Expert: Cassie - 1/26/2008

Question
We recently adopted a 6month old pup from the pound.  He was very well behaved and we were relived to find he was house trained, obedient and a very placid dog.  We spent two weeks settling him in and never had a trouble.  Now over the past few weeks he is spirally out of control. It began with the accidently peeing, chewing the walls when we left, and chewing on shoes.  But in the last week it has progressed to some sort of aggression. Now if we are on the couch and he wants something he growls and begins to bark at us.  We never heard him bark for weeks and weeks and then suddenly he is barking at us!  And now he pees right in front of us as if to antagonize us.  

We do not hit or yell at the dog - but are very firm with "no".  When he gets too snippy we have some vinegar in a spray bottle which works for a little while and he becomes submissive.  He was always a very submissive dog and followed us around without making a sound.

There are three of us living together and the dog is walked for half an hour in the morning and again at night - as well as some short walks outside to pee and poo.  We spend a good hour to two hours on top of that playing with his toys with him and playing fetch.  He is alone for around 8 hours in the day and is not crated at all.  He sleeps outside our door in the evening.  We don't feel comfortable putting him in a crate for 8 hours.  

We feel he is demanding attention and doing what every he can to get it.  How can we stop this behavior?  The more attention we show him the worse he gets. The less we pay attention to him... the worse he gets....

Help.


Answer
I have answered this question before. Please visit my past answers for more info regarding this issue, and select "Reprimanding Your Dog". Thank you!