Rita is truly on my last nerve. A couple of nights ago, I told Vince . . I just don’t know if we can keep her! I guess the I should have said “Why on earth would we keep her?” I’m way more patient with animals than I am with humans but she really has pushed her limits. No matter how much I love an animal, my home is my home and I’m not going to have a dog peeing on the floor when she had every opportunity to go outside. I’m not putting down puppy pads and I’m not dealing with doggy diapers. I’m just not!
Pantry Door
The final straw was this pantry door. My main pantry has a regular door with a door knob that latches and I can close it securely. It’s only when it isn’t closed tightly that she can get in there but this is part of the new cabinets and it just pushes shut . . no latch. Yes, I could get a kid safety latch but I would probably have to get them on all our bottom cabinets now that she’s learned to open them.
The first day, she got into the cabinet, I figured we had not shut it but I didn’t see how since it kinda closes by itself if you push it a bit. The bottom shelf, which is a pull out drawer, holds cereal and you know Vince . . 10 kinds of cereal. The next to the bottom shelf, which also pulls out . . heck, I just looked and they all pull out .. holds various crackers for eating with snacks . . like brie or fruit and cheese.
The first time she pulled out all the cereal and she and Speck got into it and ate some and since we weren’t sure which boxes they’d actually had their snoots in, we dumped it all.
Then I made double sure the door was always closed and she did it again. Got into the cereal but also into the crackers.
Then . . I saw her . . she just sticks her little pug nose under the bottom of the door and easily opens it.
Crate
Now, from this day forward, if I’m not in the house with her, she’s in the crate. She seems to be handling it ok. Maybe she knows the alternatives are not good. If I go work in the garden, or go to the sewing room, or we leave home . . she goes into the crate.
What’s funny is Speck loves his crate. He had to stay in the sewing room while Chad and Nicole were here and I never brought his crate back. He’s so trustworthy . . unless Rita tempts him to do something bad . . so I’ve never minded leaving him loose in the house but yesterday I figured I’d bring his crate back, wash all his bedding, Clorox one of the crates that I had used to bring home the feral cats, who by the way I haven’t seen since turning them loose a week ago, and set that up the crate for Rita.
Speck was so excited when I brought his crate back into the house and if he’s not sitting in the chair with me, he’s in his crate. If I take a shower or close them out of the kitchen (he likes to lick the dishes in the dishwasher when I’m trying to put dirty dishes in and I don’t like that!), or we’re at the table eating, Speck goes and gets in his crate.
When I went to put the bedding in Rita’s crate, Speck was so happy. He thought he had two crates and he wanted to get in that one too but I kept him out and put Rita in. I hope some day she learns to like the crate and better yet, I hope some day she becomes a trustworthy dog, but I’m not holding out much hope for that since she seems to be getting worse instead of better.
swooze says
How aggravating. She will learn to love it. Of course I am sure you will be finding treasures in there one day. Good luck with her training.
PattiLynn says
I’m sorry she’s been such a pill for you. Does she bark and want out, or just sit there? Sure hope she’s quiet.
I’ve heard the crate is supposed to make them feel more secure, and they come to love it. Hopefully, Rita is not the exception!
Erin says
Great job Judy! She will adapt to the crate. Hey it’s better than what u were going through too! I keep a crate open for my ragdoll cat! He goes in and sleeps or hangs out.. They eventually love it. Give her time.. And you are a good puppy mom! Speck is awesome still love seeing his pics too!
Too bad you haven’t seen the cats you brought home! I hope they aren’t long gone!
Jeannie R says
We trained our dog to love her crate by giving her a special treat she got only when she went in. It was a Kong dog toy that we smeared peanut butter in, then shoved a big Milk Bone in the end and put it in the freezer until needed. She loved fiddling that peanut butter out and would have it slicked clean when we came home. It only took a couple times before she figured out the Kong meant the crate and vice versa and would race to it and dive in.
Joyce says
Maybe she will get used to the crate now that she sees it’s not a preface to something bad, and you don’t leave her in there all the time. Maybe a treat in the crate would help?
Glen in Louisiana says
Yeah, we had to make a lot of changes Sind McGee the Bad Basset BOY moved in. We have new garbage cans, closed top recycle bin for the plastic bags, baby locks on all lower cabinets, rubber bands on the pantry doors, baby gates on the bathrooms, toilet paper holders raised above basset level………I could go on.
