Ripple of Woes

Jan 5, 2009 at 12:57 PM
6 comments

Ripley's not adjusting as well as I'd hoped to the new house.

I was SO excited to get her a backyard - but she only wants to be in the house with us all the time. This wouldn't be so bad - but we have to work and she's a terror when she's loose in the house. She seems to forget where her pee pad is when she's free in the house, and will pee anywhere. She also chews on anything and everything she can get her little snout around. Hell, she's a puppy still and there's nothing we can do about that. It's only when she's cozily confined that she remembers about the pad and we can make sure that her area is clear of anything for her to chew on. We've been placing her in the bathroom at night and she seems to do wonderfully in there - trots in there happily at night and snuggles up in her bed with a little wag of her tail.

During the day, we tried to place her in the backyard while we had to leave the house. But she dug her way out already and Paul & I are both nervous that she'll do it again. So - until we could spend some much needed time in the backyard "Ripley proofing" it, we would just place her in the bathroom again - she did so well there at night. Well, the other day we left her in the bathroom for a few hours (while we were working at the apartment) and when we came home we found that she'd begun to paw and rip the carpet at the doorway!!! NEW CARPET IN A NEW HOUSE! I was so upset - and also really disappointed. I just want her to be happy and I can't seem to do that. No amount of toys or playing with her seems to keep her content when we just can't be there with her.

We had to go to Petco that night and get her a 20 ft cable to keep her in the backyard during the day when we can't be there. We tried it out on Saturday and found that she survived, though she did get tangled up on one of the patio posts and so wasn't as mobile as I'd hoped. We had her in the backyard for a few hours while my nephew was over yesterday, but when I peeked out there I saw her shaking and I don't know if its because of the weather which was cold (50° F) with a strong wind or because she was just feeling lonely. We tried to find her a dog house, but the local Petco didn't have anything other than vented carriers and they were too expensive considering it wasn't what we needed anyhow.

Today, because its cold again - we opted to put her in the bathroom with a baby gate between her and the door so that she's not as confined but she's out of the cold, and she can't get near the door where the carpet meets the wood. Tonight we're going to another pet store or maybe even Wal-Mart to get her a house. I went home on my lunch to let her out of the bathroom a bit, I just hope I didn't make her apparent separation anxiety worse by coming and going so quickly again.

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I'd imagine it's going to take her a little while to get used to new surroundings. I bet she'll adjust given some time.

I know my parents dog (another smaller dog) is very attached to people and she gets very anxious when my mom isn't around. Being in an unfamiliar place probably isn't helping either. She should come around.

Pets can get really freaked out by change and will often revert to old bad behaviors. Like Jason said, it's just going to take her time to adjust. You might want to read up on doggy separation anxiety if you're worried about her.

Dog Training 101: for any reason other than health, if your dog "loses" his (her in R's case) potty training, you must begin as if you've never taught him/ her.

PITA but hopefully, it'll do the trick and really hopefully, she'll take to it quicker. Good luck!

Its funny that you mention this, because that's what I was doing while I was writing this post. I'm pretty sure she doesn't have severe separation anxiety - but it would explain a lot of her characteristics while we're gone.

We're going to try some of the techniques I read about, like making a "safe word" or action so the dog knows you're coming back and also desensitizing her to our departure.

I think the move also is just more of a factor than I thought, I'm trying to have a lot of patience and just go with the flow :)

You might have already read this about the desensitizing thing but it can help if you don't pay any attention to her before you leave or right when you get home (don't make a big deal out of it). Just act like you would if you were going into a different room. If you make a big deal out of coming and going then she'll learn to make a big deal out of it. It can also help to distract her before you leave....say 5 minutes prior give her a stuffed kong that'll keep her busy for awhile so she'll be busy with that that she won't notice or care that you've just walked out the door. If you have the time and patience you can take a day to repeatedly "leave" and "come home" just to get her used to it. She's in a new place...while you understand that it's your new home, all she knows is that this isn't her old home (that's why they'll potty inside....she doesn't recognize this new place as her "den" so it's not offlimits). It'll take awhile for her to adjust and settle in.

Good luck!

Yeah, I read all of that and I'm going to give it a real shot. I need to desensitize her to being outside. I think she sees it almost as a punishment right now and I want her to see it as a joyous thing! A lot of in and outs are in the future :)

Ripple of Woes

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