posted September 26, 2012 10:33 PM            

He submit very easily off the bat so he's been easy to train.. But when he'd get near the trash for instance, i had to remember my reading and not be harsh on him so i've needed to exercise a lot of that neptunian thing with him but, it kinda comes at the expense of being my Mars in Aries self.

So, while i'm out in the world, i have to be Mars in Aries but then when i return back to him, i have to be that Neptune for him.. It's not always an easy switch..

He likes a lot of affection and i give it when he does something good to build his self esteem but he needs so much of it.. For instance, he found the joys of having his belly rubbed and now, he wants it all the time.

If i cross my leg and sit on a chair, he'll come right up and set his crotch right on my foot and he'll stay there til i i rub.. I yelled at him yesterday because he's been soo bossy and hyper and he kept doing that foot thing, no matter what i was doing and now he pees when i go pet him...

I find the same dynamics play themselves out in relationships... I have to use that Mars in Aries in business and out in the concrete jungle but then when it comes to relationships that Mars in Aries can make be a bit too independent to where i come off as insensitive or just "not giving a f*ck"..

I think that it leaves both my dog and my boyfriends wondering "WTF!?" whenever it happens.

posted September 26, 2012 10:42 PM            

He just jumped on my fcking face. It F*CKING HURT!!!!

I'm really getting annoyed. He's been acting like this for the last 3 days which is very unlike him....

This example works for the mars and neptune thing.. That's exactly how it works.

Just like that...

I'm being all nice and considerate and then he does something stupid like this while i'm typing about him which just p*sses me off.

posted October 13, 2012 09:44 PM            

Yes, the dog has been and IS being trained. I've been training him since i first got him otherwise, i'd be a maniac to take a stray dog in and expect him to be all petals and roses around people, me or kids.. No one in their right mind would be so ignorant and put so much in danger without taking responsibility and showing him how to behave.

He's housebroken, trained but has no idea how to behave when i'm gone and as i said in the other thread, while i'm literally being worked 14hrs a day and spend another one driving home and ANOTHER hr preparing for the next day and showering to be working BY 5 am and doing it all over again; i don't even too much have time to make dinner for myself let alone spend time with the dog as i did when i got him and devote the time that i was able to.

He was a stray and someone called the pound to pick him up.. He would've been put to sleep. I showered him, cleaned his ears, fed him and took him to the no-kill shelter the next day. They wouldn't take him... I had a work event right after that i couldn't miss and i ended up having to take him with me.

He's been with me ever since.

He's become bossy. I was giving him too much artention and too much affection. I started reading on dog training; he had the idea he was alpha and so, tried bossing me around to where i could not sit anywhere without him coming to me to disrupt whatever i was doing with a nudge of his nose to get what he wanted.

I had originally kept him to train him and try the no-kill shelter again. The first time, they wouldn't take him because he showed teeth and snapped at the vet when he came to look at him. I trained him out of that.

Along the way, we bonded and i considered keeping him but just in a few days, he's chewed through the sofa, broken an entire wall mirror (knocked it off the screws which held it on the wall and broke it) and has chewed through one of the doors and has scratched at the frame of the others to the raw wood..... It's too much!

I can barely sleep sometimes, let alone deal with this and no matter how patient i've been, he doesn't stop and now, i'm concerned about taking him back to the no-kill after having worked with him for so long as i don't know exactly how it'd work out for him or how he'd take it or directions from somebody else.

posted October 14, 2012 11:10 AM            

I'm really putting elbow grease in to put forth the effort.
It's just sometimes too much!

