By now, you’ve likely heard news reports about the German Shepherd who stayed with her owner’s body for 6 weeks, after the man committed suicide in a rural part of my home state, Colorado. It’s very sad. At the same time, it got me wondering — On the loyalty scale, where would my dogs rank?
If summer 2008 is any indication, Lilly scores higher than Ginko. Here’s why.
A few weeks ago, for the first time in my life, I was stung by a wasp. I was tying up some pea pod vines in the greenhouse. I had no idea I was at risk, so the bite caught me entirely off guard. It hurt, so I hollered, and Lilly (not Ginko) came running.
Since then, I’ve noticed that Lilly always comes immediately to my side when I express any kind of concern. Pinch my finger in a drawer. There’s Lilly. Trip in the pasture. There’s Lilly. Stub my toe. There’s Lilly. (Gee … that makes me sound clumsy.)
Granted, she’s usually reacting in a panicked, please-comfort-me kind of way, but she does come to my side.
Still, Ginko has far more “protective” responses to real danger than Lilly. He certainly uses his Big Boy Voice if he senses something, but he’s so mellow in general that he doesn’t pop up every time I say, “Ouch!”
Jennie (our behaviorist) tells me that it’s better for Lilly to want me than to need me. That’s how she tries to make me feel better about how much time Lilly and I spend apart now that I ignore her attention seeking behaviors. Since bugging me no longer works, she often hangs out in other parts of the house during the day. We’re home together nearly all day every day, but we’re no longer in the same room all the time. Clearly, I need her as much as she needed me because I’m having a hard time adjusting (even though it’s nice to get work done and not get interrupted 20+ times a day).
And, yet, a bonded dog, a responsive dog, a dog that truly wants/needs you … it seems to me, is more likely to show heroic loyalty.
So, should I get really hurt, I’m guessing Lilly would stay by my side. Ginko, on the other hand, would bark so much that he’d annoy people which might help them figure out something was wrong and summon help.
How about your dogs? Where do they rank?
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I think I’d be one of those people who would go “nuts.” I’ve always preferred the more independent dogs. They can all be intensely loyal though.
Hey, Jonathan! I’m sure there are breed quirks like that. I guess it all goes back to a dog’s primary “work” it was originally bred to do. Dogs that are protective, for example, might guard hikers like this. But, those that were bred to track or hunt independently might not. We chatted about this a while back when pondering “requirements” or wish lists for future dogs, and for ME … I truly prefer a dog that’s more handler focused, but I have friends who would go NUTS with a dog that responded to their every move and prefer a more independent-minded dog.
I wonder if any of this is hard-wired into certain breeds. My parents’ neighbors have a Tennessee Mountain Cur, Copper. Whenever they go on hikes in the mountain, Copper somehow knows. He’ll come and do circles around them as they hike to protect them from who knows what. I don’t know if this kind of behavior qualifies as “loyalty” or just good, solid breeding. Any thoughts?
Ha ha! He’s also the oldest … yes? Is he your first BC? Maybe that’s the difference.
Ummm, and my other 2 are normal? They’re all pretty much out to lunch if you ask me. Cody’s just a momma’s boy.
See … I think it’s the mildy nutty ones who have the potential for extreme loyalty.
When I was laid up on the couch recovering from foot surgery Cody flat out refused to leave my side. When the mid-day dog walker came he refused to go with her and I had to trick him to get him out the door. As time went on I had to get more & more creative because once he figured out a trick he wouldn’t fall for it again.
Our old pup will boldly go up to strangers for a treat, but does not like to be petted by anyone but my husband and me. She will not wander from the yard, and definitely wants to keep us in sight. But I don’t know if it’s loyalty so much as needing a pack. If she was to find someone else who would put up with her quirks (and didn’t have a cat!), she would adapt pretty quickly. Old Pup doesn’t respond to distress, but if my husband lets out an angry exclamation (usually when something goes wrong with the computer), she comes in as if to say, “What’s wrong? It’s not my fault! Here, rub my butt, you’ll feel better.”
I wouldn’t have guessed it based on her usual demeanor, but Kyna, my chocolate lab, is very loyal. A couple of years ago, I had a very serious spine surgery that left me completely laid up for 4 months. When my friends asked what they could do to help me, I’d request that they take Kyna out for some fun — a hike, a run, or some playing. What I definitely did not expect was that Kyna refused to go with them. She’d pull toward home if she was on leash and she’d actually run home if she was off leash. Ever since that time, she seems to believe that it’s her job to watch over me.
Kelly is definitely affectionate and bonded to me, but loyal…hard to say. If I was sad or lonely,(or even if I pretended to cry into my hands or make whimpering noises) my Yellow Lab, Hudson, would appear. He’d lick my face and stay by my side, seeming to want to comfort me. Kelly, however, just continues basking in the sun on the sofa, apparently missing the empathy gene. I could be passed out on the floor and she’d walk over my still body to get to her food bowl. But then, she also curls up by my side, waits anxiously at the door for my return snuggles at my feet while I work, and all those other special ways she shows me she cares. On a scale of 1-10, for loveability- 10, for loyalty, maybe 5.