It's come to THIS. Again.
The stairs are gated -- she finagles around/over/through the gate and heads upstairs to pee and poop. Our bedroom and Robbie's seem to be her favorite. This is after she's been outside for plenty of time or recently walked.
When she is good, she is a joy. Brings smiles and laughter. But when you come home to find poop all over the hallway (and not just easy to pick up poop), the smiles and laughter disappear. We've had the carpets cleaned twice by "professionals" and twice by us with a do-it-yourself machine. All to end up back in the same spot.
So now there are tears. And guilt. Maybe we didn't do enough?
It's not her fault, but she's the final straw in a very stressful home right now. Mike is still looking for work (waiting, waiting, waiting to hear about interviews from last week). My mother-in-law's death is still fresh. And our tolerance for shit, literally, is very low.
I wish there were a place to take her where we could go visit her and play with her once in a while. I hope there is a place that she can call home, for good.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
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4 comments:
I'm so sorry. We have a dog who did that (even went upstairs) constantly whenever we left the house and even when we were home. It was especially in the summer and we determined he was getting nervous/protective from seeing other dogs getting walked (summer months = more people walking the dogs). We tried an anti-anxiety pill, kind of worked. But we ended up crating him (he was crate trained as a puppy) when we leave and he has completely ceased the behavior for a couple of years now. He loves his "bed" and even goes in there just to sleep with the door open. Vet says he feels safe in there, like a cave...may be an option to speak with your vet about if you are looking for choices. I feel ya though, nothing worse than walking in and having to clean up pee/poop in several places. Hang in there!
Since I don't have a dog, I don't know what to say, but I didn't want to not leave a comment.
I'm thinking about you.
She has autism. Sounds just like my 8-year-old.
My approach might not be overly popular.
Does she get in trouble when you find the mess? I mean- big trouble?
There are times my dog messes on the floor and I know it's an act of brattiness- mad because she felt she didn't get what she wanted. And there are times I know it isn't completely her fault.
When it's a defiant thing, there is punishment. I don't believe the whole "you can't punish them for it if you don't catch them in the act." A dog sniffs a hydrant and knows the alst 50 dogs that peed there. They know their own poop and pee. They also know when they've done wrong!
My dog thrives on positive attention so when she asks for a special trip outside to potty, big praise and lovin' on the dog happens. If she defiantly goes on the floor, she gets ostracized from the family because that's the worst punishment to her. Accidents happen and we don't punish severely for those- just a firm voice and sending her outside for 30 minutes or so.
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