The truth is it was all play. Bernie (a five-year-old neutered male) is a friendly and outgoing dog who has never been in a dog fight...ever. He is one of the most stable dogs we have had. For the lack of a better term, I'll say that he expresses himself with his mouth and teeth (which we can see easily as he does not have a beard). When Bernie rests on a sofa he has to have a piece of blanket or fleece in his mouth, and he sucks on it. He does not destroy it, just puts it in his mouth. He is a very playful dog, and a great playmate for young dogs of both genders.
Tommy, who is almost three years old, is pretty much at the bottom of our pack. He submits to Joeri and Paika, also young dogs. He loves to play with other dogs but sometimes he pesters them too much and often this is a case with Bernie. It is Tommy who starts the interaction, but after a while Bernie has enough and usually puts him in his place. No harm done, they are friends at the end of the playfighting.
To the outsider the whole situation (which lasted at least 15 minutes) might seem risky and explosive. Bernie exposes and uses his teeth and growls a lot, pounces on Tommy, who finally rolls over. I think that Tommy learns something during these sessions. I have never noticed him having his teeth out when he plays with Bernie, but I have seen him doing it with Quenotte, the only dog here that he is dominant over.
Few years ago I attended a workshop with Susan Clothier, where she talked a lot about observing canine body language. I remember her saying that sometimes it is very hard to say when dogs are just playful versus when they are starting a fight. According to her the difference in the body language can be very subtle - as long as dogs are willing to make themselves vulnerable and "self-handicap themselves" all is good.
I think folks often overreact to growling and gnashing of the teeth. There's a cocker spanielle in our neighborhood that constantly starts in with other dogs, and inevitably someone breaks them up before the situation is resolved between the dogs. Several weeks ago it did the same with our dog, Charlie, and as usual the owner of the Cocker and my wife broke it up, but not before Charlie got his ear nipped hard enough to bleed.
ReplyDeleteI told my wife that if it happen again, to just let the dogs go at it, as I was confident that Charlie would dominate the other dog without hurting it.
Last week the cocker started again and the Mrs dropped the leash. When it was over, the cocker had submited, no blood was shed, and the cocker hasn't acted out of line when Charlie is about.
Im not suggesting that everyone should do the same, but if you know your dog and have a good feel for other dogs, you will know when to allow them to settle their differences.
Best Regards,
Albert Rasch In Afghanistan™
Albert “Afghanus” Rasch
You are so right! Glad to hear that Charlie solved the problem of the obnoxious Cocker.
ReplyDeleteHi Jolanta,
ReplyDeleteThe female pup I have from the Scout, Bear breeding looks like she could be twins with Bernie. Same short coat and color. Was Bernie ever used to sire any pups?
Thanks,
Brian
Brian,
ReplyDeleteNo, we never used Bernie at stud. He is a dog that we got back when he was a year and a half year old and was not living up to his owner's expectations. When John wrote his article "Expectations" this part was about Bernie:
"We just got a dachshund back from the South. He is eager to please, handles well and loves to run with a four wheeler. His great sin, down South, was that he would just take off and hunt on his own and be gone for hours if there was no one to go with him. Now what experienced hound man would expect anything different, if they turned their tree dog loose, unsupervised, to water the trees in the back yard?
Given his own expectations, the owner of the returned dog would have been more satisfied with a black mouth cur since they are more territorial and focused on guarding the home place until given another job to do. The problem was that the buyer wanted a small dog.
Some mature tracking Labs are very good at sticking around until they have a wounded deer to find. The Labs at Tara Plantation in Mississippi lounge around on the porch of the Hunting Lodge until there is a job to be done. But don’t expect this of the hound breeds including the hunting dachshunds!"
Bernie is not a good blood tracker - probably it is a combination of genetics and poor handling when he was young and allowed to roam. But he is a lot of fun, so I decided to keep him for myself. He is my pleasure hound!