For years I have been so wrong about my dog. My one line of defense (weak though I might add) is that I truly didn’t know any better.

While I feel better now – 

knowing what I now know

I can’t stop laughing (silently) at how I included my entire family into spewing my same nonsense.

WHAT AM I TALKING ABOUT?

Jaxson always – and I mean ALWAYS –  grabs the closest item at the door (generally a shoe – often mine), when someone comes over…

As soon as the person crosses the threshold, he grabs the item – 

• shoe
• slipper
• hat/cap

– and precedes to prance behind and around our guest…

Exhibit A – 

This behavior carries on for a few minutes. He willingly accepts head pats, side scratches or butt rubs from the visiting human, but he never releases the death grip he has on the item in his mouth.

MY EXPLANATION –

Don’t ask me where in the doodle I came up with my explanation, it’s been so long, I have no clue.

But as we failed in our countess attempts to separate Jax from whatever was in his mouth, he would never respond. 

I’ve tried all the commands – 

• leave it
• drop it
• give it here
• put it down

Nothing works…

This episode of my Doodle reality show takes place every-single-time-someone comes over therefore my response has been practiced to perfection –

He does this because he’s half Golden Retriever, but for some reason he hasn’t quite grasped the command “leave it,” can I get you something to drink?

Lee, and my kids, quickly learned to mimic me – putting their own spin on my stupid made-up theory. Which (by the way) seemed to be believed by everyone. After all – I’m a pet blogger, I know things LOL

THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS – 

They say – 

Reading is fundamental

OMDoodle – if that isn’t one of the most prophetic statements of MY lifetime!

The other evening (as I continue to read What’s My Dog Thinking) I reached page 84 and had this surreal moment when my eyes saw – 

My dog brings me a present when I come home

Her description eerily matched mine – verbatim. She explained that grabbing an item relaxes the dog and has little to do with offering someone (or in my case, our guests) something.

Gift-bringers clamp onto any nearby item and have little to no awareness of what it is, they can’t rather won’t drop it.

Hannah Molloy

SO WHAT’S HE FEELING?

Dopamine baby! 

Dogs (all mammals actually) have a pleasure center in their brains that is stimulated by dopamine. Its a chemical that regulates feelings of happiness.

Holding on (to whatever he grabs when you walk through the door), self soothes him as he releases that feel good hormone dopamine.

Seeing new humans enter our home excites Jaxson so much, he needs a pacifier to help him cope with what he’s feeling 🙂

My ignorance (focusing on serving beverages) caused me to ignore Jaxson’s behavior. According to what I’ve read – this turns out to be the correct action. I should praise him, and not take the item from him. He never destroys the items, he just parades around with them.

Of course if the item is harmful, it is recommended you distract your dog with a treat and switch items immediately.

This pet parent (yes, that’s my pronoun) feels better now knowing the real reason he does what he does, I’m just wondering if I want to tell the rest of the family, or allow them to continue sounding crazy with my made-up theory about retrievers LOL

Those who teach the most aren’t human ❤️