Posted by zazenduck on April 4, 2006, at 8:37:40
In reply to My Dog is Driving Me Crazy! Please Help!!!!, posted by Outsider on April 3, 2006, at 23:04:08
> I love my dog. He is an eight year old Tibetan Spaniel. My problem is that I am an introvert and I like to stay home alot but my dog wants my CONSTANT attention. He makes me feel bad by acting depressed all of the time when I am trying to just live in my own house.
++Remember that he's not trying to make you feel bad he's a dog and dog are pack animals he needs you to be ok for him to feel ok. Try to remember what you did with him the first 8 years to make him happy. Do you walk him every day? Try taking him on a different route to give him new experiences and fight boredom. Try setting a timer even for 10 minutes and have a play session with him. He's a little dog. 10 minutes of ball chasing and playing can use up a lot of energy.
> He even demands my attention by growling at me when I am watching TV or on the computer, he brings me his toys and stuff like that. I am already depressed and at the end off my rope and although this dillema may seem trivial, it is about to send me over the edge.+++I can understand being depressed enough that this could be the last straw! Throw his toys for him a few times and then shut him in the bathroom or somewhere if you need to be alone for awhile. You might try getting him some new chewy sticks for times like that...they will keep him busy for awhile.My dog growls when he wants to play. Its a dog thing..if he's wagging his tail and has his rear end up in the air he's just trying to start a game. Don't take it personally. If he's trying to threaten you it's more of a snarl and his teeth would be showing and usually he would be trying to protect something...not get your attention. My dog will chase bubbles when I blow them with a little kids bubble wand. I think I'd just remove him from the area if you just can't play with him. But the best thing is to try and give him some short sessions of really intensive attention.
> Am I being a bad dog owner? Am I making my dog miserable, are you supposed to play with them a certain amount of times each day? I love him but my plate is full and I need to be able to just be depressed and sort things out in my head without a dog constantly looming over me.
+++No your not a bad dog owner just a depressed one :) He loves you and he's not trying to make you feel guilty or bad! I get the massive guilts about neglecting my dog when I feel bad. As a last resort could you find a dog loving kid or dogwalker or someone who could come over and take him out and tire him out playing everyday?
poster:zazenduck
thread:628538
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20060331/msgs/628592.html