My Dog, My Rules!!

1680 Views 12 Replies 8 Participants Last post by Garmie, Jan 20, 2016

wideturn

Discussion Starter · Jan 19, 2016 (Edited)

Don't you hate when other people tell you how to "parent" your dog? I have had Pax since he was 10 weeks old and he's now almost 11 months. I have tried super hard to train him and make him a solid citizen. I have brought him to work almost every day and everyone at work loves him.

*Please save me the "dogs don't belong at work" bit*

He's really good at "place" and "stay" so he spends most of the day on his bed, chewing his toys. I take him out for potty breaks and on occasion, co-workers will play fetch with him in the hallway. I don't have an office, I have a work space that is in a room with other people's work space. A manager brings his dog on occasion, but he has an office adjacent to our room, so his dog is usually inside, though she'll come out to fetch with Pax sometimes. I've always had strict rules about Pax so he didn't develop bad habits - especially in a workplace.

There's one coworker who HATES that I have rules for the dog. He's always like "let him live his life" or "he's a dog, relax!" And has encouraged mouthiness, jumping, getting food off counters, and feeding table scraps. He's also been too rough with playing to the point that it wasn't fun for Pax. I always intervene and say "please don't do x, y, z" and he mouths off to me. He fed Pax pizza when I've said sooo many times he's got a sensitive stomach and to only feed the treats I bring him. WELL guess what? Pax threw up. <This happened in a matter of seconds while someone was playing fetch and he literally stuck the pizza in front of Pax as he was going after the ball. I also keep Pax tethered to my spot and sometimes this coworker will walk by and just unhook him without me noticing. It's SO annoying. I am very close to not bringing him anymore. Whats more annoying is he respects the other person's rules with his dog, just not mine.

I'm sorry, just had to vent. I feel like that's just so rude.

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Shandula

· #2 · Jan 19, 2016

Your coworker sounds like a total jerk. I'm super jealous you get to bring your dog to work with you. Is there anyway Pax could fit in a more secluded spot like under your desk so you can monitor him a little bit better?

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wideturn

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jan 19, 2016

Shandula said:
Your coworker sounds like a total jerk. I'm super jealous you get to bring your dog to work with you. Is there anyway Pax could fit in a more secluded spot like under your desk so you can monitor him a little bit better?

Yea, I've recently moved him pretty much under my feet. I'm so glad I get to take him and my boss and all my coworkers love that he's here. When I first adopted him my boss told me I HAD to bring him! lol

But in reality, the best office dog is a well behaved one. If he was nipping and jumping at people and taking their food, he probably wouldn't be welcomed back.

AND YES! HE IS A JERK! My other coworker thinks he just doesn't respect me and resents that I'm "telling him what to do".

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Sabina88

· #4 · Jan 19, 2016

I agree, your coworker sounds very disrespectful and a jerk. I'm glad you have found a solution that works for you. Might it be worth it to talk with your manager about how your coworker is acting towards you and Pax? especially if he's letting him off the tether without permission and giving him food that makes him throw up.

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squidwanda

· #5 · Jan 19, 2016

Thats awesome that you get to bring your dog to work with you! I may be able to tolerate an office job if I knew my pups could come.

Honestly, it sounds like your coworker has some personal issues he needs to deal with. He probably resents you for having a well behaved dog and can't handle getting instructions from a woman. It puts you in a tough situation. I can imagine that you are worried about making an issue out of it with HR or your boss in case the solution is to not bring your dog anymore. However, maybe the threat of filing a complaint would be enough to get this guy to leave you alone. You should have a serious, firm conversation with him and if he doesn't respond well, threaten to get higher ups involved. If he doesn't respect you in this situation, I bet he doesn't respect you in others as well.

When my puppy was younger there used to be a guy in our friend group who just generally a d***. He treated me pretty disrespectfully and condescendingly, and I used to think it was because I was a lot younger than him, but I usually called him out on it. Anyways, he got frustrated and started taking it out on my puppy. He was/is pretty mistrustful of men, so this guy decided that it was fun to start lunging and chasing the puppy. He kept laughing because he thought it was hilarious that my dog was barking and growling at him. He would do it out of the blue and then my pup would be upset for the rest of the day. I tried many times to ask him politely to stop, but it got to the point where I had to be extremely firm and let him know that the next time it happened, me and my dogs would refuse to be around him again.

It seems like your coworker has similar respect/self confidence issues like the guy I knew. I hope you're able to get him to stop!

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wideturn

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jan 19, 2016

Yea I didn't wanna be that person to say "I think it's because I'm a girl" but my male coworker said that before I did so I tend to agree.

Mr. Jerkface is a manager himself, but lower down in the foodchain and NOT in charge of me or my dept so I think it frustrates him that he's not in charge of me, and that I'm 'giving him orders' in a way. (Not that I am) And I am a bit younger than him.

