborhood friend and walked for an hour. Penny and Boggie were very good at waiting at their house. They sat there during the whole thing even with a dog barking. I had them face away from the house and sit, not looking at the dog so to not look as though they were intruding. The dog, a malti-poo named Buddy, came up and sniffed their behinds, and Penny, having a reputation for not being very friendly, looked a little uncomfortable, but she sat and let him sniff her. Boggie was nice and said hello politely. They were both tired and Boggie was very hot when we went back. I brought my friend inside for a minute to show her around a little, because she's going to be walking Boggie sometimes. Penny seemed much more comfortable around me. Bye, Boggie and Penny!

Valuable Lesson 2/17/11

Today the dogs were wonderful and I felt great, so I played with them roughly. The result ended in a slightly swollen lip, but no blood. It was a "alright, that's enough" bite. Penny did not mean to hurt me. Here's what happened: we were playing without toys, meaning I was wrestling with them and play nipping at their heels like a rambunctious puppy. Boggie liked it pretty well and played back, but Penny thought it was kind of annoying. I got her to play with us after a little while, and she prances around with Boggie a little until they found the candy that fell out of my pockets. They only ate a little before I realized what it was and made them stop. I played with them a little longer and chased them and stuff. Then Penny started to walk away. I followed her, thinking she was still playing, but she wasn't. Her tail and posture should have shown me she wanted to stop. She went under the table and I followed her, poking at her rump. "Stop it!" she growled, snapping at me. I felt a pang on my lip and yelped to show my displeasure, backing out from under the chair. She followed. I told her to lay down, then pushed her on her side because I was upset and didn't want her to take over as pack leader. I held her there while I got a hold of myself, then I stood up and they went potty outside and then I left.

Valuable Lesson: If a dog is showing signs of wanting to stop, back off. They will snap at you if you bother them too much and they can't get away. It's flight or fight for them. Don't make them choose fight.


Signs:

Tail between the legs
Growling
Running away (sometimes they are still playing and want you to chase them)
Slinking
Slouching
Backing away fearfully
Whining


P.S. It was my fault and I do not blame Penny for snapping at me. Also, it did not hurt much and is not a big deal.