It kinda feels sucky, this whole thing. I've so many pets all my life while growing up and always had to let em go when i moved and now when i actually have a choice, i'm allergic.. I've never been allergic before but it developed over the years.

posted October 14, 2012 08:21 PM            

you have mentioned training, but the 'walk' is critical for bonding, and pack leadership (respect)if the dog isn't getting a minimum amount of exercise/stimulation (usually 20 mins, twice a day min), then no amount of training will help...all work and no play...

if i don't give my dog this minimum amount of stimulation in the morning (her favourite is frisbee or ball at the park), come the evening walk, she will be giving me the run around.
and left to build up over any length of time, she'd be a total nightmare.

the dog sounds like it is suffering separation anxiety as well as probable symptoms stemming from an unknown history of abuse/neglect. that is never gonna be easy as the dog could have any amount of ingrained behavioural problems. i do not envy you at all.
the SA will require specific techniques but
what will soothe the dog the most is basic routine - exercise first, then affection. it will build trust and respect the more you show him you are a reliable pack leader. not always easy, with full time commitments, i know.

posted October 15, 2012 12:40 PM            

Apart from the fact that i cannot devote time to this, his training is suffering because of it and he's showing behavior that is no good.

He gets unruly because it gets him attention and also because since i can't assert myself since i'm not around all the time- he believes he's alpha again.

He growled today and snapped when i pet him after feeding him and this is no good. Not for me and not for him. If he snaps or bites someone, he'll be put to sleep regardless and since i cannot do this every single day on a regular basis because my schedule is so erratic; it doesn't work well for him.

I can't and more than likely won't be around all the time while i'm home and having him act like this?-- who an dog sit or walk him while i'm gone if this is happening?

I'm waiting a few hours before i take him to the no-kill shelter again to see what happens and if that is no good, then i'm simply gonna take him to the humane society.

He'll be put to sleep there, probably.

posted October 15, 2012 12:43 PM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by anno_lucis:
i can only offer non astrological advice here...first of all - you did a kind thing, by taking him in in the first place, and also by not giving up on him by now, despite how infuriated and frustrated you must feel.

you have mentioned training, but the 'walk' is critical for bonding, and pack leadership (respect)if the dog isn't getting a minimum amount of exercise/stimulation (usually 20 mins, twice a day min), then no amount of training will help...all work and no play...

if i don't give my dog this minimum amount of stimulation in the morning (her favourite is frisbee or ball at the park), come the evening walk, she will be giving me the run around.
and left to build up over any length of time, she'd be a total nightmare.

the dog sounds like it is suffering separation anxiety as well as probable symptoms stemming from an unknown history of abuse/neglect. that is never gonna be easy as the dog could have any amount of ingrained behavioural problems. i do not envy you at all.
the SA will require specific techniques but
what will soothe the dog the most is basic routine - exercise first, then affection. it will build trust and respect the more you show him you are a reliable pack leader. not always easy, with full time commitments, i know.

best of luck with him.

---

Thanks.

And yup... A fill-time commitment, indeed.

Since i can't do it, i decided that it's best to get rid of the dog.

It's as i it were a dysfunctional relationship. I think i can fix him and i try and try and try and even if there are improvements on both of our ends (because this is even something i've had to become familiar with), it's not working.

I don't trust him. Usually if that ever happened in ANY situation, i don't care for the reason-- i'm out.

I'm trying to find a way now to make sense of it all without feeling that "i wasn't good enough" or that "i didn't try hard enough". It's easier said than done.

I've had experience with dynamics in a relationship before that would mirror the me needing to let go of and even though i knew it, it took a while for it to sink in and for me to make peace with it.

posted October 16, 2012 12:16 AM            

I meant to reply to this the other day to say, that I think it's a typical case of a dog needing to be exercised more. He sounds high energy and needs a high energy human to help him burn off some steam.

Believe me, it works wonders. Since Ive been regularly walking my own dog, she's changed for the better and sleeps soundly and loves me more. If you can take your dog out for a nice long walk (or jog) daily, I bet you'd find had a "new dog".

I know of people who've had dogs that tore up their homes because they werent able to give them enough attention or daily physical activity. And when they did so, the dog changed and became a 'normal dog'. & stopped tearing up the furniture etc.

