Dog gone mad? What can I do?
My dog is scary. She is not on her period, but she is an aggressive @sshole. Sorry, i’m mad at my dog for being the mad one. My dog’s name is Brookie, but ugh, I wanna call her mad hatter cause of these reasons. 1) she barks at any person including me. Note: she never was like this; she was super friendly and cuddly then and now she changed, a lot. 2) recently, after I came home from work, I saw my sofa torn into pieces—I trained her not to do that!! She’s not herself nowadays! 3) she doesn’t want to be held by anyone including me, again! 4) she poos on the floor whenever i’m not home & I smell it once I get back—I have to clean it straight away for the guests that arrive every other Saturday. 5) she’s a monster. I’m a 27 year old woman. I know how I should take her to the Vet for a quick check-up, but i’m currently saving money so what is wrong with her? What are the noticeable of being ill?
My dog doesn't listen to me?
He is really starting to make me mad. Since he is just a puppy, I have to go out with him. But he never does anything while we are out there. He just runs off and plays with sticks. (I know he has to go because I let him out when I get home from school. And my parents are at work so they can't let him out.) So after spending usually a half an hour waiting for him to go, I just get tired of it and let him inside. And then of course he decides to go inside, right after I had him out. But when my mom lets him out, he goes right away and has no problems. I don't understand this, I spend the most time with him. I play with him, feed him, and walk him. I'm thinking it might be because I am the only one who disciplines him. My family just pets him and gives him all this loving when he has done something bad. So maybe he just hates me because I am actually trying to train him instead of being all soft with him. The other problems I have with him is that he doesn't listen to me when I call him. I whistle, call his name, clap, and try to coax him over, but he completely ignores me. I don't understand why he listens to my mom, but not me. I need some advice please. Thank you so much- ~Bailey
My dog makes me so mad and i don't know what to do?
You do deserve some credit for trying, it sounds like you are the only one in your family that has really tried. It does sound like the whole thing has gotten out of control though. I'm sorry that your dad beats on her, that's not helping, I can see where you get that from, really. I don't usually say this, but you might want to consider finding another home for this dog. You are clearly overwhelmed and without an once of family support. If you want to keep trying, then keep in mind that your dog is not trying to make you angry on purpose. She is just all mixed up and with all of the confusion she does not know what to do anymore. When she pees right in front of you, that's actually dog language for "you're the boss, please don't kick my butt". Getting mad will only make her pee more. You probably need some outside help. Go back to your trainer and ask for some more lessons, maybe even private lessons to work on the specific problems you have. If they can't help you, find someone who can. Ask the vet, find an obedience club in your area etc. Now, take a deep breath and go make friends with your dog. Good Luck!
Do you let other people pet your dog when you are out on a walk?
Clearly you are concerned about how your dog does or could react to people and if that fear is justified then a good tool to use is a well fitting muzzle...... that stops people asking if they can pet your dog and ensures both they and you/your dog are safe from being sued.... however a muzzle also can encourage people to stare at your dog and staring is confruntatinal in dog langauge so that also could make the situation worse for the dog and it could start to react negatively to staring people... only you know how your dog reacts. Part of the training if your dog is or could be reactive is some time daily to train it to respond to people in a positive way and this can certainly be done using a muzzle and 'dog friendly/experienced' people who understand what you are doing. ..........and also training on how to ignore people/dogs as if it has underlying anxiety which results in reactivity then you do not need ANYONE ( including you) petting the dog as they/you are praising by petting the anxiety and that tells the dog you want it to feel like that..however as you are working with a behaviourist they would have already told you this as it is the very basics