When we first got Charlie, I was totally enamored with him. Especially when he slept through the entire night without peeing or pooping the first night we had him. I had picked out the best dog ever. We were going to have great times and he would be trained in no time flat. Lies! All lies!
And oh. my. god. the peeing. He peed more in his crate than anywhere else! Everyone kept asking if he had a bladder infection. Is he retarded? Can you take him back? No wait, that last one was just me. We talked to the vet about it on several occasions and he always told us the same thing:
He?s a little dog with a little bladder. He?s going to pee wherever he is if he has to go and can?t get outside in time. It?s a MYTH that dog?s won?t pee where they sleep. They will pee anywhere. They?re dirty creatures. That?s why humans give them baths.
And then if that wasn?t bad enough, he was just an all around shit when he was free in the house. He terrorized the cat (still does), would tear up anything he wasn?t supposed to and ignored his toys. He ate the cat poop. He still does that if we don?t keep the baby gate up to keep him from getting into it. He was wild and seemed untrainable no matter what we tried and I hated him. I didn?t want him to die or anything, I just wanted to let him run out of the house and shut the door and maybe eventually he would run away. Or the neighbors would take him in.
Right before we went on vacation, I was seriously considering asking the vet who did his ball whacking if he wanted to keep him. We would drop him off at the vet and we would pay for the boarding during the week we were gone and then he could just keep him. I was so over the damn dog.
But then a weird thing happened.
I missed that damn dog while we were gone. I couldn?t believe it. I wanted him to come home! And not to cook and eat him either.
I also like to think that while we were on vacation, Charlie did some serious soul searching and realized that he needed to change his shitty (sometimes literally) ways and be a better dog. He must have. Because since we went on vacation? He?s been a much better dog. It?s either that or he?s afraid that if we leave him at the vet again, we really might not come back and get him.
Also, it really has helped that we recently got him his own outdoor kennel with an igloo and a water bowl. He can hang out in there during the day and burn some energy and not be a complete spaz when he comes in when we get home. He listens so much better and we don?t scream at him as much. (Unless we forget to put the baby gate up and he makes a beeline for the cat box.) It?s gotten so good that even the Boy will play with him and asks to bring him in the house. At bed time. So he can pet him and tell him goodnight? I don?t know.
Charlie 2.0
But what I do know is that he?s like a brand new dog. And it is awesome. So we?re going to keep him.
Ages ago my parents had a standard poodle named Mick. Mick was an unmitigated disaster. He chewed the hell out of everything, destroyed rugs and couches, and finally my dad gave up and took him to the pound. We’re dog people. It was huge that we gave up.
So the next day dad went to get him because we’re dog people (see above) as well as being highly prone to guilt, and Mick was great from there on out. No more chewing on unapproved chewing devices.
So I think the soul-searching works. Wahoo Doggeh 2.0!
JC saw the picture of Charlie and said “What a cute little doggie!”, totally forgetting that he’s both met AND ignored him more than once. KIDS!
Glad you’re not serving up Charlie-burgers at your next cookout!
Wow, I didn’t think dogs could be that self-aware! Rock on!
I think the outdoor stuff you got him was a great idea. Doggies need to burn off that energy during the day as if they are tracking prey. Then they are calm and submissive.
We had a little dog for a couple of years (we had to put her down due to a spinal injury). She would pee two inches from the dog door. She could have taken four steps to get outside, but no — two inches from the door.
Precisely why I’m a cat person. ;o)
I totally relate. Our puppy got into competition with our kitty to see who could pee last on the same spots, yes, on our carpet! We renamed our puppy Mr. Widdle.