| Who's the Leader?
Ok... It goes something like this: I have one roommate, who has always been there since Jake, my Dobie, arrived 10 Months ago. He's now 11 Months old, and is a complete clown. I love it when he does crazy things to make me laugh - but there are also things that drive me mad! e.g. he ate 3 of my Red Sox and Patriots Champion hats, 2 Tumi Wallets, and just now, a 100 dollar bill!!!!! Now, I put my stuff away, and i hide my wallet, but he will search for it as if it's one of his million toys, and then the money or whatever he finds is the reward. He also has a thing for shoes - but mostly my wallet and Hats.
How do i stop him from doing this?
The other problem is, when I am alone with jake all day (weekends etc) and playing just the 2 of us, he is a complete ANGEL. This is the same when the roomie is home, but i'm not... but when both me and the roomie are here - he's the devil himself, he doesn't listen, he jumps, he mouths, he "play" growls, and doesn't use his inside bark.. but this high pitched yelpy that is going to pierce your ear drums bark. I know he's doing it for the attention, and I am assuming he is fighting now for the 100% attention in the house, e.g. when one one is home, Jake has nobody to compete with, but how can we wean this behavior?
We take him for walks all the time, and let him play in the off leash dog park nearby (which he does great except that he doesn't want anything to do with his toys when we're there, but loves to play with them only inside the house) and we don't punish, apart from the raising the voice and saying No.... or Down... you know the simple one word commands...
He knows: Sit, Lay Down, Stay, Inside (means go in his cage) and if he gets in his stubborn barking jumping moods, and i raise my voice in the I'm not happy sound and say sit.... he'll do it, but it's almost like his moaning under his breath like he's telling me off as he sits down... (i'm actually glad Dobies can't talk, or I'd be in trouble i'm sure!)
and last thing is ..... Is it normal for Dobies to be so $#*! stubborn sometimes that they ignore you on purpose? I never used to think dogs could have that complex of a thought process, and I've had dogs all my life, just never a dobie...but i swear it's like he thinks through what he's going to do - usually it's a bad idea what he thinks, but .... are there any secrets you guys can share....
Thanks Everyone!!! | 
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