KING OLLIE HOUSE of BULLDOG
Well-known member
We are retired. We have been with Ollie 24/7 since the day he came to live with us. He is very seldom alone. As a matter of fact, almost never. He sleeps in the bed with us. He pretty much has to be in skin to skin contact with one of us, mostly me. If I sit on the sofa, he has to sit next to me touching me or in back of me up against me, touching me when heās sleeping. In bed, he has to be touching my husband. He will often push his heavy head into us as hard as he can and just sit there like that like that breathing on us.
If we are not here, my daughter and son in law who live with us are here. I have come to realize that the only times Ollie chews are the times when he thinks heās alone, ie when we go outside and close him in the house by mistake, when we are in the pool (heās petrified of the pool) Etc.
Now that heās 8 months old we have tried leaving him alone when we are gone for just a little bit of time (30 minutes or less) rather than crating him. Itās not working. Last week he unboxed a set of dvds, ate the box, but evidently didnāt have enough time to chew up the plastic box that contained the set of dvds. Yesterday we left for exactly 23 minutes. He ate my cookbook and as I didnāt discover until just now, a tote bag that was in a living room chair.
I know what the simple answer here is...heās not ready to be uncreated when alone. I get that. But, on April 15th we are leaving to go out of the country for six weeks. My daughter and SIL will be here with him. They will sleep in our room with Ollie. There are also 2 other dogs here at all times so Ollie is never truly alone. Those dogs will sleep with them too so it will be 3 dog night in the master bedroom. SIL works full time, daughter works part time. There will be times that Ollie has to be crated. The bigger issue here, to me at least, is that Ollie seems like the only child of older parents who maybe isnāt maturing as he should. Maybe heās too people oriented. He does have playtime with 4 month old bully Bigly, when Ollie gets to be the ābig boyā but for all other intents and purposes, heās the baby here. I worry how he will be when weāre gone all that time. Iāve never believed that you spoil a child/dog by loving them too much, but rather by not helping/teaching them to grow and mature to independence. I donāt know how to help Ollie to do this. Heās more like a perpetual toddler. Thoughts?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
If we are not here, my daughter and son in law who live with us are here. I have come to realize that the only times Ollie chews are the times when he thinks heās alone, ie when we go outside and close him in the house by mistake, when we are in the pool (heās petrified of the pool) Etc.
Now that heās 8 months old we have tried leaving him alone when we are gone for just a little bit of time (30 minutes or less) rather than crating him. Itās not working. Last week he unboxed a set of dvds, ate the box, but evidently didnāt have enough time to chew up the plastic box that contained the set of dvds. Yesterday we left for exactly 23 minutes. He ate my cookbook and as I didnāt discover until just now, a tote bag that was in a living room chair.
I know what the simple answer here is...heās not ready to be uncreated when alone. I get that. But, on April 15th we are leaving to go out of the country for six weeks. My daughter and SIL will be here with him. They will sleep in our room with Ollie. There are also 2 other dogs here at all times so Ollie is never truly alone. Those dogs will sleep with them too so it will be 3 dog night in the master bedroom. SIL works full time, daughter works part time. There will be times that Ollie has to be crated. The bigger issue here, to me at least, is that Ollie seems like the only child of older parents who maybe isnāt maturing as he should. Maybe heās too people oriented. He does have playtime with 4 month old bully Bigly, when Ollie gets to be the ābig boyā but for all other intents and purposes, heās the baby here. I worry how he will be when weāre gone all that time. Iāve never believed that you spoil a child/dog by loving them too much, but rather by not helping/teaching them to grow and mature to independence. I donāt know how to help Ollie to do this. Heās more like a perpetual toddler. Thoughts?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
so i hope you are not like me with that! So, im wondering if you have a hallway that you can fence off? My house is fairly small but i have a nice hallway that i can either close off with doors, or gates. I have a gate on my bedroom, one into the front room, and one into the kitchen each that can close off to make a real nice special room for the boy when needed. Just to get him used to it, i would occasionally put him in there, sit in my recliner where at first he 'could' see me, then eventually turn it around so he couldnt. This dog of mine is a great adapter and even though i was with him strait for his first 6 months of joining me, he seemed to be real comfortable with doing things this way. Best to start asap to make it more comfortable for all 
