Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Pooches: When Your Dog Embarrasses You

There are many days our Miss M reminds us of that frog in the Warner Brother's cartoon; that amazing frog who could sing and dance... except when asked to do so it public. Then it just sat and stared.
Much like Miss M.
When we're taking the pooches for walks, people are often curious about the dogs, and I'm always talking up Miss M's array of tricks, though when I ask her to wave at our new friends, she just stares at me blankly, mockingly, like I'm the crazy one.
 Even more embarrassing,  lately we've had the chance to meet people in real-time who only know our pooches through our blog. Of course we always wonder if the pooches meet expectations in real life. Yet, despite all our Spring Training, lately Miss M has been having horrible manners and has been jumping up to kiss people on the face and nearly head-butting them in her excitement.

I'm feeling a bit like that frog owner lately, but I guess it's a wake-up call that even though we've had the pooches for awhile, I still need to be more consistent with my training. And maybe more realistic with my expectations. Does anyone else have an embarrassing dog?

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

My Titan just gets plan stubborn and no matter what I tell him, he'll ignore me. I don't know if its their nature or just not enough consistent training but ya know, ya can't train 24/7. Next to impossible for me so I will just say, my boy "normally" listens but is a lot like a MAN and has selective hearing! LMAO

~Bren, Titan's Momma

Unknown said...

I just have to say thank you for that one! I am always in awe of how well-trained your pooches are. Then I take out my Bilbo and he decides to have a tantrum day, or he hurls himself at a stranger that he's desperate to meet. So that would be a yes - sometimes my pooch embarrasses me!

www.bwpaws.blogspot.com

h(eather) said...

Haha, love the frog comparison.

Rudie is incredibly embarrassing. Once he stopped in the crosswalk at Western and Armitage during rush hour to poop in the middle of the street. Marley and I kept walking and let my lovely husband soak up all the embarrassment.

Anonymous said...

First of all, when I met your two, they were extremely well behaved and had great manners! So, don't get too down on yourself!

And yes, Flash and Ollie are beyond embarrassing! I sometimes cringe when I have to take them places because I never know what to expect. Sometimes they're angels, other times, they do whatever they possibly can to embarrass me.

We love them anyways though, don't we!!

Liz said...

Our pooch is pretty good about listening in public, however we were terribly embarrassed last spring when we entered her in the Great American Mutt Show for "Best Kisser" and "Best Lap Dog Over 50lbs"--both of which she is a total pro at--and she FAILED to do ANYTHING when it was her time to show off her talent. She just sat there. Of course, she was all kissy and affectionate immediately after we got off the stage. :o)
Oh well, we love her anyway!

Slomack said...

Ha! Our Gretel thinks that anyone that opens a car door is inviting her for a car ride...and enthusiastically pulls me over to investigate. She also thinks that EVERYONE wants to say hi to her...one day, she walked up to a woman that was obviously petrified of dogs...I kept her at a distance and apologized to the woman. "What does she want?" The woman asked me. "Oh, she probably just wants you to tell her how pretty she is." The woman looked at me skeptically, looked at Gretel and said, "Well you ARE very pretty." Gretel wagged her tail and moved on...sheesh!

Anonymous said...

oh my yes.. My old girl Lulu has a particularly cunning trick. She'll feign indifference to someone petting her until they lean down... then she leaps up and bops them on the nose...

Elizabeth said...

Oh man if my dogs got a biscuit for everytime they embarrassed me in public they would probably be wayyyy overweight. But they really are good dogs they walk well they just loooove people and get very excited about it and i'm not going to punish them for being friendly so when they do actually behave like i want them too i just give them exttra positive reinforcement for that behavior

Susan Campisi said...

Oh, yes, Tommy embarrasses me all the time. I've learned to cheat. When I introduce him to new people, I step on his leash while he's sitting so he can't jump up. It's too risky otherwise.

Kari in Alaska said...

oh I cant even count the ways my pups do this!

Kari
http://dogisgodinreverse.com

Darwin said...

We almost met up with the two pitties! Darwin was up north in Evanston and it was quite embarrassing because he couldn't walk on my right side. He was all over the place and my friends were laughing at him. He was quite a nut, I guess a bit of anxiety and strangers can throw dogs off. Quite embarrassing but silly. :)

jen said...

I sure do have an embarrassing dog, his name is LEROY! but I sure do love him:)
I have to say I wouldn't mind a smooch from Miss M even if she isn't suppose to jump:)

Anonymous said...

Chick is totally embarassing. Lucky for him he is so dapper. I didn't know if Gonzo was embarassing until the other night when his potential forever-family came over to do a play date with their enormous dog and Gonzo, and right when I was bragging about how he never tries to counter surf, what does he do? He gets up on his hind legs in the kitchen and starts tiptoeing around, trying to figure out what's on the counter.
Sheesh!

Road Dog Tales said...

haha When we saw your title, we immediately thought of Cooper!!! He has publicly humiliated Mom and Dad. Mom-at Dock Dogs when he acted like he had never seen water or a tennis ball. Dad-at a pet festival during a trick contest. Again, acted like he had never seen a tennis ball. They've pretty much learned their lesson and won't do that anymore :)

There are other embarrassments but we're only going to tell on Cooper today!

But we find it hard to believe that Miss M or Mr. B would embarrass you!

The Road Dogs

houndstooth said...

I'll give you Morgan or Lilac for a day! You'll beg to go back to Miss M and never look back! I never thought about it, but that frog owner is the perfect analogy!

Anonymous said...

Tee Hee Hee Miss M. Headbutting kisses. :P Oh why not :D

Waggin at ya,
Roo

Corbin said...

Ohhhh, Corbin can be quite embarrassing! I'm always telling people what a great dog he is and how he's so friendly... then when he meets someone new, anywhere other than our house, he completely ignores them. He gets so concerned with eveything else going on and checking out his surroundings... he could care less about a new person petting him... quite the opposite of Miss. M but just as embarrassing!
-Jenn

Levi said...

Oh yes, we have to more diligent with Levi's training also and know he needs more. We haven't had him a year yet and he really is a wonderful dog but I can't break him of begging (only with other people) and jumping on people to greet. Also, he pulls me on walks (not my husband) so it's a work in progress but I wouldn't give it up for the world :)

Jackie- Levi's mom

bitt said...

Sienna causes a big ruckus a lot of the time when she gets excited. I think everyone gets embarrassed about some aspect of their dog. Even when she's mellow, I'm embarrassed she's not as active. Great pic of Miss M.

Mary said...

People are always disappointed by Levi because they want him to be all tail-wagging and kissy and he's just not that kind of dog unless he really knows you. He will wag his tail for little girls and some women, but it's not the typical pittie greeting. Luckily, Neptune's enthusiasm more than makes up for Levi's lack thereof. On the bright side, people think Levi is so well-behaved because he would never jump on someone or lick them!

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