Sister's dog driving me crazy!--kinda long

[maggiemay]

My younger sister has a pitbull puppy she named tinker bell. my sister is almost 18 so fully capable of taking care of her own. Well tink is a crazy hyper dog. and is almost detrimental to my dogs training. Tink isn't potty trained at six months but most definitely should be. And she only goes in my room or my moms room. But she doesn't have any manners she runs all over the furniture instead os respecting boundaries. She wont come when called, wont sit when told (and she knows this one). Unless i have a treat in my hand.

But all my sister does all day is lay around and yell at her. yell at her for this and that. And instead of getting up to enforce the command tink just ignored she doesn't do anything. I try to tell her that she needs to do more... i mean she has had tink for three months and has yet to take her on a walk!!! But she just will NOT listen to me at all.
I know that this is where i could step in and make tinker bell be a better behaved well trained dog. But i have the one dog that i can handle. If i could of handled two dogs i would have gotten two... i love dogs.

I know that tink needs some serious training cause she can not even keep focused. I just don't know what to do maybe i just need some encouragement to see this as a challenge and not a burden.

Oh and every time tink get annoying and rambunctious and my sister cant handle her she just puts her in her kennel. doesnt play with her work with her walk her or really anything with her. And sometimes tink even snaps at us and growls at us. not real hard but enough to put me a little on edge. I really need some ideas here i just dont know what to do. probably just calm down would be a good one

[Frenchy]

Originally Posted by maggiemay

Oh and every time tink get annoying and rambunctious and my sister cant handle her she just puts her in her kennel.

this is headed for disaster !!! The kennel is suppose to be a good place for a dog !!! You MUST tell your sister that HER dog needs obedience classes and regular walks AND exercise ! Why the did she get a dog if she wants to sit on her butt all day ? If she can't understand that , I would get her to surrender the puppy to a rescue. This poor poor dog !

[maggiemay]

i TRY and try to tell her she doesnt listen. the dog kinda got dropped on her... she didnt really go looking for it. but she definitely cant handle it. If i try to talk to her about it she just gets defensive and crabby and mean.
I dunno what to do.

[Frenchy]

As this dog gets bigger , this will get worse ! So if this dog leaves your house she won't get another one right ? Then I would go behind her back and place the dog myself. It's not honest , but if she doesn't listen to you ....

[maggiemay]

I don't think shed get another one but i don't know if i could do that. i could look into some pit bull rescues in the area. i just couldn't see myself doing that.....

I was thinking about just doing it all myself.... but I am pretty sure that will stress me out a lot. I will probably talk to my mother about it today and see what she thinks I could do. Because i really dont think that my sister really loves tink.

well the excuse my sister keeps using is that tink is still a puppy and will grow out of everything she does now. i tried to argue this with her... but shes so difficult.

[Frenchy]

Originally Posted by maggiemay

well the excuse my sister keeps using is that tink is still a puppy and will grow out of everything she does now. i tried to argue this with her... but shes so difficult.

wow , your sister really doesn't know anything about dogs ! Is there any way you can "scare her" ? Tell her that this dog will be her responsability for the next 10-15 years. Tell her about the vet costs , since her dog is not getting any training , what if the dog bites someone and she gets sued ? $$$$$

[maggiemay]

yea right... shell just be like i know i know. shes so

[mona_b]

My suggestion,tell your mom to give her an ultamadem.Either she gets off her butt and gets serious with this pup,or the pup must be rehomed.

As a mother that's what I would do.....

[maggiemay]

she thinks that you don't have to walk your dog.... cause she knows people who dont walk their dogs and they turn out fine... like dogs

[Hogansma]

What about socializing the dog, especially a pitbull. I volunteer at a shelter and does she have any idea what a problem she is creating by not socializing it with people and other dogs? Maybe you can show her all these posts and tell her she is doing a lot of harm to the poor pup and grow up and either start training or find it a new home with someone who cares.

[ancientgirl]

Yikes, I don't have a dog and even I know this problem will only get worse. That puppy will not grow out of this behavior, it will only get worse.

She's being incredibly irresponsible and should not be allowed to even have a dog. I think your mom should step in and either find a home for Tink, or take on the job of getting her some training.

I think the sooner the better, because if she's like this when she gets bigger, nobody will want to take her.

