I have a chocolate lab, she's 9 years old... about 2 years ago I came home with a kitty [still have him] ... Lately my dog is completely acting out, and just being horribly naughty. She doesn't listen when we call her in from outside, she's been uncontrollably barking for no reason at all, getting into mischief [digging in the garbage, eating random things such as paper bags, etc...] and she always pushes my cat out of the way while he's eating and she gobbles up the rest of his food. Beyond that, she has a major problem with always going into his litter box and eating his shit... I don't know what to do anymore. I love my dog to death, but I don't know how to handle her anymore... does anyone have any suggestions? I think she's feeling jealous/replaced something to that affect ever since I brought home my cat... but, I'm telling you, she doesn't get any less attention from us, we spoil the living daylights out of her. Please help!! I have no idea what to do...
could be the cat ....as well 9 yrs is old enuff for a dog to have all kinds of ouchy grouchy stuff goin on arthuritis kidney pain ect ...im neering a comparitive age as yer dog and i dont even have that many probs .....but am concidering having my self put down to spare the inevitable......are there other dogs she gets to hang with ? ... i dont think cats count as company .
I, too brought home a kitten a few years ago to a jealous dog......all is fine now though. I really don't know what to suggest to you in this case except that like manko mentioned, 9 years is getting "up there" (my dog is 9 yrs too) and she could have some sort of internal or external pain problems that she is trying to communicate to you.....like she is saying "somthing isn't right with me" and showing you by acting out.....dogs will do that. How long has it been since her last checkup? Maybe you want to bring her in to the vet for a once over.....just in case? Dogs should see a vet about once a year....esp when they begin to get into their older age. Good luck with her!
no she doesnt have other dogs that she "hangs with" [lol]... she used to be able to play with my old dog, but she died a couple years ago. She's so smart about that too... anytime I decide to think about my old dog, and bring out her old collar and whatnot, she starts whimpering. I think that could be another reason, she really seems to miss her. Elle, We actually just scheduled her annual appointment about 2 days ago, so hopefully nothing is wrong with her... I'd rather know that she's acting out, out of jealousy rather than that she's sick or in pain. She seems fairly healthy, but maybe she's just tough about it... She still runs around like she's 3 months old. She loves to retrieve her tennis ball for a good 45 minutes daily... But, I suppose she could be in some sort of pain that she just doesn't show... I hope that's not the case though :-( If it's not because of pain, then I seriously need to find some sort of intervention, because I'm afraid that her running off all the time is going to cause her to be hit by a car or something. I've tried everything ...I tried putting her on a dog cable, but she won't even go to the bathroom then, because she likes to "pick her spot to go"... I've tried taking her for walks on a leash when she has to go to the bathroom, and she won't go then either. She's EXTREMELY picky about being free to roam, and pick her spot when she has to go, and always has been.... So how can I let her outside to go without fearing she'll run off and get hit by a car? And, mind you, I DO watch her and if she wanders outside of our yard, I'll call her in, coax her with treats, walk after her to catch her, everything but she runs farther. She almost seems like she doesn't want to be here anymore :-( She hates being around our cat, and I think that has a lot to do with it... I don't know.
My dog is very much like that too.....she will walk with a leash but she LOVES to get free and run around....then come back when she pleases. Luckily it's not too much of a problem for me, since I don't live in a busy area but I still try not to let her get out too often because there are other dogs in the neighborhood that roam free and some of them aren't too nice. What I've found to be helpful, is that there is a park nearby with a few baseball fields...since the baseball fields are fenced in I take her to the park and let her loose inside the field. She goes crazy running around but since she's fenced in, she can't get hurt and still has a lot of room to do what she wants. Maybe you could get your dog to your local sports park sometimes so that she can get her dose of freedom. My dog was also very jealous of the cat when I brought him home (she even snapped at him at few times) but fortunatley for us she got used to him being around pretty quickly. She doesn't LOVE the cat but I think she doesn't mind him (sometimes she even kisses his nose). Maybe there are some dogs who will just never get used to the idea of sharing their family and space with a cat. Not all animals get along with each other.....just like people, certain animals get along with each other and others don't. My dog hates every other dog in our neighborhood except for this little Jack Russell.....she LOVES him.....lol. I hope you get it all sorted out!
lol, my cat actually ADORES my dog, but she hates him. lol. He will plop down next to her, try to nuzzle, and start purring his brains out, and then she groans and walks away LMAO
lol......same here. Beaker(cat) is in love with Daisy. He is forever trying to get her attention....daisy usually ignores him and sometimes beaker will get so frustrated that he jumps on her head.
LMAO yup, my cat does that too. He will follow my dog around persistently and when she continues to ignore him, he just pounces on her. Pets are so amusing. Way better than TV to watch.
Well I have 5 dogs and 1 cat(I used to have 4 dogs and 3 cats but one cat got lost and the other one died). I think that if you put your cats food up on the freezer or something then he could get to it but you dog couldnt. And beleive it or not now tat I only have 1 cat she's LONELY. So if yoou had 2 cats then maybe the one you have now wouldn't bother your dog so much. Or if you got another dog then your dog now would have someone to play with.(I wouldn't reccomend getting a puppy though because until they get full grown they simply annoy the dogs you have now.)
All of your advice was great, but don't take this to offense, that would be impossible. First of all, my cat is CHUBBY, and my dog can actually jump higher than my cat can, so putting the food up higher wouldn't work. And at the moment, I can't get anymore pets because I'm still living with my father and he won't allow it.... We're in the process of trying to sell our house too, so I think that's the main reason he doesn't want anymore pets there right now. Once I move out into my own place [hopefully within a few months] this will be possible. My boyfriend [who I will be moving out with] really wants a dog, so that will work out later on... I suppose for now I just have to be patient huh.
ahhhh...they so love the crunchy tootsie rolls. I never understood that attraction for dogs but so many get into the cat box. Maybe losing the other dog and getting the cat came too close for her to like the cat. Maybe you need to put your foot down and basically start using whatever worked when training her, retrain her to do what is expected. Bad attention is better than no attention. Even if you are giving her plenty, she knows she will get some by being bad.
