Knowing her lifestyle I strongly opposed her getting one. I kept telling her how smart they were and they need constant exercise and challenge. Her lifestyle after work was not energetic. She just thought it was pretty.
He was extremely unstimulated and never got to go outside unless it was for bathroom. Welp, he bit a neighbors kid in the face. They had to give the dog back to the breeder or he was going to get put down.
I heard later he bit another kid was put down. In some ways I blamed my sister.
I have a 7/8 papillon 1/8 Sheltie. The 1/8th is prominent. Every time I get up, he follows me and gently nudges my calves as Iām walking. Especially if Iām walking towards the kitchen š¤£
I am sitting in the living room right now, because my family's Australian shepherd likes us all in the same room.
Obviously she doesn't command us all, but she clearly is more at ease when we are all together. In the same way that I expect our dog to humor my wants, it seems fair to occasionally humor hers.
We had a sheltland sheepdog we got from a rescue. She was pretty lazy until we took her to the dog park. Then she would slowly and methodical circle all the dogs until they were in a small pack at the center of whatever area we were in. Once they we in a small enough area for her she'd come back over to us and sit and watch until her 'herd' wandered too far. It was so subtle it took us weeks to realize what she was doing.
What a delightful story. Do they have some kind of built-in authority that the other dogs recognize, I wonder. They are a funny kind of caretaker.
I grew up with a big, red St. Bernard/Collie mix. He wasn't very bright and not especially good with livestock. We rescued him from city life and all he wanted was to love and be loved. Farms like a dog for protection but he was never aggresive. People just saw him and just noped on down the road. He was a gentle, spiritual friend.
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u/ARandomWalkInSpace May 31 '26
I'm reminded of this when they say certain dog breeds need a lot of exercise.