I appreciate all the responses but let me clarify and it might be a case of lost in translation or my wording, I don't beat the dog but a little tough love yes. I've had dogs my entire life and cared for them. My fiance didn't demand these things, we had talks and mutually agreed that the habits she was used too I wouldn't like in our new home. So yes I agreed to no sleeping in the bed and on the couches solo. Mia comes upstairs with me when i'm in our bedroom doing whatever.
Yes she was attached to my grandmother who gave her all the attention she needed but another reason why I brought her to our new home is because mom and grandmother moved to florida. Well you would say then send her to florida? My mother had a very serious and frank conversation about how she loves the dog but cannot accept the dog in florida with my grandmother. To my mothers' defense as much as my grandmother loves the dog she taught Mia very very bad habits. If she didn't see Mia eat her food she would automatically assume something was wrong and start hand feeding her food. Mia got used to this and i'm sorry but that is not behavior that any animal should be used too. My grandmother also would let long periods of time go and not put Mia in the bathroom to do her business. She's a small dog and needs to go more often that bigger dogs. So consequently she would pee or poo in the house. I can't blame my mother for not wanting those things in her brand new home. Yes we have all spoken to my grandmother about the dogs bad habits but someone who is in their 80's normally just doesn't wake up one day and changes their ways. Also at my parents house, she was house trained due to the association cracking down on dogs Mia wasn't allowed outside on the porch or things like that. I had to physically take her with me to a local park or for car rides so she could get out. I don't want anyone thinking I had the dog sheltered for the past 4 years. Yes I know she's very close to me and I adore the animal that's why I refuse to give it up. I'm just really trying to start breaking these old bad habits. At my new home we have a porch are allowed to have animals but since I live in the northeast it's been very cold not to mention the late hours at work, not really ideal conditions to try to break more habits and get her outside more. I let her out on the patio and she runs around. Once the warmer weather comes up I'm going to bring her outside daily is possible and even more so so she can interact with the other dogs in the neighborhood. We are usually home on the weekends and I try to give her as much attention as possible. As it was mentioned before she isn't allowed on the couch solo but when we are sitting on the couch I do put her on my lap and pet her, she normally relaxes and/or falls asleep. I also understand she is home alone for a major part of the day but it's mainly due to the time of year it is and my profession, so that's why I try to do as much as I can with her while i'm home and go to bed myself. Like I mentioned before i'm just looking for suggestions on how to try to help break these habits and get her used to that caged in area as her sleepy area. I was looking at people saying even if you repremand the animal they are still seeing a physical presence of you by the whining, so instead use a can filled with some pennies or a small newspaper rolled up and tap the cage as methods to try to teach the dog that when she hears the can or the cage that she's doing wrong. So again i'm open to suggestions. |