Originally Posted by BigBlueNation  Hello everyone,
Let me start by explaining my problems and hopefully any advice given will be appreciated. To begin, my girlfriend of a year and a half has a 7 year old, 4 lb teacup Yorkie named Bailey. When we first began dating, I noticed that his behavior was completely out of control. Bailey was treated like a toy for the first 4 years of his life. Wherever my girlfriend went, Bailey went too. Then my girlfriend moved into a new place with a new roommate. Over the next 2 years, Bailey was given free reign in the house to do whatever he pleased. This includes, but is not limited to, peeing in the house, barking at everyone coming and going, pooping in the house, chewing furniture and doors, etc. Both my girlfriend and her roommate had very hectic hours, so Bailey was left to roam the house unattended. He has never been crated, or disciplined for that matter. As you can imagine, he developed some seriously bad habits. After years of doing something wouldn't you expect it to be a well established habit that might take a similar amount of time to break? Once I started dating my girlfriend, after about 2 months I started to discipline the dog for peeing and pooping in the house. Discipling how??? He was told no for barking. For all barking? or excessive barking? If he's alerting you to goings on and protecting his home, he should be praised not punished. He has learned that he is not allowed upstairs by himself. Etc. Her roommate moved out and we started to make very serious accomplishments towards his behavior. We still cannot have people over to the house, because his erratic behavior is so embarrassing. But we did make headway on other misbehavior. That being said, here's where the story takes a turn.
I moved into the house about 2 weeks ago, and since then, Bailey has regressed at an amazing rate, while also developing new habits. Why do you think that is??? Now, as soon as my girlfriend leaves the house, his separation anxiety is tremendous. He will literally sit and tremble while staring at me. Sounds like he's afraid of you! He has actually gone into seizures during one of these episodes. He also will not go to the bathroom outside. He just runs around and stares at me. He's probably afraid to go infront of you because he's been punished by you for going potty. As soon as we enter the house and I turn my back, he will pee and poop. Again, afraid to go infront of you so goes when you aren't looking. But this behaviour shows you he has the ability to control his bowels and bladder if you train him in a positive way. When anyone comes in the house, its like a jail break. If he can't make it to the door, he is trying to climb up the person's leg whose entering the house. So, anyone comes into the house and he clings to them to rescue him from you..and yet you don't see what the problem is? Lastly, he now whines at the edge of the bed multiple times during the night. When we awake, he is just staring at us. If we take him outside, he doesn't do his business. Already covered this.... This is happening multiple times a night. I can't understand why this is happening.Really? Is it because I am a dominate male who will correct his bad behavior? You feel the need to exert your dominance over a 4lb dog? Will you feel the same necessity to dominate a 7lb human infant?....scary... Have I literally scared him into hating me? It definately sounds that way based on the information you've provided. While I am not proud of it, I will admit, I have lost my temper with him on more than a handful of occasions. On this little 4lb dog, who through no fault of his own has been raised this way for years, but you expect a miraculous change in a matter of weeks?
I grew up with very obedient and smart dogs, mostly German Shepherds. I am at a complete loss on where to go from here and I am seriously starting to doubt this relationship can last while the dog is in the picture. My hatred and frustration with this dog is leading to some very serious problems. You have hatred towards an innocent lil dog? Any advice anyone could give, I would greatly appreciate it. |