Pet dogs personalities are so varied.....is yours unusual ?

[Dave7]

Said before, I've never had a dog but on my daily walks I try and chat to owners and find thier comments re' thier dogs interesting.
Today, while walking down a country lane i met a lady who had a nice friendly Alsation. She explained that if I had a dog she would have had to turn back as the Alsation just does not like other dogs. She has tried various solutions including a dog trainer but without success.
If the situation occurred on a paved road She would cross over to the other side.

My daughter has 2 Maltese cross terriers. They are sisters. One is fine and friendly, the other one has a go at other dogs regardless of size/breed. They are both walked on leads.

 

[gbb]

Ive had five (i think) Labradors and two of them were chocolates, usually accepted as the daftest or dumbest of Labradors.
The last one I had was very good, I could walk him off the lead in public as long as I had him within 6ft of me, any further and he would run up to people or dogs etc.
Our current one, hopeless. Hes too high energy, constantly puts tension on the lead, hopelessly excited when he sees other dogs, is guaranteed to jump up at you if you approached and is very very strong. Won't listen to me at all when we're out...you'd think he was deaf
Lovely dog, hopeless in public..the worst we ever had for stopping the above.

 

[Ripple]

I had 3 dogs over the years. All were Eastern European so called "yard terriers" - breeds unknown.

1st was very calm. Never reacted to any dogs or people. Could walk with him in crowds of people and he just showed no anger/interest in anybody. Once a small dog ran to him and began yapping furiously - our dog just stood there with a face saying "wth this lice wants from me".

3rd was lovingly known in a village as Monster. Mind you, size of her was about knee high. Totally out of control, we never walked her without a leash unless in the fields with nobody in sight, attacked everyone and everything - including forgotten jacket on a lamppost. When the house roof was being replaced workers used to wait on the roof if my mother wanted to let the dog out in the yard for a wee. Otherwise dog stayed in the house.

That's her: ⬇️

 

[yello]

Unique (but any dog owner would say that!) rather than unusual.

We've had 6 dogs (2 currently) over the last 15 years and each have their own personalities. Breeds will share characteristics certainly, and temperaments to an extent, but each dog has had their own unique blend of those things all mixed up with their own personality.

My basset (a breed not reputed for its intelligence) has the most knowing look in her eyes sometimes. Like she's taken everything in and can't help but find the humour in it all. She's a real charmer!

 

[Drago]

My two are totally different.

Bruce is very meek and gentle, doesnt like change, but is quite Protective of me.

Geddy is outgoing, loves to be in the centre of the action and demands to know what's going on.

Both are very affectionate, both love kids, food and tummy rubs..

 

[presta]

Our Shadow used to roll in cow pats, does that count?

 

[yello]

If you're eating your breakfast then stop reading NOW.

Our basset (and she's ours when she's fallen out of favour, mine when her darned cuteness wins me over) likes to eat our other dog's poo. Only when it's fresh mind, and I suppose one can kinda understand that... yuk, don't wan to dwell on it either way.

When other dog goes out into the garden after breakfast, not-cute basset scurries out onto the garden path to watch... and wait, rapt attentive, ears at full alert. Note, she doesn't go into the garden, no point wasting energy, she just eagerly waits on the path. Oh the look of disappointment when other dog (only) goes for a wee.

Is that, any of it, the kind of "unusual" behaviour the 0P asks about? Actually, dogs eating poo is not that unusual - as desgusting as we might find it. There are a number of reasons why (apparently that is, I have to believe the experts here as I've never asked a dog)

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Our Shadow used to roll in cow pats, does that count?

Nah
that's normal

When I had mine - Alsatian, German Shepard in metric - she was very strange in some ways
probably because she was the smallest of a litter - and then spent 2 years alone in a garden for 99% of every day for her first 2 years before i got her

She just worried about things

including other dogs
if we passed one on a lead walk - she would hide behind my legs and peer round me in case she needed to protect me

if she was off the lead then she would go round the other people/dog ina wide semi-circle constantly checking the dog and me and worrying about it

she was especially bad with small potentially yappy dogs like Shitzu
the bolke next to to my parents had a very old blind Shitzu and she always hide behind my legs when they came round when we were there
I used to tell her
"you look like a wolf for Gods sake - you can;t be scared of something called a Shitzu!!!!"


