Oh Lord thank goodness mine aren't the only weird ones. Just in the last few months (about the same amount of time I've been gone from YT), both Marilynn and Melvin have started less than cute habits.
First it was the incessant barking- All. The. Time.
Then we moved on to peeing under the dinning room table, so we fixed that and blocked it off.
Now we've graduated to the "let's really make Mom pull her hair out" league. They've decided to not sleep through the night, at first I thought it was a potty emergency so I let Marilynn out, she was thirsty! A 3lb dog got me up at 3am, for a drink of water! Then, after that one time, the flood gates busted, every night one throws a fit over something. So I put them in the garage, they'd bark- constantly. Then I started with the flashlight trick (every time either of them starts barking, walk over, spotlight them with the light- say nothing, walk off) which works, surprisingly. Then started they peeing and pooping in the crate. I want to scream, Melvin will be 2 in February and Marilynn is just over a year old, this all started spiraling downhill a few months back. It seemed like every time we would correct one problem they'd do something WAY worse than before.
Well, Melvin took the cake Monday, he peed (maybe something else though) on Marilynn. I have never in my life seen or heard of a dog who had no problems up till now, peeing on it's mate and in it's bed. I hate to admit it, but it is tarnishing my love for them. It's very frustrating to deal with. We limit their food and water at night, they are taken out for hourly potty breaks and one long one before bed (in between 10pm and 1am given the day). I just don't get it, I have a male Rottweiler who quit messing after about 2-3 months, when he learned that was his bed and he had to lie in it, it was all over.
Could this be a intelligence deficiency? Like lack there of? Or do they need to know who's boss? Sometimes they're angels and I hate to give in to what they want, because I am not giving in to a 3lb dog. Everything was fine, I just don't know what happened. Help.... |