Dog Help

Friday, April 3, 2009

We need some dog advice. Sadie has been really bad lately. She has never really been super well behaved but she used to come when we called her, not have accidents, not gnaw on herself, and not bark all the time. Lately she has been doing all of that stuff non-stop. What should we do? I thought about getting a shock collar for the barking because it has been really bad lately even right after we scold her she will bark right away. Or maybe those obedience classses at Petsmart? Or maybe that Dog whisperer guy could just come to our house and fix her. :)

Especially with a new baby coming and Brian possibly getting deployed soon after there is no way that I can put up with this. And I really love her. But sometimes not enough to keep her(Just being honest). But I want to keep her so I want to get this problem fixed. Any Ideas????

7 comments:

KaitlynRae said...

Hello. I've been a lurker for a little bit now and I really enjoy your blog! But anyway, as for your dog I would suggest a shock collar. We have a yorkie and she would bark and bite and would and still is sometimes just terrible. We're thinking of having children soon and so we wanted to break her of these bad habits! We got her a shock collar that you can change the settings between 1 and 8. She still barked on levels 1 & 2. We put it on 3, it shocked her and she hasn't been that bad in a while. Now when she starts acting up, we don't even have to turn it on, we just put it on her and she calms down. She only wears it when people are over, we're eating, or she is just playing way too rough and gets a little excited. Sometimes if she's having a barking fit, we will turn it on. I think it's shocked her a couple other times. But there's my advice. I felt like it was so cruel to let her be shocked, but since her bahavior has gotten better I guess I don't feel as bad. Good luck!

Anonymous said...

hey keri!
I would definitely look into the classes at petsmart because I know at Petco our dog trainers are super knowledgeable. Most of them are also whale/dolphin trainers at seaworld. I believe that Petsmart also offers in home training so they can really work with you on your dogs individual training needs. What I've heard from our dog trainers is that bad behavior is a result of extra energy. When your dog has extra energy and doesn't know what to do with it they can chew things up, bark, have accidents in the house, etc. Maybe try playing with her in the back yard, like throwing the ball, or something she likes to do. Just try and ware her out. I hope this helps a little bit :)

-Ashley

KMom said...

They say bad attention is better than no attention. I remember Taffy getting into the garbage for attention. It sounds like you have been working alot, but like Ashley said, try to wear her out. I know, easier said than done :) Poor Pepper had a bad day yesterday. I took her in to get her nails trimmed and they cut too close on 4 of them plus she has a bruise on her belly from him holding her too tight! But at least her nails look better. Also I feed Moxie in a 3-way divided dish (a leftover hummus tray, but a tv tray would work too) It is more of a challenge for her than just eating 1 bowl of food. Maybe Sadie would do more chewing that way too. Good luck to ya Honey, I sure wish I was there too help!!!!

Kim @ NewlyWoodwards said...

I'm not sure that I've ever posted, but I think that if her behavior has changed drastically, you may want to take her to the vet before getting a shock collar or enrolling in obedience school. One of our dogs started being really naughty, going in the house, biting, etc. We took her to the vet and found out that she had a bladder infection. That was causing the issues with going in the house. And, once that was cleared up, she was back to normal. She was just uncomfortable and getting upset that we didn't notice, I guess.

I also think that dogs like a lot of attention. When we're really busy and dont' give them as much attention, they get naughtier. Just my two cents.

Best of luck.

Keri Ronk said...

Thank you guys for all of your advice! It looks like we are going to be doing obedience training @ petsmart. Its an 8 week course and if you dog isnt more well behaved by the end of the class you get to re-take it for free. We have been really busy lately so I am going to try to make a big effort to play with her more. And maybe take her on some walks. She is bad on the leash though so that might be after obedience school. We are probably going to look into a shock collar too. Anyone know where to get one for not to much $$$? All the ones we have seen have been like $70.

KaitlynRae said...

I was talking to my grandma the other day about dog behavior and she mentioned that she uses a squirt bottle of water to get her dogs to stop barking, biting, acting out etc... I tried it on Claire and she loved the water and would keep wanting more aquirts. Haha! But anyway, we got our bark collar from www.discount-pet-mall.com. It was on sale, we paid $55. Right now though it looks like it's about $70. I didn't think to suggest that the dog may just need more attention. Claire usually acts up more on the day when we're not home at all. But I wish the best of luck to you. I know it can be frustrating, but you love them! So I hope all works out. ;o)

KMom said...

This is so funny. Just after I posted my comment on the 3rd I went over to the other house where the dogs were and I had put an empty styrofoam egg carton (yes, an empty marshmallow egg one :) by the garbage can because there wasn't room in the can and the dogs had chewed it up in the living room! ha ha who would have thought they would chew that up. Made me laugh though. Must mean they wanted to be over here with me and not alone over there :) I hope the obedience school helps with Sadie and you don't have to get one of those collars, they just seem to extreme. The gal we got Moxie from must have used one at one time because when Kimbe's phone buzzes when she gets a text, Moxie goes flying off the couch, it scares her. To have that noise still frighten her makes me sad. (but I do have to admit I did want one to make them stop barking :)
Good advice on the bladder infection too, since she just got spayed that could be a possibility. ha ha, can dogs drink cranberry? Love ya, KMom :)

 
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