Im So At Whitts End Right Now (RANT)

My dogs have been driving me crazy the past few days. My older dog always acts up when my husband leaves. And hes been gone for about two months now and shes just getting worse. She runs down the stairs and outside without me, and she knows very well that she is supposed to wait on each landing for me till I tell her to go. (I live in an apartment building and there are other dogs.) She has been doing as she pleases. Getting on the couch. Stealing food off the table. Eating the cats/kittens food which I have to leave on the floor because I have 3.5 week old kittens. She crapped in the house a few days ago. And she totally ignores me. Now keep in mind that she is 10 years old and has had the came rules for years and she doesnt do any of this when my husband is home.

As for Chance he took of around the corner the other day and didnt want to come back. He has been barking when I leave the house. He pissed on the floor tonight and he has been telling me when he has to go out. O except the accident he had three days ago. He has been chewing on things. He hasnt been listening to me but has been following my other dog. Im worried that he is going to bloat with the amount of water that he has been drinking and how fast he has been eating. And he has been laying down to eat. But if I try and raise the dish to keep him from laying down he ends up knocking it over because he eats like he hasnt had a meal in a week. Im still waiting on his test results from the vet cause he might have Giardia still. And that is geting annoying because he has accidents because of it. And just the fact that he is sick.

**SIGH** :smt010 :smt021 :smt089 :smt091

Sounds like you are having a bad time at the moment. Has your OH been away before? What were the dogs like then? I`ve not much advice for you, apart from going back to basics with your older dog. When do you get your results for Chance?

Sending big hugs from me and Fudge.

Sorry to hear your having so many problems at the moment. I may be way off but iI wonder if your dogs are picking up some stress from you and reacting on it. As your OH is not there you may be without realising it more tense or stressed which is causing them to worry and act out of turn.

It sounds as if things are stressful and little things like having to clean up can make you more stressed. I would take a bet that some of the problems are related to stress - stress can even make a dog drink a lot!

If I were you, I'd try to think the problems through piece by piece. For example, if your dog runs off down the stairs, simply go back to basics training, or use a lead, or ... and so on. I appreciate it must be very frustrating, forgive the personal question but how long is he away for?

Dogs who are real family dogs may well behave differently when stressed when owners disappear from their lives, maybe the older dog is now old enough to be affected by ths now, much as older humans find it hard to cope with change, and perhaps Chance picks up on both that and your stress re the other problems...

Try to "think dog"

Good luck

Wys
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Thanks guys. Yes Im am pretty stressed and maybe you are right that the dogs are picking up on it. My husband has left before. He is in the Navy and he comes and goes all the time. This time he has been out for couple of months and I stil have about 4 left. Everytime he leaves Morgan, which is his dog that he has had since she was 6 months (shes now 10) has these same problems. Its like shes acting out cause hes gone. And it would make sense that Chance is picking up on it. Its just driving me crazy!! And I dont know how to deal with it.

As far as Chance's results I have no idea because of the holiday.

I think that I have found some sort of a solution...hopefully. Morgan used to go all over with me but I have been taking Chance lately because its just been me and because I really have no idea how Morgan is with other dogs. So tomorrow when Chance is at playtime Im going to talk to the trainer about it. And see if she can help me with her. Wish me luck!

Wow that's not easy for you ... sending lots of positive thoughts to you!

I'm wondering if he spends a lot of time with Morgan on a one to one level? Or what exactly might change for the dogs whilst he's home in regards to feeding, exercise, routine, your own stress levels, and so on.

If things can be picked out like, for example, he does things with Morgan which suddenly stop when he goes, it may be time to slightly revamp what happens regarding Morgan so that there is not so much reaction when he goes back to the Navy ...

Just a thought, hope it may be helpful>? :smt001

Wys
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Well not much different happens when hes home except that she goes with us more because he can hold her away from other dogs (as we dont know how she reacts, but more on that in a minute) and they do lay together alot. And although she does love her and Jordan have a really strong bond.

As far as Morgan with other dogs. She has had some bad reactions to other dogs and with us not knowing how to read her we just stopped letting her greet/play with other dogs. (So Chance goes to the dog park and to playtime and to classes without her). So Im thinking she is not only upset becuase Jordan is gone but becuase she is fealing left out. So, here is the solution...hopefully:
I am going to have a private class on Friday with a trainer to find out how she really acts. This way I will know for sure how she will act and be in the safe hands of a trainer that can read her reactions. As long as she is fine and we can work through that then she will go out more without me being worried and causing her more problems.

Ok so I got up the guts totake Morgan with me to the dog park last night with Chance. SHE DID GREAT!!! She kinda just did her own thing but did really like a little Shi-Poo named Fletcher. She tried to play with him a little it was cute. So I dont know if Im going to take the private lesson now. Its $95 and if she did fine then I just know if its worth it.

Oh excellent news

It may well be that she was missing the walks, sorry I am not clear if she was getting walks at all or was not being walked? not sure if I've missed that, if I have, sorry.

As you've been worrying it may be helpful to enlist a trainer, from my point of view though they'd have to be a modern thinking one and not a dinosaur (as they do still exist)

However you could always cancel and if problems continue, book again.

Wys
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