I've blogged before about how I think Rockwell is a "sensitive soul". I have been observing him of late with that in mind and I believe that he is certainly sensitive about his own feelings but I am not sure he understands that we humans have feelings too. Instead of the temper tantrum, lately he has been simply lying down in the road if he doesn't want to walk in the direction you want to walk. That's amusing for perhaps the first five times but then it gets old. When you're walking and this happens and some other person comes along, you have to pretend you agree with them when they say "isn't that funny" when all along, you are annoyed because the dog will not listen to you when you say "come." But if you get all stern and say "come" in a way that says "I mean business" he doesn't understand. Punishment simply doesn't work on this guy or even the threat of it. Every bit of attention he can get from you is play to him, even if you are trying to pick his limp form up to get him on his feet so you can continue your walk home. So this is still part of the learning process for me - how do I get him to understand that I want him to do something, knowing that he does not respond to "bad dog". For now, I get him up and walking again by running either toward him or away from him, depending, and making a game of it. Then he jumps up and leaps around me in fun. Then I keep on running all the way to the front door so that we are home again. But this is one dog you cannot bend to your will and not out of dominance or even willfulness on his part. No, I fear if you bend him too much, he would break. So it's a delicate balancing act.