My dog hates it when I play online poker
 

This is not a joke. It's 100% serious. I don't know what forum to put this in so I chose the psychology forum since this is an animal psych issue. If it belongs somewhere else, please move it, and I apologize in advance.

I have a pure bred Chow Chow whose a sweetheart, but very high maintenance. I work a regular 40 hour a week job, and live alone, so she's alone most weekdays (I try and make it home for lunch when I can). When I get home, I exercise her, play with her, and give her plenty of attention.

Here's the problem: Whenever I sit down at the computer in my kitchen to play poker online, she usually starts whining and showing her disapproval, distracting me. Among other things, she'll crawl under the desk and has knocked the keyboard over numerous times.

What's so odd about this is that if I sit on the couch and watch tv, she usually lays down by my feet, and she never has any complaints. If I'm reading a book, she never starts whining either. It's only when I sit down at the computer to play poker.

Depending on the time of day/night, I let her outside when I'm playing to avoid this, but many times this isn't an option because if the neighbors on either side of my house are outside in their backyard she'll bark at them relentlessly, and won't come inside when I call her, until the neighbors go in. This is even a bigger distraction.

Obviously, explaining variance to her or showing her all the $$$ I'm making isn't a solution, since she has the intelligence of a 2 year old.

Does anyone have any experience with a similar issue, or have any realistic suggestions which would solve this problem (no jokes please)?

Thanks.

Re: My dog hates it when I play online poker
 

no, thank you.

PS. I think you should cross-post this to psychology.

Re: My dog hates it when I play online poker
 

http://www.itvmovieclub.com/itv/imag...9309-large.jpg

Re: My dog hates it when I play online poker
 

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Obviously, explaining variance to her or showing her all the $$$ I'm making isn't a solution, since she has the intelligence of a 2 year old.

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No jokes please

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Re: My dog hates it when I play online poker
 

Its pretty obvious poker stresses you, and that worries her and makes her not like it. That evil computer is hurting her daddy!

Quit poker, obviously.

Ray

Re: My dog hates it when I play online poker
 

Is it only when you play poker or any time you sit at the computer?

Re: My dog hates it when I play online poker
 

Put a muzzle on her and put her outside.

Re: My dog hates it when I play online poker
 

http://www.perunamaa.net/ankistit/DogSoup2.jpg

Re: My dog hates it when I play online poker
 

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no, thank you.

PS. I think you should cross-post this to psychology.

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he originally put it in psychology. it was a copy cat(?) thread to drive chess pain crazy.

funny idea and well written. i laughed several times.

bwana

Re: My dog hates it when I play online poker
 

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no, thank you.

PS. I think you should cross-post this to psychology.

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he originally put it in psychology. it was a copy cat(?) thread to drive chess pain crazy.

funny idea and well written. i laughed several times.

bwana

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Lolz. It made me think of the whiny stuff on forum forum, that's what made me think of psychology/Chesspain.

Re: My dog hates it when I play online poker
 

I have a cat that does the same thing... only when I'm playing as well? Lays on keyboard - swats the mouse, meows etc... (but not when I'm just emailing or typing???) So if I'm in a tournament and want to focus... I pet her, give her some catnip and put her in the bedroom, close the door. She always forgives me after [img]/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]

Re: My dog hates it when I play online poker
 

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Is it only when you play poker or any time you sit at the computer?

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If I'm just surfing the net and not playing poker, she usually has no problem. Every once in a while she'll whine a little if I'm sitting there for a substantial amount of time, but it's nothing like when I'm playing poker online. I mean, sometimes it's only a couple of minutes of me playing, and she'll start whining and trying to crawl under the desk. It's quite maddening.

Re: My dog hates it when I play online poker
 

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no, thank you.

PS. I think you should cross-post this to psychology.

[/ QUOTE ]

he originally put it in psychology. it was a copy cat(?) thread to drive chess pain crazy.

funny idea and well written. i laughed several times.

bwana

[/ QUOTE ]

While the impetus for me to post this was seeing all of those dumb my parents/girlfriend hate me playing poker threads, this is a true story - no joke. I've never seen anyone else make a disapproving pet post, so I'm hoping I can get some legitimate advice/ideas which can help resolve this situation.

Re: My dog hates it when I play online poker
 

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Put a muzzle on her and put her outside.

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She's too smart to muzzle. When I used to take her to a pet clinic to get quaffed (I do it myself now), I had to give her a sedative, so she would calm down enough to let the pet groomer do her thing. The dose the vet told me to give her was too much, and she could barely walk straight, but she still had no problem getting out of the muzzle. She's extremely intelligent and cunning.

Re: My dog hates it when I play online poker
 

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What's so odd about this is that if I sit on the couch and watch tv, she usually lays down by my feet, and she never has any complaints.

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Get a laptop and play on the couch.

Re: My dog hates it when I play online poker
 

maybe she has nowhere comfortable to sit. try putting a dogbed near the computer or something.

Re: My dog hates it when I play online poker
 

"Obviously, explaining variance to her or showing her all the $$$ I'm making isn't a solution, since she has the intelligence of a 2 year old."



