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Originally Posted by hotpinktrouble  Nozzle is about 5 months old now. I've had him since he was about 6 weeks (too young, yes, but I live in Japan). Getting a puppy was not the smartest idea I ever had, but I wanted to try it and I thought I did good research and found a breed that was small but would be good for me. It's been, needless to say, harder than I ever imagined. I would say you're right...I'm not really bonded with him...it seems to come and go. House training hasn't been too big of an issue, especially lately. Kasey took him outside one night a month or two ago and discovered that Nozz likes going outside vs. the pee pad (he still has them but only uses them when he's home by himself). That alleviated many of our potty training battles...I just take him out every couple of hours and first thing in the morning, etc. He still has accidents, but not many. The problem I've been having there lately is for no good reason, I'll go to take him out and he'll get away from me and cower in his kennel instead of going outside when I KNOW he's got to go really bad! We've had some submissive peeing incidents here, but I can't tell you why that's happening. Like I said, I've tried not to punish or yell, but I've been inconsistent. So a lot of this is my fault, I know. The thing that makes me so sad is that I'm really trying to get better and I make huge efforts to come home and play instead of doing homework, cleaning up, etc, and it doesn't seem to pay off in the behavior he shows me vs. my friends (the tail wagging, wanting to be picked up, etc)...
I appreciate the questions... |
Okay, you have had a rough start. The poor little guy was taken away from mom and siblings too early but I understand that is more the norm in some areas. You left on vacation when he was really young and that sort of interferes with the bonding as he may think you are going to leave him again. Sounds like potty training was a battle but now has smoothed out.
Just realizing you two did not have the best start is a good beginning to turning it around. Now, I would not try to push too hard. Get on the floor with him a lot. Play with toys and then as he becomes interested, include him on his own terms. Take the stress off you both by realizing this may take some time. He is still a puppy, so I beleive you can easily win him over, it just will take awhile.
Try to always use a gentle voice. Find something you really like about him and make a point of letting him know. That way your voice will be sincere. Watch what things your puppy does respond well with your friends and then try to do those same things. You might even have to limit his time with them. Maybe they spent your vacation time with him at a very impressionable stage and he has bonded with them to the point he sort of resents not being with them all the time now.
I think you have identified the problem early enough to fix. It will just take a lot of patience and an open heart. I hope you let yourself fall for this little one. It will be so worth it! Good luck to you both.