Im sure yall are sick of me posting my problems with Jessie. But my husband is expecting her to be gone when he gets home from work. This is my last hope..... ***Long post***Let me just start at the beginning. We adopted her 6 months ago. She was about 8 months. We spayed her right away. We didnt know anything about heelers, and thanks to the internet and this group we were able to learn that a lot of her mischievous behaviors were common for her breed. As time went on, and my oldest son went back to school and she was no longer spending her entire day being dragged around on a leash by all the neighborhood kids, she began to get bored. Then mopey. So last month we adopted a corgi/terrier puppy. The first few minutes was almost tragic, but after my husband asserted dominance, she warmed right to the puppy and they have been inseparable every since. They are inside dogs and when the weather is warm I try to leave them outside as much as possible. The puppy however can fit through the cat door and come back inside. Jessie gets bored being alone out there and last week started jumping the 6 ft privacy fence. We have had problems in the past with her running away and she doesnt come when we call. (She does inside the house or backyard, but in the front when she has the chance to run away she does.) Weve even started giving her treats when she comes home on her own so she knows its okay. The last few weeks we had huge progress and at night we could let both dogs out to the side yard/driveway at night to go potty and within a few minutes they would be waiting at the door to come back in. We gave her lots of praise and we thought that finally she was starting to catch on. I should also mention that we have two cats that before we got the new puppy she would follow around. But never tried to hurt them. Just what appeared to be typical heeler behavior. She did nip at ones hind legs one, but when he clawed her across the nose, she never attempted it again. But at night, she could never relax because she felt the need to have her eyes on them. Once the puppy came along, she was so relaxed and no longer cared about the cats. So again...we felt like it was huge progress for her. Then Thursday she jumped the fence and cornered an elderly neighbor lady. She was across the driveway from her and had a very aggressive stance and bark. Ive never seen that before. Yesterday a neighborhood cat walked down the sidewalk and she tried to jump through the front window and was barking like crazy. Shes not a baker, she doesnt even bark if people knock on the door...so that was very unusual behavior. Last night she attacked one of our cats, and when I heard, I ran toward them screaming, the cat was able to get away, and Jessie bolted after her. Our human baby is the same age as Jessie and since the time we brought Jessie home, she has always been very loving to Avery. Avery feeds her from her hands, and pulls food out of her bowl always without any issues. She lays on her, pokes her eyes, pulls her ears, typically behavior for a one year old baby (yes I teach her to be nice). Jessie has never so much as battled an eyelash. Normally she would roll to her back, or lick Avery in the face. Always very mellow and gentle. We have always felt so blessed to have such a loving dog. But the last week or so, if Avery even gets near her, she growls and almost snaps. Its very concerning. Then lastly, the puppy that she loves so much, ate a cookbook yesterday (bottom shelf of the pantry, dogs eat in the pantry. Oops). Anyway, I grabbed the puppy to put her nose to the book and tell her no and she wailed ...very loudly. Jessie came running and tried to attack her. So between the neighbor, the puppy, the cats, and my baby Im afraid that she is turning into an aggressive dog. Or she is just so bored here she is acting out. I dont want to wait until something tragic happens. Our neighborhood is full of children and elderly. (she once escaped and jumped on an old man walking and almost knocked him down... but that appeared more playful that vengeful). Ive been talking to a friend thats dog attacked their son a few years ago, almost killing him. I asked if there were warning signs like this and she said yes, but that they didnt know they were signs until after the fact. But she also said that this behavior seemed normal when adding a new dog and that it takes time for them to adjust. If that was the case though, why would she be so happy and then 5 weeks later turn mean? Anyone have any similar experiences? We dont abuse her or hit her. She gets plenty of water, food, toys and exercise.
Posted on: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 17:01:47 +0000
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