[susansmom]

Susan is having housetraining problems, the biggest of which is that she can't seem to figure out how to let me know she needs to go out. So far I'm trained to take her out a lot better than she's trained to go. She seems to have half way figured out that if she barks at me, I'll take her out. I don't really know if she wants to go, but just in case . . . But actually, I don't really think the barking is about going out. I think it's just about demanding attention. She started out very passive, a little too passive and she's getting a lot more spunk and liveliness. I think that's great. But now she's starting to bark a lot about getting her way, being stubborn about a few things, and wanting to beg for our food (which we don't give her). She's 5 months old and I read that at that age puppies start trying to move up in the pack. I don't want her to do that. I think we will all be happier and she will be more welcome more places if she stays sweet and eager to please and not demanding and stubborn. I'm going to have to get more diligent about obedience training; I think that's the real answer to the dominance problem. But about this barking thing. Do you think she might want to go out or am I just HOPING she wants to go out? Am I encouraging for no reason the exact behavior I want to extinguish? But I'm afraid to ignore her because I don't want another puddle on the landlord's floor! How do I figure this out? Help!