Big Changes

For a little while now, Kodi and I haven't been seeing eye to eye. He's been crabby, growling, moody.

I consulted someone who trains dogs and they suggested that my female problems, the menopause, the changes in my body, emotions, etc. can be sensed by Kodiak. She said, "you probably seem like a whole different person to him."

She also suggested that since I clip his toenails and trim the hair on his feet while on the bed, and the bed seemed to be the place where we were most at odds, perhaps he felt threatened by me on the bed. She thought maybe he was claiming the bed as his.

Since then, some of my female issues are more under control. Kodiak got pretty aggressive on the bed this past week, growling and nipping at me. I'd had it. I snapped and gently swatted him on the side of his muzzle telling him "No!"

He lay there, still, then I told him to get down off the bed. He did. He walked around the bed and came back up on the bed, his head down, snuggled up against me and licked my face.

Since that day, he's been amazing. There's been no more odd behavior on the bed, no more grumpiness, no more growling, he's not jumping off the bed as soon as I come close to it. We're playing multiple times a day on the living room floor, because it's still too hot and humid to be outside playing.

I would never advocate hitting a dog, I felt terrible about having swatted him, it was a knee-jerk reaction out of frustration, but it appears he was claiming the bed as his and threatened in some way by me being on the bed. I claimed the bed, dominated him on the bed and the issue is gone.

I've had a couple people also suggest that for whatever reason he was viewing me as weak, inferior, because of my illnesses and health problems, that he thought he could dominate me.

Again, I feel terrible about swatting him, I didn't use any force, just made contact, but it was enough for him to understand the severity of his mistake and make corrections.