Question about a dog

[minka]

This happened quite a while ago, so the story might be a bit fuzzy in my head, but it was still something that was bugging me.

One of my fellow employees from work was saying that my cat and her dog wouldn't get along because her dog is mean. And by mean she meant 'bad.'
He's just a puppy and so they are trying to house break him. She told me about how the other day, he went potty somewhere in the house, so he was thrown out for a few hours. Later when he came inside, he climbed onto her boyfriend's favorite recliner and didn't want to get down and so when he eventually got down/was put down, he looked right in her boyfriend's eyes and peed on the floor. Needless to say, the dog was in big trouble.

She's convinced that her dog was getting back at them for not getting his way/did it out of spite. I'm not so convinced. What do you guys think?

 

[catmom2wires]

I think it's unfortunate that the puppy has the owners he does.

 

[Willowy]

Dogs do not do things to spite their owners. Especially not puppies. I'm very sad for this puppy. . .I assume by "big trouble" she means they beat him. If he doesn't turn mean he'll be too timid to re-home soon. I hope they re-home him before he's completely ruined. If not, I can almost guarantee he'll be dead before his first birthday.

 

[nerdrock]

I agree with the poster above me.

Here's the thing, unless you catch the dog in the act of going in the house and stop it THAT SECOND, it's not going to connect the action and the punishment. So her poor dog probably didn't understand that it was being put outside because it went to the bathroom on the floor. It sounds like it was also put out aggressively by the people, that's probably why it peed again when it was looked at directly in the eye.

I would like to say that I don't think that dogs will do something out of spite, but I honestly can't. When I was finishing up college if I did something Sadie didn't like, she would jump up on my bed and pee - making sure that I was watching her while she did it. It didn't matter if she had just been out and gone 5 minutes before or not. Thankfully she's grown out of that.

 

[rafm]

I hate that just anyone can get an animal. That dog sounds like he's being abused by the people entrusted to take care of him. Beating an animal accomplishes nothing. GAH!!!

Oh, I too believe dogs can be spiteful. Our daschund mix, Andy was a pistol. He hated going in his kennel, however, up until a few months before he died he was too destructive to be left out unattended.

So, anyway, my DH works from home and at the time I worked off-shifts so he was rarely in his kennel. we took him out prior to putting him in the kennel but every single time, even if he was kenneled for 15 minutes, he would poo in it, creating a mess for us to clean up. And that was just the tip of the iceberg on that, too-smart for his own good, pup.

 

[nerdrock]

Originally Posted by RAFM

I hate that just anyone can get an animal. That dog sounds like he's being abused by the people entrusted to take care of him. Beating an animal accomplishes nothing. GAH!!!

Oh, I too believe dogs can be spiteful. Our daschund mix, Andy was a pistol. He hated going in his kennel, however, up until a few months before he died he was too destructive to be left out unattended.

So, anyway, my DH works from home and at the time I worked off-shifts so he was rarely in his kennel. we took him out prior to putting him in the kennel but every single time, even if he was kenneled for 15 minutes, he would poo in it, creating a mess for us to clean up. And that was just the tip of the iceberg on that, too-smart for his own good, pup.

Maybe it's a dachshund thing, lol, that's what my two are.

Sorry for the highjack..

 

[aprilyim]

I would be more likely to believe that the puppy in your story urinated out of fear, rather than spite.

 

[Draco]

Originally Posted by aprilyim

I would be more likely to believe that the puppy in your story urinated out of fear, rather than spite.

I agree.

My dog (who lives with my sister) is a scaredy cat when it comes to loud noises. If my BIL yells too loud, he'd pee. If a pot crashes to the floor, he'd pee. Forget about thunderstorms and 4th of July! He's always been this way since a puppy when we mistakenly comforted him when he gets scared and pees, now he has it in his head that it's OK to pee when scared!

In addition, the puppy isn't going to learn that going potty outside is the way to go unless they teach him. just throwing him outside isn't going to work

 

[miagi's_mommy]

Umm.. the dog is a PUPPY and acting normal. He doesn't do it out of spite, maybe they are scaring the heck out of him. Throwing him outside after peeing in the house. Yeah that's positive.

He is going to live a bad life in fear if they keep that up. They are the ones being mean. He deserves better!! Puppies aren't perfect, they are like babies. They wouldn't throw their child out for peeing somewhere would they?

Is this their first dog? Housebreaking can be and IS frusturating but should be made positive, not negative. If the dog goes somewhere in the house, it's your fault for not taking him out not the dog's fault. They need to take him out after he eats, drinks, plays, etc. and get the dog on a schedule. How old is the pup?

