Advice on correcting dog behavior, please

[McLovin]

Let the dog live in the house. Problem solved!

(That's what most people do. I can't even imagine the point of having a dog that isn't a part of the family enough to live in the house. Makes no sense).

[Baz]

[juanbenae]

^^^ no. 10 teared me up a lil...

if you are going to wash a lab, an eight year old lab every 3 or 4 days heck ya its gunna stink!!


mcqueen stinks to be sure, and keeping him in the yard until he was 5 or 6 was an ordeal that had me feeling like you seem to be right now. at 12yo i dread the day ive gotta do No. 10 again with him.

[enzo1]

Ya gotta walk a Lab @ LEAST 2miles a day... bare minimum

[Jim Bremner]

The "Dog" that shares our life in my family is named Cole. Cole is a Cattle dog. Not a dog for beginers. I could write books on him. He was to be Joannas companion dog. Joanna stays at home most of the time due to MS ( PLEASE GIVE TO THE MS SOCIETY) Cole has days when he's happy to stay with her. Other days he'll DEMAND to go to work with me. Your dog needs to see the family it wants to be with. If you're not happy with that you need to groom your dog well so that it can be part of the family. Yes you will need to vacuum more as well as clean more.

I run a business. and a home due to my wife not being able to mop, vacuum, dust or clean much

[DanielDudley]

I don't have a dog, because I would feel bad leaving him alone all day, and I couldn't care for the dog the way a dog deserves to be treated.

It would be far kinder to the dog if you put him in a home where he would receive proper love and care. Yeah, the dog could use some training. Couldn't we all ?

[VaSteve]

ya gotta walk a lab @ least 2miles a day... Bare minimum

what?????

[Deschodt]

Originally Posted by McLovin

Let the dog live in the house. Problem solved!

Believe it or not, that is the current solution. Unfortunately it does not resolve the original problem... At some point, you have to let her out in the yard, and then you either must leave the patio door open (we have mosquitoes the size of horse flies) or expose yourself to more mesh/lattice punching when she wants back in. Either way we can't use that area of our house, still...

I'm sorry, I have young kids and I rate humans higher than dogs. That patio is also an area they use a lot, and they end up with bites the size of golf balls (not to mention west nile virus is around). So yeah, I feel for the dog's sense of abandonment due to being 5 yards further from the door, but let's not blow this out of proportion either: She's inside with us a fair bit, evenings, most of the w/e, and the rest of the week she's outside in a sizeable yard chasing squirrels, while we're working to pay bills (and her food, vet and damages ;-) It's not exactly doggy concentration camp, OK ? It would seem like you can't own a dog if you're not home all day petting her 24/7. If so, then guilty.

Shock collar ? We used that a long time ago (and I tried it on myself first to pick a setting) for biting and escaping when she was younger, it worked... but again we're not here to see the bad behavior and correct it at the right time... Crate / chain is out of the question, not sure how many more times I need to mention that ;-)

We did offer her to my wife's sister, big time dog lover, the only family my wife would consider letting her go to at the moment, but no dice. Her reason was that the dog has become slightly aggressive towards other dogs since one of them jumped her while we were walking her (and the baby - not fun, stroller overturned, dog fight etc...). Maybe she was protecting her pack. Dunno, I try not to go too far ascribing human emotions to animals. So I'm nowhere closer to a solution, only thing is I understand the dog's behavior better and I'm less pissed off, thanks to Angela. I also understand that escalating the structural strength of the patio is probably pointless, not to mention architecturally ugly... Still is a problem though.

Anyone got tips for shedding / smell ? Optimal wash schedule, stuff like that ? I'm cursed with a very good nose and I don't want the inside of my house to smell of dog (should I have to apologize for this too?)

[javadog]

Brush her daily and wash her when she begins to smell bad. Don't overdo the washing and use a dog soap. Make sure she gets rinsed well.

If she stays relatively clean and you brush her often enough, I can't see how a weekly cleaning wouldn't take car of the outdoor area that she wants to be in.

JR

[tabs]

It is time to stand up, sit down, shake a leg or go your own way because TABS is here.

This is a SAD Thread. All a dog wants is for you to love them and to that end a dog gives you everything they have. So when you take a dog in you have RESPONSIBILITY, it becomes a full fledged member of your family for better or worse. One wonders how you do with Children?

However let us move on. Let us just say one day you come home, your cloths are packed and the wife tells you she wants a divorce and that you should leave now. Bet that would cause you some consternation especially since you don't know why it has just happened. That is about the same thing that is going on with your dog. It misses being able to be CLOSE to the family erg companionship. The dog does not understand why you moved it out of the space it has occupied for EIGHT years. You provided that space for it, and now you changed your mind?

Hmmpt...do you get the drift that I do not have much patience with you. Your conception of things is VERY SHALLOW indeed, and I have loaded the dice on you. If you think about a series of events and the how and why of it you can usually find out the cause for certain behaviors in dogs, cats and people. Dogs do let you know that they are upset by their behavior, to get your attention, to let you know somethng is wrong. You just have to pay attention.



Mother always said you catch more flies with honey than salt...so I have always tell my dogs what good dogs they are..and that I love them.

Did U ever think of a Doggy Door, or make the patio door a two way swinging door?

