You are here:
- Home
- Animals/Pets
- Dogs
- Canine Behavior
- 8year old boxer/pitbull
Canine Behavior/8year old boxer/pitbull
Advertisement
Question
Hello, my boyfreind has a great little friend named Kilo. She is 8yrs old and we now know she has diabetes. she gets her shots and takes medicine for it tokeep her okay. The thing is that the guys(my boyfriend and his brother) feed him 5 cans of wet food a day.(i say wet food because i think she may better benefit from dry organic food)They have hectic schedules and try to be there to take her out but she always and i mean always pees and poops in the living room or kitchen. I think she may be doing it on purpose to try and tell them she is not getting what she needs in terms of a routine. She has had blood in her urine which the guys have taken her to the vet and it may have something to do w the insulin or diabetes but i cant watch her live like that. I proposed her to wear diapers if it is something that has to do w her diabetes , but i do not think it is and i do not know what to do. Not to mention, i am tired of cleaning up a large animals mess if the problem is the owners fault. The situation does not sound cocher.
Hi, Nicole,
I'm sorry you're having this problem. I'm not sure what kind of advice you want from me, though. Is the dog getting enough hard vigorous playful exercise outdoors every day? And I don't just mean walks, I mean really fun play sessions, either playing fetch and tug, or romping with other dogs?
As for the housebreaking issue, I don't know what to tell you. Normally I'd suggest crating a dog who's doing her business in the house, but that would be your boyfriend's decision, and I would NOT suggest leaving the poor thing in the crate all day. She would have to be on a set four-hour crating schedule with lots of exercise thrown in between her times in the crate.
I don't know what else to tell you. Perhaps you should have your boyfriend contact me if wants my advice.
Let me know if you have any further questions or problems.
LCK
Related Articles
Answers by Expert:
Lee Charles Kelley
Expertise
I've been training dogs in New York City for nearly 20 years. My training approach and philosophy are based on the way police dogs, search-and-rescue dogs, and detection dogs are trained--through the prey drive, inherited from the wolf. It's true that there's been a shift away from using the "wolf model" in dog training recently, and to some extent, there's a good reason. That's because trainers have been using the wrong model, the one that says you have to be the "alpha" or the pack leader in order to control your dog's behavior. This simply isn't true. In wild wolves there is no dominance hierarchy, no "alpha" wolf, and no pack leader (not in the traditional sense). The pack instinct only exists to enable wolves to hunt large prey by working in harmony. (Wolves who live near garbage dumps, for example, and who don't hunt together, don't form packs.) So if wolves don't have an instinct to "follow the pack leader" or "obey the alpha wolf," how could dogs have inherited it from them?
Years ago, before I became a dog trainer, I noticed that the happiest, most obedient, and best-behaved dogs I met weren't the ones who'd been to a dog trainer or behaviorist; they were the dogs whose owners always had Frisbees and tennis balls on hand. And while it might seem that my approach would only be relevant to high-drive dogs who love fetch and tug-of-war, it isn't. Even something as seemingly unrelated as a housebreaking issue or greeting behavior are often the direct result of a dog's predatory energy not having an acceptable outlet.
All behavior is an expression of energy. So when a dog's energy isn't utilized in a way that feels satisfying to his or her instincts and emotions, that's when behavioral problems develop. Giving the dog an acceptable outlet for its energy will almost always bring the dog's behavior back into alignment with its instincts
Feel free to ask me questions about any training/behavioral issue.
LCK
Experience
20 years as a dog trainer. I'm also a bestselling author, writing a series of dog-related mystery novels for Avon.
Organizations
Dog Writers Association of America
Education/Credentials
Just a natural gift I have for understanding and training dogs
Past/Present Clients
Too numerous to mention.
©2012 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.