Loyalty we have been shown by our dogs

grahamg

grahamg

Old codger
Location
South of Manchester, UK
My father brought home a small border collie cross dog, (a bitch), that someone had given him, when I was a child, and for reasons I cant fully understand or explain, most of my family took against this little dog.

Out of my brother and sisters I was the only one who tried to give the dog some fuss and affection, and in return, ever after, no matter who else called the dog, that dog always came to me if I called her too.

The dog never managed to make itself very useful on the farm, never had the confidence necessary to learn to help move the cattle or sheep on for you, but it did learn a few tricks to amuse us children, fetching the ball obviously, or a plastic bucket, and it would even climb a few rungs up a ladder to retrieve this item we discovered.

My father didn't mind the dog because even if it didn't work on the farm as we'd have wished, it did prove a good "yard dog", letting you know if there was any strangers around.

Have you witnessed that kind of thing, where a dog or other animal chooses to show such loyalty?
 

Flash is my 2nd border collie - they are smart, energetic, loyal to one person (usually). Breeders know which dogs will be herders - Flash did not pass the "herding tests". B.C.'s are "clingy - if Flash (and the previous B.C.) doesn't follow me from room to room, I know there are "forgotton" leftovers on the counter.
 
A German Shepherd adopted us. The dog, Sarge, belonged to a family down the road and one day he just decided to make himself at home at our place. The neighbors had to actually come and get him since he wouldn't go home. Every chance he got he showed up at our house. When they moved they asked if they could just leave the dog with us since they were moving to the city and they knew he wouldn't like it there. We said of course we'd take him and he never left our side.

He had an interesting way of protecting the house. If he didn't know someone at the door, he'd let them in but he wouldn't let them leave. Probably not the best strategy, but no one argued with a GSD snarling at the door. One exception was when my husband came home late one night, he unlocked the door and when he stuck his hand around the door to turn on the light, he ended up with Sarge's jaws wrapped around his wrist. Sarge didn't bite down, just held it firmly in his mouth until my husband talked to him. Then all was okay. That only happened once.
 

My shelter rescue dog used to stand behind the person who was standing over me and talking in a slightly aggressive manner to me.

He would watch the person and look at me to let me know he was going to be ready for protecting me if necessary.

Eventually, I told the person (on several occassions) to stop standing in such an intimidating pose or he may just find out what the dog was thinking.

Also, my dog would stare at me from across the room. It turned out he knew my blood sugar was low even though I didn't want to get up to eat.

My sweetie would go from staring to walking over and nudging me or sitting on my feet to make me go and eat.
I miss him so very much.
 
brenda said:
My black german shepard backed our school bus driver up on top of the drivers seat and held him there until he agreed he would never blow pass me and make my mother drive me to school again. I called him off and no harm done to the driver.
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That's some dog you had there, (they could have done with such an animal to sort out that guy driving the bus to Springfield couldn't they!). :)
 
grahamg said:
The dog never managed to make itself very useful on the farm, never had the confidence necessary to learn to help move the cattle or sheep on for you, but it did learn a few tricks to amuse us children
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Lol, the dog wasn't dumb, he didn't join your family to become an employee, he came to play with the children. ;)

grahamg said:
My father didn't mind the dog because even if it didn't work on the farm as we'd have wished, it did prove a good "yard dog", letting you know if there was any strangers around.

Have you witnessed that kind of thing, where a dog or other animal chooses to show such loyalty?
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Loyalty is a part of a dog's nature. They bark when strangers(or the garbage truck) shows up to warn their pack members(you humans).
 
One day on our little ranch, I was fixing some fence. Our three dogs were with me. Dave was on the other side of the property. I knelt down to reattach the barb wire. In about a minute I knew I’d knelt in a fire ant bed! I jumped up, screaming, because the little bastards were all over me. I ran into the middle of the pasture and began swatting the ants off my body. Toby and Dub came with me. But Riley, our golden retriever, ran off. I remember thinking I must have scared him. But no, turns out he ran to get Dave, just like Lassie saving Timmy down the well. Dave said Riley ran up to him and just stared for a moment, then turned and ran a few steps, stopped and stared again. Dave said the message was clear. “You coming?” So Dave got in the truck and followed Riley. He found me in the pasture, shirt off and pants down, crying and picking ants off of my person. Two Benadryl and a couple shots of bourbon later, I was feeling better, but still itchy. But I got a great story out of it, so there’s that.

All our dogs have showed plenty of loyalty. And love. We’re their pack, after all.
 
Marley is a Welsh Border Collie/Rottie/Geman Shepard mix. She had been abandoned on a highway down in Kentucky, when a passing trucker picked her up and took her to a shelter.

This dog suffered separation anxiety big time, and we never knew how long she was on her own. However, I think it may have been awhile as she was rather resourceful in keeping herself clean and digging in areas to shelter her from the elements.

While at the shelter, a young fellow fell in love with her and was able to adopt her. But, he never bothered to try and bond with her. Off to work he goes leaving her alone, and when he came home, found his apartment was a mess. He took his cap off and beat her with it, returned her to the shelter, stating that she was unadoptable. So, she was shipped to a "kill" shelter here in NJ. Luckily, an outfit called, Orphaned Pets visits these shelters and, rescued her from euthanasia. She was fostered, and
we were able to adopt her.

Since it was my job to train her, we bonded beautifully, and in no time this dog was totally devoted to me. She was easy to break from the leash with me and walks right by my side, or directly in front of me. Occasionally, she'll get on my heels and try to herd me, and I wave her on ahead.

In my opinion, this dog is a gift from God, and she definitely fills my heart with joy.
 

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