[chickatwork]

Hi everybody,

I recently adopted a 7 months old girl, Stella, half lab half dobberman. I`m at work right now, so I can't upload any pictures for the moment.

Little Miss Stella has changed a lot since we got her (after only one week she was able to walk without pulling on the leash, she can sit and lie down 70% of the time). Of course she does the whole I steal food from the counter when noone is looking and try to sleep on the couch dog things, but that's awright, she a dog, and a puppy too But it seems that we are finding new issues as times goes. So I would welcome any advice.

1) Whining/howling
I think because she had been abandoned before, she has some anxiety separation and can't stand be separated from us. If there is any sort of barrier, even if she can stil see us like a gate or a box that stops her from coming in our room, she starts whinning and crying. Luckily, this stops when she thinks we are not around anymore (I tried to hide before and her whinning stopped). I've tried the leave her in her room trick ( for 5minutes, then come back after the whinning stops, 10 minutes, half hour, etc.), but so far not that much success.

She also whines for a lot of other stuff... Attention, pee, poop, food, , when we are sleeping and she isn't or sometimes just random whining (i think). The problem is that I tried the ignore the whinning thing, but then I realized that sometimes I misunterprete it and she does it on the floor after she can't hold it anymore.

Although overall she seemed to have gotten a little bit better, she recently discovered barking, and today, she discovered howling. So she now adds howling to whinning when she can't get in close proximity to us.

The other problem with the whining is that my boyfriend is a light sleeper and hadnt had much sleep since we got her (to the point that he seems a lot in a bad mood).

2) Fear
She seems to fear a lot of stuff (I'm not sure if it's her or some trauma from the past). She fears the broom, or anything that looks like a big stick. She is also terrified by the laundry machines. I realized that when I had it on, she started peeing on the floor like crazy. The problem is that the machines are on the main floor (no basement). I'm trying to withhold doing the laundry too often, but this is going absurd. I can't not do the laundry solely on the fact that she is scared, but I don't want to clean up pee after a load... Any tricks on how to make her less scared?

3) She bites other dogs ears
I brought her to the dog park. She seemed fine with other dogs until she started playing with that other 5 months old fluffy pupppy - that was about her size. She started bitting her ears and wouldn't let go to the point the other puppy yelped for help. We quickly separated them and gave her a big NO stella. But then she seemed to do it over and over again, with no intention of letting go when the other puppy cried for help. Now I feel nervous letting her play with other dogs with floppy ears, coz I'm worried she'll get into the habit of hurting them by grabbing their ears. It's to the point when I'm becoming a little bit paranoiac around kids too.

She also started biting back at her leash A LOT when she wants to go see other dogs, pigeons or whatever and I don`t let her sniff. Makes me worried if someone had their hand on her back while she`s trying to chase a pigeon if she could bite it by mistake?

I feel that sometimes, we take a step forward, but immediately two steps back.

Any advice?

Thanks.

[dogs rule]

Here are (I hope) some answers for you.

For the first question - It does sound like to me, that your dog has some seperation problems. Do you have any info about her first home and living conditions? Reward with treats and or praise, the good behaviour. When she whines, ignore it. It's really hard to do, but have patience. She is getting use to you, the boyfriend and the new home. What about letting her sleep on the floor by your side of the bed?

Second question - My second dog, Mack, was a rescue dog. I got him at 7 months as well. When you mentioned the broom thing, that sounds so familiar.
Mack would tuck his tail in and slink off all scared like, anytime I walk towards him with a broom, rake etc. The only thing we came up with, was that he must have been hit before with some sort of stick like object. It took him almost 2 years before he trusted that he wasn't going to get hit. Poor buddy!!
Again patience, and lots of re-assurance.

Third - I personally don't have any reason to say that is a negative thing.
She is still a puppy and being a Lab/Dob mix, you have a very active pup there. Maybe this is the way Dobs. play? Just like the Boxer plays rough with their paws and jumps alot.

