Hi everyone,
I’m having a bit of a problem with my partner's dog.
To give you some background, the dog is over a year old now. He used to live with my partner and her ex. They basically let him do whatever he wanted for months.
The result: the dog is king of the castle. My partner used to baby him a lot, so now he needs loads and loads of attention and has developed quite a few bad habits.
To sort this out, we got in touch with a dog trainer. They gave us some tips on teaching him to be more independent, to stop pulling on the lead, and not to jump up at people... basically, how to be a well-behaved little dog.
They also explained that for the time being, the dog shouldn't be allowed on the sofa or to sleep in the bed. My partner wanted him there, but it drove me mad because he kept waking us up at night (licking our faces, climbing over us...).
For discipline, they suggested giving him a 10-minute 'time-out' in the bathroom after three naughty things in a row.
Since then, things have been improving bit by bit; we’re managing to correct his behaviour and, more importantly, our own. He pulls less and less on the lead, and he doesn't growl anymore when we go near his food bowl...
BUT... of course, there’s a BUT.
Ever since we started following the trainer's methods, the little guy doesn't even bother going to the toilet outside anymore!
- At night while we’re asleep, he wees or poos on the floor.
- During the day if we go out, he wees on the floor or on the sofa.
- He’s becoming more and more destructive when we’re away.
Before we started the training, we didn't have any issues with this at all.
I don’t know what to do....
We’re seeing the trainer again soon, but I’d love some advice before then. Cleaning up dog mess as soon as I wake up isn't exactly a hobby of mine.
