[Dailydrool] Help for Bertha

[Cblatz]

Poor Bertha,  I would stress to your parents that Bertha is a pack animal and every pack needs a leader.  It will either be your parents or it will be Bertha.
*Counter Cruising-  I have one (Lucy) who would push everyone else out of the way and counter cruise when I fixed up the doggy diners.  Every time she did it, she immediatly went into her crate.  Most of the time she now sits nicely with the rest while I fix up the dishes.
So if Berta needs a lesson in acceptable behavior, just put her in her crate while groceries are put away or their making dinner.
**chewing on furniture,  you didn't say how old Bertha is but if she is beyond teething age, give her a nice nylabone edibles and put her in her crate.

Dogs like routine.  They like to know what to expect and when to expect it.  Bertha needs consistent rules and she will learn how to behave.  Crate training gives them their only little den and also can be used for tempory timeouts with a treat.  Not punishment exactly  just like sending a kid to his/her room.

Snippy behavior between housemates is to be expected until pack order is determined so the issue with the Jack Russel isn't an issue to me.

The ear cleaning bothers me.  Nails I could understand but I have never had an issue with ear clearing.  Do they hurt?  Are they infected?  If not maybe they could have the solution and cotton swabs/pads on an end table.  When she is relaxing on a lap just try and do the ear that is facing them.  Or have your parents play with her ears without the solution just to get her use to her ears being handled.

Of course if your mother is not happy with Bertha or is sub consciously comparing her to the previous dog, not much will help.   Sometimes a dog is replaced too soon or for the wrong reasons.

Cathy
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