29 Apr
Posted by admin as Bed Bug Protection
We bought Jaxon, the JRT, around five years ago, for my daughters’ 14th birthday.
She fell in love with him, and they’ve been best friends ever since. However, last year she went off to college. She was going to take him with, but we talked about it, and agreed that being left in a small condominium with little to no attention and 1/2 a walk a day for eight years was no place for a active breed like JRT’s.
So he lives with me , for the last year. But there have been multiple problems. main problem? he has been acting like a puppy again ever since about two months after Demi left for college. Ex;
He has been battling incontinence for the last, oh, two years? Demi(my daughter) used what are called belly-bands, which are (velcro) cloth straps that he wears around his waist/covering his urination area. After she left, however, he found out that he could wriggle out of them somehow.
So now, basically, he urinates all over the house whenever he wants.
This wouldn’t be a big problem if I didn’t have several 1k+ $ area rugs lying around the house.. I have already had to throw away one rug that was 2k, and one that was 0.
He is getting crabby. Like, really, crabby! I don’t know if he misses Dem or if he’s just a old grouch.. but he nips at anyone who isn’t me, growls at the cats, can’t stand being pet, and occasionally grabs on to the bottom of my pant leg and refuses to let go.
He chews on everything! When he was a puppy, he destroyed a 3k leather couch, two carpets, and practically everything in my daughters’ room.
But he either grew out of all that, or he learned not to at obedience school. Either way, though, he’s started again.
He’s got the energy of a 5 month old puppy. I take him out in the backyard a couple of times a day everyday. We’ve been doing that since he was a year old, and when he hit his 2y.o mark he really calmed down. But now he’s been climbing trees, digging holes, shredding the lawn furniture, destroying my flowers, and chasing anything in sight(including birds, squirrels, rabbits, bugs, etc).
He went to obedience school up until about 24 mo., when he "graduated". He was always well behaved up until now.
My vet put him on some medications to help deal with the incontinence, but it does next to nothing for him.
When he started getting crabby, and nipping when I touched him, I took him in for a check-up to four different vets. All of them said that he was fine.
He is neutered.
He’s been exhibiting other strange behaviors lately, also. Like hiding under the bed, barking at everything in site–and some things I can’t even see, and digging holes in everything(like the carpet, his bed, my mattress, etc)
I’ve dealt with this for a year now just "putting up with it" because I figured there was no other way..
But recently I got promoted @ work, so I’ll be gone a lot more, and I won’t be able to be at home all day, making sure he doesn’t pee on everything and rip up the furniture, and claw the front door to death.. plus it seems as though the 3 walks & runs I give him now aren’t enough. Being I’ll be working so much, I’m not sure I can even do 2 walks, let alone 3+.
I couldn’t bear to put him down… but I wouldn’t want to let him live with my daughter, because it will keep her att off her school, and he will destroy her house and be overall miserable.
I haven’t told Demi about this, because she would never let me keep taking care of him. If she knew, she would ditch school and come pick him up tomorrow.
My options are all horrible!
1 Call Demi, and have her take care of him–in which case her condo is destroyed, he is alone and miserable, and she is generally stressed out.
2 I keep him here–in which case MY house is destroyed, he gets fewer walks and is miserable, and I’m stressed.
3 I put him down–in which case we’re all stressed and depressed.
I didn’t list "rehoming him", because I don’t think anyone would be willing to put the time, money, and effort that he needs into retraining him.
Before I do anything, I want to see if you have an answer for me. Thanks.
I should specify; he was always well behaved *after obedience school* up until now.
As a puppy he was a terror! up until his 2 y.o mark, he did all of the above and more.
4 Responses
Critter
April 29th, 2010 at 11:12 pm
1This is fixable. But it’s going to take time and effort. It sounds like the little guy doesn’t respect you as the pack leader in the house. Now as for why this is a sudden realization to him, I’m guessing that it has to do with your daughter moving out. Ask yourself if it is possible that your daughter leaving left you feeling a little depressed, and maybe compromised your alpha status? Did you maybe pamper the dog a little bit because he’s your daughter’s and she’s not there? Even if you didn’t, he has sensed a change in the pack structure and is dealing with it the way that dogs do; he’s trying to climb the social ladder. It has nothing to do with missing her. This is purely primal pack behavior. He sees an opening in the leadership role and his instinct says, "go for it!".