Sorry, but your sister needs to grow up.

[clm]

I too can see this heading for a very bad ending. :sad: This poor dog deserves love and care, just feeding the dog and giving it a home is not even close to being enough. If your family can't provide what this dog needs, then you need to convince them to give her up to someone who can.

Cindy

[maggiemay]

Well i have thought about it thoroughly today. Tink is a sweet dog she plays with my own and has no problem. she does need more socializing and training. i know that me and my sisters relationship is as important (if not more) as the well being of the dog. and yes ancientgirl my sister definitely needs to grow up and get a better understanding of her responsibility as a dog owner. I could never make her give tink away (because she would not listen to me) and i don't believe my mother would either. my sister is a very stubborn person.
so after much thought i am going to do it myself. I believe that eventually my sister is not going to want the responsibility. I already have my baby and as much as i wanted a male dog i guess tink will do if it comes to that.
I will train her and try to make her better and walk her everyday. I find it hard to walk the two dogs together.... i guess ill be getting more than my fair share of exercise.
I couldn't go behind my sister's back... i don't think she would ever forgive me. I will take on the responsibility of having two dogs.

I have read too man books to count on raising and training dogs. I am pretty much a dog fanatic and find it really fun to play the game "what's this breed" and as much as i feel comfortable with my knowledge of what dogs need (not to mention my various excursions on pets.ca!!!) my sister waves away my superior understanding as frivolous. She gets under my skin in more ways than just her dog...
But shes family....
I will try my best. If I cannot succeed then I will do my best to put tink in a better place. I know we have a training facility near and i wanted to take maggie there so we can get into some agility and advanced obedience... perhaps they'll give me a discount for two dogs.

Hmm I just wish that people would have to get some sort of license to own dogs.... its not just a dog its a LIFE!!! like take a free class or something i dunno.

I will give it a week of my little doggie bootcamp lol and see how it goes.. i will let everyone know in a week and see if it improves cross ur fingers!

[ancientgirl]

You're a good person for taking the responsibility. Tink needs a chance and right now you are her chance at having a good future as a stable and obedient dog. And hey, two dogs can't be that much more trouble than one. Heck, when I got my second cat, I figured, two isn't more trouble than one, and now I've got 5! Apart from a little extra food, and litter, they really aren't that much more trouble.

[maggiemay]

thanks ancientgirl! i hope that i can do it without feeling overloaded. I think that once i get started it'll be easier to keep it going.

[ancientgirl]

Yes, I think once you get things going, you'll see you get a system going. It might actually be easier training both of them. Maybe it will be more fun for them to have a friend to learn with.

[clm]

Good for you for giving it a go yourself. Training 2 together is fun. It has it's challenges, but I've found it to be a good experience with my 2.
You'll find your sisters dog a lot calmer once you start giving her more attention and exercise too.
Can't wait to here how your training sessions work out.

Cindy

[maggiemay]

so i have been trying to train my sister's dog over the past week or so, i've been trying to talk to my sister. to no avail. but tinker bell is more than i can handle right now.
But thankfully my mother is finally on my side and has agreed to talk to her about the whole situation. Hopefully my mom will either be able to get her to do something about tink's behavior and all around well being OR re-home her with someone who will do more for her. Im crossing my fingers for the rehoming!

[ancientgirl]

Good luck. I'm thinking the best thing for Tink is to find her a home where she will actually be cared for and looked after. Your sister has no interest in him other than being able to say "I have a dog."

I hope you can find her a good home, if things don't work out with your sister.

[Puppy_Pal]

[QUOTE=maggiemay;526072] And sometimes tink even snaps at us and growls at us. not real hard but enough to put me a little on edge.[QUOTE]

This is the comment that I found to be the most important. I believe that this dog is "the boss" and knows it. This is something that could also have to be dealt with on top of the training before it got out of hand.
About a year back, I tried adopting a dog who from previous homes ended up having similar issues. I tried training etc, but the growling at women and children specifically became to high of a risk. I had to bring to a shelter and it was very hard to do.
I would hate to see this turn into something that would make it hard for this dog to find a home..the longer it goes on, the more this could happen. Not saying for sure, and I could be totally wrong, but this is definetly a sign of dominance and could lead this way.
Good luck to you and tink. You are doing the right thing.