I was reading up about when puppies grow out of their puppy stage, and one article notes that if you don’t train them while they are puppies, they can grow up to be “holy terrors” as adult dogs. That is what Lana is going through right now. She is 7 ½ months old, and “holy terror” is definitely how I would describe her. It is to the point that I’m at wits end!
Last week, Lana about knocked me out. I was in their house, picking up Squiggy’s food dish. As I was bending down, she decided to run under me and jump up. I can honestly say that I saw stars. Her thick block-head hit my jaw at an angle, and I think it did something to my jaw, because I’ve had horrible headaches since. Not to mention, the bone is still bruised and hurts to the touch. At that moment, I thought I could have really hurt her. I was in so much pain and so angry. But she is a puppy. As much as I wanted to tan her hide, I just screamed really loud in pain. It scared her quite a bit, and she was submissive for a few minutes until I got over it.
This weekend, she was able to slip through the fence. Todd mended the fence, and within 24 hours, she figured out that she could jump OVER the fence.
Todd and I are at a loss. What the heck are we going to do? We got Lana to keep Squiggy busy. She is barely even with Squiggy other than to sleep with at night and to antagonize him. What were we thinking to get a puppy?!?
I think that part of the problem is that she has WAY too much energy. We had been going on walks in the morning (over a mile) and then at night, I’d kick a ball around the back yard until it was dark. That does not happen anymore. It is dark by the time I leave work at 5:30, and when I get home at 6:30, it is pitch black. She has all of this pent up energy and no way to release it. We tried this weekend to put her on the treadmill. It didn’t work too well, but we are going to try again tonight. And I will do it again tomorrow morning, and then tomorrow night again. She has to get used to the treadmill. We need her to get her exercise. It is too dangerous to take her for walks on our roads right now (too icy, and not wide enough for a car and a pedestrian.) So…if I have to wake up an hour early and try to get Lana on the treadmill (as I try to work out too,) sobeit. It has to be done.
I also have to show her who’s boss. I spoil and baby her. Todd is definitely the disciplinarian. Well, she doesn’t jump at Todd at all. As soon as she sees me, she jumps 6 feet in the air. I need to learn to be more firm with her and let her know that I am the alpha-dog in the house.
Squiggy used to be the alpha, and Todd hated that because Squiggy would chase him around the yard (charging him.) Now, Squiggy is completely submissive since Lana came along. Lana has beat Squiggy into submission. I am a little thankful for that, but now she needs to be put in her place.
No comments:
Post a Comment