stubborn?

I've got stubborn covered here at my house. Many people say that their dog is stubborn but just because a dog doesn't want to jump up and do what you want them to do immediately is not stubborn in my books. But the real definition of stubborn is: unreasonably or perversely unyielding. Jessie is my stubborn girl and as a Jack Russell terrier it is what I expect. Yesterday she had her full force of stubborness at work.

We have workers at my house, we had been going to hold off for a while but with a change of events; my house is a very busy work in progress right now. This means that I juggle dogs and our relaxed daily activities are now more stringent and structured. I get the dogs out EARLY and we leave through different doors daily. The other day I was taking Jessie out, she ran into the garage to get her harness on and wouldn't leave. No matter how much I asked her to come with me; she thought that the only way out was through that giant garage door. Luckily she is small.

Yesterday I was taking all three dogs out; I know it is confusing to don their leashes before we head out the backdoor but I expect some sort of flexibility; which is what the poodles give me. A little baulk of confusion and then they agree to follow me. Not Jessie, she is not even coming into the kitchen, the kitchen is not where we leave to go on walks. No matter how much I call; it ain't happening. At this point I am laughing at the sheer stubborness of my tiny pack leader. To her, we leave through one of the front doors for a walk and that is it.

Knowing full well that she is not coming into the kitchen no matter how hard I try to get her there; I go and hoist her up giving her no choice in the matter. There is a huge difference in my dogs, I have to say in my breeds. Jessie is amazingly smart but not in the same way that my poodles are. She is more a programmed smart, she learns very quickly but has a difficult time veering off the norm in her life. She is sort of a little robot.

I am not a very routine person, routine bores me to death but even the fact that going for a walk and leaving through the back door lead to such confusion let me know that there is enough routine in my life to set my little Jessie into concrete.