In defense of Teagan... and me too!

Teagan has her issues but she's getting better. Really, she's not all that bad!

I've been told that I'm a bad dog mom and Teagan has gotten labeled as a bully by some people. I think that judgement is really unfair and wrong!

On the spectrum of dog owners, I think I'm pretty darn good. I walk them everyday. I feed them good food. I play with them and pet them (sometimes until my hands hurt!). I make sure they get to socialize with other dogs at parks and at doggie daycare. I bathe them and brush them. I take them everywhere that I'm allowed to take them and sometimes even to places that say "No Dogs Allowed". They have the run of the house. They have a fenced yard. They don't want for anything. They seem happy.

On the local news here a few days ago, there was a woman walking her 2 dogs and they ran onto a frozen pond after some geese. Then the ice broke because it's been so warm here lately. The woman went into the icy water to save her dogs. The reporter went around asking people who were walking their dogs if they would have done the same. And only about half of the people said they would. I think that's just crazy! Of course I would jump into icy water to save my dogs!

And I don't think Teagan should be labeled as a bully. Yes, she does boss Keeley around but I think that's just because she's a girl. And yes, she is reactive and gets aggressive when she thinks she needs to protect me or some other resource. But she's not a bully. She does know how to play nice with other dogs. I've seen her do it.

At Lake Park, there's a little corgie named Millie that is about the same age as Teagan. They play terrific together. They take turns pinning each other; just the way a game of bitey-face should be. And I asked at doggie daycare if she was having any issues there and they seemed truly shocked at the suggestion. They said she's really good there. They like her and she makes them laugh too.

I think in Teagan's mind, she thinks that she's a really small dog. And that's why she only wants to play with dogs that are smaller than her. She's scared of big dogs and tries to stay away from them if she can and if she can't avoid them, she attacks them. I don't think that sounds like the behavior of a bully. I think I bully would attack the little dogs, not the big ones, right? I think she's only attacking them out of fear. And this behavior is limited to our home so it probably has to do with resource guarding too. Being reactive is different from being a bully.

Teagan has her issues but she also has so many good qualities too. She trusts me completely. She's sweet and smart. She's insanely healthy. She walks like she's on a mission (sometimes never even stopping to do her business until the end of the walk). She loves her family. She has her issues with Keeley but she really loves him too. She never wants to be far from him. If he wants to play with her she'll get up and play with him even if she'd rather be napping.

She's a year old now and I'm not giving up on her! I think she'll only continue to get better as she gets older.