Dog is driving wife crazy

[falconut]

I'm trying to decide what to do with our min pin. She's been driving my wife crazy for a few years, but she's now at the breaking point. Hopefully this post is OK on here, since it's not reef related.

She's a female brown min pin (Holly), I think she's 4 or 5 years old (my wife remembers that stuff) and about 20lbs. She's completely house broken and crate trained. She doesn't even attempt to bite anybody, including kids. She's a sweet dog with some quirks. The quirks are driving my wife and kids crazy.

She's got a food obsession. She gets so hyper at feeding time, sucks up her food so fast, then bothers our other female dog until she's done so she can lick her bowl. She stresses our other dog out anytime we give her a bone, because she's constantly trying to steal any bone with give our other dog. She'll eat hers in minutes and our other dog has to stay hidden in her crate and growl at Holly until she's done.

She sometimes digs, not a lot, but sometimes. She's has caught and killed birds, rabbits and moles while in the yard over the years. Pretty common, I think. Lately, she's been killing moles. She's already killed about 10. Great right, not so much. She used to leave them outside on the concrete, now she's bringing them in and putting them on your pillow. The wife is not thrilled with this.

She will greet anybody coming into the house by jumping up at them. She's almost tripped my wife's mother a few times. I've tried to train her, but she doesn't seem to get it. The stress levels are high on certain days because of her.

I'm trying to decide what to do with her. I really would rather not take her to the shelter and I'm weary of putting her on craigslist. I'm not sure where else I could find her a new home. I'd like her to go somewhere where she'd be happy.

Sorry for the long rant, figured I'd see if anybody here has any suggestions.

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

Do you want to keep her? If so, I would strongly consider looking into someone that specializes in animal behavior. You can get a "slow down" bowl to help slow her eating down. When giving the other dog a bone, I would give that dog a bone and wait to give the min pin anything. Get her to understand stay and leave it and understand the commands.

 

[redfishbluefish]

My adult daughter has a min pin….at 8 pounds. With the eating issue, and being 20 pounds, could it be diabetic?

My daughter’s dog has similar behavior with people at the door. Barks for a minute and maybe jumps at their legs, and then loses interest. Never ever bites.

 

[ThatGuy]

Is the dog fixed? I had a Jack Russel that was a psyco until we fixed him. Then he became a rollypolly dog.

 

[TanksNStuff]

She's has caught and killed birds, rabbits and moles while in the yard over the years. Pretty common, I think. Lately, she's been killing moles. She's already killed about 10. Great right, not so much. She used to leave them outside on the concrete, now she's bringing them in and putting them on your pillow. The wife is not thrilled with this.

I can't imagine why that would bother her. What's so bad about waking up to a dead mole? :nervous

Seriously though Craig, Paul may be on to something. It's possible that she could have a medical problem and she can't help herself with the food stuff. Have you taken it to the vet at all?

 

[falconut]

SeahorseKeeper: I seem to be the only one that still wants her, kids and all. They're just tired of the stuff she does. My wife would love to get rid of her. It would make life a lot less stressful. I've been trying to train her, but it hasn't really worked. She'll sit and stay, but not the greatest. The toughest part is my wife's home all day with her, while I'm only home at night or weekends, when she behaves the best.

redfishbluefish: She's not a smaller sized min pin, she looks like your daughter's in build, but is taller. The vet says her weight is normal and she's healthy. I wish she would loose interest in greeting, but she doesn't stop until they sit down and we yell at her.

ThatGuy: Yeah, we had her fixed when we got her years ago.

TanksNStuff: She's worried she won't see the dead animal and it will rot somewhere. She gets her regular vet visits and they say she's getting enough food and is healthy. Apparently, this breed can over eat. I saw one that was a smaller one that weighed more than mine.

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

Well, if you decide to rehome her try to go through a min pin rescue. Typically, they are set up as foster homes. If this is the route you decide to go, I can do some networking with adoption groups or trainers to help you out. Just PM me.

 

[lefkonj]

the slow down bow is a great solution to the feeding issue, I have used that in the past with my Lab.

The hunting piece you won't get rid of, as far as i can think of, since that is instinct. My lab has killed several rabbits, life.

The other habits of jumping and being dominant sounds like training. There is a ton of things you can try with this. Leashing her all the time so you can control her at a moments notice works great. This way if she is getting aggressive about food you can snap her attention away. Another great thing is the command 'Leave it'. I used this when i trained my dogs living in NYC. They quickly learned that this meant move on, don't touch, its not for you. Now I used it with my new pup and he totally gets it and leaves things alone when told to.

Training is probably the best thing and while it sounds silly the folks at PetSmart have some good programs that can just reenforce what you have done and take it a step further.

 

[9supratt4]

I feel you man, but there is no way I'd ever get rid of my dog. Before anything I would consult a professional trainer. They are very good at what they do and will probably be able to help.

 

[falconut]

I'll have to see if I can find one of the slow feed bowls. Now I wonder which kind is better, the ones that have multiple objects or just one larger one in the middle. I hope the stores sell them locally, petsmart and bed, bath & beyond list them but show web only. I didn't realize these things existed. Maybe I can fix one item at a time.

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

You can try putting a tennis ball in the bowl or putting the kibble on a cookie tray. Petsmart sells one in store as well. I actually work for them.

 

[falconut]

I stopped at Petsmart on the way home and they had a nice small plastic one, with three bumps inside. They had already been fed dinner when I got home, so I'll have to see how she does in the morning. Here are a couple photos of the little rascal:

 

[matt2939]

I have a golden retriever and my wife had a little yorkie ****zu mix when we met. We've just accepted the fact that we can't give them bones - it just causes problems. We also feed them in separate rooms for breakfast and dinner. I would suggest those two things to help with the food aggression.

For the jumping around, I would get a squirt bottle. For a couple of weeks keep it on you at all times, and keep another right by the door. Whenever the dog starts getting too excited or when someone comes in just get the squirt bottle and squirt. This has worked for me.


Good luck

 

[MadReefer]

I have an 80lb mutt. I cannot give him rawhide bones as he gets very possessive. We give dog biscuits which he can eat rather quick and no issues.
Good luck.