Naughty Seamus! NAUGHTY!

[Paddysmom]

Oh man! I believe tonight is only the 2nd or possibly 3rd time in Shea's 9+ years that I've had to severely reprimand him.

When the boys have finished their meals I tell them "Out of the kitchen". This is a three year old routine that stems from me having to guard Darwin's food bowl from Megan the Food Thief. I wanted fewer bodies in the kitchen as I did that.

Seamus "got that" command right away but Flynn did not. So Seamus started "helping" me with that. Except instead of helping, he actually made the situation a problem. He would leave the kitchen and then bark at Flynn to do the same. BUT! He would block Flynn from the entry to the next room! He just keeps getting it backward! I know what he's TRYING to do, but he's got it back to front!

I got it righted around for a while just by leading Flynn out of the kitchen while saying "out of the kitchen". Seamus would STILL try to assist.

Tonight he got really rough with Flynn. I mean rough! And Shea is a lot larger than Flynn. Oh, Flynn's has a wrestler's body... but Shea's "higher status" in the pack and his height gave him the advantage. He clipped Flynn's ear and brought him down and that's when I snapped.

Before I knew what I was doing I slapped Seamus on his rump and "BAD SEAMUS! BAD DOG!" And I took him by the collar out of the kitchen. I despise the term "bad" on a dog... but for the second time in my life it just flew out of my mouth.

Seamus had the good grace to put himself in his own time out. Yeah... no pitiful eyes or "Oh Mom I'm so sorry" stuff... he went straight to his downstairs spot and laid there until I released him to go outside. Oh... he did lift one eyebrow at one point... "Now mom? Am I okay now?" I did NOT respond to that eyebrow.

Flynn is fine, Seamus is acting all humble, and I feel HORRIBLE for calling him a bad dog.

[Di]

Parent of 2 legged kids or 4 legged, it is the rare person who doesn't lose it every once in a while. Doesn't make you feel any better but I'd say cut yourself some slack and go snuggle with him for just a min. or two, he knows his momma loves him and he's not a bad dog at all
(((hugs))) to you both!

[amazongold]

Nance, he was bad. He got too rough and needed to be told that that behavior is not allowed. Now that he knows, give him some extra lovin' and tell him it's okay now.

[Paddysmom]

Thanks, girls. Seamus is still playing the humble card but when he moved and did "the right thing" he got lots of praise and cuddles. He also got to see me give Flynn equal cuddles. "Good dogs. You are good boys."

I love dog life. I really do.

[georgie]

It happens & they have to be corrected. There have been a few times I have had to correct Abby for being too rough with Kate. I think they know if we are not happy with them but they always know we love them. So he got his hugs....things are right again.

[tammyhuffman]

You are a good mom and did the right thing, don't be so hard on yourself. I have no doubt ALL is riight in his world again!

[joflake]

Nancy, don't feel bad. You are a great mom! And he knows he's not "bad". We all have our moments when things get the best of us.

BTW, "out of the kitchen" is one of the first things we taught our dogs, and our friends' dogs. There's nothing worse than trying to cook or something and take a step backwards and either trip on a dog or step on a dog and hurt them. Even at camp they know "out of the kitchen".

[MidwestGirl]

Tough love Nance, sometimes you have to so don't feel bad.

[mitziandjudysmom]

The most wonderful thing about dogs, compared to humans, is that they don't have the ego to hold on to incidents like that. When all is well, they let it go as if it never happened.

[SharonaZamboni]

It's fine. Let it go. Although I still feel horrible about smacking my dog, and that was 35 years ago. And it didn't seem to bother him a bit.
Again... I'm sorry, Slick.
OK, guilt trip is now over.