You will most definitely have days where you will feel like your not making any progress, but give her and yourself time. It's a lot of work, a lot more than most people realize. But the end result is worth it ten fold.

All the best.

[akismaster]

Question; When she howls when you're home, do you give her attention immediately and pamper her?

[chickatwork]

Sorry I haven't taken the time to respond. I've been pretty busy.

But things have changed for the best over these past few days.

I've been working on her anxiety. She is getting quite better. She still does whine, but I would say it's gone down by 60%. I've restricted some areas of the house, like the kitchen or my bedroom when it's not nighttime.

I find that not letting her following me everywhere in the house has improved her whining. Of course she complained a lot the first few days I restricted her access from the kitchen, but since I totally ignore her, she now mostly sits on the other side of the barrier and stares (it's only a cardboard box but somehow she knows she is not allowed to try to go over it although she did try to knock it over a few times).

I used to take her for long walks (ever 2 hours walk per day), but I didn't find she was getting that tired at the end of the day. So I found out that I can actually play fetch with her in the dog park, which is awesome! I throw the ball and when she brings it she gets a tiny piece of cooked chicken (skin, fat or meat), and she loves it! I can tire her in no time. 20 minutes of fetching will get her sleeping the ENTIRE EVENING :P

As for the biting nipping, I've learned to simply avoid some dogs - like smaller dogs and fluffy dogs. If there is a smaller dog and she shows interest in playing with it, I supervise closely and stop her every 10 minutes before she becomes over excited. I guess she plays a little bit aggressively, but it's all about finding the right partner. Yesterday, she played with a mix lab-rott, which was about her size, her speed, and they played so well together. Even the other owner was quite amazed at how good they were together (I guess her dog tends to be stronger than other dogs her size too).

Overall very happy, I'm trying to post some pictures. I guess I can only post them in specifc part of the forum.

[Lunareclipse]

My very first dog was a lab/dobe. He chewed up everything when we weren't home. He even climbed behind the washer and chewed the cords off the back. He howled every time we left. I was young when we got him. 8 years old. It took 2 years for him to chill out and be a good dog when we left the house. My mother wanted him gone but my father wouldn't hear of it.

[akismaster]

Originally Posted by chickatwork

Sorry I haven't taken the time to respond. I've been pretty busy.

But things have changed for the best over these past few days.

I've been working on her anxiety. She is getting quite better. She still does whine, but I would say it's gone down by 60%. I've restricted some areas of the house, like the kitchen or my bedroom when it's not nighttime.

I find that not letting her following me everywhere in the house has improved her whining. Of course she complained a lot the first few days I restricted her access from the kitchen, but since I totally ignore her, she now mostly sits on the other side of the barrier and stares (it's only a cardboard box but somehow she knows she is not allowed to try to go over it although she did try to knock it over a few times).

I used to take her for long walks (ever 2 hours walk per day), but I didn't find she was getting that tired at the end of the day. So I found out that I can actually play fetch with her in the dog park, which is awesome! I throw the ball and when she brings it she gets a tiny piece of cooked chicken (skin, fat or meat), and she loves it! I can tire her in no time. 20 minutes of fetching will get her sleeping the ENTIRE EVENING :P

As for the biting nipping, I've learned to simply avoid some dogs - like smaller dogs and fluffy dogs. If there is a smaller dog and she shows interest in playing with it, I supervise closely and stop her every 10 minutes before she becomes over excited. I guess she plays a little bit aggressively, but it's all about finding the right partner. Yesterday, she played with a mix lab-rott, which was about her size, her speed, and they played so well together. Even the other owner was quite amazed at how good they were together (I guess her dog tends to be stronger than other dogs her size too).

Overall very happy, I'm trying to post some pictures. I guess I can only post them in specifc part of the forum.

If the whining is reduced well then it's a job well done.

When it comes to playing with other dogs, try walking your dog FIRST for 45 minutes or more.

He has lesser pent up energy when you do this plus you can correct whatever wrong behavior you think the dog will be showing.

It' always nice to walk your dog everyday. It gives you and your dog an exercise.