Your dog's personality..

I notice that people often mention traits or the antics of their cavs and it strikes me that they possess a variety of personalities. My Maggie has been with us a week now and at almost nine months she is the most loving, gentle, docile creature I have ever encountered. She is extremely quiet and a little bit skittish, but not in an alarming way - just a touch sensitive.

By contrast, I was amused to see those pictures of Pesto on the puppy page of the Cavalier/Bombadeer taking those flying leaps. I can't imagine Maggie doing such a thing... :yikes ... she doesn't even want to go up the stairs by herself and on walks beseeches me constantly to pick her up.

As I type this is her royal highness is curled up on my lap. I take her to work with me each day and we walk there and back and it is about 20 minutes each way. She is literally pooped as if she has just run a marathon. lol

So how would you describe your Cav's personality? Are there any other little princesses like mine?

Well Ollie's only 5 months old, so he is always full of beans! :jmp: He is a bit of a brat actually, I think the hormones are starting to kick in! He runs as fast as he can at the park when I pick up his leash, NO not time to go home!! :x

His a snuggle bunny, when he feels like it! He'd rather be playing tug of war when I'm on the couch, not to just lie down with me.

Tucker is a gentle, loving and affectionate whirling dervish. He loves to run, jump, and play fetch in the house. He chases birds and squirrels in the yard. He loves everyone he meets. When I have company he is relentless in his pursuit of their attention. When I'm sick or sad, he stays by my side or in my lap. He can be defiant. Sometimes, when I say, no, no, no, he responds with a "bark" "bark" "bark" He's getting to be an excellent speller. OUT -- OUTSIDE --- WALK --- CAR
He licks and chews his stuffed toys to pieces. He once ate a pair of eyeglasses. LOL Get the picture.

Vanity is another "little princess," for sure. She is not extremely excitable (except when chasing bunnies in the yard!), and she is slightly skittish (not to a worrying extent). My dad always describes her as "submissive," which is about right. As soon as you start petting her, she'll roll over for you to rub her belly. She hardly ever barks -- I really mean that; we've had her for eight years and I think I have heard her bark about that many times! Vanity has no interest in toys. She doesn't fetch and won't chase after anything unless it looks like food or a small animal. She doesn't like to swim, which was puzzling for us to find out...but this may be because we got her as an 18-mo-old and she probably had not been around water before. She is EXTREMELY sweet and loving. She'll climb up onto your lap while you're reading and is always quite convinced that she is more important than whatever else you're doing, so she'll sit on top of your book or newspaper and you can't help but give her the attention she's asking for.

Beau: I think my little 12 week Beau fancies himself as a bit of an agility fiend. There is a bar that runs lengthwise under our dining room table and he roars around the room leaping over the bar & doing little bounces between the legs of the chairs. I've had to block off all the big steps off our veranda at the back of the house, as he chooses them by preference to going down the 2 smaller ones at the front of the house.

He can be a calm & loving boy too though and if I take him in my arms, lay him on his back & stroke his tummy, he all but purrs. He really enjoys a snuggle. I'm hoping I might get the best of both worlds.

Sonny: We got Sonny as an adult so we didn't get to put our own stamp on him when he was a puppy. He is extremely gentle & loving but can be a bit on the timid side. I think if we had have had him from puppyhood he'd be different. I am married to the world's most noisy man and all of our dogs are conditioned to loud, startling noises & a bit of rough & tumble. :yikes

Wallis is most definately a Princess - or maybe a Queen given her age. She was about 12 weeks old when we got her and has never been one to run, jump on furniture, make noise. Even as a puppy she would never have anything to do with toys. She only barks now when she knows she is going somewhere, which is usually to either the groomer or the vet.

Tibby had such a different lifestyle in her younger years. She is timid - unless Sasha walks close to her food dish. She barks, but the kennel she came from had her de-barked so it is a very faint sound and she doesn't do it much. The extent of her play is when Bubba takes the bandana off of her that the groomer puts on. She will take it gently into her mouth, give a coupld of half-hearted chews and that is it.

Given the things I've read on here, there is a definate difference in their personalities. I was beginning to think that I was the only one who had the ones that don't play!

