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Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Oldest Child Syndrome


Does anyone else do this?  My husband and I have such a bad habit with Silver and treating her with "oldest child syndrome."  Being that she is the oldest I find myself expecting more out of her and for her to "know better" than to act the way she does.  It is horrible, because I find myself more aggravated at her than the others for doing the same things.  It doesn't help that since we kept the puppies, Zappa and Fiona, she has picked up on their bad habits and is doing things that she's never done before, because she's watched them get away with it.   

Having so many dogs, sort of loosened up the discipline around here and Silver must have started realizing, if they can do it, I can do it too!  You can't always catch everything that they do, but when I would catch Silver in these acts, I find myself disappointed with her because I think she should know better.  For example I took her out to one of her favorite beaches and she has always had excellent recall, but due to not practicing it as much in the last three years, she wouldn't come when called and I found myself quite frustrated with her.  I had specifically took her to this beach so she could run free and we could have some quality time together at our old hangout.  I felt let down and hurt as I will brag to anyone that she is my best well behaved dog.  HA!  I know, I know, it's my fault for not keeping up with training, but sometimes with her I think that once she had it down she should still have it.

It's funny how when you have a pack of dogs how you treat them differently and think about them in different ways.  Things you put up with one that you wouldn't tolerate with the other.  I know the way I perceive Silver isn't fair, but it just sort of happened after she had her puppies.  I find myself requiring more of her than I do of the others, as if I taught her better than that.  BOL!  That dog has just as much of an independent mind as the others, I don't know why I expect so much more out her.  Stubborn and moody, each trait increasing with age.  No matter how much she aggravates me, she's still my Silver, I still love her and really wouldn't want her any other way.    

6 comments:

BZ Dogs said...

Ah yes, if I had a dollar every time I said, "Zachary! You're supposed to be the GOOD dog!". (sigh) Bad owner. No biscuit. :)

jen said...

I do this with Sherman too! He has it harder than Leroy!

Celia said...

We even act that way with our oldest kitty! :)

Mike K said...

When I was looking for articles for my blog yesterday I came across one that linked me to this freekibble . 3 years ago an 11 year old girl started it and has delivered 40,000 pounds of food to shelters.At the site you answer a trivia question and her sponsors donate for every hit she gets. I don't have many followers yet, but if any of yours want to look at it I think they will like it. Thank You
petblog

Anonymous said...

Momma treats me like the oldest because I was the first here and was an only for 5 years. She shaped me from when I was 8 weeks old whereas the others were adult rescues. I am the most highly trained and best adapted to her rhythms and routines so she expects more. It is not really fair but I know I am her heart pup and that without me to help her, she could not manage the rest of the WDA as well.

Siku Marie
www.whitedogblog.blogspot.com

Kristine said...

I love your new look! When the page started to load I wasn't sure if I had the right site. Indeed I did, just with a new, funky header. It looks awesome. :-)

As an oldest child who suffered from this terribly, I hope I wouldn't do this to my dog. But I am sure it is only natural. After all, they should know better.

I can't believe I just said that.