[Timon]

Hi,

I'm Ti and despite never living with a dog in my 28 years and never caring for them, thanks to my girlfriend i've found myself living with a Newfoundland/Old English sheepdog poodle puppy (a Newfypoo?!) called CJ (as in The West Wing. Not Baywatch. Honest).

In order to adjust to this major change in my life, I was hoping I could turn to you good people. You're clearly experienced in canine companionship and perhaps you can help me through this (current) ordeal.

I've even started a blog in order to gather as much help as I can (for example I now know not to feed puppies chicken bones), but any advice you guys give would be wonderful

First question: How do I get her to stop barking for attention when I'm trying to work and the girlfriend is out the house?

[Lunareclipse]

Aren't giant breed dogs fabulous!!!! There is no such breed as a Newfiepoo. What is up with giving these mixed breeds ridiculous names??? As for your question, ignore behavior you don't like. Reward for behavior you like. As soon as the dog stops whining or barking for 3 seconds, give treat. There is a dog trainer on here who can explain it better than I can. ☺

[reeskujo]

Originally Posted by Lunareclipse

Aren't giant breed dogs fabulous!!!! There is no such breed as a Newfiepoo. What is up with giving these mixed breeds ridiculous names??? As for your question, ignore behavior you don't like. Reward for behavior you like. As soon as the dog stops whining or barking for 3 seconds, give treat. There is a dog trainer on here who can explain it better than I can. ☺

Nope Luna,that's pretty much what I was going to say..You have to ignore the barking and trust me I know it's not easy,but ignore the barking and when she's finally quit barking quickly reward her with a treat..This will teach her that the barking for attention gets her just the opposite but the non barking is what she gets rewarded for..It won't happen over night but it will happen..You just have to be patient.

[reeskujo]

Originally Posted by Timon

Hi,

I'm Ti and despite never living with a dog in my 28 years and never caring for them, thanks to my girlfriend i've found myself living with a Newfoundland/Old English sheepdog poodle puppy (a Newfypoo?!) called CJ (as in The West Wing. Not Baywatch. Honest).

In order to adjust to this major change in my life, I was hoping I could turn to you good people. You're clearly experienced in canine companionship and perhaps you can help me through this (current) ordeal.

I've even started a blog in order to gather as much help as I can (for example I now know not to feed puppies chicken bones), but any advice you guys give would be wonderful

First question: How do I get her to stop barking for attention when I'm trying to work and the girlfriend is out the house?

Well my first question is why did your girlfriend get a dog knowing you don't like them..Do you want to be able to establish a relationship with the puppy? Are you going to share the the responsibility of the puppy or will it be left up to your girfriend?..Also how old was the puppy when you got him/her?...Where did you get your puppy from?...Shelter,recsue etc?
Are you crate training the puppy?

[Timon]

Originally Posted by reeskujo

Well my first question is why did your girlfriend get a dog knowing you don't like them..Do you want to be able to establish a relationship with the puppy? Are you going to share the the responsibility of the puppy or will it be left up to your girfriend?..Also how old was the puppy when you got him/her?...Where did you get your puppy from?...Shelter,recsue etc?
Are you crate training the puppy?

Yes
Sure why not
Leave it up to girlfriend
8 weeks
Breeder
Yes, she's crate training.

[Lunareclipse]

If you and the dog are going to come to any agreeable terms, you need to also take responsibility. Even if it's something as simple as feeding the pooch. Around here, things are divided pretty evenly. I take care of the dogs, he takes care of the cats. And we both help each other out. If you aren't willing to meet your woman halfway about her dog, then it won't work out, if she truly cares about her dog. Because if she truly loves her dog, she'd get rid of you first. So some attitude changes are in order in order for everything to work better for everybody. If you loved your woman, that kind of change wouldn't be too difficult for you. I love my husband dearly, but if he didn't care about my dogs, I'd leave him.

[reeskujo]

Originally Posted by Lunareclipse

If you and the dog are going to come to any agreeable terms, you need to also take responsibility. Even if it's something as simple as feeding the pooch. Around here, things are divided pretty evenly. I take care of the dogs, he takes care of the cats. And we both help each other out. If you aren't willing to meet your woman halfway about her dog, then it won't work out, if she truly cares about her dog. Because if she truly loves her dog, she'd get rid of you first. So some attitude changes are in order in order for everything to work better for everybody. If you loved your woman, that kind of change wouldn't be too difficult for you. I love my husband dearly, but if he didn't care about my dogs, I'd leave him.

You've got that right Luna!!!...If my hubby didn't like dogs we wouldn't be married to me and if he dared to ever give me a me or the dog ultimatum Seigi would be filling his spot on the bed because hubby would be gone.

To the OP..I can pretty much garuantee that if you harbor that kind of attitude about dogs your GF's dog will pick up on it very quickly and it will cause problems..You also need to take part in the feeding,walking and playtime with the dog so that he can build a bond with you and learn to trust you..If you're not willing to do that you will definitely have negative reprocussions to deal with!..No offense to your GF but for the life of me I don't know why she would bring a new dog into the household knowing you don't like them..Keep in mind that dogs can pick up on a humans negative feelings towards them no matter how hard they try and hide it and unless your feelings about him and dogs in general change you're going to have problems with him!

[Lara's mom]

1) How can anyone have ANYTHING against a puppy?
2) Dogs bark. Get over it!
3) Try embracing that puppy into your life. He/she will be around for a lot of years.