[tabs]

I took in a 8 year old Airedale. He was heart broken that his family let him go. I laid with him on the floor for a few nights to comfort him. He never really got over it allthough he did have some happiness with me, as he would smile and sway from front paw to front paw as I scratched his behind his ears. I used to tell Ole George that he was a "good man." (he weren't no Pup).

[Deschodt]

Originally Posted by tabs

It is time to stand up, sit down, shake a leg or go your own way because TABS is here.
Did U ever think of a Doggy Door, or make the patio door a two way swinging door?

Sorry Tabs, i thought we had moved on. The bashing was page 1 and some of P2. We're onto constructive criticism and solutions now, I thought...Thanks anyway. On the doggy door, that was also covered as not helping much in this case, but I guess you did not read the whole thing...

Listen, I'm actually getting tired of this now. It seems like I've made myself a target for moving a dog 5 whole yards from her original location. It seems I'm not allowed to be pissed at the damage. I must also be a bad parent because, really, how I think of animals is the same as how I think of children (do I need green font?). The fact that the dog is inside a lot, sleeps inside, is super well treated/fed/medicated and pretty happy doesn't seem to matter one bit to some zealot dog worshippers: no grey, all black and white... I am a regular Michael Vick because I want to move my dog 5 yards from the glass door, and most people don't read past post #1 (where admittedly I was pissed off and too sarcastic, my bad, should have known better).

It seems there is not much more to be gained here... My bad. I'm done... I won't edit the original post either, that'd be weak. Pile it on if you are bored.

[tabs]

The first line in my original Post was only an introduction and had NOTHING to do with my thoughts or feelings on the matter...BTW I do not BASH..

The long and short of it is that you have a RESPONSIBILITY for the dogs and your childrens well being, you on your own volition brought the dog into the family. Since a dog and children have limited cognitive capabilities it is upon you to provide that ability for your dog and children by being aware and by figuring out an equitable solution for your family which includes the dog.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by tabs

BTW I do not BASH..

Since when?

[flipper35]

Originally Posted by greglepore

Labs are very high energy/drive dogs-not the choice for an ambivalent family, but you have the dog.

Our previous lab was as laid back as any dog I have seen. Compared to our current higher energy 2 year old lab she was near comatose all her life. Given that, she could chase a frisbee farther and faster for a longer time than our current one so maybe she stored her energy better. Both yellow labs and both complete opposites in personality. The new one is nearly ADD and Theresa was more calculating. The new one is more ballerina in her stature and the way she moves, the old one was more linebacker in both stature and movement. Our new one had been crated for up to 20 hours a day with the previous owners so she won't even go into her dog house when she is outside. She cannot be left inside the house when we are away because of the issue of being crated so long so we have no choice until she gets past that issue. She is getting better though so they do learn. In your case it may be a matter of having a temporary barrier until she understands that she needs to stay out while everyone else is out. Once she accepts that then the barrier can be removed.

Otherwise, call Cesear.

[teenerted1]

greg please post photos of the area and dog in question. then we can give you constructive suggestions on how to fix you door to dog proof the construction. then get off line and fix the problem that way you wont have to read about how bad a dog owner you are.

[Laneco]

Hi Greg,

I've also got a VERY sensitive nose and cannot stand dog odor. A little dog odor, no problem, but after that SOMEBODY's getting a bath! My husband has had three basset hounds, a breed that I've grown to despise due to the smell. Very strong odor from that breed. Labs tend to smell too but not as much as a Bassett. The Lab's coat is designed to sort of wick away water and the oil/whatever in the coat tends to trap odor.

Working on the assumption that the food is good quality (no grain/corn, etc), and the dog has no skin or ear infections, no anal gland issues, etc.., just doggy smell, here is what I suggest. Wash the dog about once per month with a dog shampoo. If you wash them too often, you actually aggravate the problem. Dry the dog - don't let her head outside and find something to roll in. Dry the inside of the ears thoroughly. If left wet, it is a breeding ground for yeast infections/ear infections. Uncomfortable for the dog and a pretty bad odor to boot.

Next, wash EVERYTHING she touched, bed, towels, etc. For the dog beds, I wind up washing them every single week (due to the Basset hound...). I use a couple of dryer sheets in the dryer just because it smells nice. Some dogs are allergic to those, so if the dryer sheets cause problem, stop immediately.

For in-between shampoos, sodium bicabonate (baking soda) makes a good and very safe smell killer. Take her outside, rub into the coat, brush it out. Wipe the ears out with cottonballs/witch hazel or ear cleaner. Probably keep that at about once per week, otherwise the baking soda winds up stripping the oils out of the coat.

Hope that helps!

angela

[nynor]

meh. i have some sympathy. our goldendoodle finally got me so pissed off it was new owners or a pistol shot to the head. i went with new owners. i am an animal person and i tried everything. guess what? after we got rid of that mutt, our newfoundland's behavior improved to angelic. apparently, the goldendoodle was making her crazy, too.

that said, you reclaimed your porch. what about making a throughway for the dog to get into the house, bypassing the bulk of the screened porch.

yeah, flame away. i don't care. people that hold animals to the same or better esteem than people disgust me. its a dog. get over it. i'd eat it in a second.