Well, he needs to be knocked down a peg or two. This can be done with consistency, discipline, and limiting his freedom.
1. Begin crate training him for when you’re gone. This will prevent mishaps when you can’t watch him, and prevention is the key to stopping a behavior. See if a neighbor can come and take him for a short walk during the day so that he is not crated for more than 4 hours at a time.
2. Keep up with the runs and walks, and make sure that you are walking him properly and keeping him beside you or next to you on the leash. Don’t let him pull you. Consider taking him for bike rides, too. My JRT loved going for runs on the bike and it was easier for me to keep up with a pace that actually challenge him physically.
3. Keep him leashed when he is in the house. Leash him to your waist so he learns to follow you around. This also gives you the advantage of constant supervision so that you can correct him immediately if you catch him doing something wrong. Corrections after the fact don’t do anything. You must catch him in the act.
All of this sounds like a challenge of authority. Look into the Nothing in Life is Free training method for everyday use in addition to the suggestions above.
http://k9deb.com/nilif.htm
This can be fixed. Think of it as a project that will be very rewarding in the long run.
I tell it like it is
April 29th, 2010 at 11:12 pm
2What I think was happening is the dog wasn’t being taken out enough to potty. So he wasn’t properly potty trained. Maybe at first, but then when people haven’t been taking him out enough..well, one can only hold it for so long. A couple times a day isn’t enough, and the dog wasn’t getting near the exericise he needed.
If you can’t give him the time, exercise, etc. that he needs, then yes, do rehome him. And not to Demi, because she can’t give him the proper care, either.
The biggest reason a dog tears up stuff in the house is boredom and lack of exercise.
But if you do keep him, make sure he gets tired out before you leave for work, is crated when you are at work, and tire him out when you get home again. Make sure you are outside with him. He’s tearing up the yard due to boredom and lack of exercise.
You can also adopt an adult playmate for him.
"I didn’t list "rehoming him", because I don’t think anyone would be willing to put the time, money, and effort that he needs into retraining him."
I rescued four dogs and put the time and effort into training them.
Chevy
April 29th, 2010 at 11:12 pm
3It really sounds like he is acting out because his "person" is gone. If the dog and your daughter have been inseparable since you got him, and then she left, then I can certainly understand why he’s upset. He feels abandoned.
I think you need to tell your daughter about this. I know that you take care of him, but realistically, he’s her dog. Because your daughter is the one he is bonded to. You don’t know that he’ll behave the same way if he goes to live with Demi… The behaviors might clear up once he’s back with her.
Question: I’m sure Demi has been home for breaks in the school year… Does the behavior continue when she’s home?? If not, I think you have your answer.
2nd Question: Why don’t you crate him when you’re not home? Take away the opportunity to misbehave.
Gook Luck!
cherry kitten
April 29th, 2010 at 11:12 pm
4You don’t explain much about his incontinence problems and what the vet thinks it is due to. Whatever it is, surely there is a better solution to whatever the problem is than velcro bands? They aren’t a solution at all to what is a medical problem.
Any sudden changes in a mature dog mean straight to the vet.
I doubt very much that this is to do with your dog "missing" your daughter… a dog will ‘pine’ for a person only for a very short period.
My guess is that it is one of two things –
1) To do with his medical incontinence problem. In which case, all you can do is go to your vet and tell them absolutely everything.
OR
2) That your daughter was the main trainer for your dog and now that she is gone, he is not being trained. A trained dog won’t necessarily stay trained forever if you are not reinforcing what he has been trained to do (and not do). Maybe she exercised him alot and his exercise suddenly dropped when she left.
I’m fairly certain he is trainable. By you, if you put in the effort, but CERTAINLY by someone you rehome him to who has the drive, patience and time he needs.
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