Oh, my darling, Sasha.
She is just a few weeks shy of being 1 year old. I love this dog with all my heart, which is why it has been so incredibly painful for me to come to terms with the fact that she is probably going to be moving to a nice dog condo outside when the weather gets warmer.
Why, you ask, is she going to be moving out? So many reasons. It’s not the bruises that cover my arms and legs which are a result of being jumped on with all of her 70 lbs., it’s not the fact that she is a hyperactive freak in our home and can’t be left alone for one second, and it’s not that she has no doubt given both of our cats brain damage from stepping on their heads repeatedly. It’s all of these things combined with the fact that this dog is just not meant to be indoors. She seems so much happier outside. In fact, this week when she RAN AWAY for an hour, and I was crying my eyes out and screaming for her at the top of my lungs in the sub-zero temperatures outside, I just kind of hit my breaking point.
I never could have fathomed that an animal would bring me this much inner turmoil. I love her so much, but I just can’t do things the way we have been doing them anymore. I’m going to tough it out until spring, but at that time we are going to put a nice enclosure with a dog house in the back yard, I hope, and she’s going to be an outdoor doggy like she obviously wants to be.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Caity 12.18.08 at 8:36 am
Aww, I bet that is so hard. I can completely understand, too. We had to give one of our puppies away once too because it attacked me and gave me stitches in my hand, but I was still sad he was leaving. I still think that he didn’t mean to do it viciously. We gave him to a nice family upstate with a lot of land and he is happy now.
Jessica 12.18.08 at 11:16 am
It’s illegal for us to have pets outside now in our city. :P.
All of us want to be able to keep our pets inside, but sometimes it’s either the cost of our furniture, or the cost of being fined. In our case, we’d rather have the $200 fine rather than replacing the $5,000 chandelier above our table. Of course, it’s always the health of the poor dear that’s more important, but I think it’d rather stay outside than getting yelled at. You should see our cat when my mom yells at him, he gets all attentive and scared!
Harryroberts 12.20.08 at 7:19 pm
It must be hard as hell, you are doing the right thing though.
Mel 12.22.08 at 8:25 pm
All pups have their moments. I now have two; a miniature dachshund…and a large lab/pit bull mix. Our’s are….quiet and sweet one moment…NUTS the next. Eating garbage and ornaments. But I still love them!
At least she’s not moving far.
Phoebe Byrd 01.04.09 at 7:17 pm
Several years ago I found myself at the end of a similar rope, so I thought I might offer how my dog problem got solved. I was going to put my year-old out-of-control black lab mix, Bud, outside in a pen with a dog house because he was SO unruly - - knocking over furniture, jumping on me & my husband, barking uncontrollably, deviling the cats, etc. He even broke the glass in the front window by flinging himself at it when another dog dared to enter our front yard (we got lucky, and he wasn’t hurt).
When I had him at the vet’s for his shots, I talked to the tech there who does their obedience training classes about moving him outside. She told me that dogs are pack animals, and it’s actually very hard on them psychologically to spend the majority of their time outside in a pen; they become very lonely, and the barking behavior often increases. Plus, sometimes they escape, which can present liability issues (didn’t know the first bits; hadn’t even considered that last bit & not fond of lawyers!). She encouraged me to do obedience training with him, and boy am I glad I did!
It took a committment on my part to practice with him daily (as well as making sure he got enough exercise), and to be consistent with him, but it really paid off. He knows now that my husband and I are in charge (because we weren’t acting like it before-at least not from a dog’s perspective) and he knows what’s expected of him and what his boundaries are. No more knocked over furniture, broken glass or bruises! I’m not saying that there weren’t some bumps along the way, and we certainly didn’t do it perfectly, but there was huge improvement after only a few months, and now (more than a year later), we are doing really well! He lives in the house with us, and is a well-behaved pleasure to have around!
Most communities have obedience classes, and this helps your dog learn socialization with other dogs, but if that’s not available or doesn’t fit your schedule, there are plenty of great books on the topic. Google “The Dog Whisperer” for a good understanding of dog behavior and of human behavior from a dog’s perspective. I also love Barbara Woodhouse’s books on dog training, but any good book on basic dog obedience training will have more or less the same information. I’m sure there’s also a ton of stuff online.
It’s obvious you love Sasha with all your heart, and it really seems like you’re ambivalent about resigning her to a life outside. I hope that telling you about our experience might turn out to present a third option for you. Good luck and best wishes for the best possible outcome!
Amy 04.02.09 at 10:28 am
I have one of those, too. Her name is Sugar. She’s a little pain int he neck, but thankfully it’s not going to last forever.
The jumping will stop. Probably within the next 2 years when she grows out of puppy and you continuously tell her ‘No’.
The stomping cats can only be corrected by you. You have to be vigilant. I know how hard that is. Thankfully, I don’t have anything smaller than my lab.
Running away can be solved very easily, too. My Sugar runs (less so since she turned 1 in January) because she needs to get out and run. And more so when she hasn’t had enough time to walk. Playing in a yard is not the same as walking. Dogs need to go somewhere. Anyway, so a trainer told me that if the dog runs away, I need only to wait until she comes back and then praise her for coming back. Also, make sure there’s plenty of food/water waiting for her so she knows where to go when she’s hungry. You can’t chase a lab, they think it’s a game. Instead, you have to teach the lab to chase you. Then, you just run home.
I know it’s tough, I have the added issue of my dog peeing every time I smile at her. But they will calm down. You just have to wait it out.
Stay strong.