Badly Behaved Bully! Help! (long)
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Badly Behaved Bully! Help! (long)
Submitted by admin on April 20, 2010 - 5:26pmI am at my wits end with Sweet Pea's behavior. She turned one on March 10th and was a well behaved puppy. We have been living with my in-laws for the past 5 months while we our having a house built. When we have dinner in the evening, we leave Sweet Pea in our bedroom because she chases our in-laws pug around and backs him in the corner which is annoying to everyone while trying to eat. She is becoming more and more destructive. It started off slowly with her destroying a few things that were in her reach. We then got smart and moved those things out of her reach. Since then, she has destroyed our hamper, shoes, her toy basket, and a number of other things while alone in our bedroom. She has plenty of toys and never chewed anything when she was a puppy (maybe because we never left her unattended and when she attempted to chew something she was not supossed to have, we corrected her right away) I am so frustrated. We would like to be able to leave her out of the crate for short periods of time if we are in another room but everytime she does something destructive. Most days, she goes to work with me so she is not crated very often. She sleeps with us in our bed at night. What can I do to improve her behavior? I know I am partly to blame because she controls us instead of us controling her. How can I change this? Would obedience shcool help? She is also terrible to walk on a leash - constant pulling to the point the I have fallen several times and jammed and badly bruised a finger. She has a wonderful disposition and is the sweetest dog most of the time - she loves to play with other dogs and people. Please help!
Sweet Pea
Dawn,
I would say that Sweet Pea has reached adolescence. Their behavior becomes much like teen aged humans. They are far more independent in their thinking and they become much more interested in their enviroment. Go back to basics, crating when unattended would certainly prevent her from chewing. It is not cruel to crate a dog that is not reliable, why allow unwanted behavior to continue longer then it has to. A foundation skills class using positive reinforcemnt training would work wonders for both you and her. For example, if she knew down/stay she wouldn't be harassing the Pug while you are eating. Dogs thrive with structure and clear boundaries.
Good luck, don't get frustrated, but please check into a skills class, they are a lot of fun.
Lynn K
She's spoiled. You owe it to her to train her ASAP.
Looks to me like the dog is spoiled and used to getting her way. She sleeps in the bed, never crates, so she probably sees you guys as equals instead of you as the leader. You have to get her in training ASAP, Your trainer will teach you how to show your dog you love her without giving over power (which is what looks like happens)
awe sweet pea...sounds likey our a bit dis-oriented...
she has had some chances that sorta tosses her rules in a whirl...
....new living arrangements..and being isolated...etc.
you would help her understand what she needs to do to please you and feel more secure...if you start now by establishing you as the alpha..and yes take her to classes..it will be a great bonding time just for her and you..and help with some of her issues..she is struggling with...good luck...and hugs to Miss Sweet peas...Mug...ce
ps ...be patient and very consistant....smile
I would try the class
I took Diamond both to puppy kindergarten and to obedience class. She walks a lot better on her leash. As far as the destroying things goes, the only suggestion I have is spray everything with either bitter apple or perfume. Sometimes bitter apple doesn't work and a little bit of perfume won't hurt your bully. Diamond wasn't really a destroyer so I am sorry I can't help more than that.
Obed class a must... !!
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