Hello!
I am new to this forum, so bare with me.
We just adopted our dog Basil a little over a month ago. She is a 7 year old Yorkie, and was rescued from a breeder.
From the very first day it was very obvious she preferred me over my husband and son (7 years old). From what we know, she spent her whole life in a kennel, unsure of how much contact she had with people so we were prepared to face some hurdles as she adjusted to our home. She's a very sweet and loving dog, and was never aggressive towards my husband or son, but showed zero interest in them and was my complete shadow. Because of that, I had my husband and son give out treats, and take her for walks, feed her, etc. to show her that they are good and here to give her love. One month later and there has been no improvement with my son, she refuses to walk with him or potty if he's holding the leash. She will take a treat from him but it takes a lot of patience on his part. She's a little better with my husband. She will walk with him, potty for him and take treats, but she still doesn't greet either of them at the door like she does me, she wont come to them. If I'm home, she follows me to every room, she sits next to me on the couch, etc....if I'm not home my husband says she will just lay in her bed or kennel.
I didn't seem overly concerned at first about this behavior and kept telling them that it's going to take a lot of work and time and that they can't give up. She seems more hesitant with all males and will willingly go up to females, so we figured it was a female/male thing and we've just been trying to work through it.
Easter weekend I noticed a change in behavior, she no longer just preferred me, she made it clear she didn't want anyone else near me. I first noticed it when my husband and I were laying on the couch next to each other...she was on the couch too, but on the other end. When he came up and laid next to me, Basil got very anxious and wouldn't sit still until she positioned herself in between us. Later that day she was sitting in a chair with me when my son approached. He pet her and talked to her and she seemed fine, then he laid his head on my shoulder and she jumped out of my lap and lunged toward his face. I couldn't tell if she was trying to bite, as I was able to get a hold of her before she made it to him. I was a little stunned so I told her no and put her on the floor (she will not jump up on furniture). The rest of the day was ok, but she seemed very guarded and sort of glared at my husband and son anytime they came near me. So I did not allow her to sit on the couch or chair the rest of the day. The next day, same thing. I was sitting on the floor trying to get her to play with one of her balls, when my son came and sat down next to me, she again lunged at him but I was able to stop her before she made it to him. --side note - since these things happened, she is now going to the bathroom on my floors (which she wasn't doing previously) and what seems to be marking any bit of carpet we have. Not sure if these things are related, but anytime she's near a rug or carpet she pees on it and it's always just a little bit and can happen even if we were just outside and she went.
I talked to the rescue we got her from and they told me to just ignore her when she behaves like that and not allow her on the furniture, etc. So we've been doing that, and the lunging hasn't happened since then. But she also hasn't made really any progress on wanting to be around my husband or son. What can we do? I love her dearly and we agree as a family that we are NOT willing to get rid of her...I just want her to love them too so they can enjoy her awesome personality, when it's just her and I hanging out she is quite silly.
When we were first talking with the rescue about her, they told me she was GREAT with kids (which I told them was a requirement - being we have one), 100% house trained, crate trained, and potty pad trained, and that she had no preference to male or female. I do feel a little misled by them because she most certainly has a bias to male/female from what I've seen. She seems to have had zero exposure to children, because around any children she goes into another room, and as for the potty training - from the first day she did well when I would take her out to potty, but she had accidents when in her crate and she has NEVER used the potty pad, except to lay on.
Again, we were prepared to face these issues getting an older dog, that may not have had a very good life before us, so we want to work through these things. I just need a little guidance on the best methods.
Thanks!
I am new to this forum, so bare with me.
We just adopted our dog Basil a little over a month ago. She is a 7 year old Yorkie, and was rescued from a breeder.
From the very first day it was very obvious she preferred me over my husband and son (7 years old). From what we know, she spent her whole life in a kennel, unsure of how much contact she had with people so we were prepared to face some hurdles as she adjusted to our home. She's a very sweet and loving dog, and was never aggressive towards my husband or son, but showed zero interest in them and was my complete shadow. Because of that, I had my husband and son give out treats, and take her for walks, feed her, etc. to show her that they are good and here to give her love. One month later and there has been no improvement with my son, she refuses to walk with him or potty if he's holding the leash. She will take a treat from him but it takes a lot of patience on his part. She's a little better with my husband. She will walk with him, potty for him and take treats, but she still doesn't greet either of them at the door like she does me, she wont come to them. If I'm home, she follows me to every room, she sits next to me on the couch, etc....if I'm not home my husband says she will just lay in her bed or kennel.
I didn't seem overly concerned at first about this behavior and kept telling them that it's going to take a lot of work and time and that they can't give up. She seems more hesitant with all males and will willingly go up to females, so we figured it was a female/male thing and we've just been trying to work through it.
Easter weekend I noticed a change in behavior, she no longer just preferred me, she made it clear she didn't want anyone else near me. I first noticed it when my husband and I were laying on the couch next to each other...she was on the couch too, but on the other end. When he came up and laid next to me, Basil got very anxious and wouldn't sit still until she positioned herself in between us. Later that day she was sitting in a chair with me when my son approached. He pet her and talked to her and she seemed fine, then he laid his head on my shoulder and she jumped out of my lap and lunged toward his face. I couldn't tell if she was trying to bite, as I was able to get a hold of her before she made it to him. I was a little stunned so I told her no and put her on the floor (she will not jump up on furniture). The rest of the day was ok, but she seemed very guarded and sort of glared at my husband and son anytime they came near me. So I did not allow her to sit on the couch or chair the rest of the day. The next day, same thing. I was sitting on the floor trying to get her to play with one of her balls, when my son came and sat down next to me, she again lunged at him but I was able to stop her before she made it to him. --side note - since these things happened, she is now going to the bathroom on my floors (which she wasn't doing previously) and what seems to be marking any bit of carpet we have. Not sure if these things are related, but anytime she's near a rug or carpet she pees on it and it's always just a little bit and can happen even if we were just outside and she went.
I talked to the rescue we got her from and they told me to just ignore her when she behaves like that and not allow her on the furniture, etc. So we've been doing that, and the lunging hasn't happened since then. But she also hasn't made really any progress on wanting to be around my husband or son. What can we do? I love her dearly and we agree as a family that we are NOT willing to get rid of her...I just want her to love them too so they can enjoy her awesome personality, when it's just her and I hanging out she is quite silly.
When we were first talking with the rescue about her, they told me she was GREAT with kids (which I told them was a requirement - being we have one), 100% house trained, crate trained, and potty pad trained, and that she had no preference to male or female. I do feel a little misled by them because she most certainly has a bias to male/female from what I've seen. She seems to have had zero exposure to children, because around any children she goes into another room, and as for the potty training - from the first day she did well when I would take her out to potty, but she had accidents when in her crate and she has NEVER used the potty pad, except to lay on.
Again, we were prepared to face these issues getting an older dog, that may not have had a very good life before us, so we want to work through these things. I just need a little guidance on the best methods.
Thanks!
