A Side of Rocky We Rarely See!

Sunday afternoon we were at my parents with Rocky. He's always fairly good there, and he can actually be off leash and run like crazy and tire himself out because my parents have a ton of land. After a bit of "chase the ball", we left to go to my friend's parent's house to buy their car.

When we got there, I contemplated taking Rocky outside with us on his leash, but was nervous, knowing they had a dog too. In the end, I decided to just hold onto him while we interacted with my friend, her parents and their dog. It was a great idea! Rocky didn't bark once, and I put him down to sniff their dog and they got along great, and even played in the house!

The only time he was bad in the house was when he lifted his leg to pee on their window curtian ... but I caught him in time!

Then we went outside, and I was nervous again because they live in town and have neighbors, but none were out. But you never know when one walks by, Rocky could see someone before me and be off. I kept a sharp lookout, and he was fine, him and my friend's dog played and ran around and whenever I saw another person I just distracted him until they walked by out of view.

Lastly, a neighbor let their dog outside across the street and it started barking, and that was the only time I couldn't distract him, and he took off after the dog. Luckily, there was a fence between the two, otherwise I don't really know what would have happened, but once he got to the fence, all he did was bark and run up and down the fence with the other dog on the other side doing the same thing. Their tails were wagging like crazy, but Rocky's hackles were straight up, so I have no idea if he was being good and just playing or if he was being mean. What do you think?

All in all, a good experience with my cranky pup!

The "Accident"

Well, last night my husband and I spent the night at my parent's house, which we do at least once or twice a month (more often now, since my dad just had surgery and can't move around too well yet). Ever since we got Rocky 2 years ago, we have spent the night there, and he's never been bad except for the time when he shredded some carpet to get out of a room. Other than that, he's been fine.

However, the last two times have been different.

Last time, we came over and were eating dinner with the family when suddenly we could smell something gross, which turned out to be poop on the hardwood floor near the table. We weren't sure if it was Rocky's or Bentley's (my brother's dog). It was a small amount, so we assumed Rocky, who is 15 lbs compared to Bentley's 30. However, both dogs were already laying in their beds, so since we didn't catch either in the act, we cleaned it up and kept an eye on both. Nothing else happened the rest of the night.

Now, last night was worse. We got to my parents and Bentley and Rocky greeted each other, which means Bentley tore around the house chasing Rocky, who wags his tail but seems annoyed with it, but once they settle down, they get along. Not five minutes later, my husband found poop on the tile floor in the kitchen while my mom was making dinner. Again, no one saw which dog it was, but it was a small pile. Again, we cleaned it up and kept an eye on the dogs. We instantly took Rocky outside to run, and he pooped, so we assumed it was Bentley.

At the end of the night, we got into bed after taking Rocky outside one last time. He peed, and this was around 12:30am. This dog never goes in the house now that we moved, and he goes outside at 7am then not again until about 5pm, again, never goes inside. So we are astonished to wake up to find he had just peed on the carpet in the guest bedroom at my parent's around 6am. Once we get out of the groggy state and realize that he had just done it, we also realize he had pooped in the same area as well.

Now, please keep in mind Rocky ALWAYS lets us know if he has to go out. He had been given a bone, which makes him go more often, but he always wakes us up to go out. Any advice/ideas anyone as to what is causing this the last two times at my parent's house? Anything is appreciated!

An Update :)

Rocky is doing really well. I am enforcing the rule that I always walk one step ahead of him when outside, unless he's offleash. So far, on leash, he does well, and is only barking some of the time at passersby, while other times, he doesn't. I have yet to figure out the difference between those he barks at and those he doesn't. He is not pulling as much either when I'm doing this, so I think this is good progress!!

Also, we have set a time for him to eat instead of just doing it when he begs for his food. Right now, it is before we go to bed. However, he is still going inside at times...maybe I need to switch this to the mornings? He is a small dog, and only gets 1 cup of food a day per the vet. Not sure still on this ...