 

[nerdrock]

Originally Posted by Miagi's_Mommy

Umm.. the dog is a PUPPY and acting normal. He doesn't do it out of spite, maybe they are scaring the heck out of him. Throwing him outside after peeing in the house. Yeah that's positive.

He is going to live a bad life in fear if they keep that up. They are the ones being mean. He deserves better!! Puppies aren't perfect, they are like babies. They wouldn't throw their child out for peeing somewhere would they?

Is this their first dog? Housebreaking can be and IS frusturating but should be made positive, not negative. If the dog goes somewhere in the house, it's your fault for not taking him out not the dog's fault. They need to take him out after he eats, drinks, plays, etc. and get the dog on a schedule. How old is the pup?

I completely agree!

What breed is the dog as well? Some are MUCH more stubborn than others and take a lot longer to housebreak.

Like I said above, I have dachshunds. I was extremely lucky with Sadie that she was housebroken (mostly) but the time she was about 4 months old and very reliable by the time she was 6 months old. Fynn came to me as an adult, but we never had any problems with him. We do have problems with both of them though when the weather is bad - they will not go pee outside when it's raining or too wet. Those are the days that they spend most of their time in the crate until they will go, otherwise they'll go inside. I know people that have dachshunds that are almost 4 and not completely housebroken yet even though their owners are doing everything right.

Poor puppy though...

 

[minka]

The puppy is a lab/retriever mix if I remember correctly. They aren't going to beat it to death or anything, I was just thinking the negative reinforcement and thinking the dog was doing it on purpose were counter-productive.

So you think some dogs Can do things out of spite? Cuz I know when somebody comes here and says 'my cat pees on my things because he hates me' we tell them they are being dumb..

 

[nerdrock]

I read an article online not too long ago about dogs and emotions, something about how they are evolving to show/feel a wider range of emotions. It focused mostly on how they grieve and feel sadness, and if I recall correctly, it touched on spite. I'll have to see if I can find it, it was quite interesting.

 

[Willowy]

No. Animals may do something from stress, or because it gets them attention (some pets don't care if it's negative attention, as long as it's attention!). But not out of spite. Spite is purely a human thing.

But either way, it's a PUPPY. Like a baby human, except puppies don't wear diapers. There WILL be accidents on the floor, and it's not the puppy's fault, any more than it's a baby's fault for soiling his diapers. Puppies need training, not aggression. And, if they continue treating the dog aggressively, he'll either become aggressive or overly timid, and will probably bite someone someday. Depending what breed he is, he may take their arms off one day if pushed too far. Probably not, though--Retrievers don't usually meet aggression with aggression. Sadly. They usually become neurotic and scaredy if abused.

 

[catwoman87]

Originally Posted by Minka

This happened quite a while ago, so the story might be a bit fuzzy in my head, but it was still something that was bugging me.

One of my fellow employees from work was saying that my cat and her dog wouldn't get along because her dog is mean. And by mean she meant 'bad.'
He's just a puppy and so they are trying to house break him. She told me about how the other day, he went potty somewhere in the house, so he was thrown out for a few hours. Later when he came inside, he climbed onto her boyfriend's favorite recliner and didn't want to get down and so when he eventually got down/was put down, he looked right in her boyfriend's eyes and peed on the floor. Needless to say, the dog was in big trouble.

She's convinced that her dog was getting back at them for not getting his way/did it out of spite. I'm not so convinced. What do you guys think?

Dogs don't think that way. Your fellow employee sounds like an idiot and should have done some research before going out and buying a dog. I hate reading posts like this. People like that irritate the crap out of me

:

 

[anita1216]

Our dog, Tulip, was very obviously beaten before her first owners dumped her at the pound. She was also bred back to back (3/4 litters the vet thought by looking at her uterus during her spay). She is only 3. She is easily frightened and upset by loud noises, scared to death of anyone even raising a hand (I have to clean the windows when she is asleep in another room). She will drop and roll over onto her back in submission if you use the wrong tone of voice.

Dogs are the product of their environment and of course there are breed traits. They are not spiteful, thats a purely human "fault". They do not do things to annoy their humand, but they will do things for attention I believe. Dogs are pack animals and need structure and supervision and they desperately need to understand how they fit in. Puppies are a handfull and not everyone should take them on. Dumping a baby outside teaches them absolutely nothing. Yelling does zip as well.

I feel sorry for that pup.