curious dog behavior. any experts?

[mosta]

My girlfriend has a charming and odd Boston Terrier. Here are some of the things he does without having been specifically trained to. When you eat, he'll watch, like to beg. But if you look at him he looks away immediately and pretends to be staring at the wall. Until you look away, and then he watches you eat again. He doesn't fetch. He destroys stuffed and other toys, but he has never touched a shoe or purse or anything that wasn't given to him. He was allowed on all the furniture in GF's house, but when they moved in with me, I told him to keep off the first day and he has never tried or been caught on anything. He always sleeps with her, under her covers, at night, unless she's not here and then he sleeps with me under my covers. He's also been crate trained from the beginning. (He comes from a show breeder, who crate trained him. But he was returned by his first owner b/c he couldn't show on acct of an undescended testicle. GF got him on clearance.) One day we were leaving and I just told him to "get in his house," and he did. Now he knows the command.

All this is background, leading up to my question. Why won't he kiss the GF--his owner, master, feeder, and sleeper with? He likes to kiss people. He gets spastic with new people and kisses constantly. He kisses me whenever I kiss at him. But he will not kiss her no matter what she does. And it's not that he's gay. He kisses female stranger humans with gusto. Anyone have any idea how to interpret this refusal to kiss his "Mommy"?

[lmcjaho]

[ QUOTE ]
He was allowed on all the furniture in GF's house, but when they moved in with me, I told him to keep off the first day and he has never tried or been caught on anything. He always sleeps with her, under her covers, at night, unless she's not here and then he sleeps with me under my covers.

[/ QUOTE ]

So your bed doesn't count as furniture in your house?

[ QUOTE ]
All this is background, leading up to my question. Why won't he kiss the GF--his owner, master, feeder, and sleeper with? He likes to kiss people. He gets spastic with new people and kisses constantly. He kisses me whenever I kiss at him. But he will not kiss her no matter what she does. And it's not that he's gay. He kisses female stranger humans with gusto. Anyone have any idea how to interpret this refusal to kiss his "Mommy"?

[/ QUOTE ]

Does she have bad halitosis?

Okay, no seriously - does she maybe wear perfume or always use a certain moisturizer or some other chemical that he might not like the taste of?

Before we lived together my wife's family had a dog that absolutely went bonkers if you waved a bottle of bath salts under his nose - maybe your GF smells bad/funny to him?

[mosta]

[ QUOTE ]
...
So your bed doesn't count as furniture in your house?
...

[/ QUOTE ]

Good catch. Yeah, he has full reign of the bed. (but he's never gotten on the leather sofa or club chair without being picked up and held in a lap.)

The idea about breath or perfume is good. But I don't think it's it. It seems like it must be connected to some kind of dominance/submission behavior like how he pretends not to have been looking at you when you're eating. (And also, he's pretty much never been hit or scared or hurt badly.)

More background/ curious stuff: I don't think he had any idea how to bark until he was 2 years old and spent some months with some boisterous Corgis. He rarely does it now, and it barely sounds like more than a cough. Also, for all the ways he's incredibly well-behaved, the one thing he can't ever learn is to heel on the leash. He starts pulling and lunging. You yell at him, "Hey!" He comes to heel and looks up apologetically. And then 10 seconds later he starts lunging again. Just can't get it. And even odder is that when he's been off the leash (in a park) he didn't run or stray.

And a last one: one time I was walking him and he picked up a bit of a limp. I kept on for a few minutes before checking him out. Turns out he had big shard of glass in his paw. Didn't cry or complain or anything. A real trooper.

Very great, but rather odd little dog. I think I may get my own. Couple pix:

puppy.



on foot.




not begging.

[lmcjaho]

Dude - your GF has a beard?

LOL - just kidding, nice dog.

[crazy canuck]

[ QUOTE ]

Dude - your GF has a beard?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, maybe that's the reason for the lack of smootch from the pooch.

[Runkmud]

Perhaps the previous trainer, who trained it to obey so obiediently, trained it never to kiss her. The dog recognizes your GF as the new "alpha" female and doesn't think it should kiss her?

I dunno, just a theory.

[juanez]

[ QUOTE ]
Anyone have any idea how to interpret this refusal to kiss his "Mommy"?


[/ QUOTE ]

Maybe your GF got afraid or nervous the first time the dog tried to kiss her and he sensed that, so he doesn't do it now? Ask your GF if she ever told him "NO" when he tried to kiss her.

Seems like you have a great, obedient dog. Nice catch.

[John Cole]

Sounds like typical Boston behavior. Forget stuffed toys; they destroy them in the same fashion that Pit Bulls do (my previous dog was a Pit Bull). In fact, they pull at the leash the same way, too, although the Pit was a bit easier to train.

My vet says that if you can't get a kiss from a Boston, there's something wrong with you. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] But, simply look at how the dog acts around your GF; I think they don't feel the need to kiss their owners all the time. Strangers are another story.

Here's a pic of Chloe:

[mosta]

Nice dog. Here's a funny Boston site if you haven't seen it:

http://www.boston-terrier-challenge.com/

It's funny how they have such specific behaviors. They don't just destroy toys in any and every way possible. Of these two, one is obsessed with killing squeakers ("I bite and bite and bite...until the squeeking stops!") and the other identifies the seem, opens it, and tears out all stuffing. Tucker actually has both of these behaviors. (We gave up after he de-stuffed his second kennel pillow.)

[miajag]

[ QUOTE ]
And it's not that he's gay.

[/ QUOTE ]