Lastly, he is still barking insanely when others come over to visit us, and the only way to shut him up is to wiggle the buckle on the shock collar (the vibrating kind, not a real shock). Even then, he is always on edge and jumpy around the person/people. Even if they give him treats, and we don't shake the collar ...

Anyway, those are the updates today! Keep the comments coming, I love hearing what you have to say! :)

Going Inside

Now, who couldn't love a face like this??? Everytime I get annoyed with Rocky, I take a deep breath and just look at him. I can see there is a soul in his eyes, and can see his undying love and loyalty to me there too. So when he takes a huge, watery crap on my carpet in the middle of the night ... well, I'm told you can't reprimand them if you don't catch them in the act, that they don't know what they did wrong because their memory isn't like ours. I can, however, see he feels ashamed when I find his gross addition to my white carpet. His tail goes down, he won't look at me ...it's like he can sense I'm disappointed again.

My vet tells me he's going inside not to piss us off, but because he just has to go. But we walk him so often, and there are times when we ask "do you wanna go outsiiiiiide?" in the voice that gets him all excited, and he'll just lay down and roll over. If we pick him up to go outside anyway, he'll just stand there. He's a weird one, for sure. However, it seems even when we feed him on a schedule, he still has little accidents in the house. Any input?

Today's Walk

Today my husband and I took Rocky out for a walk. At one point, far ahead, I saw a jogger coming our way on the sidewalk, so I led my pup over to the grass and told him to sit. I gave him lots of petting and high voiced praise as he sat, spotted the jogger and pricked his ears. Suddenly, his panting got heavier, and I could just sense his sudden agitation. As the jogger closed in on us, Rocky became frantic, growling and barking at him until he passed us and even then, Rocky stayed agitated until about two or three minutes later, after the jogger was out of sight.

Now we have tried group trainings (he passed both classes), shock collars (the one that vibrates not shocks), a spray bottle technique, and even just having strangers who enter our house give him treats each time they come in, and nothing has worked. Advice? Rocky needs your help!

New Neighbor

So over the weekend, we were at my parent's house. They have a lot of land, and Rocky is relatively good off-leash, so he always gets to run around and chase balls out there.

However, this time, my mother opened the door to let him out (which I told her not to do w/out checking around first) and he instantly bolted off, barking at the new neighbor they have nearby. Of course, I had to chase him down, and he avoided letting me grab him while still growling and barking at the poor man next door. He was really nice about it, so I just focused on getting Rocky under control.

Now, what I don't get is this: I understand if someone comes into our home and he barks at them like this, if he thinks it is his territory, but outside? Why can't he understand there are other people in the world? Any thoughts?

Meet Rocky, the Crankiest Dog I Know

It's been 2 years since we adopted the rescue known as Smokey and changed his name to Rocky, and he has been the sweetest pup to me and my fiance (husband in 17 days eee!). However, when he comes across another dog in our area, he'll ALWAYS snarl and lunge and bark at them, tail wagging, and unless I squat down and push his butt to the ground, he ignores me completely. He knows the basic commands, sit, stay, come, but when he sees another dog OR just another person walking along, all that training goes out the window, even with treats. This really confuses me. What is he doing? He's never bitten anyone.

Also, anyone who walks near us outside or anyone I'm actually with (like yesterday I went to see some friends) Rocky just starts barking and growling. He will come up and sniff them eventually if they are friends but doesn't relax around anyone. Paul, a friend of mine, has been around Rocky a lot, just not every day. The first few times Rocky was around Paul, he was fine, but this was in a crowded area. Paul even held the leash while I went to the bathroom and such. But if Paul comes over or if it's just me, my fiancee and him, Rocky barks and growls like he hasn't seen him before. Every time.

The only progress made is with our friends who do understand the fact he is a rescue dog, and they deal with the constant barking and growling, and they sit on the couch, and Rocky will then jump up and lick their hand and sit on their lap. But as soon as they stand up, Rocky jumps down and barks and barks again. Why can't this dog relax or get used to people and be friendly? Is there anything I can do to make Rocky a happy people/other dog loving pup? Any help is GREATLY appreciated.