Brittney
Well-known member
I had to take my almost 2 year old ridgeback mix to the vet today, and OMG it did not start or end well. She loves going for a ride, so as soon as I grabbed my keys and her leash, the barking started. She barks at every pedestrian walking by, every chipmunk that crosses the road, any motorcycle and gets worse if I stop or slow the car down. I never leave the window down for her because I just don't trust her to stay in the car, plus she is embarrassing. The vet’s office is about 15 minutes away, and I swear, we hit every single stop light. She puked in the car on the way there, and when we got there she howled at a hanging cat flag nonstop. I finally got her to shut up and took her into the waiting room. She started doing this very vocal (she's part beagle) whining/barking noise and got mouthy with the vet techs. Needless to say, she had to wear a muzzle. The vet comes in and he puts Nola on the table, she poops the second he touches her..... I guess she really was scared ****less! Her exam was fine and I put her back in the car. She barked at me until I started the car and she somehow managed to roll down her own window while I was driving, so every person passing by got to hear her. The whole time it was barking nonstop and she puked as soon as we got home.
This dog is nuts. She's the family dog, but only one person gives her boundaries, and that's me. My mom and stepdad are gone 5 days out of the week and Nola is a wonderful, well behaved dog when they are gone (except for when in the car), but as soon as they get home for the weekend, she turns into the worst dog EVER. She bites me, and only me, she jumps on everyone, howls at everything and growls at me when I discipline her for her actions. My parents just let her do it. They tell her not to jump, and when she doesn't listen, they give in, invite her to jump up, and then hug her and baby talk her. They treat her like she is a human all the time. The poor dog is confused.
She has been to puppy school I believe 3 times and failed all 3 times. We had a private trainer come to the house and work with her, and that worked, but she quickly got bored and just "worked" for treats, and only if there was a treat.
We took her to rattlesnake avoidance class here in Arizona, and for those of you who don't know what that is, I will explain: It is a class for dogs where they take you out in a horse arena or some other enclosed area and they have a live rattlesnake and you put your dog on a long leash with a shock collar on the dog. The shock remote is operated by a dog trainer. If the trainer feels as though the dog is getting too close or too curious about the snake, they shock the dog. Sounds cruel, but it really does train dogs to the sight, sound and smell of a rattler quickly, and teaches them that if they get too close, it hurts, a lot. Well, Nola failed that class too.. Shock collar and all.
I just don't get this dog, she has no brain. She will learn things very easily, and pick up on it, but then gets bored after a week and just half ***** things. I really don't like her howling and jumping on people. Those are the 2 major things and prevents us from having company. If we do have company, we have to put her in her crate, and she barks the whole time. She's a 55 pound dog, and solid, and I'm so scared that she is going to hurt someone.
Nola gets treated like a dog from me, not a human. She doesn't get table scraps, she sleeps in her crate. She does not go outside or come inside unless invited to do so. She waits for her food. She knows "shut up" means to do so. And she knows better than to get on the couch. When the parents come home, it's like she says "screw you" to me and just forgets everything. It's stressful.
Any tips on how to tame this wild hound?
This dog is nuts. She's the family dog, but only one person gives her boundaries, and that's me. My mom and stepdad are gone 5 days out of the week and Nola is a wonderful, well behaved dog when they are gone (except for when in the car), but as soon as they get home for the weekend, she turns into the worst dog EVER. She bites me, and only me, she jumps on everyone, howls at everything and growls at me when I discipline her for her actions. My parents just let her do it. They tell her not to jump, and when she doesn't listen, they give in, invite her to jump up, and then hug her and baby talk her. They treat her like she is a human all the time. The poor dog is confused.
She has been to puppy school I believe 3 times and failed all 3 times. We had a private trainer come to the house and work with her, and that worked, but she quickly got bored and just "worked" for treats, and only if there was a treat.
We took her to rattlesnake avoidance class here in Arizona, and for those of you who don't know what that is, I will explain: It is a class for dogs where they take you out in a horse arena or some other enclosed area and they have a live rattlesnake and you put your dog on a long leash with a shock collar on the dog. The shock remote is operated by a dog trainer. If the trainer feels as though the dog is getting too close or too curious about the snake, they shock the dog. Sounds cruel, but it really does train dogs to the sight, sound and smell of a rattler quickly, and teaches them that if they get too close, it hurts, a lot. Well, Nola failed that class too.. Shock collar and all.
I just don't get this dog, she has no brain. She will learn things very easily, and pick up on it, but then gets bored after a week and just half ***** things. I really don't like her howling and jumping on people. Those are the 2 major things and prevents us from having company. If we do have company, we have to put her in her crate, and she barks the whole time. She's a 55 pound dog, and solid, and I'm so scared that she is going to hurt someone.
Nola gets treated like a dog from me, not a human. She doesn't get table scraps, she sleeps in her crate. She does not go outside or come inside unless invited to do so. She waits for her food. She knows "shut up" means to do so. And she knows better than to get on the couch. When the parents come home, it's like she says "screw you" to me and just forgets everything. It's stressful.
Any tips on how to tame this wild hound?
