Doggone Etiquette —

Be Mine!

By Bardi McLennan

A Word to the Dog:

This coming week you may be given dog biscuits in shapes, colors, and even flavors you don’t recognize. Some are meant to be red hearts and are a special treat to celebrate Valentine’s Day. That’s a day when your VIPeople will indicate how much you mean to them, and you should do the same. Well, dogs can’t hand out treats, but you can show your affection in other ways, for example with those adoring “please be mine” looks all you dogs manage to come up with. Just don’t confuse that phrase (or look) with your “it’s mine” routine – the one where you come on strong with “if it’s in my mouth, it’s mine” or give other such possessive signals.

A Word to the Dog’s Owner:

In addition to Valentine’s Day, this is a long, very doggy weekend! There are all kinds of special breed dog shows and dog events taking place in and around New York City, leading up to the grand finale with one of the biggest, oldest, and best known dog shows – Westminster Kennel Club. Breeds and groups for that show will be judged in Madison Square Garden on both February 13 and the 14, ending up with Best in Show on Valentine’s Day itself. What could be a more significant timing for lovers of dogs! If, for any reason, you can’t make it into the city for that special two-day event, you will be able to see some of it online and the groups on television.

Often I hear people mistakenly scoff at dog shows and say they can’t see any point in going to a dog show with all those fancy dogs because their beloved pet is a mixed breed. That is a big mistake and one who misses the point of the dog show which is to select and award dogs in each breed that best represent that specific breed. No matter how many generations back, “mixed breeds” originated from purebred dogs and a great deal can be learned about Mutty-the-Mix by discovering which individual breed traits are dominant in some way and make Mutty the dog he is. Lots of problems that crop up with our pets (mixed breeds or purebreds) are misunderstood simply because their breed origins are overlooked.

Go to the dog shows, look closely at all the dogs that look similar in some way to your mixed breed –

the size, the head, the expression, the coat – and then ask questions to find out more about each breed’s background, function, temperament, training ability, etc. You may learn exactly why Mutty does, or doesn’t do, certain things that have been puzzling you.

Every breed has certain breed characteristics that set it apart in some way. It may be referred to in human terms as “having a sense of fun” or “being stand-offish” and thus difficult to train. Some breeds seem to live their entire lives as playmates, while other breeds will remain stoically serious and want nothing to do with fun and games. These are all the differences that endear our special Rufus or Mutty to us, and this is a special weekend when every dog owner can let their dog know it.

By the way, there’s more to that “it’s mine” routine that dogs are apt to pull on their unwary owners. Don’t let Rufus get away with “if I saw it first, it’s mine” or his so generous alternative, “If it’s broken, it’s yours.”  You gotta love ’em!     

Until next time, remember – BE MINE!

- Bardi

Bardi McLennan bred, trained and showed Welsh Terriers for 30 years, during which time she wrote a monthly column on canine behavior in Dog Fancy Magazine. In addition to contributing to numerous dog publications, she has written 15 books on dogs, the latest being Rescue Me!, which received the ASPCA Humane Issues Award in 2008.