[Dailydrool] Help for Bertha

[Esther Strom]

Thanks, Cathy. I will pass this on to my parents. Re: the ears. Bertha came to them with a major ear infection. My dad says she will allow them to play with her ears; it's only when they try to put her drops in that she gets snappy.

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Esther Strom
Visit my Etsy shop: http://HookedByEsther.etsy.com


----- Original Message ----

 
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