I have a pom named Fia (the cute, cuddly little face in my avatar) and I love her to itty bitty pieces. My little loveypooflufferkins!
But I'm beginning to have some issues with my little darling, and I was hoping for some insight:
1. Fia MUST be with me at all times. Her world is ending if I am not around...or so she makes it seem.
I don't really know how to deal with this, because I work and go to school, and I have other pets too that I like to spend time with. She can get fairly aggressive and pushy if I am spending time with any of the other pets (she will even growl at the fish tank when I am feeding the fish). I'm trying to do the "good behavior like sitting and waiting makes me reach down to pet you, bad behavior like jumping against my leg and barking and growling at the fish makes me ignore you" but it really hasn't seemed to work. We go through the same routine every morning and afternoon without much improvement. I was told by someone to try obedience classes, or doggy daycare. Getting her out and exposing her to other things besides me might help. Well, we dropped out of doggy classes after class two, she is very obedient and will do what I ask, but she was terrified of the other dogs, and she flipped out when the trainer tried to take her away from me to work with her one on one. She actually screamed like the trainer was hurting her. Doggy daycare was a more "successful" venture, but very expensive, and I didn't really see her interacting with other dogs, or people (yes, I stalked and watched on the doggie cams like all day). She just sort of sat in a corner and laid down, and would only get up and move once in a while, until I came to pick her up. For $30, she could have done that at home and probably gotten more interaction from the cat.
2. Housetraining. *cough*
We go through phases. 3 months, no accidents in the house, lots of praise when she goes outside and does her jobs, treats given when she comes back in after doing her business and such. I normally would kennel her at night, but if she's being really good for a month or so, I will let her sleep up on the bed with me which she LOVES. About a month of that, and then she pees on the floor. The routine doesn't change, the schedule doesn't change, nothing I can see that really dramatically changes? And then its downhill from there, she completely abandons the concept of going to the bathroom outside, and we're at Square 1 (its sooo good that I have a Rug Doctor.) She was a rescue dog from a puppymill, and I'd read that they would be harder to housetrain, but with a diligent schedule and such, I was told it was at least possible
Anyone have any advice? (Besides giving my dog away to some retiree who wants a 24 hour companion. Paul already suggested that, and its not going to happen unless I'm totally convinced thats the best thing for her, which I am not.)
But I'm beginning to have some issues with my little darling, and I was hoping for some insight:
1. Fia MUST be with me at all times. Her world is ending if I am not around...or so she makes it seem.
I don't really know how to deal with this, because I work and go to school, and I have other pets too that I like to spend time with. She can get fairly aggressive and pushy if I am spending time with any of the other pets (she will even growl at the fish tank when I am feeding the fish). I'm trying to do the "good behavior like sitting and waiting makes me reach down to pet you, bad behavior like jumping against my leg and barking and growling at the fish makes me ignore you" but it really hasn't seemed to work. We go through the same routine every morning and afternoon without much improvement. I was told by someone to try obedience classes, or doggy daycare. Getting her out and exposing her to other things besides me might help. Well, we dropped out of doggy classes after class two, she is very obedient and will do what I ask, but she was terrified of the other dogs, and she flipped out when the trainer tried to take her away from me to work with her one on one. She actually screamed like the trainer was hurting her. Doggy daycare was a more "successful" venture, but very expensive, and I didn't really see her interacting with other dogs, or people (yes, I stalked and watched on the doggie cams like all day). She just sort of sat in a corner and laid down, and would only get up and move once in a while, until I came to pick her up. For $30, she could have done that at home and probably gotten more interaction from the cat.
2. Housetraining. *cough*
We go through phases. 3 months, no accidents in the house, lots of praise when she goes outside and does her jobs, treats given when she comes back in after doing her business and such. I normally would kennel her at night, but if she's being really good for a month or so, I will let her sleep up on the bed with me which she LOVES. About a month of that, and then she pees on the floor. The routine doesn't change, the schedule doesn't change, nothing I can see that really dramatically changes? And then its downhill from there, she completely abandons the concept of going to the bathroom outside, and we're at Square 1 (its sooo good that I have a Rug Doctor.) She was a rescue dog from a puppymill, and I'd read that they would be harder to housetrain, but with a diligent schedule and such, I was told it was at least possible
Anyone have any advice? (Besides giving my dog away to some retiree who wants a 24 hour companion. Paul already suggested that, and its not going to happen unless I'm totally convinced thats the best thing for her, which I am not.)
It's a constant struggle. Come spring we are hoping to replace the carpeting with laminate floor (our landlord will go half on cost as it upgrades the apartment) and are hoping that puts a stop to the accidents. 
