Seeing Dub’s parrot thread reminded me of something and I didn’t want to hijack it.
Although I grew up around dogs, we always had ‘em outside as they were ranch dogs so I have never lived with a dog in the house. When I have been around dogs of friends, the kind of dogs that are really smart, like Labs or Alsatians for example, I have always noticed that they seem to really watch the humans’ faces with very knowing eyes.
Now to a hypersensitive paranoid like me (I know, it’s a huge surprise to many of you), I kinda feel a bit creepy to think somebody is watchin’ when doing intimate things, like usin’ the loo or NOT sleeping in the bedroom, if ya know what I mean.
So my two-bit question to provide levity and opportunities for you hard-core dog lovers is, do you lock yer dog out of the bedroom or bathroom at CERTAIN times? I mean, even if the dog just lays down and falls asleep, does it bug you??
America wants to know.. Well, I sorta do, in case I actually ever allow the rest of the family to own a dog in my house, which I have refused for years (mostly because it would be lonely during working hours and I would be the one who had to clean up after it, take it to vet, etc etc)…
Our boxers tend to sit there and do the heavy sighing routine whenever THEIR sleep is disturbed. They have no problem with banging against the bed, however, when THEY decide it’s time to get up in the morning.
They won’t go near the bathroom (they hate baths, so it’s always a chore to get them in there).
Oh, sure, my dog probably watches me when I’m napping on the couch… only because he considers it his, and he’s waiting for me to go away. Doesn’t bother me a bit.
The only time the bathroom thing was a problem was when we had guests and an inadequately closed door was nosed open while the occupant was in no position to close it.
We had a number of dogs over the years and getting up on the bed was generally acceptable. Consequently, the bedroom was off-limits during “special time” lest one or more wondered what the fuss was all about and decided to jump up for a closer look.
Special time on the bed would pique my dog’s curiosity to the point where he would have no recourse but to jump up on the bed to discover what was going on, and if he could play too… needless to say, the door remains closed during this time.
When I am home alone, I often wee wee with the bathroom door open. He doesn’t seem the least interested in my activety.
The cat my wife and I had the first few years of our marriage liked to sleep in the bathroom - we had a padded covers for the toilet tank and seat, it was quiet, and (usually) dark. Combine this with a rather lazy Himalayan cat (imagine a Persion with Siamese markings) and you usually had to move a large mound of silky cat hair containing a small, comatose, cat before you could use the room for its intended purposes.
This used to really creep my wife out. She’d emerge from the shower, busily towelling her hair - then notice a pair of unwinking blue eyes staring at her naked body. I thought the cat had been woken up by the sound of the shower and was curious about the vigorous towelling. She was convinced the cat had a dirty mind.
The dog is not interested in bathroom behavior, but the cat always comes in during that first morning wee to announce that’s she’s up and ready for breakfast. But I have never felt a sense of modesty around any pets, nor did I around very small children–at least until their personal senses of modesty began to emerge.
As for the other thing–the dog knows that the alpha member of her pack (that would be me,) will give her the look and she will have to jump off the bed anyway, so it is very infrequent that she tries to hop on the bed when there are two people in it. The only recent exception to that was at 3 am last week, because there was a scary thunderstorm and her need to be between our heads was irrepressible. Usually there is no need to shut her out, so whether she is out or in depends on where she is at the time the door gets shut.
I work with a guy who learned a painful lesson about shutting dogs out of the bedroom at ‘certain times’.
His girlfriend’s chihuahua apparently mistook his ‘dangly bits’ for Kibbles 'n Bits!
The dog’s not allowed on the bed anyway, so if he’s in during the “special time” he’s asleep on the floor and ignoring the strange thrashings and noises. If it’s really hot he comes into the bathroom where the floor is cooler, but he doesn’t care what the people are doing.
The cat goes out at night and it’s been a long time since any “afternoon delight” so she doesn’t get in the way. However, if someone is using the bathroom where her litter box is and has the door closed, she tells us very loudly what she thinks of that.
Dog owners are kewl…thanks for stories. Dana’s anecdote about the wife is kinda what I meant. They just STARE…of course, that was a cat.
I also sorta imagined that the dog might think that it’s playtime when actually, only two were invited…
I think it’s an interesting thing, the interface of domestic pets and people. .
I had cats for years and they just basically wanted a human for heat source, no matter whether the human was in motion or not. So I would banish 'em and they would then stick their paws under the door and scratch. Just enough annoyance to cause one to “lose some focus.”
My best friend’s cat always wants to come along to the loo… He just does a round to inspect that everything is ok before wanting to be petted, but I prefer being in there alone, to be honest. But if I don’t let him in, he’ll be standing around outside, protesting loudly whilst trying to open the door. I’m sure he’s not really a cat, but a dog in disguise.
As for the other, far more interesting, activity… no, I wouldn’t have let my 3-year-old terrier stay in the room. He’s a hyperactive thing and would’ve been jumping into the bed at the first sight of non-sleeping/reading activity.
The dogs aren’t allowed in the bedroom at all. Only one cat is allowed therein because he’s the oldest and our Queen cat attacks him all the time. However, he is now banished because he threw up all over our bed. I’ll let him back in in a week or so.
My wife doesn’t mind sleeping with the pets but they can never be still and drive me nuts.
One of our cats is so paranoid she won’t let anyone near her except in the morning. She’ll come in the bathroom during the morning constitutional and purr like crazy.
Our cats go everywhere. A closed door drives them crazy and it is always less trouble to let them in than to keep them out. They do like to watch whatever a person is doing, but I don’t believe they attach any meaning to it. Making the coffee is as interesting as peeing is to them.
Our dog Rags, now long gone, was not at all curious about human behavior and I don’t remember every having to close a door on him.
I’m not sure that “interested” is the right word for cats. Certainly they would monitor our behaviour, but we never locked them out of the bathroom, as that’s where their litter was, in the bottom of the cupboard (nowhere else to put it in this small place). Sitting on the john was, however, a sort of A-ha! moment for the cats. They knew instinctively that I was not going to be able to get away for several minutes, and what an ideal opportunity for me to pat them, rub their ears, and scratch their chins … just under there … that’s right. Good human! Nice human! Here’s a purr for your trouble.
No movement on the bed was welcome. As the designated heat source, it was my duty to lie as still as possible to allow balls of fur to burrow into me from all sides. I would frequently awake to find myself pinned beneath the blankets. Even rolling over would earn me some pretty severe looks of disparagement.
We used to have a cat who was fascinated by the bathtub. She would perch on the rim and watch the water splash as you bathed. As my wife was bathing one day, the cat went running through the house, into the bathroom and attempted to leap onto the rim of the tub, overshooting by about a foot. SPLASH! My wife still has the scars. The cat never went near the tub again.
Our dog isn’t the least bit interested in our bedroom or bathroom activities. He wants to be where he can keep an eye on us (he’s Great Pyrenees, a guard breed), but he doesn’t interfere.
I heard about one Great Pyr owner who had a different experience, though. This guy was used to peeing with the bathroom door open. One day, his dog (an “unaltered” male) followed him into the bathroom, watched him do his business, then walked over to the toilet, lifted his leg, and marked his turf.
Ah, dominance issues. That’s why we had our male dog neutered as soon as the vet would do it.
