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Hi again, I'm the one who rescued a boxer in July this year even though I'm totally new to boxers.
My boxer Bailey has introduced a lot of new hassles into our home, especially for my husband. First he accepted her into the house, sight unseen, due to my and my daughter's long-distance insistence. (We called him from out of state just before we headed home and pleaded with him to take her in.) As I've said before, we've had a few mishaps with property destruction and house-breaking issues. Things were getting better. And then....
Last night hubby left Bailey alone in the living room (with the other dogs) for just a few minutes. When he returned, she and our other puppy, a 2-year-old beagle/rottweiler mix, were devouring the last of a roast chicken that had been on the kitchen counter. He was fit to be tied and immediately blamed the mess on Bailey (and probably rightly so given that the other has never counter-surfed and probably doesn't have that ability). The first thing he did was call me and say he did not want to deal with the extra security issues of having to make sure food is not available on the counter when Bailey is left alone. A few hours later, and this morning, he was able to reconsider and back away from his initial response, but he resents her (even as he cups her head in his hands and kisses her this morning).
Other issues he brought up were the possibility that Bailey might be training the other puppy to try and get food while we're away and his perception that Bailey doesn't care what we ask her to do so is "untrainable." The last item is related to her getting on the couch repeatedly (a no-no in our house), and sometimes acting confused when we tell her to get off. The other puppy has a more "anthropomorphic" response...a guilty look and a sneakiness about her that seems to charm the pants off of hubby.
I have a call into a wonderful trainer whose classes are full till November. I asked for a private session soon, but haven't received a return call yet. By the way, I also called the vet last night after the chicken fiasco and have enough information to make sure the dogs are okay (their stools were normal this morning and they are eating rice and boiled eggs for a couple days).
The other event last night was Bailey peeing on the carpet. The one night I leave the house. Yep. I think I'm the only one tuned to her whining signals that she needs to go out. In this situation, hubby was in our room, daughter took a shower, and son decided to turn in...Bailey was left alone.
Recap: Last night's counter-surfing, possible teaching of bad manners to our other puppy, and recurrent house-breaking problems are causing me to again doubt whether our home is the best place for Bailey. Unless...I can get my family on-board with the signals (daughter is more than willing to take Bailey in the bathroom with her next time, as I do) and extra security measures of moving food (especially the tempting variety) off the counter before leaving the house.
I know she needs training and that's in the works. Any other ideas, suggestions, or plain commiseration would really soothe my soul about now.
Thanks so much!
Pamela
My boxer Bailey has introduced a lot of new hassles into our home, especially for my husband. First he accepted her into the house, sight unseen, due to my and my daughter's long-distance insistence. (We called him from out of state just before we headed home and pleaded with him to take her in.) As I've said before, we've had a few mishaps with property destruction and house-breaking issues. Things were getting better. And then....
Last night hubby left Bailey alone in the living room (with the other dogs) for just a few minutes. When he returned, she and our other puppy, a 2-year-old beagle/rottweiler mix, were devouring the last of a roast chicken that had been on the kitchen counter. He was fit to be tied and immediately blamed the mess on Bailey (and probably rightly so given that the other has never counter-surfed and probably doesn't have that ability). The first thing he did was call me and say he did not want to deal with the extra security issues of having to make sure food is not available on the counter when Bailey is left alone. A few hours later, and this morning, he was able to reconsider and back away from his initial response, but he resents her (even as he cups her head in his hands and kisses her this morning).
Other issues he brought up were the possibility that Bailey might be training the other puppy to try and get food while we're away and his perception that Bailey doesn't care what we ask her to do so is "untrainable." The last item is related to her getting on the couch repeatedly (a no-no in our house), and sometimes acting confused when we tell her to get off. The other puppy has a more "anthropomorphic" response...a guilty look and a sneakiness about her that seems to charm the pants off of hubby.
I have a call into a wonderful trainer whose classes are full till November. I asked for a private session soon, but haven't received a return call yet. By the way, I also called the vet last night after the chicken fiasco and have enough information to make sure the dogs are okay (their stools were normal this morning and they are eating rice and boiled eggs for a couple days).
The other event last night was Bailey peeing on the carpet. The one night I leave the house. Yep. I think I'm the only one tuned to her whining signals that she needs to go out. In this situation, hubby was in our room, daughter took a shower, and son decided to turn in...Bailey was left alone.
Recap: Last night's counter-surfing, possible teaching of bad manners to our other puppy, and recurrent house-breaking problems are causing me to again doubt whether our home is the best place for Bailey. Unless...I can get my family on-board with the signals (daughter is more than willing to take Bailey in the bathroom with her next time, as I do) and extra security measures of moving food (especially the tempting variety) off the counter before leaving the house.
I know she needs training and that's in the works. Any other ideas, suggestions, or plain commiseration would really soothe my soul about now.
Thanks so much!
Pamela