Is this stubborness and how to handle it...
What's the proper way to handle this sort of behavior? For example: Barney has been chewing like crazy on his paws and on his belly area. (We're working on finding the cause) In the meantime, we're trying to stop him from chewing whenever we see him doing it because he's chewing himself raw. Last night was particularly bad with the chewing and we decided to put socks on him. Barney wasn't having it for some reason and he trickled a little pee. My husband (who was putting the socks on him) decides to keep going with the sock idea and Barney keeps peeing and was in that really stiff position. How should this be handled? To me, it seems like continuing is just adding to the bad situation, but my husband thinks that we need to show Barney that we're in charge and he can't pee and get away with it. He's fed up with the dog right now. Our carpets are brown because the dog chews his feet and leaves spots...HELP! |
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Oh the joys of stubborn sheepies  When a dog gets stiff like this, he's telling us he doesn't like what's going on... the same with the growl. The peeing sounds like it's a submissive response to being forced to do something he doesn't want to do. But... I'm not a doggie psychologist so I might be completely wrong in my interpretation.
Quote: (We're working on finding the cause) In the meantime, we're trying to stop him from chewing whenever we see him doing it because he's chewing himself raw.
You can't stop the chewing/licking until you address what's actually causing it. The itch is so all consuming. So you need to figure out what's causing this intense itch and try eliminate the problem but also sooth the skin with medications, shampoos, antihistamines, change of food, etc. What has the vet done to help ease Barney's intense itching? The itching can make him grumpy and put him on edge. When Panda had that yeast problem on her feet due to excessive use of antibiotics (bladder defect), she would actually lick her feet 'til they were sloppy wet and moan while doing it because they itched so much. I know how owners feel with this irritating, non-stop behavior... we want to say, "Enough of that obnoxious chewing and scratching already!" because it puts US on edge too. As for putting the sock on him... You want to put the sock on him so call him to you in a happy voice, give him a small but super great treat and leave one treat on the counter that he can see. You put the sock on and give him the 2nd treat. Mine focus on the next treat and allow me to do what needs to be done. You might consider repeating this several times so he gets used to this tolerance=payoff game. I hope you can figure out what's causing Barney's itch. Good luck to you. |
| Thanks Jaci!
We've switched his food to lamb and rice to see if that helps and I give him benedryl each day to see if that helps too. The vet seemed to think it's allergies rather than yeast, but I'm not sure. I'm thinking about adding a fish oil supplement to his dinner to see if that does anything. Usually he's okay with things like putting socks on him, but maybe was in so much itching agony last night that he didn't want anyone to cover them. So...when he gets stiff and pees, should we continue what we were doing or should we stop? And if we stop, do we stop completely or try to go about getting it done in a different way? |
barney1 wrote: So...when he gets stiff and pees, should we continue what we were doing or should we stop? And if we stop, do we stop completely or try to go about getting it done in a different way? He is peeing because he is trying to show you that he is submissive to you, and knows you are the almighty one. Do not repremand him for this, as he cannot help it and it will make him do it more. At the same time he is stiffening, because he is frightened and does not like what is being done to him. He is facing conflicting reactions here, and I would listenn to both and react accordingly. He is trying to communicate in the only way he can. I would not doubt that he may bite at this point, but only because he is not being listened to. Perhaps he can get his socks on wile one of you is letting him eat some cheese out of a Kong...Keep that mouth busy. But he must feel like someone with a broken arm in a cast...And it get itchy...It really must bother him, and having the socks on might drive him nuts. Poor boy. |
| Yeah, I know the stiffened body is a sign and all that. The sock part isn't really the issue, it was just the activity that was going on last night when all this happened. He doesn't get stiff like this very often, and definitely much less often than he used to.
Any more suggestions as to what to do when he does get stiff and or pee? My husband wants to punish him for it (whether it is a pee or a growl)--punishing meaning talking sternly to him and basically finishing the task using force (not force force). I don't like this approach for 2 reasons...1. I don't think it's the right response to the actions the dog is doing, 2. and even if I thought it was appropriate, I'm not strong enough to manhandle Barns so I can't physically do the same thing as my husband in this situation. |
I'm sorry I can't help but wanted to say Rufus goes all stiff & pushes REALLY hard into the side of the sofa when he jumps up there. I think it's because he knows he is not allowed, but tries his best to stop us from putting him on the floor. I would like to know how to deal with it too, he won't move unless I wave a treat under his nose, but thats like praising him for jumping up there so I stopped  |
| You can try to add tea tree oil to shampoo to help with the itch... it does work also there is shampoo out there for dogs that a EMU oil in it (Google) and that is also to help with itch. May not fix but should help with the itch tell you find the problem. |
We have a slightly simiilar dilemma in our house about how to deal with Foz's itchy feet. What should you do when one of your dogs is going to town on his feet and the other DOG snarls and snaps at him for doing so? Is that different than when a human tells the dog to stop in a loud voice? This is what happens in our house..Annie tells Fozzie to stop biting his feet  My house is a 3 ring circus |
| Whenever a dog freezes or stiffens up, you need to listen to the body language. We all know about bite thresholds and this may be a sign he's close to his. I guess my approach to difficult tasks with a dog is to try to keep both parties happy. If the dog will tolerate something with a reward or bribery, it's much easier to do the next time and the dog isn't dreading it.
Has Barney had any blood work done over the past few months? The reason I'm wondering is that there's a thing called eosinophils... the level is often high IF the dog has either allergies or parasites. It might give you an indication if there's an allergy problem if he was recently tested for something else. Darby, Panda and Emma had high levels. This doesn't tell what's actually causing the problem, only that there is one... figuring out the cause is much more difficult. Quote: http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=0&cat=1474&articleid=987 Eosinophils: Eosinophils are normally seen in fewer numbers than neutrophils. They are also produced in the bone marrow and their normal range is about 100 to 1200 per microliter. They also have the ability to eat up or engulf foreign particles into their bodies. Their quantities increase in the circulating blood when the animal is suffering from an infection with parasites, or has allergies. In conditions that cause extreme or prolonged stress to the dog or cat, eosinophil numbers decrease. |
| No, he hasn't had any bloodwork. We're going to bring him in to the vet in the next week so I'll bring this up with them. |
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