BlametheIrish Posted November 10, 2013 Posted November 10, 2013 Ive been with my boyfriend for 8 months now, everything has been going quite well except for one thing, his crazy dog. Now I would first like to state that I love animals warm and cold blooded. I have a dog and cat myself, I worked as a pet groomer for close to 6 years before a wrist injury made me unable to continue my profession. It was by far the most rewarding job I've had. My goal in life is to eventually run a boarding kennel/rescue. My point to all this is I love animals and have great patience with them. My boyfriend was single a long time before he met me and I think that has a lot to do with how he treats his dog. I think he treats her like a spoiled child, she gets whatever she wants and listens when she feels like it. Here are a,few examples as to why this dog irritates me so much. 1. Whenever I come over she spazzes out on me and has left huge bruises from her nails on my legs 2. He,loves to take her everywhere with him and on car rides she yodels and whines all the time and very loudly. Even my bf gets angry about this but does,nothing to stop it but tell her to shut up which works NEVER as the dog is not trained. 3. When opening the door to leave she will try to jet out every time and half tbe time she comes right back 4. When he takes her for walks, he lets her off leash alot which results in us chasing her down almost every time. 5. If he leaves the house/ car ir anywhere shes at she freaks and yodel screams for him. Even if shes in the house while he's in plain sight. 6. We go fishing alot and he tries to bring her every time because he feels bad leaving her at home. Except she ruins the fishing experience by pacing and whining on the boat all the time. 7. She will steal food off ypur plate,if given the chance, raids the trash on a regular basis and likes to sit with her face as close to your food as possivlr when eating. 8. She only weighs 62 lbs but will drag him on a walk for the entire walk if he doesnt use the gentle leader I bought him 9. If we're starting to get a little frisky on the couch and the dog creeps in between us he fails to see the issue (he has been working on this on though) Now you might tjink I hate this dog by my post but I dont. Shes very sweet and wouldn't hurt a fly. I realize her issues are due to lack of training on her owners part. She is a purebred hunting dog and one of my favorite breeds, in fack I have owned one before who was veey well behaved. My dog and my cat are both mild mannered animals,tgat everyone loves. My dog is extremely well trained and I wouldnt have it any other way. My boyfriend has lots of time to train her and I have suggested many positive reinforcement training techniques. He has yet to try even one but he always wonders why his dog listens to me better. Much better when he isnt around. My question is how do I get the point across that if he wants me in his life long term that he needs to work on training his dog. I have a three year old little girl too, I dont want a crazy untrained dog around her period. Also he downplays his dogs antics, Ive not exaggerated her behavior one bit, do you think I'm making a mountain out of a mole hill? I find it funny that I always wanted a man who loved animals as much as I do and I got it ten fold in this relationship lol.
Uwaae Posted November 10, 2013 Posted November 10, 2013 sounds aweful, break it off and go NC. hahaaha just work it out
wavejumper Posted November 10, 2013 Posted November 10, 2013 do see yourself having children with this man? if so, his parenting style with his dog might be some indication of how he would be with children...and that might be a big problem for you. 3
ls32ssibm Posted November 10, 2013 Posted November 10, 2013 Amazon.com: Dogtra 1900NCP Field Star 1/2 mile Training Collar Single Dog: Pet Supplies Problem solved. Worth ever cent. I have a 77 pound Australian Cattle Dog, all muscle, strong bite (descendant of the Australian dingo). This got rid of all his unwanted behavior: jumping, biting, running off, you name it. Isn't "cruel". Has a "page" mode which is just warns them by vibrating, you'll be using that 99% of the time. I've shocked myself with it; similar to static from a door handle. Still, very startling for a dog and will require him to rethink his actions. Recommend it to your BF.
Grumpybutfun Posted November 10, 2013 Posted November 10, 2013 Irish: This isn't the dog, it is the owner. The dog needs to be trained, and reassured that your bf is the Alpha so the dog feels comfortable in its pack. Dog's mentality is different than humans. Your bf is confusing and frustrating the dog and that is why the dog is misbehaving. Good Luck, Grumps 1
Author BlametheIrish Posted November 10, 2013 Author Posted November 10, 2013 "Just work it out" thats some super advice there buddy lol. I have thought about how his actions would transfer to.parenthood and I'm quite sure id have to be the disciplinarian. Not a huge issue with me as I grew up as daddys girl myself with mom being the disciplinarian. And Grumpy Im well aware its an owner issue as I did type that in my initial post. Ive also told him exactly wgat you told me but he still cant get it through his head. Im considering taking him and hus dog to.a trainer who can explain the same things,ive told him on a more,professional level. Is32 The dog is used to a,shock collar from flunking out of huntung school twice. They utterly terrify her. Also I think shock collars are not necessary because positive reinforcement works much better. Side note, Ive never heard of an Austrailian cattle dog getting soo big, must be something in the water where you come from lol.
