Is this acceptable behavior?

[Tammi21]

My niece, Stella, sent me this video of her son and their new puppy.

I cautioned Stella about getting a puppy when she already has her two year old and her 4 month old to care for. And at the time she agreed with me saying “Oh I just want an older dog.” and then she gets this puppy.

I tried not to be pushy with my views on the way dogs should be trained but I reminded her that he would need lots of training, to which she replied “Oh the people I got her from says she’s house broke.” At this point I am bitting my tongue to keep from saying “do you really think that is all the training a dog needs?”

Stella is not the type of person to listen to anyone but herself so it’s not that I really think I can tell her anything about training. But I thought maybe there is some literature I can send her way in hopes that some of it sinks in.

Also I am curious as to weather or not this behavior from a puppy is good.

Let me explain what I see in this video. To me it looks like the puppy is doing the same thing to the boy, as my dog Phoebe does to Jetta. Phoebe wants to play so she tries to force Jetta to play with her. Now correct me if I am wrong but wouldn’t that mean that this puppy believes the child is on the same level as she? And if so I am fairly sure that is not good.

Here is the video.

Then again I could be wrong and this is just normal puppy + child playing. I have never seen a puppy play with a small child before.

[Richard]

Hi there,

From what I could see, it's a kid and a puppy playing.

The key is to make sure the kid knows that it's a puppy and can't be manhandled or abused (this is where adult supervision comes into play) and the puppy needs to know that little fingers and arms are not to be nibbled on.

Main point: I don't see an issue in the interaction but there has to be continued adult supervision of them both so neither gets hurt. This also means that the adult needs to step in and pull them apart once play gets too rough or it's time for the puppy to get some rest which should also be explained to the kid as well so he'll understand. They shouldn't be there to babysit each other while she tends to other issues.

As the puppy grows, if your niece is paying attention beyond the "oh he's housebroken" stage and maybe takes some time to read about dog training, she'll understand the Pack Mentality and how to implement it.

I'm guessing she doesn't have a crate either??

[Tammi21]

Well I’m glad the playing is normal.

I talked to Stella last night and she says that the puppy has been pooping on the floor and she couldn’t understand why it wasn’t doing it outside. I questioned her about the methods she was using, and found out that she was just putting her on a chain and sticking her out the door. Then when the dog would whine to come in, she would let her in and praise, only to find that 5 minutes later the dog had pooped/peed on the floor.

I told her that she would need to accompany the puppy outside and praise as soon as the puppy did what was needed.

I can’t really blame the pup though, I mean come on, it must be hard to go poop in the cold, why would it want to stay out there?

Stella did not seem trilled about the idea of taking the dog out every time, so I don’t really think she is going to do that. She says she will just keep it out longer. DX

She does have a crate, but the puppy is pooping in it.

And after talking to her last night I am done thinking about this hole thing. She has decided to take her cat to the shelter because it, quote “has to go.” and is “peeing on everything.” Never mind that it no doubt it upset about the new puppy. Or that the cat is 3 years old and not fixed.

This kind of thing makes me so mad. It is probably better that we don’t live in the same state.

Thanks for you reply though.

[Richard]

Here is an idea: take Stella to the shelter and leave the cat home.

It certainly sounds like none of this was thought out too well - good intentions I guess but normally the dog in question comes out on the short end (returned to shelter/breeeder ect) but in this case, the cat is on the losing end - maybe she should take both of them back.

As for leaving the dog outside by itself, I don't get it either. Does she think a dog is like a cat and can house train themselves? If she has an email address, copy the "how to house break your dog" article on this website and send it to her. Dogs that poop in their crate is another sign that she's not training him properly (or at all).

This is another case where the owner is clueless (sorry, she is) and the dog will never develop to his full potential cuz he'll always be getting in trouble for doing something because he WASN'T TRAINED PROPERLY!!!

She should stick to kids and pet rocks.

[sibemom]

Oh Richard as always you took the words right out of my mouth . As far as normal puppy kid behaivor, YES this is normal for the puppy when playing with other puppies and of course normal for playing with children because the pup has had NO TRAINING!!! You see I don't care how cute the little buggers are, NO DOGS, puppies or otherwise ARE ON MY FURNITURE!!!!! EVER!!!!!! This is where it starts and just gets worse and then the kids get bit and the poor dogs end up at shelters, rescues or worse PTS Your right Richard this was not thought out well AT ALL!!!!!!!!

[Tammi21]

Richard,
There is no need to be sorry, I seen this coming a mile away.

Stella is the daughter of my elder brother, and their family has always had pets that were either treated badly, or being treated oddly.

Stella’s mother has been trying to train her Beagle to pee in the walk-in shower. Why, because she doesn’t want to get up and let it out in the morning. (Her words not mine)

Cats are given dog food to eat when the cat food runs out, because the dogs are allowed to eat it all.

Once when I was a teen, I was visiting their house for the weekend, and found petrified dog poop under my pillow.

When I talk to Stella about training, she goes into how she has been around dogs all her life. And she knows how to train them, because she watched a video when she was 12 and got her first dog. (The poop under the pillow belonged to her first dog)

I will still send her some stuff about NILIF and house training and I’ll let you know what she says.

Sibemom,
I agree with you. I let my hubby talk me into leting the dogs on the furniture and now I am seeign the error of my ways. 8-)I have been keeping them off, but sheesh, once you start letting them up, it's ten times as harder to make them stop.

[Richard]

I had to reply to these....

Jan 19, 2009 18:17:32 GMT -5 Tammi21 said:

Stella’s mother has been trying to train her Beagle to pee in the walk-in shower. Why, because she doesn’t want to get up and let it out in the morning. (Her words not mine)

A beagle peeing in the walk-in shower cuz she doesn't want to get up in the morning to let it out?? I'm assuming she's expecting the Beagle to "aim" properly too?? Without even remarking about the hygenics of such a move (pun intended), what about the smell???

Once when I was a teen, I was visiting their house for the weekend, and found petrified dog poop under my pillow.

I guess your niece found the poop in the room and stashed it in the most convenient place () and she considers herself a dog trainer? Seeing the above comments about the Beagle peeing in the shower, I can see where this line of thinking comes from.

That is just so wrong on so many different levels.

I agree with you. I let my hubby talk me into leting the dogs on the furniture and now I am seeign the error of my ways. 8-)I have been keeping them off, but sheesh, once you start letting them up, it's ten times as harder to make them stop.

I guess we're a bit different but it still comes back to training and consistency.

We have "couch privileges" here at Casa Del Sheppy - ahh, what are those you ask? Well, it's only 1 couch and it's downstairs and if said K9 is invited up to sit with one of us, he or she will do so until asked to leave (which they do right away with NO grumbling).

Like everything else around here, it's all about training to understand this and other benefits are a privilege not a right for them. If they bust a house rule, they lose one or more privileges (and let me tell you, they know when they do).

[Tammi21]

Hey I just thought I would give a quick update. Although Stella has not read anything I sent her she seems to be listening to my advice. I downloaded a free dog training ebook and am reading it before sending it her way. It’s very simple and it’s for beginners. It’s a PP method but it seems to explain some about dog behavior and how to become a leader of your dog.

It’s only 47 pages and the author says to share it with friends, so I think I’ll print it out and send it to her in the mail. Maybe that way she can just pick it up and read no matter where she is in the house.