posted 03-22-2004 03:02 PM         

my first two dogs were adopted from the pound. the first dog has separation anxiety and let's just say, he cost us hundreds of dollars in damages. Pete's only a 10 lbs dog, but whoa! can he eat up a door and destroy carpet! so i got roxy, and she helped with his separation anxiety (yeah!!) but unfortunately, being 1 years old, no one had ever housetrained her. I would walk her for an hour, bring her back in, and what do you know? she goes #2 on the carpet. I really thought she hated me and it affected my relationship with her. She did EVERYTHING inside on the carpet and NOTHING outside, except to go beserk when she saw other dogs.

A dog trainer was the best money I have ever spent. It improved my relationship with Roxy. She no longer goes in the house and I'm no longer frustrated. If you find that you are unable to fully train your dog, I say the few hundreds of dollars you'll spend on a behaviorist/trainer is the best spent money.

Having just recently adopted a puppy a little more than a week ago, I totally understand the whining. The puppy is only 7 weeks old now, but luckily the whining stopped after a week because I just let him sleep with the other dogs who are usually crated at night, but I uncrated them and penned them in the kitchen. The 3 am and 6 am whining stopped and it's so sweet to finally have a full night's sleep. I've also been blessed to have gotten a puppy who (so far) loves his wee-wee pads and uses them consistently.

If you can't afford a trainer, then I'd recommend going to the library or bookstore and borrowing books on raising & training your puppy.

posted 03-22-2004 03:49 PM         

Whining
http://www.perfectpaws.com/whine.html
http://pages.tipking.com/pets/tip_112.shtml
http://www.auspet.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/000534.html

Biting
http://www.metrokc.gov/lars/animal/Educate/cassidy/dog/dog3.htm
http://www.dogpatch.org/training/biting.html
http://www.canismajor.com/dog/bite2.html
http://www.perfectpaws.com/bite.html

posted 03-22-2004 09:02 PM         

When I first got my puppy a couple of weeks ago, I was going nuts. I was surprised at how fast a person could fall absolutely IN LOVE with a puppy, but also at how frustrated I could feel.

I think, no, I know that frustration is normal, and it makes you all the more good mom. Your frustration just expresses how much you love your puppy and how much you care for him/her.

Although I dont have a novice answer to your post, but I must say, I felt EXACTLY as you felt, probably even more.

Hang in there and just keep in mind, although it may be hard at times, this lil furball (the puppy =P) loves you unconditionally and that kind of love is hard to find~~~~ =)