# Are Dogs Losing The Ability To Get Along?



## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

Oh yes! It sure is food for thought. I've recognized this by comparing my own dogs in recent years to childhood dogs and even a dog in my younger adult age. 

When I was young, there weren't leash laws in many more types of places and not as much traffic, not as many people. Hardly anyone kept their dogs locked up behind a fence. When I was a kid, one of my dogs followed me around the neighborhood when I went to play with kids. He hung out and their dogs hung out. He got in a fight or two but over all, things worked out. He was naturally socialized. We didn't do anything overt or on purpose to socialize him. The other household dog was more of a home body but she was old and wasn't the type to get perturbed about other dogs or humans anyhow. 

When I got my horse as a pre-teen, I had a GSD who went EVERYWHERE with us girls on our horses...miles and miles of trails. Other dogs would hang out too. He was protective of the horse and us girls if someone came around. He would stand between the horses and a stranger who might happen along and stop to chat... and that was all he did...maybe a low throaty growl. Other than that, once he saw we were friendly with the person, he relaxed. But no dog aggression from him and very friendly to people in general.

When my kids were young, we had another GSD and he was kept pretty much off the streets. He did go after another dog, a white GSD but this was more a territorial "aggression" than anything else. He broke his jaw as the dog ran with Ajax's teeth still hanging on. When he went to get that fixed, he also got neutered and that died down. And we built a fence. lol

Then we moved to a 5 acre place, had horses and had a Lab. This was in a development of other 5 - 10 acre parcels and private, little lanes. Bonnie and a few other dogs, one, my son's friend's dog just wandered around, got together, hung out, went with my son fishing, went with me riding and they just got very use to other dogs and people. Bonnie would hang out sometimes on other peoples' porches. I'd go fetch her and apologize and because she was such a calm, well behaved, love bug, they'd tell me, "You just leave Bonnie right here!" LOL. She did come home carrying someone's planter that looked like a sheep and someone's dog dish. Other than that, she was a very good girl and exceedingly well socialized. She had a little bit of that wanderlust in her and it "worsened" when she got old and I moved to Idaho. We'd be out gardening and she'd disappear the minute my back was turned and wind up down at the neighbors. This was a wilderness area and loads of property around. They told me the same thing in a mock-angry voice when I'd go to get her. "You just leave that dog right here!" She'd lie on their lawn and let the chickens peck at her muzzle and her tail would go thump, thump. lol. Killed wild rabbits but not chickens that belonged to people. 

My more recent dogs didn't live that life style. They were still well socialized but it didn't come naturally. I had to actively work on it. And still do.

So, I rambled a bit with my stories, but it goes to show that there is definitely an up side to the way it use to be. Of course, it can't really be that way anymore in most places because our society is just different.

Thanks for sharing the article.


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## 2719 (Feb 8, 2011)

I must admit my first response when I read your title "Are Dogs Losing the Ability to Get Along? was "of course they are....because their Humans are losing their ability to Get Along!!" 

I keep reading that people seem to be getting ruder and angrier. We have so many things available to us at the click of a button that we have become impatient and have lost the need to actually go out and find the answers ourselves. (Hence interact with other people). Dogs are the unfortunate by- product of our lack of person to person socialisation. This hand and hand with the Me...want it now generation means that many people allow bad dog behaviour because it is easier.

Poodle Beguiled Your telling of your dogs from your childhood onward shows me that you were active and out and your dog(s) were with you. Thus they got used to people and a variety of situations. Today a lot of people stay indoors, spend countless hours on their computers (electronics) and their hobby may be shopping, plus a lot more people work and work long hours (commute time included). A lot of this type of activity does not lend itself to a well socialised dog.


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

You make some very good points Tlp. I Think those are some very viable components to this. 


What does your name, Tlp stand for, may I ask? Just interested.


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## ericwd9 (Jun 13, 2014)

Grace is as interested in the PC as I am. She likes the dog photos.
Eric.


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## 2719 (Feb 8, 2011)

Poodlebeguiled said:


> You make some very good points Tlp. I Think those are some very viable components to this.
> 
> 
> What does your name, Tlp stand for, may I ask? Just interested.


Oh I just shortened it from my original user name as it was part of my email address and was too long.

TLP.....equals True Love Poodles


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## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

Poodlebeguiled I totally know your past experiences...........we never even owned a leash and if we had to leash a dog we used a piece of rope! Hahaha!!! My dad always had hunting dogs ( always male and always named 'Duke' or 'King').... beagle, lab, or varieties of, and if they weren't on the front porch or lazing on the lawn, they were in the house. The Mailman, the Milkman And even the Jewel Tea Man or the Fuller Brush man (remember them?) were all 'friends' we lived in the city on a dead end street and never once, were any of the several dogs of all sizes, that lived on the block a problem! They all knew their names and if someone said " Go Home" they did!!!! Both neighbors and Dogs were 'well socialized' Hahahaha!!!!

P.S. The bakery truck was a favorite of all the dogs......he always tossed them bits of stale donuts!!!


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

Yep Molly, I remember the fuller brush man. I was very young but I remember my Mother getting things from him. lol.

Those days were very different. What you describe is so familiar sounding. "Go home Skipper." LOL. 

This is sort of an off shoot. But when I thought of Skipper it made me remember this funny phenomenon. Skipper and Bruno were the offspring of our dog, Ginger. She was my first dog when I was 5 and she was some kind of terrier and Beagle mix...kind of medium sized. She and the big black Lab up the street got married and had children. haha. One, Skipper, the neighbors got and we kept Bruno. Their dad, the big, black lab would take off and go to Lake Washington to swim every day on his own. He had to walk quite a ways to get there...probably about 3 or 4 miles. Those people moved away, I think when the puppies were very young or maybe not even born. I don't remember exactly when. All of a sudden, Skipper, who did have a fenced yard (about 4.5 feet) started jumping the fence and disappearing for a few hours and would come back all wet. They followed him or some such thing and discovered he was going to Lake Washington to swim, just like his Dad did....every single day. Only he didn't learn the behavior from his Dad. He just did it. LOL. Bruno never did that. Funny, huh.

I love your story about the bakery truck driver. Those dogs scored. I had a frozen meat truck guy come up my long driveway in Idaho where I lived and my Doberman, usually very watchful, quiet and reserved and slightly suspicious at first of strangers coming to our house at first, welcomed him with open paws. We were out in the yard. It was summertime. He didn't give him any of his steaks but Lyric must have smelled the frozen meat through the truck or something. He thought his guardian angel had arrived.

The UPS man was afraid of Lyric even though Lyric would just stand there and watch him. So, I gave him some treats and told him to toss him one whenever he came. From then on, every time he came, all the dogs went right up into his truck for a treat. He got a kick out of them. There was Lyric, Bonnie, the Chihuahuas, sometimes my son's dog. lol.

Anyhow, I have too many long winded stories. It is surely a different world now in so many ways. And dog husbandry has become very much more formal, for lack of a better word.


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