Need Advice about Zoey.

[Guest Anonymous]

Hey guys i know i'll get flammed for this so i have my flame protectors on.. But i need help with Zoey.
let me start off by saying i love zo zo to death. She started out as my dog... until, we broght Cody home. Since then she's resented me... She never listens to me and bites me etc. Since justin's been gone it's worse. She hardly eats, she wont listen at me at all.. she barks non stop, will NOT sleep at night she paces around the room eating things in the room, trying to jump on the bed which we have not allowed any dog on the bed in the last 7 months due to the fact of when Zoey jumps up so does Cody and with zoey at almost 70 pounds and cody almost 50 plus my husband and I there was no room whatsoever. The only thing she does good is walking. she gets her GL and just walks until we get home perfect, unless she see's a dog then she starts to whine.
I'm at the end of my rope with her I'm so stressed out from her .. The people that I used to babysit for that moved to colorado.. well they know how Zoey is and how she does not listen to me at all and she truly has turned to j ustin's dog.. Well They offered for me to Fly Zoey down there and they would keep her until Justin returned. I said that Justin would KILL me if i gave Zoey away and they said no no no... we will just have her here while Justin is gone, and then as soon as he's on his way home we'll send her back up to you guys and she'll be your dog again. My questions are..
1. is this the right answser?
2. would she resent me even more if i let her go live with them for right now? ( she loves their kids.. and i'm sure makenna and JW would be in heaven having Zozo there )
3. IF i DID get the ok from justin ( i'm sure he wont go for it ) would she still remeber us after being away for 9 months?
i dunno..
i'm just at a loss here. she drives me insane with the not listening to me, doing the opposite of what i do barking all the time which she never used to do, not eating.. every day i end up crying over her b ecuase she just pisses me off so bad..
i'm such a bad mom... i need help.. any ideas?

[imported_Kat]

By giving her to other people, you will be avoiding the problem, but not solving it and I have a feeling that you want to solve it. Take Zoe out for some one on one time without the other 2 dogs. Shes obviously missing her Daddy just as much as you are missing Justin. You could learn a lot from each other by spending some time together and in a way you will probably draw comfort from each other as well. :wink: If you have tried to carry on as normal with Zoe and it isn't working then its better to reassure her and perhaps even at night give her an old jumper of Justins and let her sleep with that. Good luck :wink:

[ObedienceGrrl]

I totally agree with Kat. One on one time.....even just some training time would be great! My boys love their time alone with me when we do some light obedience.

Also, sleeping with something of Justin's is great. Dakota will do that when Jeremy goes out of town on business. It keeps him much calmer!

[rotten_two]

you could always send her to stay with cousin aspen -- just kidding!

i do agree with kat and OG that sending her away won't solve anything except your immediate stress! i can't tell you how many people ask daily if we board and train. always the answer is no because it doesn't teach the human anything and really all the dog learns is there are different rules around me than the owner. waste of money, time, etc.

i agree that you need to give her some special time with you away from cody and boonie. she does well on walks -- why not give her an extra 10-15 minute walk each day just the two of you? it serves 2 purposes really 1) you build the bond but 2) more exercise and tired pups are less destructive, pacey, obnoxious, etc. i know you have 3 and that is more than a handful but if she is disobeying maybe more practice is in line? take 10 minutes and train -- just the two of you. go back to basics with her -- sit, down, stay. easy stuff and make sure you follow thru. if you tell her to sit -- she must sit. if she complies on the first try give her lots of treats. if she ignores you then help her sit by luring with food, or gently placing her in a sit. keep positive but she also needs to realize you intend to enforce your cues to her. make her sit for her food. make her sit at the door before her walk. the littlest things can help you here. buy each pup a special toy -- doesn't have to be expensive but only let that dog play with his/her toy. have a special playtime with you, the dog, and the toy.

i know the concept of getting her out of your hair is tempting but if you are anything like me i would miss her something fierce!

now if you just need a "me day" maybe you could get someone to dogsit for a day. justin's parents?

hang in there -- we know you can do it!

[Guest Anonymous]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I will start giving her more one on one time and just take her out for walks and leave the others here. as i can't walk her and coody and then walk Zoey longer becuse she will start to limp ( which the vet still has no i dea why she does ) so i'll start out doing that. I would miss her dearly if i did send her away she's also my guard dog as boonie gets crated at night and Cody can't hear... i'll keep u all updated!
Thanks for the advice!!

[Guest Anonymous]

thanks scotty!!
Now i can do the whole Justin tee shirt thing but they are all washed and stuff.. is that ok or do i need to scrounge up something that is not cleaned and still smells liek him???

[3ofakind]

I totally agree with the concensus, one on one time.

Mary was completely my dog when we got until she was about 8 mo old. She wouldn't listen to my hubby etc etc, all the stuff you mentioned. Then one day we were without power (ice storm) and consequently no heat either. I went to work so I could be in the heat. I dont know what happened while I was at work but they completely bonded that day. Snuggling to keep each other warm I guess. Now she just as much a daddys girl as a mama's girl.

You can do, we all believe in you!!

[Malamum]

DAL I remember that you used to post about taking Cody to training classes with Leanne. Has Zoey been taken to any classes? I think it would really help for you two to have something to do together that doesn

[kendalyn]

I don't think sending her away would be a good idea at all. Zoey has had a lot of changes in her life in a very short time. Justin's gone, plus there is a new dog in the house. It's no wonder she is stressed.

Training classes sound like a good idea for her as she sounds a bit out of control at the moment. It would also help you learn to get to know her better. :-)

[Guest Anonymous]

Zoey has been to training classes. She was going opposite days that Cody went.. and now leanne is not there anymore and they are just goign through so many trainers,. not happy with any of them

[courtnek]

I have to agree with the others. Zowie needs one-on-one time with you now, and some refresher obedience training. She's feeling abandoned with Justin gone, and now theres a new dog. She may be thinking the other dog has something to do with losing daddy.

They dont think like we do, they cant reason out that daddy will come back eventually. So I'd say she's stressed. Do you have anything of Justins that isnt washed? the human smell will help. She may be trying to one-up you in the dominance dept too, which is where the re-training comes in. Also, if antsy you could try Rescue Remedy. It does have some good calming affects, but exercise, one-on-one attention and retraining is probably your best bet.

Best of luck to all of you.

:)

[imported_Matty]

Since then she's resented me... She never listens to me and bites me etc. Since justin's been gone it's worse.

Just one thing dogs unlike humans do not suffer the same horrible emotions like resentment. They just don't think on that level. She may be missing her owner and not finding the structure that she is normally used to.
I would take a good long look at how you are treating the dog. You might want to start implementing the NIFIL policy for both dogs. This helps form a bond with your dogs, believe it or not it has even helped dogs over come problems with fear phobias.
I talked to a lady once who was convinced her dog was only into her spouse. Every time the spouse went away on business she had a horrible time with the dog. It took adavantage of the situation. Under neath it all the wife was in the state of mind thinking the dog was only her husbands dog and she sent off signals to the dog to keep away and to keep its distance. It sounds weird but true, we can make problems between us and our dogs without even knowing it.
Take a look at the whole picture, are your trying to distance your self from your spouses dog. Maybe deep down inside you want the dog to stay loyal to your spouse?
Stupid question, but I hada ask :D