Shari
IsItFridayYet?
For various and assundry reasons that do make sense, wee difficult child's in-home suggested to try a dog with difficult child.
I've ignored this tidbit for over a year now and recently they talked me into trying it.
So I emailed and looked and emailed and looked and found a couple of candidates. We brought one home on trial basis. She's a very nice dog, difficult child loves her and she loves him, but she's too much (difficult child admits). She's still too much puppy and I just don't have the time to train a dog that needs to learn everything. (I question this whole idea for that reason, anyway). And being a puppy that needs to be housebroke, she needs "immediate attention" at times that can't be left up to a 6 year old, difficult child or not.
So that brings me to this morning. difficult child got up half asleep and went to the kitchen to get a drink then went back to bed. The dog, of course, got up and followed, which means she needs to go outside NOW. husband got up to do this, but instead of putting the dog out, sat on the edge of the bed and yelled to difficult child to take his dog outside. We all know what yelling at a difficult child does, so of course, the instant reaction was "NO!" In the however many minutes that husband argued with difficult child, the dog, of course, gave up and peed on the floor. husband, standing there watching, then yells at difficult child to come clean up the mess isntead of telling the dog no and getting her outside.
Obviously, the puppy is not going to work. If we go with the dog idea, its going to have to be an older dog already trained. I already know this. I am already a bit skeptical about this whole idea, anyway, because I already feel like I have too much on my plate, but I'm willing to try this in good faith. But after this morning, husband is mad because difficult child "can't take care of a dog".
I guess my theory is we'd already decided this wasn't the right dog because of her training needs, and while I agree difficult child didn't step up here, it was also presented in a "set up to fail" sort of way. And in the meantime, the dog lost out because no one would open the darn door...
Input, please?
I'll toss out another concern that sorta fits in here... husband routinely asks the kids to get things for him just so he doesn't have to get up and do. This bugs me, and difficult child, in particular, has tuned into this and frequently refuses. Last night, husband asked difficult child to go to the car and get his flashlight. difficult child said no, and husband engaged him. I beleive that's why difficult child was so quick with the wit with husband this morning, too. Do others do this? I think its not good to routinely ask your kids to fetch stuff for you just cause you don't want to get up and do it yourself. Its one thing if you're, say, going into the kitchen, anyway, and he asks you to grab something on your way, but that's not at all what's taking place.
I've ignored this tidbit for over a year now and recently they talked me into trying it.
So I emailed and looked and emailed and looked and found a couple of candidates. We brought one home on trial basis. She's a very nice dog, difficult child loves her and she loves him, but she's too much (difficult child admits). She's still too much puppy and I just don't have the time to train a dog that needs to learn everything. (I question this whole idea for that reason, anyway). And being a puppy that needs to be housebroke, she needs "immediate attention" at times that can't be left up to a 6 year old, difficult child or not.
So that brings me to this morning. difficult child got up half asleep and went to the kitchen to get a drink then went back to bed. The dog, of course, got up and followed, which means she needs to go outside NOW. husband got up to do this, but instead of putting the dog out, sat on the edge of the bed and yelled to difficult child to take his dog outside. We all know what yelling at a difficult child does, so of course, the instant reaction was "NO!" In the however many minutes that husband argued with difficult child, the dog, of course, gave up and peed on the floor. husband, standing there watching, then yells at difficult child to come clean up the mess isntead of telling the dog no and getting her outside.
Obviously, the puppy is not going to work. If we go with the dog idea, its going to have to be an older dog already trained. I already know this. I am already a bit skeptical about this whole idea, anyway, because I already feel like I have too much on my plate, but I'm willing to try this in good faith. But after this morning, husband is mad because difficult child "can't take care of a dog".
I guess my theory is we'd already decided this wasn't the right dog because of her training needs, and while I agree difficult child didn't step up here, it was also presented in a "set up to fail" sort of way. And in the meantime, the dog lost out because no one would open the darn door...
Input, please?
I'll toss out another concern that sorta fits in here... husband routinely asks the kids to get things for him just so he doesn't have to get up and do. This bugs me, and difficult child, in particular, has tuned into this and frequently refuses. Last night, husband asked difficult child to go to the car and get his flashlight. difficult child said no, and husband engaged him. I beleive that's why difficult child was so quick with the wit with husband this morning, too. Do others do this? I think its not good to routinely ask your kids to fetch stuff for you just cause you don't want to get up and do it yourself. Its one thing if you're, say, going into the kitchen, anyway, and he asks you to grab something on your way, but that's not at all what's taking place.