Off the lead in woods and fields she would sometimes suspiciously lag behind rather than scouting around looking for danger suach as rabid squirral
If she started to lag behind - directly behind and out of sight - I would have to be carefull - it often meant she had smelt "something interesting" ahead and if given a chance would roll in it
I suspect fox was involved

but sometimes - Gods she stank!!!!
then she would look like she was being tortured when I took her to a lake and washed enough of it off to get home without throwing up in the car!!!

 

[Ripple]

Our 2nd dog looked like some kind of a pitbull cross breed. He was certainly the strangest dog.
Absolutely loved strawberries.
Used to dive (!!!) when looking for something in the water, like the stuff below:
Liked to hunt and chew on frogs, toads and tadpoles. Yep, every single time after tasting them he used to spit and his face looked like "never again, it's disgusting" ... until the next time (could be next day).
Hated to be indoors. Even in winter (mind you, Eastern European winters are no fun) he used to lay on the snow outside his well insulated dog house. It's something of a pitbull, not a Husky for gods sake. Obviously dog didn't know that and didn't care.
When walking in the fields and let loose he used to hunt for mice and small birds and eat them.

While our 1st and 3rd dogs loved to be in car and travelling, 2nd one hated it.
3rd dog was addicted to rolling in any kind of sh1t. The more it stinks - the better.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Our 2nd dog looked like some kind of a pitbull cross breed. He was certainly the strangest dog.
Absolutely loved strawberries.
Used to dive (!!!) when looking for something in the water, like the stuff below:
Liked to hunt and chew on frogs, toads and tadpoles. Yep, every single time after tasting them he used to spit and his face looked like "never again, it's disgusting" ... until the next time (could be next day).
Hated to be indoors. Even in winter (mind you, Eastern European winters are no fun) he used to lay on the snow outside his well insulated dog house. It's something of a pitbull, not a Husky for gods sake. Obviously dog didn't know that and didn't care.
When walking in the fields and let loose he used to hunt for mice and small birds and eat them.

While our 1st and 3rd dogs loved to be in car and travelling, 2nd one hated it.
3rd dog was addicted to rolling in any kind of sh1t. The more it stinks - the better.

My dog favourite situation was to be outside in the garden with the patio doors wide open and me inside

Show would move around - on the lawn with her dinner
in the garage if it was raining or too hot

or round the side of the house on the flags so she was near the side gate and could hear /see people going past


I was totally unreasonable and a bad "dog dad" by insisting on her coming inside and the doors being closed in the middle of winter!!!
in which case she looked at me and would go to her blankets behind the sofa
or guard the garden from a space by the patio doors

but given a chance and she would stay outside

as a result her coat was amazingly thick - even for an Alsatian

which also mean they when she moulted it was EPIC!!

I would brush her and end up with 2 dogs worth of hair and teh dog was - amazingly - not bald!!!

 

[rivers]

I have a staffie/lab cross. She is absolutely beautiful with people, but petrified of other dogs and life in general. Being a staffie x, her flight or fight response is fight if she sees another dog (she's always on lead and has never attacked another dog, but can lunge and bark), but flight if the other dog is in their garden barking at her.
She has a flight response for everything else (loud noises, the dark, the wind blowing in the wrong direction). She is a nervous nelly and has anxiety, but generally lovely. She's getting on in years (13) and is going blind and deaf, but still is generally her anxious, yet happy, self.
Pic of the old girl for attention

 

[yello]

Our Dutch Shepherd (no, I didn't know there was such a thing either) is an anxious sort, and very clingy. She won't let my wife out of her sight. It's endearing, until it becomes a pita.

We had a border who was seemingly afraid of pretty much everything. He unsurprisingly became much more chill when he started losing his eyesight and hearing. His final years were probably his happiest, bless him. I only think of him with fondness, despite him being difficult sometimes in those early years.

 

[Jameshow]

My dog a border collie jack russell cross, is good with people but with other dogs is awful. Barks and if given a chance fights.

I have to have on lead unless I'm on the moors early hours.

My job changed so I can't take to work any more which doesn't help.