HokeyReligions Posted November 10, 2013 Posted November 10, 2013 Our SPCA has an education center where they help teach pet parents learn how and why to change behaviors. They think they are fhanging the dogs behavior but actually they are changing theirs. Dogs are not happy when treated like this. Its not healthy for them. Some dog attacks happen because the dog is so anxious from being smothered and never being told "no" that an attack is their only way of releasing the stress. Then feral instinct takes over and the attack becomes vicious. Can you find an education center as something you can do togethet? Then find some healthy ways to socialize the dog. Obedience training. Dog parks. Some place safe. The thought of the dog running loose when she's not happy and trained scares me. She could be horribly hurt or killed. 1
Author BlametheIrish Posted November 10, 2013 Author Posted November 10, 2013 (edited) I will say this, he does feed the dog good food (Taste of the wild) and he does walk her for an hour twice a day (his job permits him alot of free time). He does take her to dog parks but she much prefers human attention. The reason she runs off is she catches a scent and nothing else matters. I've worked with dogs for years and Im VERY sure this dog wouldnt ever hurt a human or other dog. If she were human I think everyone would guess her A.D.H.D lol. He needs to exercise her brain as much as physically exercising her, I know the benefits, I wish he would see them. We are not near an A.S.P.C.A , if we were then I would certainly check it out. I'm currently looking at trainers in the area who.only believe in positive reinforcement. But honestly I wish he would put effort into something thats obviously very important to me. He tells ne all the time how awesome it is that my dog rides in the car and the boat like a champ. That I never have to raise,my voice,with my dog, that I can very comfortably walj him iff leash and he stays by my side. I guess a,little effort is to.much to.ask. Sorry to everyone reading my post. My phone is very screwed up making it extremely hard to fix typos. Edited November 10, 2013 by BlametheIrish
spiderowl Posted November 10, 2013 Posted November 10, 2013 If he's never seen dog training in action, he might like to see Cesar Milan's films. It would at least make him think if anything he's doing is making a difference to his dog's behaviour. He probably hasn't realised it is or is embarrassed that you are suggesting that his training is the issue. Having watched a few of Cesar's films, he does train the dogs but he also works with the dog's energy. A very energetic dog is likely to have more problems because most humans just wouldn't use that much energy up with taking the dog for a couple of walks and playing a bit. It could be that if ways could be found to use the dog's energy up more, as well as training, that things would be calmer. It must be frustrating watching and knowing things could be better. I have the same problem with my sister's dog. She just doesn't realise that training is an issue and avoids the issue because mention of the word suggests owners are doing something wrong. Who wants to think they are not doing very well at controlling their dog?
lollipopspot Posted November 10, 2013 Posted November 10, 2013 The dog is used to a,shock collar from flunking out of huntung school twice. They utterly terrify her. Also I think shock collars are not necessary because positive reinforcement works much better. Thank you. I think shock collars are terrible ideas, and dogs are pack animals who can be trained with positive reinforcement. Petsmart also has trainers, not sure of the quality, but it sounds as though you are researching trainers. It sounds like he's a bit closed to the idea of continuing to try training again. She CAN learn, even though it's taking her a bit longer. If he won't do it, will he allow you to take her at first, or can you go together? It doesn't sound like he's motivated to go on his own. Maybe a success or two will encourage him to become more involved in it. Maybe he's convinced that she CAN'T be trained, which isn't the case. I would tell him how important it is to you. Even if it were for no other reason than the dog's safety, this is important. Also, a dog wants to please. Being yelled at, but not having an idea of how to do things better is frustrating for her. I don't think you're making a mountain out of a molehill, I'd be frustrated too, wanting to make things better. 1
Janesays Posted November 10, 2013 Posted November 10, 2013 Are you in the US? The Apdt.com will allow you to search for positive reinforcement trainers by zip code. Kudos on skipping the shock collar. There are mountains of scientific research that proves that they generally do more harm than good in the vast majority of cases. 1
Shepp Posted November 10, 2013 Posted November 10, 2013 Does he realise how unhappy the dog is? Speration anxiety, trying to get between you hand him, whining constantly - all signs of stress! You have to be cruel to be kind - to not train an animal leaves it not knowing what to do and very stressed - this takes a toll on the dogs mental and physical health. If he hasn't got itin hi. To be the authorities figure then he needs to do the right thing for the dog and take it to behavioural classes and maybe look at some pheromone sprays to help ease stress. But yeah bare in mind you can't take kids to training - that'll fall on you and him! 1
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