Nice that you helped him out in the beginning and are following through and being honest with yourself that he needs a new home and found a no-kill shelter for him.

side note for animal lovers -

this is a great book and has helped me tremendously with my own little "problem dog" :

(not really "problem" but she has some behavioral issues we are working thru)

Learning Their Language: Intuitive Communication with Animals and Nature

posted October 16, 2012 12:19 AM            

quote:

---

Since i can't do it, i decided that it's best to get rid of the dog.

It's as i it were a dysfunctional relationship. I think i can fix him and i try and try and try and even if there are improvements on both of our ends (because this is even something i've had to become familiar with), it's not working.

---

posted October 16, 2012 12:39 AM            

"I rehabilitate dogs and I train people."

The more I've learnred, the more I realize how true that statement is. It's usually the owner that needs the training and changing. Not the dog. On his shows, he's usually training the person, moreso than the dog.

Our animals mirror what's going on inside of us more than we know. & can teach us a lot about what's going on inside of us....they are so sensitive. More than we give them credit for.

I don't agree with all of his methods, but most of them.

k. sorry. Dog lover here.

posted October 16, 2012 07:43 PM            

He's doing the foot thing again and now, he's super macho about it... He bites at my foot when he wants to play and if i shake him away or tell him NO, then he's like: "oh, ok, don't mind if stand HERE then" *cue him placing his crotch on my foot* and he'll stay there. he won't move.. It's as if he says, "ok, you're busy and can't play but you ALWAYS have time to play with my balls.. Come on, just move your foot a little bit it's not like you haven't done it before"... Ugh.

If i don't rub, he goes to bite the foot again.. And so it repeats.

He's such a man. : /

Or a bully..

posted October 16, 2012 07:49 PM            

He's an interesting little guy. I have seen changes in him when he's gotten to run around at the dog park. I jist can't take him everyday so, i'm at a loss, kinda.

We'll enjoy each other til he goes away.

posted October 16, 2012 08:01 PM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by C1ND3R:
This dog... If he is anything like me, then, boy..

He's doing the foot thing again and now, he's super macho about it... He bites at my foot when he wants to play and if i shake him away or tell him NO, then he's like: "oh, ok, don't mind if stand HERE then" *cue him placing his crotch on my foot* and he'll stay there. he won't move.. It's as if he says, "ok, you're busy and can't play but you ALWAYS have time to play with my balls.. Come on, just move your foot a little bit it's not like you haven't done it before"... Ugh.

If i don't rub, he goes to bite the foot again.. And so it repeats.

He's such a man. : /

Or a bully..

I don't know why i always have to find out things about my love life through animals. I wonder if it's my node along the Virgo/Pisces 5th/11th axis.

---

JUST TO BE CLEAR:

I'm not saying i have sex with my dog or that i'd be into beastiality or anything, but it's just that i had a cat before and i was allergic to him, too... He was also a stray and meowed CONSTANTLY!!! Took a while but i realized that he was an exact replica of how i acted in the relationship i was in before i found him.

The dog, is a bit different. He doesn't meow or bark. It's not bad all the time. We have a lot of fun but it's just those moments that call my attention that tell me that perhaps i should think things through for both him and me. He's a cutie pie, too... Dogs resemble theor owners and this little guy has people telling me that he looks like me. I also bought him a bag of pedigree and there's a dog pic on there that looks like him and it says ANGEL underneath it...

I hope he knows i did right by him.. I bathe him, feed him, dewormed him, trained him, got him all his shots, i got him chipped, as well... My MC is being neglected somewhat and taling care of him is a full time responsibility. I try to do my best at least part time but sometimes, i do feel guilty for not being able to do it all the time and that's no good.. I'm sure he wouldn't want me to feel guilty, either. He reminds me about it by clawing at all the doors and tearing down mirrors, sure.... that's also no fun.

posted October 16, 2012 08:27 PM            

I agree with T that you will see a different dog once regular exercise is introduced. And it doesn't cost too much if he is out with a bunch of dogs at the same time. He also learns to behave because he will be in a pack.