My dumb dog, but I've just gotta laugh at him

Last spring I put a welcome mat in front of the back door. Marilyn claims I have to clean the shoes a little better. The chocolate lab took a liking to it right away and curled up on it for the night. Next morning the mat was full of dog hair and it was getting in the house. We weren't happy. I scolded the dog and he stayed off until we were out of sight, then he was right back on it. Next day I was in the farm store and I walked past the electric fencers and the lightbulb lit up in my head. So I left the store with the lowest powered plug-in charger they had, took it home, mounted it on the side of the house and ran an insulated wire from the charger to the middle of the welcome mat, with about a half inch of bare wire sticking up. Half hour later the dog was standing by the door barking and growling staring at the wire with his head half cocked. That was last spring. He is STILL doing it. Half hour ago he was out there barking and growling. He just can't figure out why that mat bites back. I gave up laughing at him long ago. Now I just shake my head. Doesn't help the situation when the cats sit right on the wire and don't get bit by it. He's a nice well mannered, friendly dog. He just wasn't born with any brains in his head! Jim

My labs were always a little thick headed too, but friendly and gentle
when they should be while still being good watch dogs. Great dogs.
Maybe you should just get him his own mat for Christmas. LOL

Someone dumped a dog here a couple of months ago. Part yellow lab and who knows what else. Sweet natured dog. Wife fell in love with her. Came home a couple weeks ago, and she'd torn up the screen on the screened-in back porch, then totally wrecked the cushions, candles, pillows and overturned all the chairs inside. After she did it the second time, I wired the screen to a HOT electric fencer. Put up a sign to warn visitors. End of the screen problem. Today I noticed she's chewing up the telephone wire where it leaves the NID on the side of the house. Neighbor's dog was a wire chewer until he chewed into the Christmas reindeer wiring. He now has a healthy respect for electrical cords. We've got stuff lying everywhere for this dog to chew on, but she doesn't want to chew on the chew toys - gotta be something expensive.

A few years ago, came home to see what looked like popcorn all over the yard. Turned out that our young German Shepherd had somehow gotten the seat cushion off of my 50 John Deere, and it was totally destroyed. Had a 630 sitting right beside it with a tattered, worn out seat on it, but nooo - he had to chew up the brand new seat on the 50. I love dogs, but there's times when they really try your patience.

And - I forgot to mention - wife dopes her doormats with a generous dose of red pepper. Otherwise I find them over by the barn, out by the mailbox, under the truck. . .

Not fond of electric shock on any dog. Yes i own i shock collar. Labradors behavior often depends on the genetics. I have both an american and an english both akc registered. But to say someone has a "purebred" lab you have to look in the pedigree as to a direct connection to england. These english labs are much better tempered and all around much calmer. Hence there use for service dog work. Americans tend to be more hyper , hence there use in hunting and durablity in feild work.

When I was a kid, we had a German Shepherd that was so dumb he was living proof that God has a sense of humor.

His only redeaming quality was with my sister playing the piano and me playing the fiddle, we could get him to howling so loud our parents would throw all three of us out of the house.

Maybe the dog needs a dog house, winter is comming. I like my animals to be comfortable. The barn cat is locked in, and has a heated blanket. The inside cat, and dog have the wood stove. The new cat has a seperate bedroom with a heater. Stan

For less than the cost of the fence charger you could have bought a second mat for the dog to lay on. I have two mats on the back poach just for the dogs. It took me maybe a week to get them to lay on them and not the welcome mat. You can't make them lay on it now. They know they are in trouble if they do.

We got a yellow X lab pup back in the spring from the pound . His name is Barny he thinks his name is Barny NO!! Saying he likes to chew is a understatment . He has showed up with stuff I lost 2 yrs. ago . He seems to think he is doing you a faver when he is chewing on your glove .

Can I come live with you.

I know what you mean. My dog sleeps on the couch has his own pillow. If I hide his pillow,he will sit in front of the TV. Until I give it back to him.

I should take a pic of his doghouse. It's two doghouses situated end to end. He has to go through the first one to get to the back one that I call the 'cave'. Front doghouse is what I call the 'sun porch'. It has an oversized door facing south and glassed windows on the west side to let in the warm sun in the afternoon. He only uses the cave at night but sometimes on a sunny day he lays in the sun porch where he can keep an eye on things. He's a people orented dog and he wants to be where we are. I highly doubt if I could train him to use one specific mat. He's a big dog and he lays where he wants to lay. Jim

Between Jake and Willie, I haven't got a clue as to what they'll do stupid next. Jake thimks he can chase my mule around the field, and bark at the tires. The other day I felt a couple of 'thumps', hit the brakes, and he came scrambling out between the side wheels. Later, coming out of the pasture, I dropped a spring gate on the ground, opened a steel gate, and drove out. He stepped on the spring, got a hot foot, ran off about fifty feet, watched me shut the gates, then went over to see what bit him. He was sniffing the spring when the fencer discharged again. He still hasn't figured it out. And, although he's been rolled a couple of times by the bull, Willie still hasn't learned that he shouldn't get in his face. It's amazing how well they are learning to herd the cattle, but they still get in too close, and occasionally get whacked.

Had a husky many years ago that didn't like it when you left in the truck without him. He'd find either a box of kleenex or a roll of toilet paper and shred it - I mean *shred* it. Come home you'd think it snowed in the house. Never could break him of that habit completely...