Honey thinks she owns me and my stuff.
Tomorrow I’ll find out if she has canoe potential.
Pre haircut :
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What do you mean, she “thinks” she owns you?
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We get Polly back on Friday for 9 days and I may try her out in a canoe. She’s less than a year old and like Honey there ain’t much dog under the fur. I think she’s an aussie-poo or a snicker-doodle.
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Are you fostering her? She has Doodle written all over her face.
Just dog-sitting for a friend.
I am working on my third Border Collie. Not the easiest dogs, but the best dogs. As a dog owner of a smart and/or dominant dog you have to make the boundaries clear. I would never let a dog sit on me, it is not cute it is a dominance move.
I get along great with Ruby Begonia, but sometimes she can be very persistent about borrowing the remote if there are good animal shows on.
I am the faithful servant to three felines:
“Grumpy” - the sheriff of the neighborhood,
an always playful & devilish “Perrilloux”,
and the she-witch “Gri’s Gri’s” after being dressed for Christmas a couple years ago when my sister visited. (I would not be happy either with that outfit!)
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My dogs sit on me all the time I love it.
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I pet sit for a long while when l first retired. Then I got tired of the 6am drives to get to a dog with an aging bladder at the end of a country road the morning after a big snowstorm. And l was walking adult German Shepherds at a breeding facility for a while, which also went by the wayside after l got tired of climbing a dirt road up the side of a small mountain in the winter.
In both situations you have to form successful relationships very quickly especially when they are big doggies. I never encouraged a dog to land in my lap. But once in a while one would, and l would never have categorized it as a dominance or aggressive move. Happened a few times and in all cases it was a pretty happy dog who had passed a point of feeling very comfortable w me and wanted to play. Never once had to worry about aggression with them.
Not to say l never encountered a tricky dog. I let others handle the occasional adult shepherd the moment it gave me shit about the sit when l went into the kennel to leash them. I also had a St Bernard when pet sitting that l had to get hauled to a kennel because it was too dangerous. It went nuts when the owners left, in the first three days l was the only person the dog had not dared to go after. Did not want to wait for it to get the nerve to try me.
That said, l never let a dog jump on me when l encounter one being walked. Because that is how the dog and the owner get into a mess if it happens with someone who is afraid of dogs. Dog shouldn’t pay a penalty for poorly trained owners.
Border collies are great dogs, but not for amateurs. Too smart and high activity for anyone who does not know how to channel all of that.
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I would say it depends. I think the posture of the dog in the photo is concerning, but it’s also just a moment in time. She might have just been getting ready to settle and snuggle.
My 75 lb dog is a total lap puppy, but he is not the boss of me. Okay, he is, but not in a dominating way, except dominating me with cuteness.
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Yes. Or not they don’t “think” they know.
We bought a bigger travel trailers so they dogs could lounge in comfort while we paddled.
We bought a bigger “yard” when the young retriever showed she wanted to do long retrieves.
We even made the big dog a boat.
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No, ours were not allowed to get spoiled. Sitting on us or on furniture was by our invitation only, which they gladly obliged.
However, they did think they were our equals. 
That face of sheer disgust on #3!!! Love it.
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I’ve had a lot of dogs over the past 60 years and the ones that came after my kids moved out were the luckiest ones.
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Honey is now an official canoe dog. All it took was some enticing with treats and she took to it like a natural. She apparently has an affinity for grizzled canoeists, aka Castoff.!
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I’m the BOSS, but they’re spoiled ROTTEN! I’ve had be ones 100 lb. but now as I age in 5 years can I pick a 100 lb. dog to take it to the vet? I can now but at 74 maybe not.
Partner worked in a rescue shelter North Shore Animal League after retirement. The biggest rescue shelter in the country maybe the world. They would let older people adopt big dogs for that reason mist of the time.
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She is a sweetie! My MRC Explorer is a good dog boat. Neither of us went swimming.
Here are a couple I took of her listening to string.
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With Castoff around, I have to keep an eye on the situation. Young females are very impressionable, esp if he has a Slim Jim in his pocket.
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