Survey, Your dog VS Your Mate - Page 3

The dogs I have now more or less tolerate/ignore my husband most of the time, but when he first moved in I still had my old competition dog, Onyx, who didn't like him much, but tolerated his presence well enough unless/until he raised his voice in anger to me...at which times Onyx bit him... not seriously damaging him (yet) but definately drawing a line in the sand about anyone trying to harrass/intimidate me. The same dog had gone through a plate glass window to put my last husband (a former WUSV world team member and police dog trainer himself) up against the wall in a corner, face in face, when he shoved me in the backyard one time. He's slipped his collar so I put my arm around my dog's neck and pulled/ordered him off before he performed any impromptu surgery on the jerk, who I had "removed" from my home by local law enforcement. Onyx died suddenly, at age 12 1/2, before I married my present husband, so things never went any farther than a few nips, but I feel sure the friction between the two "alpha" personalities would have escalated to the point that one of them would have had to go within a short time... and everyone who knows me, including my husband, knows the one to leave would NOT have been my old dog. On more than one occasion I have regretted not having Onyx's lightening-fast psychological evaluations more seriously. He was ALWAYS right. SS

Shelly, That is tragic, to loose a loved friend of so many years, I am soooo Very sorry for your loss, I still Mourne for Ben, my old male. But I hear what your saying, God Forbid my hubby ever got stupid in front of any of the boys, He would be "Shredded" They would never tolerate him being nasty with me, I am it seems they're most prized posession. To correct the "issues" I have been making hubby and kids feed the dogs, I am no longer the source of food, however this does not seem to be making any kind of difference as of yet. will keep trying.

Onyx passed 4 yrs. ago, Pallo last May. I miss them both every day... their pix everywhere, their ashes and collars on my dresser, waiting for me to join them at the bridge, our earthly remains to be mixed together and sprinkled over the coastal range of N. CA someday. The good news: I have 2 yr. old Bijou, aka "Onyx, Jr..." not a direct descendent, as Onyx had one icky hip and was not bred, but a linebreeding on Harro, who I loved, almost the same temperament, expression, crazy-hell-bent-for-election drives, etc., and Portia, Pallo's daughter out of a wonderful Harro-line bitch (Conni)... who reminds me more of Onyx than she does her own dad. They're never REALLY gone, in my opinion. I know we'll meet up again someday (this time the two of them will get along ;) and what I learned from each of them; the confidence they built in me AND the humility they installed :-O, the experience, the successes, the failures (Oh Onyx, what you could pull in obedience! I crack up everytime I watch our videos LOL) is with me every time I step onto a training field. My ghost dogs are never far away. ;) Shelley