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Originally Posted by McheleM  Maybe. She's always been a little OCD if you ask me, and even now tends to want to "discipline" the pups, even when they're playing with us (one was attacking my husbands pants and she went over and basically made her stop). I know she wasn't a great mommy to begin with, she did the basics but didn't go above and beyond, and now the pups are leaving.
Could it be jealousy? I know we spent a lot of time nursing pups, taking care of pups, cleaning up after pups and we spend time with the adults but, mostly as a group and the pups do get a lot of attention. Do you think dogs have the same mindset as children who act out for attention? Even though it's negative attention (ie me telling her no! And then mumbling about it afterwards) it's still attention that she's getting that isn't focused on pups. (I'm thinking back to when I was a child and I didn't do my homework because it was the only way my mom spoke to me. Granted she was yelling, but at least she acknowledged me).
I guess I'll try spending more one on one time with her and see if it improves, although before the pups came, it was her, Noah and Westley as a group. When she went into heat, she was singled out and got to spend more alone time with my husband and me and then when she was pregnant and towards the end of the pregnancy, it was just her and I all the time until pups came. |
Exactly! Giving her a little 'special' attention will turn the situation around in no time! And also the stress of the pups leaving, your stresses, the pups getting bigger demanding attention... all of that I'm sure she's picking up on... and you're right... bad attention is better than no attention (or not enough). Sometimes retraining isn't even necessary when they're doing it just to get more attention, just a few minutes everyday extra can be enough. Like when everyone is out, just single her out by calling her over to you for a hug and a cuddle could do it!