Taylor
New member
I've been reading old threads on this forum and I've gotten a TON of information, but I still have two current "issues" I'm trying to solve with Charlotte.
Firstly, for those who don't know, I adopted her about 2 months ago. Charlotte is approximately 4 years old and I have no information about her history. She was at the Humane Society after being found on the street.
So I bought Charlotte a lovely dog bed, the sherpa/sheepskin kind. She doesn't use it. Ever. She doesn't chew it, or look at it, or spend any time near or on it. She often sleeps on the couch, which we allow, and she will lay on various spots on the floor. She doesn't really seem to have a "place" on the floor that she prefers, otherwise I'd move the bed there.
We also have issues with her being in our room. She can't handle being in our bedroom without being on the bed. She isn't allowed on the bed, so she paces around the floor and is quite restless. I tried putting the bed next to our bed to encourage her to sleep in our bedroom, but she ignores it and paces around and tries to get on the bed.
When we shut the door to our bedroom she sleeps just fine in the living room, but not on the bed. I've tried moving the bed around the living room but she has no interest in it anywhere. I know this isn't a huge problem, but it would be nice for her to have her own bed so when we have company or she can't be on the couch, I'd like her to know she has a safe place to lay down. Any suggestions?
My next question is about how your bullies interact with other dogs and her behavior. Everyday we take a long walk through our neighborhood park. Charlotte often meets other dogs. Her reaction is now predictable, but I cannot read her behavior. When Charlotte sees another dog, her ears go up/forward in an excited manner. She tries to pull to get to the dog. At this point I can get her to stop pulling, focus on me, and walk past the other dog with no problems, which is what I prefer to do, because I am unsure if we should allow her to greet other dogs. We have NO history on Charlotte and if she was properly socialized as a puppy.
If we do decide to greet the dog, I get concerned about her behavior. She firsts sniffs the dogs face/nose head on, which I've heard is aggressive posturing. Then she will go to the normal "private area" sniffing, and then she will bark once or give a quick snap of her jaw. At this point if I pull at her or tell her no, she will quickly sit down and look to me for direction. I've tried talking to her in a calm voice to tell her it's a safe situation, but then she will start barking at the other dog from her seated position. Is this something we should work through, or is she just not a dog's dog? I know the socialization period is really important and if she missed out on that, she may never want to play with other dogs, and that's okay too.
Firstly, for those who don't know, I adopted her about 2 months ago. Charlotte is approximately 4 years old and I have no information about her history. She was at the Humane Society after being found on the street.
So I bought Charlotte a lovely dog bed, the sherpa/sheepskin kind. She doesn't use it. Ever. She doesn't chew it, or look at it, or spend any time near or on it. She often sleeps on the couch, which we allow, and she will lay on various spots on the floor. She doesn't really seem to have a "place" on the floor that she prefers, otherwise I'd move the bed there.
We also have issues with her being in our room. She can't handle being in our bedroom without being on the bed. She isn't allowed on the bed, so she paces around the floor and is quite restless. I tried putting the bed next to our bed to encourage her to sleep in our bedroom, but she ignores it and paces around and tries to get on the bed.
When we shut the door to our bedroom she sleeps just fine in the living room, but not on the bed. I've tried moving the bed around the living room but she has no interest in it anywhere. I know this isn't a huge problem, but it would be nice for her to have her own bed so when we have company or she can't be on the couch, I'd like her to know she has a safe place to lay down. Any suggestions?
My next question is about how your bullies interact with other dogs and her behavior. Everyday we take a long walk through our neighborhood park. Charlotte often meets other dogs. Her reaction is now predictable, but I cannot read her behavior. When Charlotte sees another dog, her ears go up/forward in an excited manner. She tries to pull to get to the dog. At this point I can get her to stop pulling, focus on me, and walk past the other dog with no problems, which is what I prefer to do, because I am unsure if we should allow her to greet other dogs. We have NO history on Charlotte and if she was properly socialized as a puppy.
If we do decide to greet the dog, I get concerned about her behavior. She firsts sniffs the dogs face/nose head on, which I've heard is aggressive posturing. Then she will go to the normal "private area" sniffing, and then she will bark once or give a quick snap of her jaw. At this point if I pull at her or tell her no, she will quickly sit down and look to me for direction. I've tried talking to her in a calm voice to tell her it's a safe situation, but then she will start barking at the other dog from her seated position. Is this something we should work through, or is she just not a dog's dog? I know the socialization period is really important and if she missed out on that, she may never want to play with other dogs, and that's okay too.