[nagdu] Indoor Behavior - So Confused

Shannon Wells oldtimechristian at gmail.com
Sun Sep 9 12:24:18 UTC 2012


Ava,
Yes, I'd say it would be pretty normal for a pet to stick his head in a bag of chips and munch away. After all, the humans dig in to it all the time. Once, my first guide stuck his head in to my friend's glass of Dr. Pepper and had himself a drink. hahahaha!

Families are difficult to deal with, sometimes. I would say, since you asked for help, maybe keeping Coco on leash all the time for a couple of weeks is a good idea. If others do not like it, so what. Be firm and tell them since Coco is your dog, you feel it is necessary.

My parents and grandparents used to feed my first guide when I didn't know about it. Once, my grandpa even fed George a white cupcake while he was working. George took it, ate it and kept on walking. I never new until much later. No matter how much I insisted they shouldn't feed my dog, they did it anyway. My grandma even cried and said, "But, you don't know how sad he looks at me!"

Would leash corrections work when the begging starts? Maybe even a firm "no" would help. I have only had one dog which I did not train myself, so I'm afraid I don't know what else to tell you, but I do know where you are coming from when it comes to families and their interference.

Hope this helps.
Shannon Wells
On Sep 9, 2012, at 4:31 AM, avapup.7 at gmail.com wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> This is Ava with Cocoa, my 8 year old owner-trained guide dog. Cocoa's work outside the house is beautiful, and she absolutely has the best time working. 
> 
> But a new problem has come up, one that I haven't dealt with since she was about a year old, and I just don't know what to do.
> 
> Cocoa has seemingly forgotten most of her indoor manners! 
> 
> Tonight was more or less the last straw with my parents ( I live with them ). Cocoa found a bag of opened chips on the ground, where my visiting sister's boyfriend has set them, and just shoved her giant Lab head into the bag and began eating. Needless to say, no one was pleased and I was blamed. And blamed. And blamed. 
> 
> Cocoa also barks outside, no more than other dogs, but my mother says she can't be doing that anymore. She said I must get one of those anti-bark citronella collars.
> 
> Cocoa gets very excited, and will jump in circles at the prospect of being fed or going on a walk, sometimes making the rug over our wooden floor crooked she bounces so hard. She will steal things off dressers and shelves.
> 
> She also begs for food, I've never allowed it but my father has always allowed it, to the point where he will toss leftover food down to her. Luckily I have kept her weight at an ideal 68-70 lbs. She doesn't beg from me, but does from the rest of my family -- and I get blamed.
> 
> My father had surgery a month ago and Cocoa was so anxious -- he is not a good patient -- my mother has me call the vet and had Cocoa put on Xanax for two weeks. It did help, as I think she was picking up on the general high level of anxiety and tension in the house.
> 
> Cocoa is also whining a LOT ever since my father's surgery. My mother at one point wanted me to put a muzzle on her to make her be quiet. I absolutely refused. As long as Cocoa is with me, she is generally quiet. But she's picked up the habit of whining incessantly in the car as well. 
> 
> The thing is, I'm being accused of being a bad dog handler by my entire family. They wont listen when I explain how she behaves around me versus how she behaves around them. No, my mother is convinced SHE is the only one doing a good job with making Cocoa behave, and that I'm never consistent with Cocoa.
> 
> I'm very confused. I don't know what to do to please my family. I offered to keep Cocoa with me on leash/tie down/gated wherever I am. I offered to keep Cocoa on leash with me 24 hours a day for a week or so, as this worked with one of our prior pet dogs who was quite hyper in the house. They haven't told me what they think of either idea yet.
> 
> I don't think it's so unusual for a pet dog to see an opened bag of chips on the floor and stick her head into it. But, Cocoa would never ever do that outside the house. She is well trained not to take food while working. And no, it's not good she did it last night at home, but I wasn't even there when it happened. Yet I became a big ordeal, and I again was blamed.
> 
> Can anyone please, please offer me some advice on how to get Cocoa back to observing the indoor ground rules which were set for her as an adolescent? 
> 
> Is there anything I might be able to tell my parents to reassure them I am taking care of this issue? I doubt they'd ever threaten to force me to find a new home for Cocoa -- she is my guide and my girl, after all -- but they are angry at me, frustrated with her, and I just want my hyper Lab to behave as well at home as she does while working.
> 
> Please, can anyone help? This is awful, having my mother believing I am a bad guide dog or just plain dog handler/owner. I am in my early 30's by the way, having had to move back home years ago because of money.
> 
> Thank you for anything, any ideas you might have.
> 
> Sincerely,
> Ava and Cocoa
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
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