She usually barks when someone come to the door
but ignores people when she’s outside of our
home (park, camping, hiking). She rarely jumps
up to smell people when they come inside our
house - besides being bad manners she's big and
can accidentally knock someone over so I
typically gate her out of the front room or hold
her by the collar when I answer the door. She’s
much more interested in running into the front
yard than actually meeting the person coming in
the house.
Children:
Good with kids keeping in mind she’s to big,
clumsy, and hyper to play with little ones.
She’s great hanging around the house or
campground, and spectacular at the park letting
kids pet her and throw her ball. But because of
her size and energy I’ll sometimes tie her on a
rope so she’s in the back yard with all the
family and friends but can’t chase the kids
while they’re playing ball and such (and so she
won’t eat their popsicle/icecream/cookie/etc).
Children can be a lot for her to handle and you
never know what children might decide to get up
to, for everyone’s well being I'll have a gate
or door in between the child(ren) and her if I
can not have my eyes on both of them.
Other dogs:
She typically ignores little dogs, she gets
along with larger dog most of the time. She
wants to play with them, but does not want to be
dominated over. She’ll share her food and water
dish. Caution is always a good idea when
introducing a new dog.
Toys:
She loves tennis balls. We use them with a ball
thrower at the park to wear her out but she also
loves to just sit and chew on them. Fortunately
she does not chew on furniture, shoes, etc.
Other animals:
I think she would do well with another dog in
the home. A cat is putting too much trust in
her. We use to have a bird (cockatiel) with
clipped wings who lived out of his cage and they
got along great.
Commands:
Sit, stay, go get it, down, and no (to stop) are
easy but weims love to rule the house and she
tries to do so - she quickly learns who she can
ignore and who to take seriously. She knows
"come" but it can take an encouraging and a
happy voice so she doesn’t think she’s coming
back just to be punished. Sometimes I just have
to grab her by the collar and walk her back. If
your playing outside you can see the mischievous
wheels in her head debating if being good is
better than what adventure she might find around
the corner.
Aggression:
She nipped at a guy in our yard working on our
neighbor’s roof. It's hard to say, I wasn't home
and she didn't know him, the neighbor came over
and introduced the dog to the stranger, had him
give her a treat, and they were friends after
that.
She has growled at our son (2 years) when he was
climbing on her and pulling her ears. She's good
with kids, but kids are hyper and don’t have the
judgment adults do. Everyone including her has
their limits, children are learning the right
way to treat dogs while we are always learning
how to teach children and dogs to treat each
other in a certain way. Being aware of what kids
are up to around her is essential; if I can't
have my eyes on both of them then I have a gate
between the rooms they are in.
