basil
12-21-2015, 01:38 PM
Our dog, Penny, is 6 years old. We got her about a year after we got married - our first baby, so to speak. I had dogs growing up but this was DH's first dog.
We chose her breed because my DH has allergies and she is small (<10 lbs) and non shedding. We got her from a very reputable breeder at 12 weeks old. I read a bunch of dog books around that time - how to train, etc.
We lived in a condo at the time and she came in the middle of winter, a small shivering tropical dog who was less than 5 lbs. We ended up training her on pee pads. When we moved to a house, 9 months later, we tried to transition her to going potty outside, but she has never been very well potty trained. I feel like I've tried a million times. This summer I was resolved to get her housebroken once and for all. She was in the crate a lot for a few months straight and didn't have any accidents. But as soon as I started giving her more freedom, she started having accidents again. A few week is where we are at now.
She's overall a very anxious, frightened dog. She barks a lot at people walking by, the UPS guy, mailman, and any stranger entering the house. We have had to be very careful with housekeepers and repair people - we have a crate in our basement set up for this purpose. She's never actually bitten anyone but I do worry a lot that she would if given the opportunity. We have been very careful in introducing her to nannies/babysitters as she initially growls and snarls at them. She then warms up after she sees them a few times, but it's been stressful for me.
She is frightened by the kids, sometimes. Of course, they are 4 and 18 months and don't always behave in rational, predictable ways. This morning by daughter clobbered her on the nose with the Vitamix plunger. She has jumped on my son and scratched him on his arms before, while he was trying to play with a toy with her. If she is sleeping and startled, she will growl and jump at them, which scares them. I have tried explaining that they need to be nice to Penny, but they don't realize that jumping on the couch while she is sleeping on it is not being nice, KWIM? It's just been very difficult to enforce because neither one understands and neither one is behaving appropriately, and sometimes I don't know who to discipline (the kid for scaring the dog, or the dog for growling and jumping at the kid) because they are both wrong.
Other than the kids, DH or I don't yell at the dog or hit her in any way, but you'd never know it from how she behaves. I got a "clicker" (push a button and makes a little click sound) cause I read in one of my books it helps with training. But she is scared of the clicker. I only clicked it a few times, but now even when I give her a treat (for going outside, for stopping barking at the mailman, etc.) she runs away and hides under the bed. It's been weeks since I even used the clicker! When we trained her on the electric fence, she got one shock and then refused to go outside for days.
I just feel like she is not a happy dog. She is very cuddly and loves attention, but as she has gotten older she has become more and more nervous about everything. She does go outside with us all the time but just spends time on the porch pacing and barking. I do take her for walks but she lunges and barks at the cars driving by and it worries me.
My family, who has the same breed dog a few years younger who doesn't have any of these problems, seem to think it's nothing in particular we did. I am not the world's greatest trainer, but I didn't do anything to traumatize Penny either.
My DH wants to rehome her :( He is sick of cleaning up her accidents, sick of her barking waking up the kids, and sick of taking care of her. He is angry because he perceives Penny's behavior as limiting for DS having friends over, etc. (He's right, I would not trust Penny around other people's kids). It's gotten to the point where he doesn't make much of an effort to pet her or be nice to her anymore. Back when we first got her, she would sit in his lap all the time while he worked on his computer. Now she never does.
I am completely against rehoming Penny. She has not done anything wrong, and she is our dog. But at the same time, if she was a person I would think she needs a psychiatrist or something, she just doesn't seem happy a lot of the time. I mentioned hiring a dog trainer and DH thought that was just "hiring people to deal with the problem [I] created". Doggie Prozac or something? I just don't know how to help her at this point. She is 6 years old but her breed is very healthy and long lived and I can see her living another 6-10 years.
We chose her breed because my DH has allergies and she is small (<10 lbs) and non shedding. We got her from a very reputable breeder at 12 weeks old. I read a bunch of dog books around that time - how to train, etc.
We lived in a condo at the time and she came in the middle of winter, a small shivering tropical dog who was less than 5 lbs. We ended up training her on pee pads. When we moved to a house, 9 months later, we tried to transition her to going potty outside, but she has never been very well potty trained. I feel like I've tried a million times. This summer I was resolved to get her housebroken once and for all. She was in the crate a lot for a few months straight and didn't have any accidents. But as soon as I started giving her more freedom, she started having accidents again. A few week is where we are at now.
She's overall a very anxious, frightened dog. She barks a lot at people walking by, the UPS guy, mailman, and any stranger entering the house. We have had to be very careful with housekeepers and repair people - we have a crate in our basement set up for this purpose. She's never actually bitten anyone but I do worry a lot that she would if given the opportunity. We have been very careful in introducing her to nannies/babysitters as she initially growls and snarls at them. She then warms up after she sees them a few times, but it's been stressful for me.
She is frightened by the kids, sometimes. Of course, they are 4 and 18 months and don't always behave in rational, predictable ways. This morning by daughter clobbered her on the nose with the Vitamix plunger. She has jumped on my son and scratched him on his arms before, while he was trying to play with a toy with her. If she is sleeping and startled, she will growl and jump at them, which scares them. I have tried explaining that they need to be nice to Penny, but they don't realize that jumping on the couch while she is sleeping on it is not being nice, KWIM? It's just been very difficult to enforce because neither one understands and neither one is behaving appropriately, and sometimes I don't know who to discipline (the kid for scaring the dog, or the dog for growling and jumping at the kid) because they are both wrong.
Other than the kids, DH or I don't yell at the dog or hit her in any way, but you'd never know it from how she behaves. I got a "clicker" (push a button and makes a little click sound) cause I read in one of my books it helps with training. But she is scared of the clicker. I only clicked it a few times, but now even when I give her a treat (for going outside, for stopping barking at the mailman, etc.) she runs away and hides under the bed. It's been weeks since I even used the clicker! When we trained her on the electric fence, she got one shock and then refused to go outside for days.
I just feel like she is not a happy dog. She is very cuddly and loves attention, but as she has gotten older she has become more and more nervous about everything. She does go outside with us all the time but just spends time on the porch pacing and barking. I do take her for walks but she lunges and barks at the cars driving by and it worries me.
My family, who has the same breed dog a few years younger who doesn't have any of these problems, seem to think it's nothing in particular we did. I am not the world's greatest trainer, but I didn't do anything to traumatize Penny either.
My DH wants to rehome her :( He is sick of cleaning up her accidents, sick of her barking waking up the kids, and sick of taking care of her. He is angry because he perceives Penny's behavior as limiting for DS having friends over, etc. (He's right, I would not trust Penny around other people's kids). It's gotten to the point where he doesn't make much of an effort to pet her or be nice to her anymore. Back when we first got her, she would sit in his lap all the time while he worked on his computer. Now she never does.
I am completely against rehoming Penny. She has not done anything wrong, and she is our dog. But at the same time, if she was a person I would think she needs a psychiatrist or something, she just doesn't seem happy a lot of the time. I mentioned hiring a dog trainer and DH thought that was just "hiring people to deal with the problem [I] created". Doggie Prozac or something? I just don't know how to help her at this point. She is 6 years old but her breed is very healthy and long lived and I can see her living another 6-10 years.