She Thought She Was The Boss

Offspring #2 reminds me of Ruby's rough treatment of her. Ruby loved to play "Chase Me." She would grab something of value and take off, looking behind hoping you'd be running after her trying to get it back. She'd take the kids' mittens off their hands, their hat off their head, and the toys out of their hands. She'd take my gardening trowel. Once she grabbed my red begonia - a bedding plant I had taken out the pack of six. If you didn't chase her, she'd chew it. If you needed it back, you could chase her but you'd never get it that way and in the meantime, Ruby had a boatload of fun keeping it away from you. Once, when small children were visiting, she grabbed a dirty diaper out of a diaper bag on the lawn. This was a really dirty diaper - about the worst used diaper you can imagine. I almost had it too but as my fingers nearly closed around that diaper I hesitated. What would be worse - touching this oozing diaper or letting her have it? I remember it being a hard decision. I believe I have mentally blocked out the final outcome on that incident. She took people's shoes and boots. One Sunday I was vacuuming the living room when I looked out the window and saw a twenty dollar bill lying in the grass. I went out there and also found a wallet and a driving license with some teeth marks on the corner. She stole the neighbor's wallet! I talked my husband into bringing it back to him - I was too embarrassed. Husband said the neighbor was not at all grateful for the return of the wallet and made a comment about how fences make good neighbors. The problem, when distilled down to the core, is that she thought she was the boss. She wanted me to pay attention to her and that was all she thought about. When she took my trowel or my begonia, I stopped gardening and paid attention to her. When she took the mittens off the kids, I stopped playing with them and paid attention to her. When the kids walked toward me, she would put her body between us and push them away. She cornered Offspring #2 on the deck and would not let her come in the house. When other dogs approached me, she would aggressively bark at them. I was outside building a snowman with the kids once and when I looked up I saw Offspring #2 lying on her back in the snow like an upside down turtle and Ruby's front paws on her chest. We worked on that. We taught her she wasn't the boss of us. I held her down on her back on the ground and made her stay there longer than she wanted. I had the kids help me do it so she would respect them as well. I insisted that when we went through a door, people went through first and then the dog. She never liked that. Every time we went through a door, she tried to go first - every single time. We took obedience classes and she learned to sit, heel and stay. Although we managed her behavior so we could live together in peace and harmony, I suspect she still thought of herself as the boss.