My husband found a stray puppy last July that he, more or less, unilaterally decided to bring home. It was not a good time for a number of reasons, 1) had a senior dog that we wanted to focus on, 2) had a big event upcoming, 3) generally work a lot, and 4) for me, I had recently lost the dog I grew up with and have been not ready to emotionally open up to a new dog.
But, the dog came home. We worked with him. There were some issues that are common with a puppy- insane amounts of energy, destruction, potty training woes. We got through those, but had trouble bonding with the dog. At 3 months, we had a serious conversation about re-homing him. Ultimately, we decided to double down and throw ourselves into it and really try.
Then our 6 month old puppy got bladder stones. We ended up having to have surgery which was a huge expense, BUT in the course of surgery the vet found a cause for the bladder stones and hopefully, the surgery is a cure.
I like the dog. I don't love him, but I like him. He's a normal puppy to me- happy, loving, playful. I feel like I am struggling to really form the deeper connection though and I feel as though this can only come with time. Relationships take time. My husband, however, is disliking the dog more and more.
The problem is this- the dog is a wimp. My husband has been patient, encouraging, kind, but ANY negative thing that happens and the dog freaks out and associates it with my husband. For instance, the dog has a favorite ball. He is a natural fetcher and its one of the things that they both take great pleasure in doing. The ball hit the dog while out in the yard (not hard, but maybe hurt a bit). The dog now won't go near this ball that has been the favorite toy for 7 months, the yard which he has always loved, or my husband! This reaction is so disproportionate to what happened. The dog fell off the couch, and looked back at my husband and ran away. These are not the only instances.
There is a long list, but for comparison: Usually when I put the dog in the kennel (if he doesn't want to go) its NBD. When my husband does it in the EXACT same way I do it, the dog screams like he's dying. Literally, he is nudging the dog the same as me.
This is also strange because the dog likes my husband more. He still has trouble with excited peeing, but only gets excited enough to do it with my husband. He smiles at my husband, he looks for my husband. If the two of us show up home at the same time, its my husband he runs to. But this dog is so hot and cold with my husband, that its causing stress and robs all pleasure from having the dog.
I know he's young but it just seems like every month, there is something new to contend with that we've never just been able to take pleasure in the puppy. We keep hoping to just make it until he's older and that the puppy phase is rough, but this latest development is a personality thing. If we can't say why something is happening, then how can we fix it? What can we do? Its impossible to keep him from never being hurt ever. And as sad as it makes me, is there a point where its just time to re-home?
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/ay2qh4/at_a_loss_what_to_do_when_personalities_dont_mix/
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