For once, a post that doesn’t include baby talk! I use to consider my dogs as my babies. That was until I got pregnant. All of the sudden, this little life inside me became number one and the dogs took a backseat. About the time I found out that I was pregnant, I quit my job. It was definitely the right decision, and we knew I would be staying home with the baby after it was born anyway. So, this was a good trial run to live off one income and learn to budget a little tighter than we had been use to. In addition, it would help the dogs adjust. Right? HAHAHA! Wrong, apparently!

Let me explain my day…

Background: Tucker is crated for about four hours a day. Reo is kept on a leash in the kitchen to confine him to that area for the same amount of time. This helps me train them to not demand my attention all the time, like they were accustomed to, and they also learn that this is their chill out time while - in the future - I take care of the baby. We started this routine with them a few weeks ago after my parents left from visiting over Christmas. The dogs always act out after mom and dad leave because their grandparents spoil them too much. I always have to put them back in line, and it takes about a week to get them back into their routine.

Tucker’s Issues: Lately, Tucker (our hound) is absolutely refusing to do ANYTHING he is expected to, and like a toddler, is acting out to get attention, whether his behavior is good or bad. For example, he whined for a solid four hours today while in his crate and refused to give up until I let him out. FOUR SOLID HOURS!!!!!!!!!!! Then, when I took him outside, he kept whining to come back inside. Obviously, I was not going to please him today, so I left him on the porch with Reo. When I went back to check on him, he had dug out my flower pots and spread soil all over the porch, peed on our house and left a huge puddle by the back door, and tried to force himself through the door when I left it cracked to bring out a few toys to keep them occupied. I was furious! However, due to the next explained incident, I was told to let Sean handle it when he got home.

Reo’s Issues: Today, as like any other day, Reo (our Sheltie) chose not to do anything I commanded him to do, which always results in some sort of disciplinary action. (He was Sean’s dog originally, and he is 9 years old, so I don’t think he will ever respect me or mind me like he does with Sean.) For example, I also let him outside to take a break and run around with Tucker. What does he do? He runs straight to a pile of Tucker’s poop and starts chomping down. So I yell, “NO!” He knows he is not suppose to do this and knows the end result: bitter apple spray in his mouth. So, what does he do? He looks up at me and continues eating FASTER. Now, I’m 7 months pregnant, and obviously cannot chase the dog, so I stomp my foot and yell some more until I get him to finally come up on the porch. So, I yank him down by his neck with two fingers to resemble what an adult dog does to a pup to earn their respect and order in the pack, and I spray his mouth with bitter apple. Well, in the process, he tries to run, which causes me to jam my finger in the deck crevice, and I had to let go momentarily. This leads me to chasing him on the porch to try to get the bitter apple spray in his mouth, which he knows what it is, so why would he come near me with that bottle in my hand? Right? *SIGH*

So, that is my day with my two very obnoxious dogs at the moment. I started having some Braxton Hicks contractions after that Reo episode, which led Sean to get on me about chasing Reo when I should be protecting myself and Baby Jack right now. I’m at my wits end with these dogs. I suppose they will now be confined for 8 hours, all day, while Sean is at work, since they don’t listen or respect me. Plus, if I can’t discipline them how they need it at the time they disobey us, then it will only reinforce their bad behavior. Again, which means I must leave them up all day until Sean gets home and can help with them. Tucker has already given me a concussion once last fall (he is 60 pounds), and Reo is causing me some stress with the baby that I don’t need (he is 38 pounds), so I give up. I’m not letting two dogs ruin my entire day or cause me to have minor contractions due to their bad behavior. Reo will be fine in the kitchen, and I’m not sure how to deal with Tucker’s constant whining in his crate, which has just started recently. He use to love being in his crate - it was his “bed” and his safe place. Now, it’s non-stop whining until he gets let out, which triggers more whining for who knows what else. I’m at my wits end with that hound! HELP!