First, I think this forum is the best fit for my questions. Background: I had one lab mix, and two full-blooded labs since I grew up. I'm 26 now. The situation I am in now is truly new to me.
I have been dating a woman for three months now. She owns a miniature dachshund and it is possibly the worst dog I've ever been in contact with.
She picked this dog up when it was 7 months old. I have no idea what happened to it between the time it was born and when my girlfriend picked it up, but it could not have been good training if any. I'm thinking this dog may have been the product of dog owners who thought it would be "cool" to have puppies. She picked this dog out while it trembled in the corner because of its breed and it was a girl. Myself, I never would have chosen a dog that acted like that at least not at that age. Now onto her description.
As I sit here typing this, the dog, Sophie, is whining almost nonstop has the girlfriend is at work. This dog has known me for 3 months now and I stay the night here between 4 to 5 times a week. So, I'm not something terribly new.
Problem two: she hates going outside (read terrified). If its windy, she's terrified. If there is anything alive in view, she terrified. She hates school buses because children get off them. If you walk any amount of distance she very soon stop and need to be picked up in order to get her to move anywhere. So, the dog stays home if we go anywhere outdoors. Oh, and she hates the dark with a passion.
She took the dog to training classes when she first got her. The trainer told her the classes were making her worse because of how petrified the dog was.
I have never had problems like this with any dog my family owned. I had them house trained and walking well early on. Of course, the dogs my family had were all taken home at 8 weeks.
I need some serious help with this dog. Its not going to cause relationship problems, but I would like to help make her a better a dog if I can. BTW, my girlfriend is the classic example of the owner who thinks their dog is so cute that they have trouble disciplining it. I'm fairly sure that my girlfriend is not helping anything with the way she acts towards her dog. I'm working on that.
Thanks for ANY help!
Justin
I have been dating a woman for three months now. She owns a miniature dachshund and it is possibly the worst dog I've ever been in contact with.
She picked this dog up when it was 7 months old. I have no idea what happened to it between the time it was born and when my girlfriend picked it up, but it could not have been good training if any. I'm thinking this dog may have been the product of dog owners who thought it would be "cool" to have puppies. She picked this dog out while it trembled in the corner because of its breed and it was a girl. Myself, I never would have chosen a dog that acted like that at least not at that age. Now onto her description.
As I sit here typing this, the dog, Sophie, is whining almost nonstop has the girlfriend is at work. This dog has known me for 3 months now and I stay the night here between 4 to 5 times a week. So, I'm not something terribly new.
Problem two: she hates going outside (read terrified). If its windy, she's terrified. If there is anything alive in view, she terrified. She hates school buses because children get off them. If you walk any amount of distance she very soon stop and need to be picked up in order to get her to move anywhere. So, the dog stays home if we go anywhere outdoors. Oh, and she hates the dark with a passion.
She took the dog to training classes when she first got her. The trainer told her the classes were making her worse because of how petrified the dog was.
I have never had problems like this with any dog my family owned. I had them house trained and walking well early on. Of course, the dogs my family had were all taken home at 8 weeks.
I need some serious help with this dog. Its not going to cause relationship problems, but I would like to help make her a better a dog if I can. BTW, my girlfriend is the classic example of the owner who thinks their dog is so cute that they have trouble disciplining it. I'm fairly sure that my girlfriend is not helping anything with the way she acts towards her dog. I'm working on that.
Thanks for ANY help!
Justin