[Nancy1999]

It's really hard to find a good trainer, people can call themselves trainers without any education. I think you were smart to pass on the trainers who want to use shock collars. The problem with using aversive punishments is that while it can get results fast, it always has bad side effects. It sounds like the dog has been traumatized by something and this can happen if you just yell at a dog. People assume that a dog really understands what they are saying, but they don't, they understand the tone of your voice, not so much the words. It sounds like you and your girlfriend have to come to some sort of agreement on the best course of action. It doesn't work when one person is making the dog behave and the other person is encouraging the dog to misbehave. I’m not sure of all you want to accomplish, but it sounds like you also need to make the dog feel more secure. I can’t diagnose these “seizures” over the web, if they are real seizures you dog needs to see a vet to rule out any medical problems. My guess it they are more like panic attacks and your dog is suffering from high anxiety. Perhaps your vet can even recommend a good trainer, and you need to find someone who has real credentials and believes in positive reinforcement. It sounds like one of your problems is housebreaking, has the dog ever been housebroken? My dog pees and poops in the house, but he goes on pee pads, not just anywhere he darn well pleases. Many people do this with small dogs because it’s convenient. Is this what you mean when you say the dog poops and pees in the house? Concerning bedtime, many trainers do not believe that you should sleep with your dog, and if you are experiencing problems, the first thing that should change is this. Have a nice bed on the floor for your dog, and just ignore it’s pleas for a few nights and it really should give up after a while. Your girlfriend should keep this up even when you’re not there and if she’s taking the dog to the bed when you leave it could create more problems. For a while, she should do all her cuddling and snuggling with the dog on the couch not in the bed. As I said, it’s important that you both agree on these things or you’ll drive the dog nuts. Dogs like to know what’s expected of them, and they love consistency.