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Laus2002

· #7 · Jan 19, 2016

I totally understand your frustration, I have discovered a whole other side to me since having Jax, I think they call it 'mothering instinct', I call it, 'I will genuinely rip you apart from limb to limb if you upset my dog'!! ;-)

People are idiots and training them is very hard, I joke that I love dogs, I'm just not so keen on the owners and I must admit that it's mostly true, so many 'well meaning' people have tried to force useless, outdated advice on me, saying Jax will get fat if I use treats etc, etc, and it's really upsetting, especially when you're trying your best.

All I say is try not to let it get to you (easier said than done, I know right!) and if you find out how to deal with the problem without causing bloodshed, please let me know!!

Laus xx

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Hannahspups

· #8 · Jan 19, 2016

Just don't do what I did!! when I worked a day care we could bring our dogs to work with us sometimes and the one day I decided to bring in my older dog, there was a coworker there that I didn't like. My boss knew that and would schedule us for different shifts so we weren't around each other. He always picked on me and I hated it so I didn't like it one bit.
Well he knew my dog was very shy around men and it scared her if he would get near her and he thought it was hilarious. When I saw that he was messing with her, purposely moving towards her or backing her into a corner and then laughing when she'd whine. I told my boss and she said she'd keep an eye on it.
Towards the end of the day, she was chewing on a dog treat and he started screaming at her. She got so scared she peed. So I walked over and slapped him so hard my hand hurt for the next week. His excuse for yelling at her was tat he wasn't sure what she was eating and he thought it was something of his. I had to 'take a leave of absence' but it was totally worth it

some people are just jerks and thrive off of causing conflict :/

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Hannahspups

· #9 · Jan 19, 2016

It's a dog day care btw lol forgot to mention that!

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Laus2002

· #10 · Jan 19, 2016

P.S I've been training him with treats for the 18 months we've had him, he was weighed at the vets the other day and he's perfect, in fact he weighs exactly the same as he did last July- put that in your pipe and smoke it!!!!! ;-)

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squidwanda

· #11 · Jan 19, 2016

Hannahspups said:
Just don't do what I did!! when I worked a day care we could bring our dogs to work with us sometimes and the one day I decided to bring in my older dog, there was a coworker there that I didn't like. My boss knew that and would schedule us for different shifts so we weren't around each other. He always picked on me and I hated it so I didn't like it one bit.
Well he knew my dog was very shy around men and it scared her if he would get near her and he thought it was hilarious. When I saw that he was messing with her, purposely moving towards her or backing her into a corner and then laughing when she'd whine. I told my boss and she said she'd keep an eye on it.
Towards the end of the day, she was chewing on a dog treat and he started screaming at her. She got so scared she peed. So I walked over and slapped him so hard my hand hurt for the next week. His excuse for yelling at her was tat he wasn't sure what she was eating and he thought it was something of his. I had to 'take a leave of absence' but it was totally worth it
some people are just jerks and thrive off of causing conflict :/

Good for you!! Maybe I shouldn't say that for hitting somebody but I wish I'd done it myself. I remember when this guy was chasing my puppy around he had done it while my back was turned and all I did was get the pup behind me and scream some choice words and then start crying. I still wish I'd smacked him.

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ChessaQ

· #12 · Jan 20, 2016

My roommate lets my dogs and even encourages them to do things I don't allow. I don't allow begging. Not even a little bit. They are to sleep and ignore any eating, but she teases them and occasionally tosses them food and she knows I don't allow that.

But the thing that really annoys me is when we're watching tv in the living room, and i have them laying on the couch with me and she says their names a bunch and gets them all excited!! Echo is very distractable and easily led astray so she'll get up when she's not supposed to, but then my roommate tells her to go away when she comes over to her.

onder: I mean you basically called her, what did you expect??! She also lets them jump up which is a big no no.

I don't care what you let your own dog do as long as it's not harmful to me or my dogs, but for crying out loud don't encourage my dogs to be bad!

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Garmie

· #13 · Jan 20, 2016

I'm living with my parents, and they're the kind of ignorant people that think they know everything, such a dangerous mentality. They'll say things like "Oh please I had dogs my entire life" (psst not true) "I always fed them cooked chicken bones and never had an issue, they love it!" "Let him chase cars, he looks so happy when he does it". You know what's worse, they actually think i'm being overprotective and feed him crap when i'm not looking, it's so stressing i feel like i'm watching over children.

God, and my dad intentionally scaring my dog even though I told him time and time again that he's afraid of people, "german shepherds are supposed to have attitude, you're raising him to be a %&#!#" you should've seen his face when i told him he'll get his face mauled someday if he keeps doing that.

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