Maddy likes to play. She likes to play throw and likes to play with her big stuffed dog. (She also likes to hump it). She likes to play tug.
She loves to curl up on your lap and just be with you.
She likes walks around the marina and loves to stare into the water!
She enjoys going on a boat ride and standing close to the edge with the wind blowing her ears (nervewracking for me).
She likes to climb on the sofa and walk along the back of it and has not fallen off yet.
She has escaped from her x-pen several times by climbing over it.
She loves people and tugs on her leash to get to them!
She is very nervous around other dogs but seems to be getting a little braver.
So, here we have a very brave outgoing dog who is submissive around other dogs, especially small ones. She seems more comfy around bigger ones.
Who knows why?
Pam

We, too, are just figuring out what type of dog Bianca is going to be. She definitely has a lot of "princess" in her---she can't STAND to go out in the rain, and heads toward any sort of couch or bed and waits for us to come over. She is very interesting around people, though, she approaches everyone with her tail wagging, but is a bit "skittish" when someone reaches for her head. One of our friends perhaps put it best like this, "S/he likes to be invited to the party, even if s/he decides not to come...". A great quote for her.

We're starting to get her interested in 'fetch' and some games, but generally, other than an object like a stick which we have to get away from her, she doesn't really 'play' much. She LOVES fetch with us, but generally I think that's more because she gets time with us and not necessarily due to a great love of the game.

She also loves to walk, but I don't know if agility is in her future because, like your pup, Chardonnay, seems to tire out fairly easily. It may be a conditioning thing, and the fact that she is only 8 months old, and the fact that we've been walking her 5-6 times a day! I do think, however, personalities develop with time. I was a shy kid and now I enjoy public speaking! -Natalie

Annie is definitely the princess of our house -- so much so that her teenage "sisters" are jealous of all the attention she receives.

Annie is relentlessly curious. Whenever she hears a new sound or sees something new, she has to check it out thoroughly. She loves to be the center of attention. When Mom tries to read the paper in the morning, Annie will climb into her lap and knock the paper aside as if to say, "Pay attention to ME!"

She's also very playful. She LOVES her toys, especially her rope tug-of-war toy and her jack made of tennis ball material. She loves to play fetch, and will repeatedly bring the ball back and drop it at your feet. Once a day she zooms around the house or the yard for about five minutes, then collapses on the couch.

Annie has a naughty streak that makes her even more adorable. She loves to grab socks and underwear (especially dirty ones) out of the laundry. She then proceeds to prance around the house as if to say, "Look what I've got."

She loves going for car rides, and she lives to go on walks. The mere mention of the word "walk" sends her into absolute delirium, jumping and barking and whining.

She strikes fear into the heart of every squirrel and bunny in the neighborhood with her ferocious barking. We're not sure what would happen if she actually caught one, however.

She loves everyone she meets, especially children. She can be a little skittish around other dogs, though. She loves to sit in front of the glass storm door and watch the world go by.

She loves her people, and unfailingly wags her whole body when one of us comes home.

While she loves to run and jump and play, she's perfectly content to curl up in your lap and take a nap. As I write this, she's sitting on the back of the couch with her chin resting on Mom's shoulder.

Above all, she is one of the most affectionate, appreciative, sensitive and loving creatures I've ever met. And we are all completely smitten with our little Dreamboat Annie.

Dave

jadan will make me think that he is being a reel good boy....... then the naughty boy comes out to play and i wouldnt have it any other way

Well when Whitney was with her previous owner (her breeder) until she was just three, she was discribed as "sweet, gentle and the one that followed everyone else, always at the end of the line etc.....her breeder laughed when I took her and I said that I wanted to do agility with her....she said I had more chance of getting her through the tunnels than Whitney... :lol:

Within eight months we certainly have had a much changed little dog...still very sweet, loving and gentle but she is so much more outgoing, she loves a rough and tumble with the shelties, plays with her toys, adores agility (top class)!!! and obedience classes....she has amazed us all!...I laugh with her breeder now about wanting a refund (NO CHANCE)! as she isn't the dog that I brought home :lol:

I think a dog can reflect it's owner, home enviroment and other influencing factors...as well as how they are handled and taught.

Above everything I would discribe her as simply "just perfect"... my little princess. :lotsaluv:

Alison.

I have 2 little princesses. Both my babies are very loving, but they can get kinda feisty sometimes. Penny eats everything imaginable, even socks, paper cups, and small stuffed animals. The way Lovey is feisty is when she steals things. She takes things into her crate, and guards them. When I try to take it away, she growls at me.

as we say ,hes the best.a real gentleman.

Very excitable, uber friendly, patient, affectionate, clingy!!

oh I nearly forgot.... OVER CONFIDENT!!