The Swissys were such good dogs!
Kim says
What a little stinker! Some dogs always seem to find trouble just like some people always do and need a bit of time in jail.
danielle says
if the peeing in the house were a new thing, I would suggest having her checked for a UTI. But her size dog is the size that is supposed to be able to get into things……and she is doing a good job! LOL
Hopefully you have come up with the solution – otherwise she goes to work with Vince!
AnnieO says
I’ve heard Chihuahuas are notoriously difficult to train as they believe they’re the ones running things :). Looks like your fix might work with the crate. She’s lucky not to be out the door with the feral kittens!
Diane in CA says
I’m thinking just the opposite.. maybe she wants to be an outside dog and is bored to death inside.. We know she has good survival skills. She could come in at night for dinner and bed.
wanda jordan says
Maybe she needs a tranqualizer(sp) sorry. Or like someone said she really likes being outside dog. Might have to let her be outside till night and brig her in and crate her then. Just an idea. I know you are tired of all her trials.
Rebecca in SoCal says
I sure hope she comes to accept the crate, as you certainly could not/should not tolerate her behavior anymore!
That photo does look like she’s in “doggy jail,” though! 🙂
Pat Hathaway says
I’m so sorry this little dog is giving you fits. I know how you feel. We adopted a 4 year old Boston Terrier a few years back. she had been a breeder for a lady that sold Bostons and had not received much loving attention. She doesn’t like to cuddle very much either, especially with me. I’m a retired nurse so I’m the one who has to “fix” any health problems anyone in the family has.
We named her Izzy and she had a problem with her ears itching. She would dig at them night and day. I tried to get them clean, took her to the vet, put in powders, ointments, and drops–all to no avail. But she learned to hate the sight of me because she knew I was going to do something to her ears.
About two months ago she was itching her ear so bad she caused damage between the inner and out layer of her ear, the part that stands up (pina). The vet said she had a blood clot between the layers and it would cost $500 for surgery to fix it. But first we had to clear up the stuff that made her ear itch which was a yeast infection. (!!!) I had been treating for mites all this time and that wasn’t even the the problem. No wonder it hadn’t gotten better. It was caused by allergies to her food and she needed a diet that had no beef, chicken, turkey, or grain. Preferably venison or salmon. So we make her food now with salmon, rice, and vegetables and a little bit of special diet kibble. She still itches a little but is much better after the diet change and the right medicine for 2 weeks.
Then we had to decide if we wanted her to have a scarred ear that wouldn’t stand up any more or spend $500 so she would have a pretty ear. That choice was a hard one. I loved how cute she is with her ears up and the vet was almost sure the procedure would fix it. But for a dog that heads the other way when she sees me? Hubs and I talked about it for the two weeks it took to clear up the infection and finally decided to go with it. Now you wouldn’t be able to tell anything was ever wrong. She still won’t come to me and hides behind the chairs in the living room if I call her. She loves everyone else in the family–just not me.
I haven’t read other comments so I don’t know if anyone else had suggested just letting Rita live outside. Obviously she can take care of herself in the wild. If you gave her a safe place you could close up at night somewhere in the shed maybe, she might like it. As long as you feed her she should stay around the place if a snake or hawk doesn’t get her.
I don’t know if an adult dog that isn’t house broken can learn to not go in the house or not. I didn’t have any luck trying to get Izzy not to dig in her ears. Dogs that I have raised from puppies will stop itching when I tell them too. They will stop licking too. And they never get upset if I have to give them medicine or treat a wound. Because I start training them when they are puppies to let me handle them, bath them, brush their teeth, etc. In fact they come to me when they are hurt or have a tummy ache. After about three years Izzy still doesn’t trust me.
We also have a semi-feral cat we took in as an older kitten. It has taken about 3 years for her to learn to let us pet her, but only two or three strokes and she’s done. She won’t cuddle either. She stays outside most of the day and comes in at night. Everyone in our neighborhood knows her and say she is a sweet kitty. She is so cute sitting on our porch guarding the yard. Sometimes, when my husband walks the dogs she will go with. LOL She will stay in the same room with us and sleep on a chair but that is as close as she will get.
Hope you and Rita can work out a comfortable relationship that works for both of you. Good luck.