"She's extremely intelligent and cunning."


??????????????????????????????????????????????

Re: My dog hates it when I play online poker
 

Seems obvious to me.......... she wants to play. Go buy another computer and open an account for her.

Re: My dog hates it when I play online poker
 

Dogs are very sensitive to your mood. Perhaps your dog is responding to the normal (???) stress you are feeling when you play. If he connects a certain activity with increased stress for you he may try to stop you from engaging in that activity.

Re: My dog hates it when I play online poker
 

Throw your worthless dog into traffic.

Re: My dog hates it when I play online poker
 

As someone else said, get a laptop and play on the couch.

It is also possible that something about the poker sound effects is upsetting your dog. Have you tried shutting the sound off and playing for a session? If the dog remains calm when the poker game is silent then go to the software forum and see if people have alternate sound mods that might not cause the problem.

Re: My dog hates it when I play online poker
 

I have the exact same situation. Maybe I convey tension when I play, but my GSD sits and stares at me totally upset at the slightest comment or reaction I might have playing. I'm afraid my poker is giving her an ulcer.

Re: My dog hates it when I play online poker
 

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my GSD sits and stares at me totally upset at the slightest comment or reaction I might have playing.

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The dog doesn't actually notice or care; you are projecting your poker-induced feelings of anxiety and concern onto the dog.

Re: My dog hates it when I play online poker
 

this cracked me up. really.

Re: My dog hates it when I play online poker
 

I wish I had a German Shepard that would bite me in the crotch every time I sat down to play poker. It would save me a lot of pain in the long run.

Re: My dog hates it when I play online poker
 

Hey I know the feeling... I have a black lab that is 70 lbs and no matter what time of day I sit down at the computer she always stares at me like I did something wrong its like saying good gosh mom what the heck ... she gets right under my feet and half the time wont leave me alone...I feel ya

Re: My dog hates it when I play online poker
 

I used to smoke crack with my friend, and whenever we lit up his dog would go crazy. It's almost as if he knew it was a terrible thing to do. The real question is, do you lose money? Your dog might be trying to tell you something.

Re: My dog hates it when I play online poker
 

My dogs hate it when i play poker, but i spend more time with them than you do...Maybe they think that youre a dead beat dad

In all seriousness, dogs are very smart animals and they will notice if they are being ignored, which they are....if you are living alone and single and working 40 hours a week then he isnt receiving enough attention. Find a doggy daycare and drop him off once a week to get his energy levels down

Re: My dog hates it when I play online poker
 

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What's so odd about this is that if I sit on the couch and watch tv, she usually lays down by my feet, and she never has any complaints.

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Get a laptop and play on the couch.

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I've seriously considered this. But I don't know if it what be a sure fire solution, w/out trying it.

Re: My dog hates it when I play online poker
 

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maybe she has nowhere comfortable to sit. try putting a dogbed near the computer or something.

[/ QUOTE ] this isn't an issue. she lounges in the kitchen when i'm in my living room on the couch, all the time.

Re: My dog hates it when I play online poker
 

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Seems obvious to me.......... she wants to play. Go buy another computer and open an account for her.

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I have had her fill out a march madness bball bracket b4, where I passed the #1,2,and 3 seeds to the sweet sixteen, and let her pick the rest of the tourney. She beat over a 3rd of the people who entered.

Don't know if I can back her in poker. Might let her try micros, but this is probably a pretty bad idea EV wise.

Re: My dog hates it when I play online poker
 

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Dogs are very sensitive to your mood. Perhaps your dog is responding to the normal (???) stress you are feeling when you play. If he connects a certain activity with increased stress for you he may try to stop you from engaging in that activity.

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She doesn't try and stop me from watching Husker football games, college bball, or any nfl game I invest in.

I agree with your general assertion of most dogs' ability to detect stress, but I don't think this is the case here.

Re: My dog hates it when I play online poker
 

maybe in her past experiences when ur at the computer playing poker you usually break things and yell... she notices the pattern and wants to prevent another outbreak

Re: My dog hates it when I play online poker
 

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When I used to take her to a pet clinic to get quaffed (I do it myself now)

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You can get thrown in jail for quaffing your dog where I live.

Re: My dog hates it when I play online poker
 

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my GSD sits and stares at me totally upset at the slightest comment or reaction I might have playing.

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The dog doesn't actually notice or care; you are projecting your poker-induced feelings of anxiety and concern onto the dog.

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Ummm, no. But thanks.

Re: My dog hates it when I play online poker
 

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I have had her fill out a march madness bball bracket b4, where I passed the #1,2,and 3 seeds to the sweet sixteen, and let her pick the rest of the tourney. She beat over a 3rd of the people who entered.

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Miraculous! She beat 1/3 of the people after you eliminated the weakest 48 of the 64 teams for her. That's, ummmm, impressive.

Re: My dog hates it when I play online poker
 

I don't get this. Is your "dog" your wife? I suck at reading between the lines.

Re: My dog hates it when I play online poker
 

I hate it when my dog starts playing, he's rubbish. whenever i go for a toilet break, he's there, playing no limit, losing my money.