Ok, Yes, I'll admit it, I have a couple of pets in my household that frankly while they are actually sweet animals are irritating and some days I feel like they hate me. And yes, there are times I yell and my patience wears thin with them. And yes, I know that workday stressors compound the issue and sometimes make me more snappish at them than usual.
I believe we've all had at least 1 pet that despite all our care and trying to get them trained, or all our attempts at sharing our lives and home spaces with them, are frankly irritating or seem to hate us enough to fully thwart every attempt we make at housetraining, or behavioral training, or just simply and peacfully cohabitating.
I know about a month or so ago there was an article on this on MSNBC online. They just seemed to focus on the few owners they'd interviewed and all the negative comments, offering no real solutions.
I have one dog who pretty much from the day I inherited her has flat out refused to learn that the potty is outside. And boy she is stubborn. You can put her outside with water etc, for hours, and she will simply hold it and within 3 minutes of letting her back in she'll have done all her business in the house. :( And usually this is worst just after you have deodorized and cleaned all the tile floors. And even closing her in her kennel for the night, most dogs won't mess where they sleep? HA! She does constantly. And yes, I will humbly admit it all makes me crazy and I used to yell a lot. There was never any point in disciplining her, she would turn on you and bite you for even swatting her butt or picking her up to put back outside. And as she gets older, she is crankier, so that if you even trip over her accidentally or try to herd her out the door, she'll bite and snap and snarl. She even snaps and snarls at any other animal or person she perceives in her space. Of course this doesn't faze the old blind and deaf dog, he is blissfully unaware. However..... her snarling and yelping at all hours is very startling and wakes us up all night. So she is my penance I say. She's the one who truly tests my patience and I find it lacking most times where she's concerned. So I have a very hard time being close to her, or wanting to pet her etc.
Now, I also have a visiting dog with us who has his own idiosyncracies. He is a sweet dog, and if he's paying attention to you will listen to commands. Problem is that he's developed some behavior problems lately. Being a beautiful Border Collie, he has to herd things. Usually in my backyard it's birds, problem is he barks at them incessantly. This riles the neighbors and kinda rubs me wrong at 5:30 in the mornings. And he is so focused on the happy chirping birds at dawn that he doesn't listen to us saying hush! He also has an absolute obssession at trying to get through the fence at the neighbor's dogs. And if pulled off he growls and snaps at you because he is so focused on the other dog. While those are irritating. they aren't the ones that tend to drive me a bit batty. And I try very hard not to yell at him over this one. He has this behavioral problem about putting his feet and muzzle into the water dish for all the animals, and then dribbling it all over the floors, carpeted or otherwise. Making the floors soaking wet. And you certainly cannot leave the lids up on the toilets. There are some days he just cannot stop this behavior. And this ends up with empty or dirty water dishes so that none of the other dogs can have water. You put water back in though because you know the others need it. But I've seen him, he'll go over and drink a bunch before anyone else and then do the water all over bit again! I have bought numerous mop heads over the months because they wear out so fast. I do my best not to yell, and I fail again miserably at this. I usually yell at him to try to get his attention about barking. In the house it's different, I don't have to yell at him about it. He knows it's the wrong thing to do, but I don't think he can help himself. And I don't know how to help him stop this. I am open to all suggestions or thoughts on this. As I said, he is a very well behaved dog with a couple problems. He won't soil in the house, loves kids and people. And overall minds pretty well.
So back to the irritating parts, I suppose an irritating pet might be happier with another, however, my nemesis is firmly bonded with my husband, she adores him. But she still has her irritating behaviors. I have tried everything to include Ttouch to change them, nope, she's very determined to not change and she can definitely outstubborn us. And I know when we've all had a pet like this that drives us to distraction, we all hope something will happen to change their living situations with us. And I know (and it shames me to admit this) we've all thought about not so nice thoughts about ending their stay with us. However..... my guilty side won't let me do any of that, such as drop the pet off at a shelter, etc. I would feel terribly guilty about it. So I do my best to bear it and know that this one is getting into her senior years, and pray (although I shouldn't) that she won't be one of those senior pets who lives forever.
For me and my family, add to these exasperations the fact that we have a very elderly little male chihuahua who is both blind and deaf. He isn't completely blind yet, I think he can detect shadows and movement still. He has a very bad habit lately of chasing movement and winding up underfoot. We constantly trip over him or step on him. He's quick about moving, so where you think he is, he isn't anymore. And because you just tripped over him and almost fell yourself, it raised your blood pressure and adrenaline levels, you want to yell at him, but you know it does no good and you need to remember to be patient with him, it can fast cause you to growl at your loved one instead out of sheer frustration. Most times thought with the old man, I try to find the humor in it or the compassion so I don't get growly.
I guess I am much like many other pet owners, except I won't beat them, wont' hit them, I might swat a fanny with the flat of my hand, but I won't beat them. I tend more to yell when at my limit. :(
Any insights or ideas on Border Collies is much appreciated. For the little female, I am pretty resigned to the fact that there is no changing her at this stage.
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